Alex replied, nodding as she twisted around to show the small pack she’d been lugging around all this time.
“Good,” Thompson said, before looking to his bulky watch. “It’ll be dark for a long while once we’ve landed, but this moon won’t help us. They’ll be watching the water, probably for survivors, but it was always an option for us to arrive by water. We’ll have to land down the coast. I know a place.”
“I thought you’d never been there,” I said, biting down a sudden suspicion.
“I haven’t, but it’s what we do. We prepare for anything.” He held my gaze as he spoke.
I nodded, looking away from the intensity of his expression as he continued to speak. “I don’t know the state of the island. If the population has evacuated, or lost, or perhaps the trouble hasn’t got here yet. Either way, we can count on patrols. We must stick together and see what we find.”
Nods repeated across the deck.
“How about we use the Death Star approach?” I asked, turning to raised brows.
“The Death Star approach?” Gibson was the first to ask what the rest seemed desperate to answer, but Sherlock burst out laughing.
“Are you a fucking child? Do you think this is a fucking game?” he said, shaking his head as the laughter slowed.
“Can it,” Thompson said, as Sherlock stared my way. “It’s not a bad idea.”
I turned to Alex as she spoke. “No one’s tying me up, pretending or not.”
I watched Thompson almost deflate at her words and Gibson glanced over to Sherlock with scorn until he saw me looking his way. He gave a shallow nod and then turned away.
“Listen, whatever. We’ll get in. There’s a back route. The place is only half built and with patrols out it’s not going to be heavily guarded,” Thompson said. After clearing his throat, he spoke again. “If we go that way then we won’t need anything elaborate to get you in.”
Sherlock raised a brow and shook his head.
Thompson stood, taking the steps up to the wheelhouse and we changed course to the right, moments after he spoke with Cassie.
Before Thompson could retake his seat, Sherlock met him at the bottom of the steps. I couldn’t quite hear what he said, but Thompson screwed up his eyes as he cut Sherlock off, clearly not liking it.
I tried to listen in harder but Gibson called my name and as he pulled my attention away, I looked to Sherlock glaring back. They were just playing along; it became so clear. They were going along with our idea, but either Sherlock couldn’t bring himself to act, or he was too dumb to realise he was giving the game away by being an asshole.
Rubbing the back of my neck as I turned to Gibson, I couldn’t pay attention to what he said, instead trying to think what we could do next.
“Are you okay?” Gibson’s repeated words finally came into focus.
I couldn’t reply; instead I turned to Jess. She was looking my way, her eyes narrowed and slowly nodding.
We both knew it, but I had no idea what we could do.
78
JESSICA
Now, I mouthed in Logan’s direction. He stayed still with just his eyes widening in the pause. We had to do this at the same time; it was the only chance we could have to make it work. Then he moved; as if in sudden realisation Logan jumped up, bending over as he launched himself at Gibson sitting on the edge of the boat, watching as he rose to his feet.
I didn’t see the soldier’s reaction; I had my focus ahead on the other pair and I was up, time slowing as energy surged outward as if pulsing from my bones. With it came the need to tear into their flesh, but I fought the strain of want, the gaping hole in my gut that came with the power radiating out from my fingers as I ran, touching them with a hand on each.
They’d seen me, but a blink of an eye later they were travelling sideways, pushed out in front and away from my bared teeth desperate to rend their flesh. They had no time to speak, only to call out in surprise before they were gone, the water rushing up from over the edge, the spray catching my face as I stopped myself just in time so I wouldn’t join them.
Panting, I turned to the flurry of movement in the corner of my vision.
79
LOGAN
Gibson was like a brick wall as I hit him, with my hands pushed out in front and my full body weight behind. He barely moved backwards; his biggest reaction was his smile dropping as he heard the splash I could only hope wasn’t Jess falling into the water.
A call went up, Alex swearing as if taken by surprise, Shadow’s bark absorbed into the night. Then Alex was by my side with both her hands on Gibson’s left as she tried to stop his reaching for the rifle by his feet.
With his grip so hard, he had hold of my wrist, twisting and turning as he did the same to Alex, then dragging us both forward having given up on the gun, now intent to pull us over the edge. And he was succeeding.
But then it stopped, his grip released, at first for no apparent reason. I looked up just as he fell backwards with his neck at a right-angle and Jess pulling back her fist.
He slipped slowly into the water as I regained my breath.
I turned around, not sure what I’d see, but there we were. The five of us on the deck. Alex regaining her breath. Jess gritting her teeth as she stared between us. Shadow with his tail wagging
