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When they turned onto Shipyard Road, a black Mercedes sped out of the dark, slipping quietly between them and the red Eclipse The ser sedan, but the Mercedes continued to block its path

"Is that guy on our side?" Weylin demanded "Or just on crack?"

The Mercedes sla the little red car

Ree looked out theand her eye swirled like silverin the black car open its door and rush the others She knehoever was protecting the that would make her skin crawl

"Holy crap!" Melanie said loudly "He totally cut theh time We’re close now" Bryce turned the car down a slint of silver in the distance thatto take his eyes away from the immediate threat

"There’s a boat," Bryce said He slammed the SUV into park next to several expensive uy on the boat I hope he’s expecting us"

Everyone bailed out of the vehicle and rushed down the large wooden pier Ree looked back over her shoulder, but could see nothing through the shadows other than a large Victorian house When they neared the boat, a large man with a thick beard motioned them to hurry

"Coot worried when Roland called to tell us that you guys had co, just climbed into the boat Paden and Weylin helped push off the dock and they were out in the water, heading into the dark It was the biggest boat Ree had ever been on, leaht and Ree knew this was not a cheap boat

"You should be safe now I don’t think anything could get through our protection," The large man said almost kindly when Ree neared hihened his already gravelly voice Co from a mouth buried deep inside of his thick beard, it made his words even harder to understand

"Thank you," she replied as the ball of tension in her sto, but there was soreat deal of some of her uncles

"I’m Eric," he turned and offered her his hand

"Ree McKenna," She sulfed hers in a hearty handshake

"McKenna, huh? Seems like I remember some McKennas from around Guyton" He watched the darkened water as they pushed through Ree pulled her sweater tighter against her body Even inside the little cabin of the boat she could feel the bite of the Georgian winter Custo the coast, the wind had picked up, randparents live in Guyton, now," Ree replied, interested She hoped he would offer runted in a friendly fashion

Paden walked over to the a hand on her shoulder Despite feeling overwhelled at his touch She tilted her head up to look at hiht about it, the burning sensation in her chest and stos pressing on her

"Feeling better?" his voice was quiet, meant for her ears alone She nodded her head and offered hihtened on her shoulder before he turned to introduce hilad to see that Paden didn’t take his hand off of her as he talked to Eric about where they are going She let her gaze run over the others that had taken seats in the shts Bryce had his arm over Juliette’s shoulder, while she looked out of theWeylin atching Paden and Eric as they talked about where they were headed Melanie, on the other hand, atching Ree and Paden with a small smile When she met Ree’s eyes, she motioned for her to sit next to her on the bench She patted Paden’s hand before stepping over to the padded seat Melanie was occupying

"How are you doing?" Mel asked as she ood as the rest of you," Ree said She really did like Melanie and didn’t want there to be any bad blood between them over Paden "Really tired for some reason" Ree yawned as if on cue

"Oh, I don’t know Weylin and Bryce and I haven’t started glowing or growing fangs yet" Melanie laughed "See a little bit better than you" She held up her hand, her pointer finger and thuether to emphasize her statement

"Well, that’s true I wish I had a better idea of as going on" Ree sighed heavily She was so exhausted she could probably sleep for days She leaned back against the wall of the boat and fought the weight of her eyelids She tilted her head to the side in an atte onto her shoulders Her whole body was sore, like she had run a marathon in half the ti her eyes to water, and she sighed in defeat She doubted that even a case of energy drinks would uess this boss of yours will explain everything," Mel shrugged She was always so laid-back and relaxed; it made everyone else look like they were a wound up soccer s to tell you I wonder what it is that’s happening This is kind of exciting, you know? A ic voodoo"

"Yeah, well, I guess so" She really had no idea what Sophie was going to tell theht coentle The southern winter had taken an odd turn this Dece it colder and even rainier than usual A wicked storreat deal The waves threw thehly after every swell Ree tried to not think about the throbbing in her backside each time they crashed down, or the fact that if all of those little electric gadgets in on the console went out they would probably never make it to the island Eventually, an even darker shape than the surrounding water came into view, and the boat sloith a quiet shift of the hts flared to life on either side of what e stone and wood pier Melanie and Weylin hopped off and secured the boat as the others diseo

"Just head on up to the house," Eric hts sie lanterns on the dock lit up a path that led into the woods Ree yawned and stumbled after the others She stubbed her toe on the ra her lip, frustrated Why was she so tired?