CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

THE ISLAND

A familiar, yet irritating sound forced my eyes open some hours later. I was deliriously confused and my mouth was drained of moisture, as if I’d been gnawing a sock. I attempted to swallow, and blinked through fuzzy eyes. Where am I? On the third ring of my cell phone I jolted up in bed. With shaking hands and a queasy stomach, I answered.

“Hello?” My voice came out husky.

The other end of the line crackled. “Anna? Is that you?”

I pressed a hand over my heart, so relieved to hear Kai’s voice. I cleared my throat. “It’s me.”

“Sounds like you smoked a pack of ciggies.”

I smiled. If he was making jokes, then he was okay.

“Did you get Z?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Oh, thank you, God,” I whispered. “That was fast. Did it go okay?”

“Not exactly, although Kope was brilliant.” His voice held a reluctant admiration.

“What do you mean not exactly?”

“We can’t find Flynn. He sent a message just as we were getting her out. Said he thought he was being tailed. There was a lot of commotion nearby, but we haven’t heard from him since.”

I gripped the sheets as icy fear clawed my belly.

“Have you told my dad?”

“Yes. He hasn’t heard from Flynn either. He told us to head for the airport with or without him.”

“Oh, my gosh,” I whispered. I imagined Flynn’s gigantic smile. Please let him be okay. “Do you think someone saw you guys?”

“No. I think he would’ve looked like a spy if he was caught keeping watch from his vantage point, but no humans would think to link us.”

“Let’s think positive,” I said, more for my benefit than his. “I’m sure he’s fine. Right?”

“Yeah.” But he didn’t sound so sure. “Your dad’s got human helpers here, too. I’m sure they’re on it. We’re keeping an eye out for him.”

Right now I desperately wanted them on a plane, headed to safety. All of them.

“Is Z okay?” I stood, grasping my pounding head, and padded to the bathroom for a drink of water.

“She’s skittish and won’t speak, but she’s coming along without complaint now that she’s recognized Kope, and I showed her your picture. We had one incident, but nothing to worry about. Is everything all right there?”

“Yes. Everything’s fine here. I just want you to come home.”

There was a crackly pause, and then, “I like hearing you say that.”

Home. It was a wonderful word. “I love you, Kai. Be safe.”

“We will. I’ll text you with our flight information. I’ve got to run.”

When we hung up, I drank a glass of water and climbed back into bed, all nervous energy as I thought about Flynn. He was strong—a fighter in more ways than one. It’d be hard to take him down. Still . . . what if he’d been captured? What if we exchanged one jailed Neph for another?

I was gnawing my cuticles when Blake barged in. His hair was flat on one side and stuck straight up on the other. He flopped down on the other side of the bed, pillow lines on his face.

“What’s up, drunkie?” he asked. “Was that Kai?”

“Yep. They got her.”

“Nice.” He reached out for a fist bump from where he lay. “See. Nothing to worry about.”

“Flynn is missing.”

He sat straight up. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. He thought he was being watched or followed, and then . . .”

“It’s all right. Don’t get upset.” He reached for my hand. “Come on. Let’s get something to eat and we’ll talk.”

I was too jittery at the diner Blake took us to, so we ended up getting our food to go and keeping low-key at Kai’s apartment. We watched television and played video games but I couldn’t stop peeking at my phone, becoming antsier with each passing hour.

The call finally came.

“Hello?” I said.

“Everyone is safely on a plane,” came Dad’s voice. “The summit is over. I’m in Reno again. Some of the Dukes are heading home and some are staying in Vegas longer.”

“Flynn’s okay?” I asked.

“He’s fine.”

I took a deep breath and let it out. “What happened?”

“Two humans found him acting suspiciously and wanted to turn him in. He had to fight them to get away and lost his phone in the scuffle. He lay low after that, but he made his way back to Damascus and the airport without any more incidents.”

All I could do was breathe.

“They’ll be in L.A. tomorrow afternoon,” he said. “You’ll need to get Z settled at the convent and then head back to Georgia. I’m going back to Vegas to keep an eye on Sonellion until he leaves. I wanna make sure he buys the story of Z’s purchase by an unknown buyer. You okay there?”

“Yeah,” I whispered. “I’m okay now. I’m with Blake.”

“All right. I’ll be in touch tomorrow.”

I ended the call with a grin of relief. Blake’d obviously been listening because his pierced brow bobbed up and down.

“Wanna go clubbin’ again?” he asked.

“No freaking way!” I laughed. He was crazy.

“Okay then. Play me in the dance game?”