Dauntless by Shannon Mayer

and went to stand next to Dan, who was guiding the boat down the coast.
    “How long before we have to disembark?” I asked, knuckling my back and suppressing a yawn.
    “We got company,” Dan said, jerking his head to the right.
    I turned to see a small row boat making its way towards us, two people waving like mad at us.
    “What do you think? Should we help them?” Dan asked.
    I frowned. “What do you mean? Of course we should help them!” I snapped. How could he think we would just walk away from someone in need?
    Dan grunted and spun the wheel with one hand, taking us out towards what I realized now was a floundering boat. As we drew closer, I saw, with great surprise, a young woman I recognized.
    “Annie?” I called out, dredging her name up out of my memory banks.
    Her blond head snapped up, purple highlights catching the morning sun. She frowned and then her eyes widened with recognition. “You didn’t get eaten!” she cried out. I smiled and then the smile faded as I recalled how afraid she’d been when she’d seen Sebastian passed out in the Jeep.
    What would she think when she saw a fully fledged Nevermore tied up in the bottom of the boat?
    We helped Annie and her brother on to the boat just as the wooden dingy they’d been in began to truly sink, water swelling over the sides and up through the bottom. The young man, he looked to be about thirteen or fourteen, cried out as we hauled him into our boat.
    “I can’t swim,” he whispered, his blue eyes wide, beads of sweat popping out on his forehead.
    I racked my brain. “You’re Dustin, right?” I asked. He nodded and I helped him into the cab and settled him into one of the seats. He glanced down at Jessica, looked away and then back again, letting out a scream as he scrambled to get away from her.
    “Shhh. She’s tied up. She won’t hurt you,” I said, trying to calm the suddenly frantic and terrified boy.
    Nero started to bark while Jessica let out a growl and attempted to lunge at Dustin.
    Dustin threw his body back, right into the controls. The boat lurched into action and I heard Dan yelp, but I didn’t look back. I grabbed at Dustin and all but threw him out of the cab, shoving him out past Jessica and into the waiting arms of his sister.
    Dan rushed past me. “What the hell!” he snarled, as he grappled with the controls. One look up through the window and I knew why he was scrambling. We were headed for a sharp out cropping of rocks that were scattered through this section of water—and we were a long ways from shore.
    “Brace yourselves!” Dan hollered, and I reached for one of the railings just as we hit the first rock. The boat shuddered, the hull groaning, and water started to roll in through the hole.
    Jessica let out a howl as the water splashed in around her. Of course; she would sink and she knew it. “Sebastian!” I yelped, as I pulled Jessica to a sitting position. She was chattering at me, her teeth clacking together, her yellow eyes wide with fear. I worked at her knots furiously until a hand tried to pull me away.
    “She’ll attack us!” Annie yelled at me, while Dustin muttered “I’m sorry.” Over and over again.
    I ignored him and answered Annie. “No, I won’t let her attack anyone. Besides, she’s more afraid of the water than anything else right now,” I said.
    Once she was free of the ropes, Jessica flung herself at me, clinging to me like a child. Her entire body was trembling, her breathing erratic and her clutch so tight it was almost unbearable. I turned to see where the others were. Dustin and Annie clung to one another; Dan had picked up Nero and Sebastian stood at the railing, staring out at the sky. At first I was angry—why hadn’t he helped me with Jessica? Why the hell was he just standing there?
    Very slowly my mind grasped what he must be going through. Both his father and his brother were killed in a boating accident, before we’d met. It had been a freak storm that swamped the