“Of course it does. Think about it—a dog doesn’t
Amusement touched the corners of his mouth again. “You’re right.”
“I usually am.” I brushed past him, teasing us both. I swear his toweling got a whole lot more forceful. Grinning slightly, I turned on the faucet and ran the water over my hands, stepping in once the water was tepid.
For several minutes, I did nothing more than simply stand there, allowing the water to wash over my skin. The sea might be my home, but we could survive in freshwater for quite a while. Which is why there were so many myths of monsters in lakes and lochs. In times of sickness, as well as times such as birth or death, the gentler waters of the ancient lakes were a far safer refuge than the wildness of the seas.
Of course, I had no idea just how long we could go without seawater. Or whether, after a certain time, it began to have ill effects. Certainly I’d been locked up for eleven years in the research center without going near it, and I was basically fine, but that wasn’t to say that there couldn’t have been problems further down the line.
Mom would have known, but aside from the brief moment of contact when she’d told me that I needed to get out for my dad’s sake, I hadn’t managed to talk to her.
After washing my face and hair with the little bar of soap the hotel had so generously provided, I got out and dried myself. There was no toothpaste in the bathroom, let alone a clean toothbrush, so I used my finger to give my teeth a rough clean, then rinsed my mouth out with water.
“So where do we need to rush off so early to?” I said, as I walked back into the main room.
Only to stop in surprise.
Trae—and his bag—were gone.
Chapter Four
My gaze immediately went to the bed, and the two pillows sitting there. Had they been disturbed? Was the ring and the money still safe? With Trae gone, I’d need my stolen goodies more than ever.
Heart accelerating, I walked across and quickly lifted the second pillow. My fingers touched cold metal and plastic, and relief swam through me. The thief had been in such a hurry to get out, he hadn’t noticed his own pockets had been picked.
But there was no guarantee he wouldn’t notice soon, and that he wouldn’t come back. His need for the ring was obviously greater than his need to fulfill any promise made to Egan, which meant I couldn’t trust him any more than I could those who hunted me. He might mean me no harm, but he definitely had an agenda of his own, and it didn’t seem that my needs were high on it. I had to get out of here.
I dropped the pillow onto the bed and walked across to the window. The hotel’s sign flickered intermittently, washing blue light across the moonlit parking lot. There’d been three cars in the lot when I’d looked out before. Now there were only two. The thief had obviously stolen himself a new one.
Annoyance ran through me, though it wasn’t really caused by him running. I might not have any idea how I was going to break into the safe, but at least now I wouldn’t have the worry about him being caught or killed by the scientists. What pissed me off was the fact he’d obviously intended to run all along. And while the ring would technically probably belong to him now anyway, he still shouldn’t have taken it without telling me. For all he knew, Egan had gifted me that ring, which meant he certainly had no right to it.
But then, when did a thief ever ask for permission to steal?
And if Trae had asked for the ring rather than simply trying to take it, would I have given it to him?
Probably not, I thought ruefully. Not before he’d explained what was going on with the thing, anyway.
At least I’d discovered the theft before it was too late. At least I could still return the ring and uncover its secrets myself.
Question was, how was I going to protect the ring, and make damn sure Trae didn’t get anywhere near it a second time? He was bigger, stronger, faster. If it came to force, he’d overpower me in a second. I didn’t think he would do something like that, but who really knew? I hadn’t actually thought he’d run out on me the minute my back was turned, either.
I blew out a breath. First things first. I needed to get out of this room.
Now.
I grabbed the room keys, then headed out the door. The night was clear and cool, the breeze lazy but smelling ever so faintly of the sea. I breathed deep, and again felt that flick of longing run through me. After eleven years away from the power and beauty of the deep, cold oceans, it seemed my soul just couldn’t get enough.
I walked across to reception and slid the keys under the door, then turned and studied the street. The desire to get to Maine was a slow, strong beat in the back of my mind. I needed to get there soon, because my dad was dying and I had no idea how much longer he had left.
Which is part of the reason why we’d taken the awful risk of attempting a breakout in the first place. It could have gone so wrong—more than it had, anyway—and we could have been killed, leaving the kids with no one at all to guide and protect them.
But I’d had no choice. Dad was a fire dragon. His death would come near dawn, as Egan’s had, but unless someone was there to pray for him—to guide him—his spirit might get lost between this world and the forever lands.
Dad had no one else but me and Mom. I couldn’t ever remember him mentioning his family or having photos of them. It was as if something big had happened in his past, something that he didn’t want to—or rather, refused to—acknowledge or remember. I knew he was American, that he’d grown up near Las Vegas somewhere, and that he had scars—terrible, criss-crossed scars down his left arm and leg, like someone had tried chopping him up with a large knife—but that was about the extent of my knowledge.
Which is why Mom had demanded I go to Maine rather than attempt any immediate release of herself and the others. She didn’t want him to die alone.
And yet, she might well have been condemning herself to a lonely death and an eternity drifting lost between two worlds. Because she was dying, too.
I blinked back the sting of tears, and tried not to think about the unfairness of it all. There was nothing I could do to alter the fact that I was going to lose both parents. What I could change was the way it happened. The way they went.
But as much as I wanted to get to Maine, it just wasn’t practical when Florence was so close. We—I— needed those codes. I’d promised little Carli and the others that I’d come back, that I’d get them out of there, no matter what. They only had Jace to protect them now, and a fifteen-year-old shouldn’t have that sort of responsibility on his shoulders for too long.
I had no idea where in Florence Marsten’s mother actually lived. All we’d really known was that she and his brother were investment partners in the foundation, as well as members of the board. It was no certainty that she actually held backups of everything that was going on at the facility, but Marsten was a careful man. He would have made sure that if anything went wrong at the foundation, he could still get to the years and years of data he’d collected. And we were also hoping that he’d included the security information in that backup plan.
But with any sort of luck, Marsten’s mom would be in the phone directory. If not, I’d have to go to plan B. When I could figure out what plan B was, anyway.
My gaze went to the dark horizon. My first priority, though, was taking care of this ring. And really, there was only one place where I could be totally sure it would be safe.
The sea.
I glanced up the street at the sound of an approaching car. I doubted it was Trae, but I broke into a run anyway, heading across the parking lot and into a side street. Trees lined the curb, blocking many of the street- lights, casting shadows across the pavement that swayed gently to the tune of the soft breeze.
Headlights swept across the night behind me. I jumped the nearest fence and dropped behind a spiky-looking shrub. The lights, and the car, got closer, and my breath caught somewhere in my throat. But the car didn’t stop.
The sudden surge of relief had me shaking my head in amusement. Here I was, having a near heart attack at
