Dark Wrath (17 page)

J
oshua
began to fuss as Erin paced the ledge that was growing narrower every moment,
it seemed, as the water continued to rise.

They weren’t going
to make it.  There was no way to get out.  Soon, if the tide didn’t
begin to turn, she would have to retreat back up the passageway.

Stifling the urge
to give in to despair, Erin gave the baby her other breast, stroking him
soothingly while he fed.  Within moments, he’d fallen asleep. 
Holding him awkwardly with one arm, Erin adjusted her clothing, then settled
him against her shoulder and commenced to pacing again, trying to think of some
alternative other than simply returning and allowing them to be captured.

There wasn’t an
alternative and she knew it.  This was the only way out, unless Jesse and
the others killed everyone in the facility.

She was tempted
to march back and demand that he wipe them out so that she could take her baby
home.

She wasn’t an
idiot or some weak minded female!  She was intelligent.  She was a
scientist!  She was accustomed to making her own decisions.

She’d never had
to make a decision for anyone else, though, particularly not a helpless baby.

If not for
Joshua, she could swim out.

But what would be
the point if she couldn’t take him?

She’d wondered if
it was right to risk his life to save him, but she no longer had any
doubts.  If they hadn’t come, he would not have lived much longer. 
She was his only hope.  She had to think of something!

Erin had already
started back up the passage with no clear objective in her mind when she heard
the sounds of men coming toward her.  Panic instantly gripped her and she
whirled and raced back to the cavern, looking wildly around for a place to
hide.

There
was
no place to hide.

Rushing to the
lantern, which was still lit, Erin blew the flame out and crouched against the
cave wall furthest from the passage, curling into as tiny a ball as she could
manage.

“
Chère
?”

“Jesse?” Erin
gasped, surging up, but afraid to move when she couldn’t see her hand in front
of her face.  In a moment she felt the warmth of his nearness.

“We have to
go.  The men are back from the assault on the compound.”

“We can’t get
out!  The cave entrance is completely under water … and the dingy floated
away.”

Jesse was silent
for several moments.  She felt him move slightly away from her, heard the
splash and clank as he dropped the bag onto the ledge and poured the contents
out.  “Give him to me.”

“You can’t put
him in the bag!” Erin exclaimed, horrified at the very idea.

“It’ll protect
him while we swim out.”

“It’ll leak.”

Uttering a sound
of impatience, Jesse disappeared for a moment.  A light came on and Erin
saw that he’d settled a flashlight on an outcropping of rock to illuminate the
area.  Bending down, he filled the bag with water and lifted it. 
Erin stared at the bag blankly, but she realized after a moment that the water
wasn’t pouring out of it.  If it would hold water, it would hold the water
out.

She didn’t like
the idea of putting Joshua in a wet bag, but she hardly had a choice.

After pouring the
water out and shaking as much moisture from it as he could, Jesse set the bag
on the rocky ledge again and dove into the water.  His head surfaced a
moment later.  At the far side of the cavern, he caught the loose dingy
and towed it back.

When he reached
the ledge again, he met the gaze of the Lycans, who were waiting for orders,
and jerked his head in the direction of the cave entrance.  Almost as one,
they dove in and headed for the mouth of the cave, disappearing when they
neared it.

“We’re not going
to be able to get the dingy out,” Erin said, placing the baby in the bag and
leaning down to set the bag carefully in the bottom of the dingy.

“Let me worry
about that.”

Erin slid into
the water, gasping sharply in surprise to discover that it was colder than
she’d expected.  Together, she and Jesse guided the dingy across the small
pool.

“How well do you
swim?”

“Well enough,”
Erin said grimly.

“Well enough to
carry the baby?”

She nodded
jerkily, trying to fight down the terror that was threatening to consume
her.  Jesse lifted the bag from the dingy, closed the zipper tightly and
handed it to her.  “I’ll meet you on the other side.”

Erin clutched the
handle of the bag in a death grip, summoning the courage to dive with her baby
inside of it.  Finally, feeling vaguely nauseated from her fear, she
pulled the bag close, sucked in several deep breaths and dove.  The bag,
filled with air, was very nearly ripped from her grasp.  Erin found
herself fighting the current and the bag as she struggled blindly through the
opening.  It seemed to take forever.  Her lungs felt like they were
on fire by the time she managed to surface on the other side.

The moon was
nearing the far horizon, but there was still enough light for her to see well
enough to move away from the entrance.  That, too, was a struggle, for the
current was flowing strongly into the cave, as if the cave was sucking the
water inside.

Her teeth were
chattering by the time the dingy popped through the opening.  Relieved,
Erin rushed to catch it before it could be dashed against the rocks.  When
Jesse surfaced, he had to pry the bag from her fingers and lift it into the
boat.  Grabbing her as soon as he’d settled the bag, Jesse lifted her up
until she could slip into the dingy behind the baby.  With shaking
fingers, she jerked at the zipper, struggling and finally managing to open the
bag wide enough to see Joshua.  An indignant threat of a cry greeted her
and Erin felt like melting with relief.

She discovered
when she’d scooped him from the bag that he was wet all over and shivering,
whether because he was cold or frightened she wasn’t certain, but she pulled
him close, trying to convey her own warmth when she had little to give.

He was very
unhappy about his situation.  Small wonder when he’d been sleeping
peacefully and then found himself jostled awake and thoroughly drenched. 
Erin bounced him a little frantically, stroking his back and uttering soothing
noises to try to quiet him, but he continued to fret.

She glanced at
Jesse a little helplessly as he surged upward and rolled into the dingy with
them.  “Lay down in the bottom of the boat,” Jesse whispered harshly.

It was filled
with water by now, but Erin didn’t argue, knowing Jesse wouldn’t have ordered
her to do it if he hadn’t had good reason to do so.  She’d scarcely landed
when she heard the report of a gun across the water.  Something hit the
water within a yard of the boat.

“Fuck!” Jesse
growled, diving forward and nearly crushing Erin and the baby beneath
him.  She heard a meaty thud.  Jesse grunted, his body jerking. 
Two more thuds followed in rapid succession and then seemed to move past them,
slapping into the water around them.

It dawned on Erin
after moments of shocked disbelief that Jesse had shielded her and the baby
with his own body.  After a moment, he levered himself up and looked
around.  Apparently deciding they were out of range, he rolled out of the
boat and began towing it.

Panic set her
heart to racing harder than ever before.  “Jesse!  Get out the
water!  You’re bleeding.”

“If I don’t put
some distance between us and the island, I’ll have more holes in me,” he
growled.

“The blood will
draw sharks!” Erin cried.

“Quiet!”

Erin bit her lip,
but as fearful as she was for Jesse, she didn’t want to draw the Feds to
them.  Noticing the baby had grown quiet, she peered down at him. 
Apparently, he didn’t mind being in the water, he just didn’t like being wet
and exposed to the wind.  Shifting to the edge of the raft, she began
stroking the water with one arm, steadying the baby with her other hand.

The shooting
stopped.  She could hear shouts wafting across the water.

The sound of a
motor, and then two different motors filled the air and grew louder.  Erin
glanced behind them.  She saw nothing, but she heard the boat.  The
Feds were after them and it wasn’t going to take them long to catch up.

She paddled
faster, trying to ignore the sense of hopelessness that gnawed at her.

Abruptly, gunfire
erupted again.  She dove into the bottom of the boat, covering Joshua with
her body.  The sounds grew louder, revving engines and splashing water
vying with the report of gunfire.

They were sitting
ducks in the dingy.  Erin was just contemplating whether they would be
better off in the water when she realized the gunfire and the sound of engines
were coming from two different directions.  Lifting up slightly, she saw
the Juliette heading straight for them.

Joy and relief
filled her until she looked behind them and saw the Federal boat closing in on
them.

It was hard to
say which was closer, but she began to wonder if they were going to be run down
by both boats.

Abruptly, an
explosion rent the air and a ball of fire and smoke flashed, lighting the sea
around them like daylight.

* * * *

The moment Erin’s
feet settled on the deck of the Juliette, she clutched the squalling baby
tightly and headed for the stairs.  He’d been screaming almost nonstop
since the Lycans had blown the Federal boat out the water and she was terrified
that he’d somehow been hit by a piece of flying debris.  When she reached
the cabin she shared with Jesse, she settled the baby on the bed and quickly
stripped his wet clothing off.

She collapsed,
weak with relief when she saw no sign of an injury.

The explosion had
simply terrified the baby.  As far as that went, it had terrified
her.  She’d been certain, at first, that it was the Juliette that had gone
up, their last hope of rescue.  She could hardly believe they’d managed to
pull it off.

Erin soothed the
baby.  His crying began to subside almost as soon as she’d removed the wet
clothing.

Standing shakily,
she struggled out of her own wet clothes and left the baby long enough to grab
something to dry off with.  She’d just tucked the towel around her when
the door to the cabin was flung open with a force that cracked the wall behind
it when it slammed into it.

Jesse stood in
the doorway, swaying slightly. He’d shifted into his man form for the first
time since they’d fled the panther clan’s compound and didn’t have so much as a
stitch of clothing to cover him.  Blood coated him liberally, dripping
from the fingers of one hand and running down one thigh.

“Is he alright?”

“I think the
explosion scared him.”

Jesse nodded and
shame filled Erin as she stared at him.  He was bleeding all over from the
bullets he’d taken to protect her and Joshua and she’d scarcely given him a
thought as she raced down with the baby.

Even now it was
hard to ignore the call of motherhood and leave the baby crying to see after
Jesse, but she resolutely dismissed the baby and surged toward Jesse, wrapping
her arms around his waist.  “Let me see to your wounds.”

He shook his
head.  “They’ll close.  I just need to rest.”

His words were
slurring and he leaned more heavily against her with each step.  She
barely managed to stagger across the room with him before he collapsed like a
felled tree face down on the bed.

Joshua let out a
yelp when the impact bounced him, his little arms flailing frantically. 
Erin made a dive for him as he came down again, gathering him close, but the
incident had scared him all over again.  She walked the floor with him
until she’d calmed him and then settled him carefully on the bed beside Jesse.

He was still far
from happy, but she thought he would be alright while she examined Jesse. 
Regardless, Joshua’s distress wore on her as she examined Jesse’s wounds,
distracting her.  Gritting her teeth, she tried to block out the fussing
and ignore the urge to coddle him, knowing Jesse had lost so much blood he needed
her attention far more at the moment.

If he’d been
human, she doubted he would ever have made it as far as he had without
collapsing.  She found two deep wounds and three superficial wounds that
were nevertheless bleeding profusely.

Leaping to her
feet, she rushed from the room to search for medicine and bandages.  The
cabinet in the bathroom was well stocked with just about everything. 
Grabbing a cloth and some disinfectant, she headed back into the bedroom to
bathe Jesse’s wounds so that she could see them better.

He was Lycan, she
reminded herself, trying to dismiss the anxiety eating at her.  His body
healed itself rapidly--unless the bullets they’d used had been silver and she
doubted that had been regular issue even considering the purpose of the island
facility.

They’d gone to
assault what they’d expected to be a Lycan stronghold though.

She gnawed her
lip worriedly, but she knew she couldn’t take the chance that the bullets
were
silver and would slowly poison him, draining the strength he needed to heal himself.

Leaving the bed
again, Erin pulled a drawer out of the chest across the room, grabbed a pillow
off of the bed to use as a mattress and finally settled the baby in the
makeshift crib.

When he seemed
quieted, she left him and went back into the bathroom to search for something
she could use to dig the bullets out.  Unfortunately, Juliette hadn’t left
a tray of medical instruments.  She had to make do with tweezers.

After sterilizing
them the best she could, she bent to her task, focusing on the glint of metal
she could see imbedded in his flesh rather the flesh itself.  She was
shaking all over and sick to her stomach by the time she’d dug the slugs out,
but a sense of relief filled her, too.  The bullets
had
been
silver.