Siren's Surrender by Devyn Quinn Page B

chill consuming her.
    Blake pressed two fingers against her throat, checking her pulse. Her heartbeat was weak, almost nonexistent. “Gwen,” he whispered, emotion unexpectedly tightening his throat. “It’s Whittaker. I’ve got you, sweetheart. You’ll be okay.”
    He held his breath, ears straining for any sound from her. Let her be okay, please God , he silently prayed.
    Barely able to respond, Gwen cracked her lids. Her gaze was dull, laced with exhaustion. “Promise?” Her voice was little more than a weak rasp. The single word was so faint he barely heard it. Thick black lashes lowered against her bloodless cheeks. There was no spark, no animation. She was as limp as a rag doll.
    Blake’s inner reserve crumbled. He pulled her closer, trying to warm her body with his. He was cold to the marrow of his bones and couldn’t offer much. “I promise.”
    Even as he uttered the words, guilt sliced through him. He wasn’t supposed to care, but somehow he’d gotten sucked into a vortex of events he still couldn’t even begin to comprehend. As much as he wanted to protect her, deep down inside he doubted he could keep the pledge. Though Gwen didn’t know it yet, her life would never be the same once the agency found out about them.
    Neither will mine, came his grim thought.

Chapter 7
    T he morning no longer felt crisp, bright, or promising. There was trouble on Little Mer island. Big trouble.
    Jake Massey lowered his binoculars. “Shit! We’ve just been fucked.” He shook his head. And we didn’t even get a kiss for it.
    He didn’t have to be on the island to know Magaera’s soldiers had botched the attempt to take Tessa hostage. They’d apparently failed, and magnificently so.
    A swarm of boats and aircraft buzzed in from the mainland, some identifiable, others not so much. A small army went into motion, spreading across the landscape like the plague. A coast guard cruiser swept in from nowhere, circling the perimeter of the island like a shark looking for prey.
    The thing that bothered him most was the helicopters. A couple were clearly medical craft, used to transport the critically injured. No doubt people had been wounded and needed to be airlifted to the mainland. That made sense.
    But those weren’t the only choppers in sight. Two larger helicopters had also landed. Painted stark black, these had no identifiable markings whatsoever. Though not military, there was no doubt in his mind who owned the aircraft.
    Sweat popped up across his brow in tiny beads. He wiped them away. This wasn’t how he’d imagined the morning would end. “Damn, they got there fast,” he breathed. But how?
    The question nagged like a pesky fly. What the hell were the feds doing on Little Mer Island? Their response had been too immediate to be coincidence, which meant the place must have been under active surveillance.
    Are they looking for me?
    Whatever the answer might be, one thing was perfectly clear. They needed to leave these waters. And quickly. No reason to tempt the authorities into coming closer. The yacht was flying a Canadian flag. Though he and Niklos had valid passports, the Mer women living aboard the boat did not.
    Fury boiled up inside him, but he forced it to simmer. No time to lose his head. Blowing his temper wouldn’t do any good now. They’d only had this single chance, and it was gone. It didn’t matter who had messed up or why.
    Standing beside him, Niklos Sarantos laughed softly. “Didn’t go as smoothly as you thought it would.”
    Jake shot his partner a dirty look. “We’ve hit a little snag. Doesn’t mean we’re down yet.”
    Time to switch to the backup. Trouble was he didn’t know what plan B might be. He hadn’t believed Magaera’s soldiers could fail in such a simple task. There was no way anyone on the island could have known they were coming. No one would have expected an ambush in broad daylight.
    As it stood, the entire island was enveloped in chaos.
    A flurry of movement