“What’s going on?” Mal demanded.
“There’s a fire,” Kirha said, and excited murmurs followed her statement.
“How bad is it?” Mal asked.
“If they don’t put it out soon, it’s going to destroy the entire island,” Charlie said. “And I don’t think they’re going to be able to put it out.”
Dylan’s eyes were wide with fright when they met hers. “Where’s Jack?”
“He’s on his way,” she assured him. “We have to go. The lighthouse exit is the furthest from the fire.”
“Where’s Clifford?” LeNae asked.
“Dead,” Kirha said bluntly.
“If we stay down here, we’ll remain hidden from them,” Gio said. “But if we go above, we might run across them.”
“Or the smoke could enter the tunnels and kill you humans,” Charlie retorted. “I’m not taking that chance with my son.”
Releasing Dylan, she grasped his hand and turned toward Mal. “Are you staying?”
“No. The Savages will be preoccupied with the fire; this might be our chance to escape.”
Charlie didn’t wait to hear what the others would decide before she turned and fled down the tunnel toward the lighthouse.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Jack watchedas Charlie and Kirha disappeared into the copse of trees surrounding the pit.She’s safe.For now.If they didn’t get away from the fire, none of them would be okay.
He was almost to the pit when he caught something charging at him from the corner of his eye. He spun to avoid the Savage, but the vamp anticipated the move and shifted so his weight slammed into Jack’s waist. Lifted into the air, Jack was flung back a few feet, and the vampire followed him to the ground.
Jack twisted his weight to try to dislodge the vamp, but fingers tore at his face and hair as the vamp attempted to gouge out his eyes. Rage flared through Jack as he smashed his forehead into the vamp’s face. The Savage’s cheekbone gave way from the impact, and the vamp’s right eye bulged out.
The Savage shredded a chunk of skin from Jack’s cheek. Jack pushed up with his legs to dislodge his attacker, and when the vampire fell forward, Jack hit him in the windpipe. The vamp wheezed and flailed as his hand clawed at his crushed throat.
Jack rolled to the side and threw the vampire off before staggering to his feet. Blood poured down his face as he grasped a broken branch from the ground. The vamp rolled over and shrugged a rifle off his back; Jack hadn’t noticed the gun before, but now the sun glinted off the barrel as it swung toward him.
He had only a split second to throw himself to the side and behind a tree as the gun fired. The vamp must have anticipated his move as the bark of the tree exploded in front of him. Judging by the Savage’s ability to predict his moves, this fucker was a hunter.
Jack ground his teeth together as he tried to decide what move the Savage wouldn’t anticipate. He glanced right and left; both sides had trees he could hide behind, but if this Savage saw Charlie and Kirha enter the copse of trees, he’d probably anticipate Jack trying to follow them. Jack decided to go to the right instead and rolled behind another tree.
He’d been right; the vamp expected him to go the other way, and by the time he adjusted his rifle to fire at him, Jack was already moving on to the next tree and then the next. More gunshots rent the air, and a bullet whizzed by his head as Jack dashed in and out of the trees, circling the Savage.
Then the vamp pulled the trigger again and nothing came out. Jack released a murderous snarl as he charged out of the woods and pounced on the Savage. This was not some pawn security member manipulated into thinking they had a chance at immortality;thisman’s sick impulses were the reason everything had happened.Thisman was the reason Doug was dead.
Clutching the Savage’s coat, Jack lifted him off the ground and punched him in the face. The vamp’s head shot back, and his face caved beneath the blow, but Jack didn’t stop as he pummeled him again and again.
Wet sounds of protest emitted from the vamp, and his hands battered Jack’s arms as his blood splattered Jack. There was little the vamp could do as Jack seized his head and yanked it to the side. The Savage went limp when Jack severed his spine before tearing off his head.
Jack expected to experience some sense of satisfaction as he gazed into the unseeing eyes of the dead man, but he all he felt was a growing desperation to find Charlie. And that was when he realized vengeance would never satisfy him. He would make sure all the bastards on this island were dead before leaving it, but nothing would bring Doug back or fill the emptiness his loss had created in Jack.
Tossing the head aside, Jack glanced around the forest to make sure he was still alone before searching the man’s pockets for more bullets; he discovered nothing useful. Lifting his head, he gazed at the smoke streaming over top of the trees as it blew toward him. Fueled by the gentle breeze and the old trees in the forest, it wouldn’t be long before the blaze reached him.
Jack wiped his hands on the ground before running through the trees and jumping into the pit after Charlie.
* * *
Charlie kepthold of Dylan’s hand as she climbed the stairs and flung open the door of the root cellar. She refused to let herself think about the fact Jack should have caught up with them by now. Humans hindered their progress, and he hadn’t been far behind them, so where was he?
