Chapter Thirty Eight - The Great Escape

Selene stayed so completely motionless that Lia wasn’t entirely sure she was still conscious. The last kick had moved her too far from her mother for her to reach. She didn’t dare try the link on her own though, not with both werewolves and a Lycan around. She was pretty sure it was all her wolf could handle just to remember to keep all the links closed. The boat swayed on a large swell and her nausea increased. She swallowed the extra saliva, pressing a hand to her middle and trying to think of anything other than the motion and the burning in her stomach. She was colder and more miserable feeling than she had ever been in her life. Either sea sickness increased over time and made every motion more miserable than the last, or the sea was getting rougher. Did that mean they were moving out of the bay? Was the falling snow in the bay just a taste of a storm raging off the coast? On the next large swell, her cage slid across the deck and bumped into Selene’s. The two stared at each other in alarm as they realized they were trapped, but not anchored down at all. If they slid too much, would they slide off into the sea?

The ride up the next wave had both cages sliding one direction, and then the other. They thumped hard into the crate that was behind Selene. Up again, down again. As the need to escape mounted, adrenaline eased Lia’s nausea. She grabbed Selene’s cage and tried to find a lock or a latch, hoping it was something she could pick or break. If worst came to worst she might be able to use the gun to shoot off the hinges, but that would definitely bring the men running so she wouldn’t have much time. And with only six bullets in the gun, they weren’t likely to get far. She held tight to the cage as the waves sent them sliding back and forth, back and forth. The boat tipped to one side and a crate fell beside them, sliding across the deck and smashing into Selene’s cage, dragging the two apart.

A soft click behind her was the first indication of anyone nearby.

Lia held tight to the front bars to keep them from crashing to the deck, or to hold herself in if it were one of the men. She wasn’t sure what to wish for. The cage meant she was trapped, but it was at least a small amount of safety from the sort of things they’d been talking about doing. Relief flooded her with warmth when a small hand grabbed onto the bars near her face and started pulling them away. She helped whoever it was ease the door slowly to the deck. Lia moved her head out enough to be able to look up. A pair of large amber eyes looked at her cautiously, glanced up over the deck, then back down to her again. The girl put a finger to her lips and motioned for Lia to follow before bending to push the buttons to unlock Selene’s cage. As soon as the door was on the deck Selene leaped to her feet with her teeth bared.

“No fight.” The girl whispered. She kept her eyes on Selene as she moved over to the grate that had pushed their cages. Now that Liana could see better, she saw that it wasn’t a cargo crate at all, more like a large dog kennel. There were chains inside it that seemed to be broken. Looking back at the girl Lia noticed silver cuffs on her wrists. Either the young girl had broken the chains and the bars of her cage or the rolling of the ship had caused a miraculously precise accident.

Lia took in more of her soundings in the fading light. She could see shore on either side of them, but it was a long way off and she wasn’t certain which side of the bay was Nova Scotia. The water would be freezing cold, and the swim would be very long. She wasn’t sure she or her mother would make it, and a small child? Could the girl even swim?

The droning sound of a small aircraft engine made Lia look up, she could just make out the blinking lights on the plane’s wings. Why would anyone be flying a small plane over the bay in a storm? What a foolish thing to do. She gasped as she saw someone, or something, come out of the plane and splash into the water. The girl was back at her side holding up a lifejacket. She grabbed one and started to do up the straps. Selene switched back to human and grabbed one of the lifejackets from the girl too.

“Quick,” she whispered. “Jasper’s in the water. He’ll get us to shore.” The little girl froze; a look of sheer terror on her face.

“Friend,” Lia said softly as she bent to do up the lifejacket the girl had put on herself. It was miles too big for the little one. Lia slipped her belt off and used it to strap the girl’s chest to the back of the lifejacket she wouldn’t slip right out of it. She noted the smattering of bruises and open cuts. “The water will sting little one. But it is our only way out.” She nodded bravely and grabbed onto Lia’s hand. A loud yell and some stomping feet alerted them to the fact that their freedom had been discovered.

“Jump!” Selene yelled.

The three hit the water together. Lia and Selene each grabbed onto one side of the girl’s life jacket and started to swim towards where the splash had been below the plane. Even that had been a ways off.

The waves tossed and turned them around, pushing them back towards the boat and then away again. More splashes sounded around them as the men from the boat jumped in after them. Loud cracks sounded from above and Lia assumed they were being shot at. The noise of a plane engine increased suddenly and the shouts behind them rose for a moment, then the sound of a loud crash ripped through the air and heat seared the back of Lia’s head.

When she glanced back over her shoulder she saw a huge fireball rising into the sky. Debris started raining down around her just as a man swam up to them on Selene’s side. Selene shifted her head to wolf and the little girl shrieked. “I’m here to help!” The man yelled at them “Luna Liana, Jake sent me! Selene, Jasper is almost here!” He reached out a hand and, after a pause, Selene grasped it. With four of them kicking together they made their way over the waves and through the shower of debris. “Stay together,” Killian said, “don’t let go or we’ll never find each other!" Lia glanced nervously around, but through the dark she couldn't see anyone. Not Jasper, and not the other men who were likely still after them.

"I wish the moon were out," Lia gasped between strokes, "I don't even know if we're heading towards the closest shore.

"Just listen," Killian replied, breathing hard. "Jasper has a locator beeping for us. It’s hard to hear over all this, but it’s there. We need to swim towards the beeping noise. He'll get us to shore.”

"How?"

"SAR tech." Selene said with difficulty. "Rescues. At sea. All the time. Any weather."

Lia closed her eyes and focused on sound. The crackling of the fire was loudest, she could hear the men from the ship yelling back and forth, fortunately, they all sounded a good distance behind them. Though any that were getting close would likely stay quiet anyways. There. She heard it. A faint repeating beep off to their right.

"Has a raft." Killian said. "Sort of."

"Sort of?"

"It only partially inflated. But it should hold us. It's faster and warmer to paddle than to swim. I’ll stay in the water if I have to."