Bloodbreeders: The Revenge (8 page)

“There’s only one reason for two pretty ladies to be walking the beach this late at night,” one man hollered.

“Yeah, and we want some of that reason,” another yelled.

“I think the ladies have had about enough of your mouths,” Sydney said, coming out of the dark shadows.

“I think there’s plenty to share,” one man said as he stepped up to grab Ashley’s arm.

“Go to hell,” Sydney added, as his fist landed on the man’s left cheek. “Get to the boat,” he yelled then stepped in swinging.

Sydney was soon covered by all four men, who were now kicking and punching him wildly. Ashley and I started toward them when two dark streaks started throwing bodies left and right. I was grateful to see Bo lifting Sydney’s unconscious body up, while Brandon waited to see if any of the men were going to get back up. The swift action of Bo and Brandon, and the haze of their inebriated minds, would leave them hopefully waking up with nothing more than a hangover and a vague memory of being in a fight.

“Take him to the boat,” I said as I patted Brandon on the back before anyone else showed interest in the commotion.

Ashley and I followed the boys as they carried Sydney over the side of his boat. The party boat was gone and his was the only one tied to the dock. The boat was an actual yacht that Sydney had converted into his own version of a home on the water. The steering wheel was up on the smaller, second deck that sat up on the enclosed portion of the upper deck, and the living quarters were on the lower levels. The main deck consisted of three hammocks. Two were long lounge type, cushioned benches that circled the front outline of the boat deck, and a homemade wooden table in the middle, with benches that ran the same length. He had a tomato plant along with several types of herbs sitting on the middle of the table and a dark blue tarp covering the majority of the deck. The boys laid him on one of the cushions, while Ashley went down to see if she could find a cloth to dampen and put on his face.

“This is a nice boat,” Brandon observed, reaching up to touch the tarp.

“Heck of a lot nicer than the last one that I was on,” I replied thinking about Capie.

Ashley came back out with a white towel in her hand and walked over to Sydney. “He did a brave thing,” she paused. “I don’t think it’s right to use him.”

“Ashley, how are we going to get there if we don’t have someone who can travel by day?” I asked, hoping she would understand.

“Can’t we anchor down and travel by night like he does?”

“Sure we can, but what happens if another boat comes along in the middle of the day and finds a bunch of bodies that burst into flames as soon as they open the door?”

“I never thought about that. I guess we do need him,” she said looking down at Sydney. “That was the bravest thing that I’ve ever seen.” Then she gently laid the towel across his forehead.

“Someone’s got a crush,” Bo remarked.

“No, I do not. I just think that he’s nice. He stood up to all those men,” she argued, standing up swiftly and putting her hands on her hips. “Renee didn’t tell him to do that, either.”

“He’s brave. We saw what he did, and I’m glad he’ll be watching our backs. But you know you like him. I saw how you were looking at him last night,” Bo teasingly replied.

“Bo, if he wakes up he’s going to hear you. I like him, alright, just don’t embarrass me,” Ashley whispered through clenched teeth.

“I like you too,” Sydney said sitting up behind her.

“Oh my goodness,” Ashley said spinning around. “I’m just going to go jump over the side of the boat now.” Then she took off without another word.

“That was one brave thing you did back there,” I told Sydney as I walked over and sat down beside him.

“I knew they were on the beach. Then I just had this feeling that you might be coming, so I started walking.”

“It’s a good thing that you did. The boys showed up and the three of you took them down.”

“All I remember is swinging that first time, then waking up just now.”

“I don’t think that we have to worry about those guys anymore. I think y’all pretty much scared them off,” I replied, winking at the boys.

“I can’t stand men like that. Is Ashley alright? She seemed upset just now.”

“She’s having a moment of being a girl,” Brandon chuckled.

“Yeah, she’s finally realized that she’s not one of the boys,” Bo added and both started laughing.

“I don’t think that’s very funny. Ashley is a very beautiful young lady. I’m just glad that none of you have noticed, because I plan on showing her just how wonderful that I think she really is,” Sydney passionately stated.

“He’s right boys. I think you guys have had your eyes closed, thinking Ashley was more
like your little sister, when she was a growing young woman the whole time. I think you both need to let her grow up and stop picking on her. One of these days you’re going to have a young lady that’s going to be smitten with you, and I don’t think that you’re going to want to have someone picking on them.”

“I’ve noticed, but she is like my little sister and I’ll hurt anyone who does her wrong,” Bo proudly replied.

“That’s right. If Derek was here she would’ve never gotten picked on tonight,” Brandon said and burst out laughing, causing a chain reaction.

“Well, if you’re feeling okay, Sydney, I think we better start checking everything out,” I proposed.

“I had to make a few changes in the sleeping quarters, because there was way too much light coming in.”

“You told him what we were?” Brandon blurted out.

“What do you mean, ‘What you are’?”

“No Brandon. And he didn’t mean anything, Sydney. Come on, show me what you had to fix,” I added, taking him by the arm and leading him away from the subject.

Chapter Eight

I would be an idiot to think that Sydney hadn’t noticed the difference in us, but how was I supposed to talk to him about it. I thought that if I told him what I had told the other four, that I would have another person on my hands wanting to become one of us, and what we needed was a human guide, not another bloodbreeder. I smelled paint as soon as we started to enter the lower level of the boat.

“I noticed first thing this morning that there was all kinds of light streaming through where I thought, at one time, it was really dark,” he turned around smiling with his swollen bottom lip. “I went in and bought some black wheel paint and fixed it right up.”

“You’re sure there’s no light at all?” I replied.

“Look, if I shut this door you can‘t even see your hand in front of your face. You can
lock it from the inside. I put the lock on it today. I may need to be down in the kitchen area while you’re asleep, but now you won’t have to worry about the light from the upper deck. I closed it up tight before the sun went down, and I almost couldn‘t find the door handle,” he explained, waving his hand up and down. “No light.”

“Here’s a cold glass of tea, Sydney,” Ashley announced from behind us.

“Oh, hey, thanks,” he replied taking it and letting her pass.

“This is going to be great,” she smiled. “He even fixed up two separate beds.”

“I just wanted you all to be comfortable.”

“Thank you for thinking of that,” I added. “Where are we gonna keep the animals?”

“I was thinking on the front of the top deck. It has a cover and the sides are pretty high,” Sydney explained as he turned and headed back through the kitchen area. “How many of whatever are you bringing on board?”

“I’m not sure. You’ll have to ask Bo, or Brandon. I do know that we need to start getting our things loaded within the next few nights. I want to leave by this coming Friday,” I added, knowing that would give us two more nights to practice with our weapons.

“I’ll go talk to the guys then and leave you ladies to get acquainted with the kitchen. I know how you women are about that sort of thing.” Then he turned and walked out.

“That’s something that I would have expected to hear a few months ago, but it sure sounds stupid now doesn’t it?”

“If he only knew,” Ashley giggled.

We may have stood there and joked about not caring about the whole kitchen thing anymore, but the first thing that we started doing was going through the cabinets. Sydney had everything that a person would have in a home that sat on solid ground. The stove was very much like the one that we used back on the farm, or at least the top portion looked much the same. This one used oil to flame up and not wood, which was one big difference. Pots and pans hung from the ceiling and the dishes sat firmly inside of barred compartments in the cabinets. He had fresh vegetables of all types in brass hanging baskets over the sink, which was next to the stove.

There was a slender wooden table along the left side of the wall opposite from the sink and stove. It had one bench with red cushions on the seat that was attached to the wall and ran the length of the table. There were several house plants hanging around the round porthole type windows. All in all, it was very pleasant and a place that one would have sworn a woman had been a part of decorating. Ashley and I were about to head back to the others when we found a door that led to an even lower lever that Sydney hadn’t mentioned and one that I should have thought about. It was the cargo hold or the motor area. A place that I remembered all too well, and a place that we could have slept the day away in safety.

I told Ashley to have Sydney join me in the room down below, and then I made my way down. It was small and completely free of windows. The motor sat in the middle of the room, so we would have to cramp in around it, but by its looks seemed to be a better place and much more secure than the room upstairs.

“Ashley said you wanted to see me?”

“Yeah…I was thinking that we might sleep the day away down here.”

“What if I wake you up when I put oil in the motor?”

“Oh, you put oil in during the day?”

“Well, yeah. I usually do most of my traveling by night. But if you want me to go by day, I’ll have to add it when she’s running.”

“What if we did do most of the trip by night, how long would it take us to get there?” I asked coming up with a new plan.

“Three, four nights,”

“Why do you like to travel by night?”

“I use the day for fishing and cleaning the boat…filling the oil. I’ll dock somewhere and take in the sites. I’ve always loved the night on the open sea. The stars are unexplainable…”

“I know,” I interrupted

“So, you’ve been on the open water?” he asked with curiosity.

“A few times.”

I flashed back to the night that I stood on Capie’s boat, looking at the shores of Cuba, thinking that I was being taken to a safe place, holding so much gratitude for those who were helping me. I remembered watching the stars as that same boat sank in the water off the coast of Corpus Christie. I had killed the captain and made sure that no one survived, not after what they had all been a part of. My third time to witness the beauty of the night sky over the endless black water will be to once again take a voyage into an uncertain conclusion. I wanted more than anything to see Garvin and Tanda taken out of that demonic place, but my mind and my heart felt the burn of several creatures’ death by my hands, every time I thought about that hell.

“Are you okay? Renee, you still with me?” Sydney asked with concern in his voice.

“I’m fine. I didn’t mean to space out like that,” I replied, faking the best smile that I could.

“You must really hate those people.”

“What people?”

“The ones you were thinking about,” he responded while placing his hand on my shoulder.

“You saw what I was thinking?” I asked pushing his hand away.

“I have ever since you bit my neck.”

“What the hell is going on, Sydney?”

“How should I know?”

“Renee,” Bo called out.

“Down here,” I called back. “We have a slight problem.”

“It’s alright. I knew that you bit me after you had been talking to Ashley. Everything else just washed through my brain, like when whatever just happened. I don’t know what you are, but I know you’re not human anymore. Heck girl, you don’t even know what you are,” he added, smiling as if he had just given me really good news.

“I don’t think that I like you knowing what’s in my head.”

“No offence, but you bit me.” Then quickly put his hand over his mouth.

“What’s wrong?” Bo said as soon as his feet hit solid ground.

“Let’s just go back up and I’ll fill everyone in at one time.”

“What did he do?” Bo snapped, picking up Sydney by the front of his shirt.

“Nothing that was his fault, so put him down.”

“Yeah, what she said,” Sydney added gripping at Bo’s fingers.

I shook my head the whole way up, trying my best to keep Cuba, and anything that happened to me, out of my thoughts. I guess my wants for keeping Sydney on the sidelines, so-to- speak, was completely ruined now. I couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong. Why he was getting my thoughts when I never read Martin’s. I told the others what I had found out and we all sat there coming up with our own scenarios as to what went wrong. Not one of us made any sense. Had Ashley fed from him then it would have given some form of understanding, being that she was clairvoyant, and that’s when it popped into my head.