Hilton Head, South Carolina, United States of America
Atlantic Coast
The mist curled aroundour bodies as we all stood at the front of Belshazzar’s yacht. It continued to hug us, not wanting to let go. The mist was playing havoc with our timetable, too.
“It took us a second to get to S’Kir,” I griped and crossed my arms, squinting through the bone-chilling mist. “It has been almost a day now. Will this bloody mist ever let us leave?”
“Let me see if I can help.” Dorian chuckled and raised his arms to the sky. “Dearest Mist, please allow us to pass to Earth. We must fight a war, and time is running out.”
The mist arrowed right at Bel.
It twisted and spun around his body.
King Belshazzar sighed heavily, and then grouched one word, “Please.”
Suddenly, the mist cleared…
And I kind of wished it hadn’t.
My entire body went still at the scene before me, my eyes narrowing at the view.
Kimber gasped. “Oh my. This is bad.”
“Fuck,” King Belshazzar growled, leaning heavily on the railing, his body tilted toward the land like he wanted to fly toward it. “The war has started.”
“No shit.” Roran blinked.
Aiko rumbled, “Will they think us enemies?”
The mist had deposited us right where we had left from in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Except this wasn’t the Hilton Head we had last seen. Buildings blazed nearby, flames and smoke carrying high into the air. Boats were in pieces all around, as if they had been bombed. The port was in shambles, humans chasing after druids and vampires with guns raised.
“I’m sure they will.” I coughed through the smoke and grabbed my guns, then checked my clips, making sure I had reloaded them properly. “How the hell are we supposed to dock?”
There was nowhere left to do so.
“We can’t,” Bel confirmed severely, turning to look toward the captain’s window. He rolled a pointed finger high in the air, shouting, “Get us out of here!”
“Um…what is that?” Kimber asked quietly, pointing into the sky. “Is that thescienceyou spoke of? I have never seen that before.”
All eyes focused in the direction she pointed.
My eyes rounded in horror. I shoved my guns back down into their holsters and screamed my command, “Jump! Everyone, jump off the boat now!”
Multiple rockets streamed straight at the boat, lighting the sky up orange. Humans held fucking bazookas farther up the destroyed dock—the watchmen. And our yacht, that suddenly appeared, would not benaturalto the humans.
No one argued with me. All understood fear.
Wejumped.
The explosions hit just as we went under the water, the sky firing red above. The blast shoved us down deeper into the depths of the ocean, but I did not mind—although I could have done without the pain. We swam next to each other, dodging pieces of metal that sank into the depths with us.
My lungs burned. I kept swimming.
I followed my soul mate until we finally surfaced, our entire group gasping for air. We grabbed at a long piece of wood where part of the dock was splintered away, peeking over the edge. I scanned the terrain, and tilted my head to the side, stating, “Right there, Bel. You want help?”
King Belshazzar had led us straight to the ones who had just destroyed his precious yacht—and his crew.
“Fuck that,” he growled quietly. “They’re mine. Stay behind me.”
