Craning her neck, Ally examined the area around them. Whispering as quietly as possible, she told her sister to follow her, then crawled on hands and knees to an area behind them that was cloaked in full darkness.
She couldn’t see her hand in front of her face as she got deeper into the gloom, but Ally figured that was an advantage. She paused, then felt Evie grab her foot. Ally turned, taking her sister’s hand and pulling her next to her. “Shh, listen.”
Footsteps were approaching. They paused at the edge of the dark. Ally could barely make out the flashing end of the electro-stick. Would he come forward, or would he go back?
Does he see us? He can’t. It’s too dark, right?
The footsteps came forward, and both she and her sister scuttled slowly backward. Ally held her breath, not wanting to make a noise that might alert him to their presence, no matter how small.
A few more footsteps closer, a few more silent moves backward to avoid his approach. At last, he stopped again. “Fuck this,” he muttered, then turned around and walked away, his footsteps growing softer until they disappeared entirely.
Ally let out a long breath. She leaned backward, her hand slipping against something sharp that split the skin. Letting out a small cry of pain, she pulled her hand up to her face, but it was too dark to see anything.
“What happened?” Evie whispered.
“I cut myself on something.”
“Is it bad?”
“I… I don’t think so.” She could feel the blood pouring out of the palm of her hand and winced as she flexed the muscle there. “Maybe. I can’t tell.”
“Do you think he’s gone?”
“I’m not sure. I think so.” Ally couldn’t hear any footsteps. That didn’t mean he couldn’t be lying in wait for them, though.
“Screw this.”
Ally heard Evie fumbling with something, then suddenly, she was blinking as the area around them filled with light. Evie was holding the necklace chain in her hand, the dangling charm casting off bright light. “Let me see.”
Ally held out her hand, frowning to see how much blood was already dripping down her arm.
Evie passed her the necklace. “Hold this.” Then she pulled up her blouse and ripped off a piece of fabric from the bottom of it. She pressed the fabric against the jagged cut on Ally’s palm.
Holding the fabric tight against the wound, Evie let out a shaky breath. “We’re lucky this is the worst we got. Poor Captain Lyk.”
“Poor us. He hadn’t given us the credits he’d promised yet.” Even as she said the words, she felt like an ass. But if she stopped to think about the handsome pirate’s demise, she feared being overwhelmed by emotion.
Evie frowned at her. “You’re not heartless, Ally, so stop pretending to be.”
Ally nodded, then held the necklace back out to her sister. “Put this on. We don’t need to lose it now since it’s the last thing of value we have.” When her sister took the necklace, Ally gently extracted her hand, holding the cloth in place over her cut.
“Where do we go from here?” Evie asked, sounding lost.
“I can tell you where you’re going.”
The masculine voice came out of nowhere. Ally started, turning her head to discover a group of three strangers standing right in front of them.
“Where did you come from?” she asked, her voice filled with wonder.
The lone female laughed. She had long blonde hair, gorgeous features, and plump red lips that she was currently using to blow out a big pink bubble. It popped, and she giggled, then continued chewing her gum.
“You two are just full of questions,” said the tall blond man dressed in black. Ally recognized the same voice as the one that spoke before.
“And so far, you haven’t given us any answers.” Ally pushed herself to her feet, feeling extremely wary of the strangers in their midst. She reached down to pull Evie to her feet, then moved so that she was standing between her sister and their new acquaintances.
“Maybe because he can’t get a word in edgewise,” the woman hissed, her eyes narrowing. “This one looks like trouble,” she said to her companions, eyeing Ally.
Ally sized up the strangers in front of her. The female was beautiful, but she seemed a little unhinged. The tall male with the white-blond hair, his face impassive, had an air of danger about him. And the other male was as big as a Moon Bear. Ally saw his eyes fastened on Evie and she felt her fear grow.
