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I could tell the others were listening, so I did the sa it back and forth over the waters It was unusual to stretch my senses so far and not be overrun with manmade sounds and voices These were peaceful noises: birds calling, winds rushing, swells of water lapping And then the deep whir of a boat engine followed by talking and laughter

My heart shot into overdrive, and the five of us became like statues at once Kaidan’s eyes locked on mine The Dukes were really here

I closedas they drew nearer Soon they were close enough that I didn’t have to useanymore The post jolted under my hands as the boat hit the dock with a thu us close our eyes and hold our breaths We hung on to avoid being swept away When the water settled, I slowly reached up to wipeout in exciteuished four fenized Maht away Then Pharzuph’s rich English accent, another Englishht Japanese accent that I assued to Melcho oing all the way under, but was afraid ofnoise when I had to come back up for air

I heldto the house As they passed by us, I fully expected Pharzuph to stop in his tracks and make a remark about the stench in the air as he always did when I was around But toIt worked! When all nine of the it back and forth to drain water fro through the trees up to the house Kaidanbecause he shook his head at ht one hand out of the water and spelled out, Do not listen

Ick That was probably a good idea

It was difficult to discern the passing of tiing by the sunlight filtering in, it was late afternoon At sohnumb now My feet were heavy in their wet shoes I wondered how long we could stay here like this The water teh sixties, and it would drop as the sun went down

The body was capable of a as the ood colanced at Zania She was zoned out, staring at the water with pursed lips I couldn’t tell, but I didn’t think she was listening Kope either His eyes were closed in meditation Now and then Kaidan and Blake would share looks of raised brohichon up at the house

I raised one hand from the water and spelled out, Is Flynn okay?

Kai and Blake both nodded and I relaxed

I’an My head was so clouded with lost thoughts that I hadn’t noticed the gradual darkening outside Island insects began screeching their songs to one another My jaw shook, and I cla One look at Zania’s bluish lips told

Minutes? Hours? It had to have been hours that we floated there I’d never been so cold Would the Dukes stay the night at the island? The thought of being in the frigid water overnight caused ain I was so numb I didn’t feel cold any wereEven the three boys took to shuddering off and on Zania had wrapped her arainst it with her eyes closed Her jaw shook Kaidan wore a worried expression as he watched me I wanted to reassure hi with any cohtened me to be out of control of led to use ht froone blank A sickening urge to laugh rose up within h and I sucked in a breath with a squeak, letting go of the pole and flailing for a h my stiff li one ar the other cold hand over le surfaced and he cla me closer He felt warh to realize I’d allad for it My ain and Kaidan kept close behind htened his grip and I knew so

I heard two sets of footsteps and the voice of Duke Astaroth and a woman They passed the boathouse and stood at the end of the dock by their boat What were they doing? I hated not being able to see

On the other side of the post one of the planks arped and had a large chink at the edge I slowly shiftedto the hole so Kai would knohat I was doing He gave ht be-careful look and held e nail that protruded froh to boost ht like binoculars Through the angled crack I saw the like a blond romance cover model, and a dark-haired woman