Part 8 (1/2)

His fingers dug in harder. ”Tell me.”

Fury filled those bloodshot eyes, and fear. Perrin was flung suddenly backward, against the rail-as if swatted by a giant, invisible hand. The old man cried out at the same time, writhing. Sajeev shouted.

”c.r.a.p, he's bleeding,” Rik said, reaching for a blanket. He pushed it hard against the bullet wound and gave Perrin a hateful look.

Perrin didn't bother standing. He crawled on all fours to the old man, who watched him like he was a shark coming in for the kill. Eddie stepped between them. Smoke curled from his back. Perrin didn't care.

”I'll kill you,” whispered the old man. ”I'll f.u.c.king snap all your necks if you t-touch her.”

”No,” Perrin said, voice strained to breaking. ”If she's the woman I think she is, I will help her. I will do anything to keep her safe. You have my word.”

”Bulls.h.i.+t.” Tears of frustration gathered in his eyes. ”G.o.d help me, but I won't l-let you hurt her.”

”Perrin,” Rik snapped. ”Perrin, stop this.”

Perrin searched the old man's eyes. ”There was a house where bad things happened. A house near a beach. And it's happening again, those bad things.”

Eddie, who had been reaching for him, hesitated. The old man's eyes narrowed, but the sharpness was fading into fatigue, and pain. ”That wouldn't be a s-secret if you're C-Consortium.”

Rik froze. Eddie made a small sound of disbelief. ”How,” he began, then stopped himself for one long, thoughtful moment.

”Sir,” he continued, very deliberately. ”We're not . . . them. We're part of an agency called . . . Dirk & Steele.”

The old man twitched, staring-then closed his eyes. ”Oh, h.e.l.l.”

Perrin didn't think he sounded particularly relieved. Sajeev pulled the blanket away and peered at the bullet wound. ”His bleeding is slowing.”

Eddie crouched. ”Sir? Who hurt you?”

”Never mind that,” Perrin muttered, leaning past the young man. ”The woman. Where is she?”

The old man's eyes snapped open, and he focused on Perrin with new, raw intensity, a searching gaze, relentless and cold. Perrin stayed still, letting him take his fill, hiding nothing.

”Red hair, g-green eyes,” he whispered finally. ”That's my Jenny. She's on a boat. Been drifting a long t-time, so I don't know where. She might even be d-dead by now.”

”She's not,” Perrin said, thinking of his dream. ”Where were you when you were attacked?”

The old man rattled off coordinates that made no sense, but Sajeev nodded as if he understood and looked at Eddie. ”Many islands near that place, but the waters are deep. Good fis.h.i.+ng. Not far, either.”

”We have to go there,” Perrin told him. ”Right now.”

Eddie grabbed his arm, fingers burning against his skin ”We need to talk.”

Perrin opened his mouth to argue, but the look in the young man's eyes stopped him. He nodded once, began to stand-and a cold, grizzled hand grabbed his wrist with surprising strength. Bloodshot eyes burned into his own.

”I still need that radio,” whispered the old man, but even as he said the words, his grip loosened, that crazed gaze becoming gla.s.sy, dim. Perrin caught his hand as it slipped away. The old man struggled to stay conscious, his eyes rolling around in his head, mouth moving. A visceral fight. Perrin could not look away, and a hot streak of admiration filled him. The old man was strong.

But he finally closed his eyes, and his grip went totally slack. Sajeev pressed fingers against his neck.

”Still alive,” he announced. ”Bleeding again.”

”Telekinetic,” Eddie murmured raggedly, and gave Perrin a hard look. ”What is going on? I thought we were here because of a problem in the ocean.”

”We were. We still are. But this”-Perrin steadied himself, seeing those green eyes again-”is something else. Something I didn't expect.”

”Right,” Rik said sarcastically. ”You expect us to believe that?”

Perrin didn't answer. No good protesting. But Eddie searched his face, shadows gathering in that old hard gaze. ”Yes. I believe him.”

”I need to find her,” Perrin said, surprised at how his voice broke.

”And this man needs medical attention,” Eddie replied. ”Malaysian Coast Guard is coming. We're going to meet them. But if we go off course-”

”I know.” Perrin took a deep breath and stared at the ocean. He could feel it beneath him, all around him, cold and immense and sleeping with endless power. Entering the sea would be a death sentence, but he had known that. Death now, death later.

But if the others of his kind discovered his presence, and he died too soon . . . so many would suffer. Might suffer anyway. He wasn't certain he could stop what had begun.

”I'll go alone,” he said quietly, making his decision. ”Just point me in the right direction.”

”No.” Rik stood, golden light burning in his gaze. ”I don't know what the h.e.l.l you think you're doing, but we came here for one thing only. You won't abandon that for some-some-”

”Woman,” Perrin finished for him. A friend, he almost added.

Rik made a rough sound. ”A woman. You going to kill this one, too?”

Perrin flinched. All he could hear for a moment was his heartbeat, the rasp of his breathing, all the essential parts of him scuttling into the dark corners of his soul. Hiding. Small. Afraid of remembering too much.

He knew which woman Rik was referring to.

But there was no way he knew about the second woman whose life Perrin had taken.

”You will never understand,” he said to Rik. ”I don't expect you to. I told you then I was sorry.”

Rik snarled, swaying on his feet. He looked ready to kill. Under other circ.u.mstances, given the history between them, Perrin might have given him the chance. But there was a girl with green eyes on a boat who needed him, and for the first time in eight years, Perrin had a purpose beyond mere survival. His hand twitched into a loose fist.

Eddie stepped in front of him, giving them both a disgusted, weary look. ”Go, Perrin. You said yourself, from the beginning, that you only needed us to get you out here. I hope this is close enough.” He focused on Rik. ”You going with him?”

Rik set his jaw and said nothing. Perrin smiled, grim. ”Sajeev. What direction are those coordinates?”

”West,” he said, holding a new bottle of water against the old man's slack mouth. ”Follow the stars west, and when you hit your first island, head south.”

”Might as well look for Never-Never Land,” Rik muttered, which was a reference Perrin did not understand though he comprehended the meaning. These were terrible directions. A needle, as humans might say, in a haystack. But if that was all he had, then it would have to be enough.

Perrin stripped off his clothes. Sajeev began laughing quietly, which he ignored as he walked naked to the rail. Both Rik and Eddie stared as well, which bothered him only slightly more.

So few had ever seen his scars.