Jack was walking toward them when Abby and Isabelle broke away and ran toward him. Knowing they wouldn’t slow, he braced himself before they crashed into him and threw their arms around him. Despite being prepared for them, they still knocked him back a step at impact.
“Jack!” they cried, and he hugged them close.
“We’re so glad you’re okay,” Abby gushed.
“It’s good to see you,” he said, releasing them.
“You’ve been shot,” Abby said and gently touched the bullet hole in his shoulder before inspecting the gash on his arm.
“I’ll be fine,” he assured her before turning his attention to the others. “I have to find my mate; she’s on this island too.”
“We came across her while looking for you,” Liam said. “She’s with Mike and the others. They’re taking her and her friends to the boats.”
Jack sighed in relief. Charlie wasn’t out of danger yet, but she had more protection now. “Who came with you?” Jack asked.
“Mike, David, Aiden, and Maggie are with Charlie and Mia is with the boats. Sera, Cassidy, Kyle, and Emma stayed home with the younger children. Willow and Julian insisted on coming to Canada with us, but I wouldn’t let them make this trip. They’re still on the mainland,” Liam said.
“We should get out of here,” Brian said. “That fire is spreading fast.”
“It is,” Jack agreed before looking to Liam. “Is it true about Doug? Is he dead?”
“How did you know about Doug?” Liam asked.
Jack’s shoulders slumped; he hadn’t doubted Charlie’s dream, but he didn’t realize he’d still held out hope she saw something wrong, or she was wrong and it was a future event they could prevent, until Liam’s question.
“I’ll explain later. I just had to confirm it.”
The broken look in Liam’s eyes was all the confirmation Jack required before Liam spoke. “He’s gone.”
For a minute, Jack couldn’t breathe.
“We have to go,” Stefan said.
Jack followed them into the woods to find Charlie.
* * *
Though she couldn’t seeflames in the trees closest to them, faint waves of smoke drifted out of the woods and slithered around them. In the distance, she heard the crack of trees falling and the resounding booms as they hit the ground. The fire was getting closer.
“How far is it to the boats?” she asked Mike.
“Not much further,” he replied.
The hair on Charlie’s nape rose as she tried not to let her trepidation get the best of her, but something wasn’t right…
“Wait!” she gasped.
Mike turned toward her as a torrent of stakes exploded out of the woods. Fire trailed from the lethal projectiles as they flew through the air with the speed of a real missile. One of them sliced across Mike’s face. It tore away half of his face to expose the bone beneath. A gurgled sound erupted from him seconds before blood shot out of his mouth.
Some of the others collapsed as Mike sank to his knees. He clawed at the stake protruding from his heart, but as Charlie reached for him, she realized something worse had happened. Her hand, which had been encased in Dylan’s, was now empty.
No! No, no, no, NO!
Her mind screamed in protest as anguish twisted her soul and tore her heart from her chest. She didn’t want to look but she couldn’t stop her head from turning as Dylan collapsed beside her and Mike fell face-first onto the ground.
Charlie knelt beside him, and ignoring the blood covering him, she grasped Dylan’s shoulder and rolled him over. Before she saw the stake jutting from the center of Dylan’s chest and the one through his throat, his unseeing eyes told her it was too late to save him.
Her son’s body had protected hers from the projectiles, but that wasnotsupposed to be the way it went. She was supposed to protect him! She was supposed to die forhim!
