Page 132 of Tin God
“And in the winters?”
Jennie shook her head. “You’re not going to catch any sailboats in this area past September. Paulson could have parked that ship for months and no one but locals would even notice it.”
“And what if— Jaysus.” Brigid held on to the back of the counter as a massive wave rocked the boat.
“Or you could have a water vampire” —Jennie’s fangs fell— “guarding the entrance to the bay.” She struggled to keep the wheel steady. “And making sure that no vessels come your direction. Sam! Take this and let me get out there. Keep it steady.”
“Yes, Auntie Jen.” A young human who couldn’t have been more than twenty-five quickly took the wheel, and Jennie bolted off the bridge and ran to the bow of the ship.
Brigid tried to see through the increased onslaught of rain pelting the glass covering the bridge.
“You’re not gonna be able to see anything not on the radar from inside,” Sam said.
Brigid pushed her way through the wind and the water sloshing around the narrow side deck of the cruiser and peered around the corner to see Jennie locked in an epic battle with a massive wave bearing down on the ship.
“God in heaven.” Brigid lost her breath as Jennie swept an arm out and seemed to grab her own wave coming from the side, gathering the water in a massive column of icy slush she picked up from both sides of the boat and bashed into the supernatural wave that rose to block the channel that led into the bay.
Paulson had some powerful allies.
Another boat appeared from the darkness to their left, and Brigid saw a dark-haired man standing in the bow, his arms out and his hair streaming behind him. He leaned forward, seeming to embrace the water beating against their vessels, as two more twin waves on either side of his boat rose like orcas frozen in midbreach before arrowing toward the wall of water and joining Jennie’s assault.
The four waves speared through the barrier that guarded the bay and shattered the wall into a deluge that rained around them, and the two speeding cruisers shot straight into the heart of Paulson’s hidden empire.
“Woo-hoo!”
Brigid turned to see Carwyn standing next to Jennie, his arms spread out and his voice rising over the din of the engine.
“That wasbloody brilliant!”
Trust her husband to get a thrill from narrowly escaping a giant, boat-destroying wave. Brigid walked back inside and grabbed a towel that was hanging on the wall behind the ship’s wheel.
Sam looked as pale as a vampire, but he was holding steady. “I knew Auntie Jen would get rid of that wave.”
“Did ya now?”
“Uh-huh.” He nodded quickly “She’s the best.”
A few moments later, Jennie was back on the bridge of the cruiser, soaked to the skin as she took the wheel from Sam. “Two of Kelso’s crew are in the water, dealing with whatever vampire Paulson has stationed at the mouth of the bay.” Her voice was grim. “Do we have any clue how many vampires are on that ship?”
“None,” Brigid said. “TheNautilushas fifty-four cabins, but that could mean?—”
“A hundred vampires? More?” Jennie growled. “Against thirty-four of us.”
“Yep,” Brigid confirmed. “Against thirty-four of us, and Ben and Tenzin.”
Jennie shook her head. “That may mean something in the air, but it means nothing on the water.”
Ben swoopeddown and hooked Raj’s arm, lifting him from the water and carrying him back toward the red-lit boat where Brigid and Carwyn were speeding toward theNautilus.
“Raj,” Ben shouted over the wind. “Good to see you.”
“Been a while.” Raj had a cut across his belly that was already closing. He also had a harpoon gun. “Take me to that ship. I’m armed now.”
“Aww, did you find a new toy?”
“Oh yeah. I love it when toys nearly impale me,” Raj shouted. “Luckily, my new diving knife works.”
“I’ve been stabbed underwater myself,” Ben offered. “Not an experience I’d like to repeat.”