Tempest (#1 Destroyers Series) (28 page)

Janelle’s legs seemed to have turned to
stone. Even Mr. Deville froze, holding his mother up as she pressed
a hand to her head. The roar grew louder and filled her ears.
Taller. Closer.

Her father stood his ground, facing down the
wave. Another wave rose in front of him. The yacht dipped in its
wake. Janelle’s stomach rose up into her chest. She scrambled for
the railing, something to hold onto.

He raised both arms like he was pushing an
invisible wall away. His wave lurched forward, rising as it raced
out to meet Andrina’s.

“Janelle, come on!” Mr. Deville broke his
paralysis and took her arm with his free hand.

A deafening crash sounded through the air and
shook the boat as the two waves met. An explosion of water rose up.
Janelle gripped the railing as the boat lurched.

The tingling came back in a rush, and now it
was worse. Stronger. Overpowering. Her legs ached to jump over the
rail.
No!
She shook her head to clear out the urge. It
refused to let go. She might resist it for another few hours—if she
was lucky.

“Joey! Go get the first aid kit,” Mr. Deville
ordered as he helped his mother down the stairs and into the cabin.
“She hit her head on the rail. Might have a concussion.”

Janelle dashed inside after him and shut the
door, standing against it for good measure. But the tingling only
got stronger. No, no…she had to get back out there. And do what she
had to do. She had to get to the water. Her legs made to turn her
around, but…
no, Janelle!
Losing control…she was losing
control. Her knuckles paled as she gripped the windowsill to stop
herself.

Gary appeared and clamped his hands down on
her shoulders. “Away from the door, Janelle.”

Even his grip did nothing to stop it. “Let go
of me!” Janelle thrashed against his grip. A breeze whipped through
the inside of the cabin, blowing papers off a nearby table and
swirling them in the air.

“Hold her down,” Camellia said from
somewhere.

Janelle broke loose, bolting for the door,
eager to make this stop. Footfalls thudded behind her. She yanked
the door open so hard it squealed and came off its track.

“Get back inside!” Her teacher squeezed into
the doorway, pushing her back. “Come back to the cot and I’ll find
the tape player.”

Something about his voice made her stop. The
tingle melted away and the breeze died.

Janelle let out a huge breath and a croak.
That had been
way
too close. “This urge. How do I make it
stop?”

“You don’t.” Mr. Deville’s gray eyes widened
as he stared down at her. “It only goes away after you change. I’ll
make sure you don’t go anywhere for the time being.” He pushed her
back to the cot. “Time’s shorter than ever.”

Another crash sounded outside. The yacht
trembled in the shockwave. More this time. God. Her father had
blocked another one of Andrina’s waves, but he was losing. She was
getting closer every second.

Leslie backed into the booth as they passed.
“Janelle, your eyes didn’t look right a minute ago. Are you
okay?”

“Fine.” Big lie.

Mr. Deville bent over to snatch the tape
player and a loose battery. “Alright. Let’s pray this thing still
works.”

“Hank.” Deon’s voice cut through the air as
the hum of the boat faded and died. He appeared in a doorway to the
front. “We’re in some deep crap, my friend. You up for a
fight?”

Janelle’s stomach lurched. There was no way
to do this in time now.

Her teacher sighed. “We’re out of fuel,
aren’t we? I told you we should have filled the tank the second we
got to Alara.”

Out of fuel. And out of luck.

“That was kind of hard when Andrina was
coming right at us. Look, we can argue later. They’re closing in.”
Deon wiped his palms on his pants and ran out the sliding door.
“Lucas! We’re coming out to back you up!”

“I’m out of commission,” Camellia said,
dabbing a towel to her head. Joey leaned over her, but she waved
him away. “You go. I can hold this myself.”

Gary headed for the doorway after Joey,
stopped, and turned to face her. His chest heaved up and down as he
spoke. “Janelle, I have to say—”

“Go!” Camellia yelled with a howl in her
voice.

Gary followed the others outside as another
crash rattled the boat. He grabbed the railing to keep from going
overboard.

“Careful!” she yelled out after him. Her
stomach ached and her limbs turned into rubber. God, what if he got
hurt out there? Or worse? And it would all be because of her.

A sob started creeping up in her throat. If
she wound up doing what Andrina wanted, she wouldn’t deserve him,
anyway. She wouldn’t deserve anything. She’d be a mass murderer. A
monster.

She’d die.

Leslie hugged her knees in the booth, eyes
big as she breathed shallow with a wheezing sound. Janelle wished
she could give her a hug, but what good would it do? She might not
even survive today.

“What now?” she asked instead. Another ache
to run outside stole over her. But this one was different. This one
was called Gary.

“You’re not going anywhere after that display
you just gave us,” Camellia said, folding the bloody towel and
pressing it against her face again. “Sit next to me, would you?
It’s not like you can do anything about the brainwashing with all
this fighting going on. There’s always a chance we could drive them
off and have you listen to the tape in a while.” Her tone didn’t
sound too hopeful. “And you won’t be any good to Gary out there,
especially if you go overboard.”

Janelle forced herself to sit and tune out
the shouting, crashing, and roaring going on somewhere on the deck.
It was the hardest thing she’d ever done. Gary was out there,
fighting. Fighting for her, while she couldn’t even help. She was
in here, worthless. But Camellia was right. She’d just end up
overboard if she went out there, and Gary wouldn’t want that. And
this might be her last moment of sanity.

Leslie whimpered as a loud bang sounded
outside.

“Don’t worry. We’ll get through this,”
Janelle told her.

Another bang. Another whimper.

A metallic smell invaded her
nostrils—Camellia’s blood. Janelle winced and made to help her hold
the towel up.

“Oh, don’t feel sorry for me.” Camellia held
up an arm. “I’m not a nice woman. I killed hundreds of people and
ruined lives, and I enjoyed it. And it’s partly my fault that all
this is happening.”

Her fault? If she hadn’t busted them out of
the freezer, Andrina would’ve had her already. “You…you got me off
Alara,” Janelle stuttered.

Nothing from Camellia. The old woman leaned
back and rested her head on the wall. Even Leslie had gone
quiet.

The calm before the storm, Janelle
thought.

The wind outside died. Then there came a new
noise: the hum of a motor and the parting of water. It only meant
one thing.

Andrina had arrived.

“You hide, girl.” Camellia pointed to Leslie
and then down the hall. “Janelle, you find a room and barricade
yourself in it. I’ll buy you some time.”

Time to move. Janelle bolted to her friend
and took her arm. “Come on, Leslie. Snap out of it!”

Leslie shook her head as if woken from a
nightmare and stood without a word. All the color had gone from her
face.

Camellia pulled herself up by taking hold of
the booth. She shuffled over to the closet and spread her arms
across it. “I said hide. They’re almost here.”

Janelle started to move but stopped in
mid-step, gripping Leslie’s arm tight. The brown hull of the
fishing boat drifted up alongside the yacht and stopped with a
splashing sound. A wooden ramp descended from it with a bang.
Andrina would board any second now.

“You’re not taking her!” Mr. Deville shouted
from outside.

Janelle darted into the pale blue bedroom,
pulling Leslie along and slamming the door behind her. “I’ll
barricade the door. Here,” she said, gripping a bedpost. Within
seconds, she had the bed on its side up against the entrance. “Now
shut off the light.”

Leslie ran over to the switch. A click later,
near-darkness filled the room. It wasn’t dim enough to hide
Leslie’s slack jaw or her wide eyes. “Wow. I guess you weren't
kidding," she managed.

Janelle shushed her and held her breath. Her
legs threatened to go out from under her. Muffled voices and thumps
sounded from somewhere. A fight. Someone cried out as footfalls
thudded into the boat and grew louder. Her stomach dropped. What if
it was Gary? Or her dad?

Footfalls grew closer. They were inside.

“You’re not taking my granddaughter!”
Camellia shouted.

“Move away from the closet, Camellia. Let’s
not be unreasonable,” Andrina said outside the door. “I don’t want
to spill any Tempest blood if I don’t have to, especially yours. It
would be a shame to waste your great power, but I will act if I
have to.”

So Camellia was making Andrina think she was
in the closet. It would buy her maybe two minutes. Janelle searched
for an escape. The porthole was too little to crawl out of. If she
put a hole in the wall, she might end up sinking the boat.

“No. She’s not a weapon to be used. Your
plan’s barbaric, Andrina. You have no regard for the Natural Law.
I’m not going to be quiet about it any more.”

“You are calling me barbaric?” Andrina broke
out laughing. “You, the killer of over five hundred people?”

Silence fell for a few seconds. Janelle
glanced at Leslie, who’d squeezed into the corner. It was all
over.

“Sorry,” she mouthed to her friend.

Camellia’s voice rose. “At least I love my
family. Don’t try to help me, Janelle.”

A sick feeling blossomed in her stomach.
No!

A crash followed with the creaking of hinges.
Andrina let out a grunt of triumph. “She’s mine.”

They were hurting her grandmother. The words
exploded from Janelle’s mouth before she could stop them. “Leave
her alone!” The world blurred. Everything seemed to fall away. She
yanked the bed away from the door.

The door flew open a second later. Andrina
stood behind it, smiling.

Behind her, Camellia slumped against the
closet door, gasping for breath and holding her throat. Her eyes
bulged like a frog’s. Her skin had turned gray. She was
dying…dying.

“Janelle Morgen. It’s time.” Andrina took a
bold step into the room.

"That isn't my last name!" She had to get to
Camellia. Janelle charged.

Kevin and Ivanna blocked her way. Hands
clenched her arms like steel traps.

“Let go of me!” She tugged against their
grips. The world blurred. It was no use. Her grandmother—

“Now how are we going to do this?” Kevin
asked, gripping her arm tighter. “She’s going to fight.”

Andrina backed away, coming very close to
stepping on Camellia, not that she would have cared. “Well, I was
counting on the fridge to keep her weak, but thanks to my ex we
can’t do that. We’ll have to use the cage and the ice cubes.”

Janelle stopped thrashing. Cage? Ice cubes? A
cold rock seemed to settle in her stomach, as if she’d swallowed a
bunch already.

“Now keep a good grip on her and quickly
bring her over to our boat. We don’t know if the others will break
free,” Andrina ordered. “Though I don’t think it’s likely. And
leave the human girl. We’ll deal with her later.”

Leslie let out a breath from the wall.
Janelle did the same. She looked to her friend and shook her head.
Don’t try to help. Please
. She wouldn’t be responsible for
any more deaths than she had to be.

Andrina moved to the side to let Janelle’s
captors to pull her through the doorway. Camellia lay slumped
against the wall, arms limp against her suit. Her head had lolled
down onto her chest. Was it still going up and down? She couldn't
tell.

“Looks like she passed out.” Andrina nudged
Camellia in the hip with her shoe, the fake, sugary sweet mask gone
from her face, exposing the real monster within. “Kevin, make sure
you send someone to keep an eye on her. We can't waste her
abilities now."

Janelle’s breath caught in her throat. A numb
feeling filled her being. Her grandmother was just—

Ivanna and Kevin pulled her past her fallen
grandmother. The world went quiet, like it would stop forever.
Janelle felt too empty to cry.

“Why can’t we just shove her off the boat?”
Ivanna asked. “That’s easier. I’ve done enough in the past few
days.”

“You want to be standing right there when she
changes?” Andrina entered the living room. It was empty, with
papers scattered everywhere. “Curtis still has a broken arm from
when Gary did. And I don’t want any of you injured at the start of
our takeover.”

Janelle hung her head. She couldn’t breathe.
Operation Reckoning tightened around her like a noose.

Andrina yanked the sliding door open and they
stepped out into the morning air.

They were severely outnumbered.

The two black-haired men who worked on
Andrina's yacht stood on the deck, holding Gary by both arms. Joey
lay up against the side of the cabin, and blood ran out of his
crooked nose. He stared into the air, stunned.

“Dad?” Janelle searched the deck, all the
hope inside her flattening like roadkill. At least a dozen men and
women in pajamas held Mr. Deville and Deon prisoner against the
wall. Farther down, four suited Elder Council members stood around
her father, forming a tight square around him.

“Is this necessary, Ma’am?” an older man in
front of her father asked. His suit clung to his skin like a wave
had hit him head on. 

Andrina jabbed a finger towards him. “Yes, it
is. Now bring the others on deck so we can make sure they don’t try
anything funny. And we’re towing this boat back to Alara. We will
need a replacement for what we lost."