Marked by the Vampire by Cynthia Eden Page B

erupted.
    But this time, the gunfire wasn’t aimed at her or Shane.
    She peeked over her shoulder.
    The werewolf had hit the ground. The bullets had hit him.
    “Silver bullets, but I didn’t hit his heart so
hurry the hell up!”
    Her head whipped back around. That was the pilot talking. The pilot who was frantically motioning toward them and telling Shane to, “Move the hell on, vamp!”
    The pilot wasn’t sounding the alarm? He was helping them?
    Shane pretty much tossed her into that seaplane. He followed in right behind her.
    “Damn nice timing, Connor,” Shane muttered. “I owe you.”
    “You sure as hell do.”  The guy—Connor—was back in the pilot’s seat.  He was flipping dials and pushing some buttons and the plane was starting to move. “Now hold on, because we’re going out fast and hot.”
    She held onto the seat with a death grip.
    The plane sent water flying into the air as it pulled away from Purgatory, heading out toward the ocean, then going up and up.
    Escape.  
    Olivia looked back at the island.  The guards were still on the ground.  And the werewolf was moving.  Crawling toward…Evan?  Yes, the guard was fumbling for his weapon but—
    Her eyes squeezed shut when she heard his scream.
    “Things on Purgatory are FUBAR,” Shane said flatly.
    She swallowed the lump in her throat.
    “Get Pate. He needs to send men in there to take over right away,” Shane continued, his voice a rumble that she could barely hear over the engines. “The warden’s dirty, just like the last one, and whoever is pulling the strings on that place—whoever is in control back in D.C.—they want the paranormals on the edge out there.”
    She opened her eyes. Saw the waves beneath them.
    “What the hell happened down there?” Connor demanded. “I got word from the boss that I needed to go in because he’d gotten Intel that some big powerhouse had come in at the island.”
    She turned her head. Found Shane watching her with eyes that seemed strangely cold. Suspicious.
    “A powerhouse did come in,” he agreed as he stared at Olivia. “But you can radio Pate and tell him that particular situation has been contained.”
    It had? From where she was sitting, nothing was contained at Purgatory.
    “Tell him…” Shane continued as he reached over and grabbed a black bag. The pilot’s bag?  Shane pulled out a set of gleaming, silver hand-cuffs. “Tell him that I have her.”
    Her?
    Then Shane grabbed her wrists. He locked the cuffs around her as she stared at him in shock.
    “Pate needs to know that I’ve got a djinn.”
    “Are you crazy?” Olivia shrieked. But the plane was loud now, its engines whirling at full power. She could barely hear her own voice. “
What are you doing?”
    Even above the roar of the plane, she heard his clear and cold response, “Containing you.”
    ***
    “Take off the handcuffs, Shane.”
    The seaplane had just touched down off the Washington coast. It wasn’t a location that saw much air traffic—in fact, Shane would guess that the rickety dock didn’t see much traffic at all.
    “I know you heard me. Take them
off.
”
    Connor killed the engines. He glanced back at them, one brow raised.  “I think we both heard you, Dr. Maddox, but if Shane says you need to be contained…” His golden eyes narrowed on her.  Obviously, he thought she was a threat. “You’re being contained.”
    Her mouth opened, closed, then opened again.  Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes gleamed. “This isn’t happening, I wish you would—”
    Shane hated to do it. Oh, damn, he hated it, but he gagged her then.
    Fear flashed across her face when he tied the small rope behind her head. He’d moved so fast that she hadn’t been given the chance to fight him.
    “Uh, yeah…” Connor’s voice was guarded. “When are you going to update me on what’s going on with her?”
    “Soon,” he promised. As soon as he had her calm and—
    Olivia tried to head-butt him.  And for the