Page 10 of Kai
“I’m not—” I stopped. No need to argue with truth. “Yes, I’m belligerent, and violent, and highly trained in jiu-jitsu, so you should go.”
“Hang on.” Keeping his eyes on me, moving cautiously, helowered his wetsuit’s frontal zipper, gifting me with a glimpse of his smooth, strapping chest. “No need to reach for the gun. I may not be able to operate at my full potential if I’ve got holes in me. Your preferred MO might be the scientific method, but we don’t have the time for all the steps it entails.”
I growled. “How the hell would you know that?”
“Thena told me, and Missy confirmed.” He took out a piece of folded paper from an inner pocket and waved it in the air before he offered it to me. “Read and go, please.”
“Don’t make any sudden movements.” I glared at him.
“This is me, not moving.” He held out the paper.
Keeping my hand hovering over the gun, I rose and snatched the paper from him. Fingers trembling, I snapped the page open and read the neat lines.
We’re the merry sisters.
Berry merry sisters.
Hang on, hold on,
And don’t let go.
Holy fuck. The old childhood rhyme my sisters and I had made up to the tune ofRing around the Rosiestared at me from the page. Written in Thena’s elegant calligraphy, the sentences seemed to glow blue on her pink linen stationery. A small, red heart drawn with eyes and a little curve for a mouth graced the corner of the paper. Missy’s personal smiley, the one she’d used all the time as a kid. My head snapped up to meet the man’s eyes.
Was he telling the truth?
As if the question required an instant answer, a sweet, melodic hum soothed my hearing, and a bright aura fanned around the man until it framed him like a full body halo. The light shone in spectacular shades of indigo, edged with a goldenoutline as bright as the sun.
Oh, fuck. I squinted, shielding my eyes with my hand.Not again! Not now!
He scrunched his eyebrows, peering at me with something like concern. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” I mumbled, a total lie, but I lowered my hand from my brow even as his aura flared around him, golden light emerging from a cobalt ocean at dawn. I didn’t know much, but considering what I learned, and given the rhyme I held in my hand, I had to believe the man.
Even so, skepticism wrinkled my brow. “How did you get through my security system?”
“I disarmed it,” he said. “Can we go now?”
He’d disarmed it. Just like that. But if he was right and there were tangos on this island intent on killing me, I had to get away from this place. Since he’d been voluntold by Dash and my sisters to find me, his pretty ass was on the line, too.
Move, Astor.
I had a life to save.
Mine, and possibly his, as well.
Chapter Four
Cece
“We need to hurry.” I engaged the gun’s safety, slid it in my pocket, and powered down my laptop. Not easy, since it was old and slow, and I had to save and close some thirty windows. “I need a couple of minutes here.”
“A couple of minutes is about all we can spare.” He moved fluidly to the threshold. “Pack light. Bring only the basics. I’m gonna go top deck, see if I can get a visual on the enemy. I’ll be right back.” Leaving me behind, he exited the room. Thankfully, he took not only his aura with him, but also the sweet hum that came with it.
Okay. All right.Relief coursed through my overwrought senses.Save and close.I pressed the keys at top speed. My brain raced as I punched the keys as fast as I could. I recalled the glow that surrounded the stranger. It made no sense to let him or anyone else know I was having visual hallucinations. It was exasperating. Ridiculous. Why had the glow appeared around the man when it did?
Duh. Because I’d needed to know the truth, and somehow, my fear and uncertainty—and perhaps my curiosity as well—had prompted his aura.
Holy shit. Perhaps these weird occurrences served a purpose after all.
