arm so that his fingers dug into the muscles. “You jacked in?”
Clay snorted and then shivered. “Eww…yeah. I am.”
“What ewww?” the blind man asked.
“It…it feels different here by the shore. Slithery. Wet.”
It sounded like Grey choked on a laugh. “I’m gonna have to check that at home. I’m not sure slithery is a word.”
“Whatever. Do your job so this mental octopus will stop sliding around my soul.”
Cort had no idea what the hell they were talking about. It was the weirdest conversation he’d ever heard, but he didn’t want to say anything to remind them that he was even there. He stood watching them for a second and was about to glance around them to make sure no one was approaching when a sharp gasp left Grey’s throat and he stiffened.
“Oh, God. I see him,” Grey whispered.
“What? You can see?” Cort demanded, moving around to look at Grey’s face. He was stunned when he found that Grey’s eyes were actually closed, his head bent toward the ground.
“No. In my mind. I can see him. The Asian man sitting in the sand right there.” Grey raised his hand and unerringly pointed down the beach to a man with deep blue-black hair in jeans and a T-shirt. “He glows like this bright blue beacon while everyone is this pale white light. It’s him. Our missing brother.”
“Got it.”
“Also, there are half a dozen pestilents at the top of the beach there, heading his way. We gotta move now.” Grey’s hand shot up the beach toward two groupings of three people walking briskly toward the unsuspecting Asian man.
“Shit. Got it.” Clay pried Grey’s hand off his arm and pointed the man toward Cort. “Take him to the SUV. Lock the doors. If things start getting bad, get him back to the plantation.” Clay pulled his keys out of his pocket and pressed them into Cort’s hand.
“No! We’re not leaving you!” Grey shouted. “Lucien’s car is only two seats. No one is getting left behind!”
Clay ignored Grey and pinned Cort with a dark look. “Keep him safe.”
Cort grabbed Grey’s arm and attempted to pull him down the beach, toward the parking lot and the safety of the SUV.
“I’m not leaving him,” Grey snarled.
“We’re not. I promise,” Cort countered.
Grey’s face swung around, his eyes wide even if they couldn’t see him. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not. We won’t leave your family, I promise, but we have to get to safety. If they see you here, it will be a distraction, right? You don’t want to distract Clay or Lucien if there’s a fight.”
Grey frowned at him for a moment before he finally nodded. Thank God he could at least still see reason. They walked as quickly as Grey could manage through the shifting sand, leaning heavily on Cort to hold his balance.
“Has Clay reached him?” Grey asked.
Chancing a glance over his shoulder, Cort spotted Clay talking to the man who was now standing. The stranger’s head was cocked to the side as if he wasn’t quite sure what to make of Clay.
“Yeah, they’re talking.” His gaze continued across the sand until it fell on the other men Grey had pointed out. “Shit! Those other men are now running toward Clay.”
“Lucien?”
Screams broke out among the sunbathers, and Cort was at a loss for words. Three of the men had burst into flames. He couldn’t get his legs to move. He was trained to be a first responder, had helped with accidents in the past, but this…this was so much worse.
“What’s going on?” Grey demanded, helping to snap Cort from his horror.
“Three men are on fire…and Lucien…it looks like his hand is on fire, but he’s not panicking. I need to go help those men. I—”
Grey’s hand tightened almost painfully on Cort’s arm, holding him in place. “No. Those are bad men. They mean to kill me and my family. Please, you said you’d trust me. If you get near them, they will kill you.”
Cort hesitated and finally nodded, then remembered that Grey couldn’t see the gesture. “Okay. Let’s go. Clay is urging the man to follow us.”
“Good. Clay will help Lucien and join us when he’s safe.”
Cort started to move, but he struggled to tear his eyes from the vines that seemed to slither down the beach toward the remaining three men. He had to be seeing things. His eyes were playing tricks on him in the shifting sands. Forcing his gaze forward, he needed to focus on getting Grey to safety.
But it was too late.
A man