He comes to a halt right in front of me, kicking up sand and dust around us as he takes off his helmet.
“Cross? You sent me the note?” I ask the second I recognise the red hair and grumpy face. “You have a way to get off the island?”
He offers me the helmet. “Get on and trust me, Riona. You have two minutes to make the choice.”
I grit my teeth, unsure if I can trust him, but I’m desperate enough to have no real choice in the matter. Taking the helmet from him, I slide it on and do up the clip before climbing on the quad bike behind Cross, wrapping my arms around his chest. “Hold on.”
I close my eyes and do just that, remembering my sixteenth birthday party when Austin and I rented out a dirt track and several of these bikes. Our parents paid for us to have lessons with our friends, and then we all raced. Austin beat me by a second, Arlo somehow got lost on the track, and many of my other friends gave up, knowing Austin and I were always the most competitive ones. He won a football match, and I would win a violin competition. He would break a record for the fastest swimmer at our school, and I went and did a painting of the school they hung up and celebrated. But that was us, always competing, always in each other’s shadow. I know some people might not have liked that, but we did. That’s why we chose the same university, why we were always close, and since coming to this island, I feel like a ship without an anchor. Arlo is my only real reminder of home, and when I’m around him, I ache more than usual for the things I miss.
Cross drives us for a good hour before slowing down and pulling into the clearing. There is a fire lit in the middle with at least thirty people standing around it. They all turn to watch as Cross climbs off and I take off the helmet.
“Everyone, this is Riona Dark, the one we discussed,” Cross calls out. “Of course, you are aware of her, Hector.”
“Hector?” I question, jumping off the bike, and he walks over to me.
“Oui, madame, not all vampires are free to leave the island, and this is my one chance,” he tells me, the flames flickering light across his features. He waves towards the group. “It is yours as well, Madame Dark.”
I take a wild guess that everyone here is human from the way they are crowded around the fire, the way they stare and move every so often in a nervous manner. I join Cross’s side with Hector on my other, looking around at the people in the group. Most of them are young and men, but there are three women on the ground. One is an old lady, I would guess in her seventies, and she smiles at me.
“Never before have we had a chance to escape like now. We do not know the exact time, but there will be a ship coming to the island that is not with the stealers, but with a vampire who owns it. He rarely comes back to the island, but I have heard from Prince Maddox he is visiting soon to see Riona Dark, the famous human who can’t be compelled,” Cross shouts out, and my cheeks burn as they all stare at me.
“Want to tell us how you can do that, kid?” the old lady calls out.
“I have no idea. If I did know, I’d bottle it up and hand it out like candy,” I reply, making a few of them laugh.
“Deborah, please let me finish,” Cross chuckles and clears his throat when everyone is silent. “With Riona’s help, I believe we have a shot. Nothing about this plan can go wrong. Deborah, would you explain your part?”
“Of course,” she states, stepping forward. “I have spent years of my life finding just the right ingredients to make a powder to knock out a vampire. We all know that only a blade enchanted by a witch’s death can kill a vampire.” She pauses. I did not know that. “But if you scrape the iron of the blade and mix it with several other ingredients, it does knock them out without seriously hurting them.”
“Thank you, Deborah,” Cross takes over. “I’m sure many of you would wish to see your captors dead, but many of us do not. We