again. My fingers released their hold, and I twisted around to try and get my remaining knife. Maybe I could stab the critter in the eye.
But then the gator let go and I popped up to the surface. Someone got their hands under my arms and dragged me upward, and I blinked up, not really sure who I was going to see, but I wasn’t expecting a swath of long blonde hair.
“Suzy?” I blinked up at the siren, who had a fierce snarl etched onto her pretty face. “How did you stop it?”
“Hey, I’m a swamp siren,” She grinned suddenly. “Gators are my jam. And you looked like you weren’t enjoying the whole ‘grab you by the feet and drag you under’ scene.”
Indeed, there was no more movement in the water as if the alligators were suddenly cowering—dead or not, they reacted to her magic. Suzy helped me to my feet, her power rolling out around her in waves. Weirdly enough, my ankle was not as bad as I’d figured it would be.
Thank all that was holy my leather pants and the boots I’d bought from Gerry were indeed the best of the best, because they’d just saved my ass. Or, in this case, my foot and leg. “You rock, Suze.”
“Of course, I do. Now let’s get us all the hell out of here. Eric has Charlotte out, and they’ll be back at the safe house in no time baking us cookies,” She dragged me up, and I wobbled forward. Okay, so maybe my ankle wasn’t in tip-top shape.
Hobbling as much as Penny now, I followed Suzy. Penny was waiting about twenty feet out of the water. Jacob, Missy, and Louis came up behind us, and I shot them a look. Jacob shrugged. “There were steps leading down here.”
Missy shook her head at me. “You could have killed Penny, you fool of a girl!”
“And you didn’t think to come help us?” I asked.
“Happened too fast,” Louis said, his voice nothing like that of the snotty, overconfident Frenchman I’d first met. “It all happened too fast.”
Fair enough, I’d give him that. “Yeah, I know. Let’s go.”
Suzy led us away from the water, and I found myself twisting around looking for Robert, who’d disappeared after my fall. I wanted to stop and check for him, but ultimately he was right. He was already dead, so what harm could come to him?
Oh, that was not the question to ask.
“Why did you come this way?” Suzy asked as she led us into a tunnel to the right. “I told that ex of yours to watch out for the cliff and stay to the right.”
I stiffened. “He’s my ex for a reason, and I’d kill him myself if I could.”
We were headed up a slope now, which meant we were nearing the surface at least. Missy walked with her back ramrod straight and stared straight ahead as if this was nothing to her. Penny was breathing hard, and I shot Jacob a look. He reached out and let her lean on him, and I leaned on Louis. Not because I was weak, but because I was pissed.
“You figured you’d butter that asshole up with the fairy cross, didn’t you?” I asked him.
Louis stiffened. He tried to shake me off, but I clamped my fingers around his skinny arms. “I don’t know what you are talking about.” Ah, there was the stiff, overconfident Frenchman.
I snorted. “Please. Eammon said you were gone, and I saw what you had hidden under your shirt. Did he not like it? Is that why you ended up on his bad side?”
Louis stared straight ahead toward the exit of the ride, where the first hints of daylight shined in. Maybe he was considering the wisdom of making a run for it.
Jacob snapped his fingers and pointed back at him. “You thought to ingratiate yourself with someone more powerful? You told me you’d found a new necromancer here to join our league!”
Oh, Louis was in trouble now. I just grinned at him, and he glared at me. “Je te deteste.”
“Yeah, back at you.” I smiled. “You were always slimy and useless.”
Jacob let go of Penny, his face red, and came at Louis. “You drew me into a trap that this sentinel has saved me from! A sentinel!”
Wait, what was this? Was I hearing what I thought I was hearing?
“Is that what I am? What the hell does that mean?” I spluttered out as we reached the end of the tunnel.