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Forever, Ethan said to me, then jumped down to the second deck

"It’s all right," I said, striding forward to the hu on to benches bolted to the deck in an effort to stay upright and keep froet you off the boat And onto the dock," I added, since getting them off the boat and into the water was a real possibility

The boat’s staff were downstairs, so I looked around, found so and reasonably cal, with tan skin, dark hair, and a faint mustache over his top lip that he probably wished was thicker

"You!" I said "What’s your name?"

"Phaoing to help me, okay?"

He sed hard, Ada in his thin neck "Okay"

I put a hand on his arlanced around, pointed to the closest stairway--or the boat’s half-ladder, half-stairway version of one--where people were pushing and shoving to get to the first deck The stairs were already leaning and slick, so pushing was a recipe for certain disaster "Go stand at the stairs," I said

"I can’t swi not to shed "I don’t want to drown"

"Pham, do you knoho I am?"

"Vampire," he said with a nod

"Exactly I’m immortal, which means this water can’t hurt me" Or so I hoped God, I really, really hoped "So one way or another, I will be here to et off this boat Okay?"

That seerit in his eyes, he nodded, then slip-slid down the leaning deck toward the stairway, squeezing his lean for himself at the access point "One person at a time!" he yelled out "One person at a time!"

I found another supervisor, a wo shoulders and a narroaist A swie of the opposite stairwell

"Get the fuck out of my way!"

I looked back, watched Pham work to stop a man in a suit who tried to push an older woet to the stairs first

And that was rabbed him by the arm I saw fury fire in his face, replaced by quick confusion, and then anger again when I pulled hi hands off me"

I hauled him closer by the lapels of his very expensive coat "You will notan asshole You can’t follow the rules, you go to the back of the line"

He tried to shove my hands away