As I ran from my grandmother like the thief that I was, moving through the dark forest paths so I wouldn’t be spotted by the search parties, I pulled up Sheriff Lyle’s number, a number I thought I’d never use. He picked up before the first ring completed, immediately asking what was wrong.
“I’ll explain when we get there. I know it’s weird to hear from me, but you’re the only person I can think of now who can help and who’s not on the Isle. Could you hear me out first, please?”
He took a long moment before he finally answered. “Alright then, Ada, I’ll be waiting.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“Sekou.”
My whisper sounded more like a bullhorn to me in the unnatural quiet of the night. I listened for signs from either of them. All I could feel was the subtle rocking of the dock and hear the gently lapping water against the wooden posts and the shore. Boats were moored up and down the dock, and it was hard to determine if there was anyone out there in the ink-black night.
Something rustled, and Sekou’s head popped out from beneath the tarp he and Hailey were hiding beneath. I nearly ran to hug them. I was so relieved that they hadn’t been caught. That the island wasn’t trying everything in its power to keep them here. We’d better leave now before it changed its mind or we came across one of the Kinfolk.
“I can’t believe we’re actually doing this,” Sekou muttered as I climbed into the boat. The moment I settled, he pushed off, using an oar to row us farther out into open sea where we could kick the motor on. I took up an oar too, following his lead.
Sekou glared at Hailey when she remained seated, scrunched down into the bottom of the boat. He raised his eyebrow.
“Oh,” she said, finally getting the hint. She began feeling for the extra oar tucked at the bottom.
“Right,” he confirmed. “This isn’tDriving Miss Daisy.” Sekou was channeling one of our elder aunties, but I wasn’t about to tell him that.
We didn’t speak as we rowed out into open water, afraid we’d be heard. What Sekou and I were doing went against every rule set by Nana Ama and the Isle. Even if I explained that Naira’s voice had been in my head, they’d have thought I was delusional.
“You don’t have to do this,” I said quietly to Sekou. His arms pumped, guiding the boat effortlessly through the water. That was a lie. It took a lot of effort to row a boat. Sekou just didn’t make it look so. On the other hand, Hailey struggled like she was rowing through molasses.
“Naira’s my best friend too,” he said. “It’s the three of us, remember? You’re not leaving me behind again.”
I tried not to feel guilty about leaving him behind before. Instead, I concentrated on the water because it was easier than thinking about who had been left behind. I also didn’t want Sekou getting hurt, or worse, because of me. We weren’t heading to Disney World. But still, knowing he had my back was a relief. It allowed me to believe just a little that maybe we could figure out a way to get Naira back—together.
“Still…” I trailed off when no more words would come. We were heading into a world against something we’d never encountered.
“I shouldn’t have told Uncle James about her connection to the Endowment,” Sekou admitted. Then he picked up his rowing. We had to make up time. “It was—”
“A petty-ass move?” I offered helpfully, hoping to lighten the mood. Everything that happened tonight had already been too heavy. We deserved a little levity.
A range of emotions scrolled over his face as he determined my level of shady. “Have you been waiting all night to call me that?”
I nodded. It was easier to go back and forth with him than to deal with everything that had happened.
“Fair enough.” He cut his eyes to Hailey. “But in all fairness, I just couldn’t keep it quiet when I found out.”
“When you snooped, you mean,” Hailey reminded him.
Sekou snorted. “You should probably say very little, Mainlander. We risked our asses getting you out. We saved your life.”
Hailey snorted back. “Yeah, right after you threatened my life.”
“You put your own damn life in danger, had you not been so damn nosy and disrespectful,” he snapped. White-hot indignation fissured up so violently that I could feel his energy taking me by surprise. My hand gripped the side of the boat to steady myself as I absorbed it, controlled it, didn’t allow his rage to consume me. “You see how she’s still thinking only of herself? How she’s twisting it soshe’sthe victim? Not even a thanks for going against your grandmother and our traditions. Not for getting her off the island that she weaseled her way onto. She’s just like the rest of the mainlanders and people like her. They are always out for number one.”
He wasn’t wrong, but this time Hailey wasn’t totally to blame either. Maybe my mind was all twisted from the past few daysI’d spent with Hailey and what we’d experienced. Or maybe it was the absolute terror in her eyes when she saw the other me. I should have never brought her here.
I couldn’t let Hailey take all the heat. “That’s enough, Se.”
As the fishing boat glided along, Hailey and I stared at each other in the dark. I cut the oar in the water on the opposite side, trying to get us to a good place fast enough so we could start up the motor and go. Hailey did the best she could while eyeing me cautiously, as if I were going to make her my next meal.
“Can I ask you something?”
Most of me wanted to laugh in her face, thinking I owed her no explanation. But when you found out vampires were real and a whole town of people had been hunting you, I guess some clarification was deserved. She took my silence as the sign to go ahead.
