Chills & Thrills: Three Novel Box Set by A. K. Alexander Page B

I pictured Hope’s face from the photo that I had now looked at over a hundred times. Her face was etched in my mind. I wanted to reach out and touch her as I knew without ever truly meeting this child that I was developing a connection with her—maybe that was sisterly love, or maybe that was my empathy for a little girl who was having to endure a similar situation that I went through concerning Orlenda twenty years ago. Whatever it was, it was there.
    I don’t know how much time passed but it started with a whisper. It wasn’t Hope. It was another woman. She was speaking French. Fortunately, I also spoke French.
    “She’s settled again. She’s been sedated as the last thing we want is for Kylie or any of the others to gain access to her.”
    “What makes you think they won’t gain access to either of us?”
    “I have a shield in place. Grant Simms is a good teacher.”
    My stomach started hurting, because I didn’t feel right about this. It was too damn easy. Whoever the woman was, she couldn’t have put a shield in place, or else she wasn’t nearly as gifted as she presumed.
    There was something about the tone in the woman’s voice that I thought I recognized. I tried to keep listening. Keep breathing—not focus on Simms or anyone else.
    “Yes, I suppose he is,” Orlenda said.
    “So good, in fact, that Kylie Cain is about to get the surprise of her life.”
    My eyes shot open as I heard the low whistle before I ever had a chance to spot it.
    I ran from the galley, pushed Ayden hard into the water and jumped in alongside of him, just as the missile hit the boat, and everything went dark.
     
     
     
    Chapter Twenty-five
     
     
    “Kylie! Kylie! Come on! Wake the hell up! Come on!”
    I could hear Ayden’s voice. I felt his strong arms around me. I wanted to answer him but couldn’t speak. I felt so light and warm, and distant, yet in a strange way also close. Was this what being in another dimension or universe felt like? I didn’t know. To me, it felt really good, but I could hear the fear and desperation in Ayden’s voice so I pushed myself to speak and come back.
    “I’m here,” I muttered.
    “Thank God. Hang on, Ky.”
    I tried to swim with him.
    “No, no, no. Let me do the work,” he said.
    “I don’t need a hero,” I replied, water lapping up into my mouth, causing me to cough.
    “Right now, maybe you do. Just hang on.”
    I wanted back into that other realm right then. I hated depending on anyone. Much less a man. I was starting to feel some pain in my right leg.
    We made it to a floating dock. Ayden pulled himself up first and then helped get me out of the water.
    After I lay on the wooden walkway for a moment, catching my breath, Ayden lifted me and placed me on a wooden bench that stank of fish guts. I could hear his labored breathing. Note to self—maybe I needed to drop a few pounds.
    “Jesus, Ky, you okay?”
    “My leg hurts, but I think it’s just bruised....”
    “Let me have a look.”
    I nodded and sat back while Ayden gently examined my leg. He winced. “It’s not a bruise, Ky.”
    “What is it?”
    “There’s something embedded in your leg. Wood, I think. Probably from the boat itself.”
    I tried to sit up as a wave of dizziness swept over me. I gasped and said, “We can’t see a doctor. They’ll ask too many questions and call the local police.”
    Just as I said the words, I heard the first of the sirens. The first of many, in fact.
    “I have a better idea. Do you trust me?”
    He shouldn’t have had to ask me that. Truth was, I trusted Ayden with my life. And up to a few minutes ago, I had trusted Noah, too. I nodded my head vigorously, or as vigorously as I could. “Of course.”
    “Good, because I know someone who can fix you right up.”
    “Someone?”
    He brought his fingers to his lips and lowered his voice. “Not now. We don’t know if whoever sent that dagger after us is close by. For now, we have to get the hell out of here.”
    I made a move