The brown snake – the enormous, much-larger-than-usual brown snake – slithered out of the crocodile’s behind, hissing and showing its fangs. Its very,verydeadly fangs.
“I am so sick of snakes today,” Maisie breathed – and, before Rhys could stop her – before he could even move – she took a massive swing at it with her golf club, sending it… well, notflying, exactly, but certainlyflopping. It came to rest a couple of meters away, clearly stunned.
“Fore!” Maisie yelled at it, her chest heaving with exertion.
Rhys shook his head, simultaneously terrified and impressed.
Our mate has saved you from two snake shifters today,his griffin said derisively.What haveyouaccomplished?
What am I, chopped liver?Rhys yelled at it.I’ve done plenty!
Maisie really had saved the day, though. He pulled her close, feeling her warm, rapid breath against his throat.
“Rhys?” she said eventually, her breathing slowing to a more normal rate.
“Yeah?”
“Can we get the hell out of here?”
“Absolutely.”
He lifted her over the back fence, setting her down gently on her feet. She seemed to be recovering quickly, but he still wanted to keep an eye on her until he knew she was okay. It’d been one hell of a day, and it’d barely even begun.
Another thing was playing on his mind, though.
“I meant it, you know,” he said, as he vaulted over the fence, coming to land by her side. “What I said earlier.”
She looked up at him, grinning. “Yeah, I know you did. I did, too.”
He grinned back, feeling like an idiot, but not caring.
Yeah, it’d been one hell of a day, all right.
He leaned down for a quick kiss, wanting to take the time to savor it, but knowing it wasn’t safe to do so. He pulled back reluctantly, wanting it to never end.
There’d be time for that later. All the time in the world.
He took her hand, and she squeezed it back.
“Right,” he said. “Let’s get off this island.”
Chapter 14
“We’re not going to make it!”
Rhys shook his head, but didn’t slow down in the slightest – if anything, he sped up. “No, we can do it. I amnotspending another minute on this damn island.”
He gritted his teeth, adrenaline giving him wings. Figurative wings, anyway. It probably wouldn’t be a great time for the griffin to show its wingsorits face.
But he meant it. He wasn’t about to hang around this place any longer than he absolutely had to, even if it meant pushing himself to the edge of exhaustion, having just run approximately half the length of the island.
At the dock, the yacht was preparing to depart, taking its cargo of rich wankers back to the airport. It was just starting to move, ever so slowly, but that was fine – Rhys knew that he could make it in time.
He didn’t care how far he had to jump, he’d make it.
Maisie was starting to flag, her breath coming in gasps. It was clear that when they got to the dock, Rhys would need to pick her up and leap the remaining distance to the yacht with her in his arms.
We’re only ten seconds away.
