Chapter 16 Abducted #2
“This man believes your tall tales?”
“Bah! You admitted you were a taniwha already, and I’ve seen you shifting and flying with my own eyes. I have video footage, which proved useful while arranging the sale.”
“Moron,” she snapped, disgusted with herself for ever thinking she’d loved this man or had a future with him.
“Stop mucking around,” Ari said, his voice hard and as flat as his pale eyes. “My cousin has people watching your mother and sister. Cooperate, or your mother will die.”
Nyree tried to speak, but fear grew knots in her throat, preventing words from forming.
She trembled even as she tried to think of a plan.
She didn’t believe her mother was in immediate danger, but she couldn’t be certain.
It wasn’t as if she could check. It would take time to contact Manu.
She had to believe Manu had kept her mother and sister safe.
“All right.” The words emerged as a whisper instead of the snarl she’d intended.
“Nyree? What’s wrong?” Tāwera’s voice slid into her mind.
Relief almost took her out at the knees. She closed her eyes before realizing Ari was watching her closely. She opened her eyes and edged toward the door in the direction Ari indicated with his gun barrel.
“I’m fine. You?” There was no point telling Tāwera the truth. They needed to remain calm because she didn’t trust Ari one bit.
“My head aches. Should I tell someone he is holding you at gunpoint?”
“Yes, approach the security team from the visiting ship. If you can’t find them, let Carolyn or Keith know what is going on without telling them about our dragon status.”
“It must remain a secret.”
“Yes.”
“Do as he says. We will come for you. I am an excellent tracker.”
“Move!”
While she’d been concentrating on Tāwera, Ari had drifted closer. He jabbed her in the back, and a kitchen chair went flying when her foot caught the leg.
“Quiet. I’d hate to attract attention.”
Idiot. Surely someone had heard the gunshots.
“I have Keith. We are talking to the ship people,” Tāwera said without warning. “They heard the gunfire and were making a plan. One of them peeked in the window and saw the man with the gun.”
“All right. Tell them it is my ex-boyfriend, and he’s known for his violence. He won’t hesitate to shoot if they get too close.”
Tāwera fell silent, and Nyree presumed he was communicating the knowledge to the ship’s crew.
“Outside,” Ari gestured with the gun again. “Now.”
“We’re coming out,” she told Tāwera.
“The security man has gone to get weapons. They thought it was a simple search and rescue, that Ari had become lost or had fallen.”
“Stand out of Ari’s sight. He’s likely to shoot you if he gets the chance.”
“What do you intend to do?”
“He wants me to fly him across the island,” Nyree said. “He seems to think I will take him without protest, but he hasn’t thought through the practicalities.”
“You could flame or drop him.”
“Exactly.”
“That’s what you should do. Walk with this Ari to a private area where the others don’t see you shift. Somewhere near the church. I can shift now. You told me the bullets would not pierce dragon scales.”
“Not easily.”
Ari nudged her in the ribs with his gun. “Why are you dithering? Move.”
Nyree sighed. “And go where?”
“Walk away from the settlement and turn into a dragon.”
Nyree bit back her protest and cursed at herself.
This was all her fault. Through her stupidity in hooking up with Ari, she’d placed her family and friends in danger.
Ari had discovered her secret and told others.
He had proof, yet he’d bided his time. He’d made one mistake, though.
Once she left the settlement, she could use her full dragon strength against him.
At first, she’d panicked and reverted to normal behavior—pretending to be a weak human.
He still thought he could best her with his physical strength.
Wrong.
She’d get him away from the others, and once he presented no danger to anyone else, she’d go all dragon on his arse. If she couldn’t beat him on the ground, she’d drop him on his head while flying over the mountains. She’d make sure he fell in a crevice where no one would ever discover his body.
“We’re outside now,” she told Tāwera. “Make sure everyone knows he’s carrying a loaded weapon. He’s not afraid to shoot.”
Nyree pushed open the door and stepped outside. She spotted three men, but they took cover when Ari stepped out behind her, his gun visible.
“One of the security men is ex-army. He thinks he can shoot Ari from long range. They have a special gun that does this. Can you put distance between you and this man? They’re afraid of hitting you in error.”
“They’re going to shoot?”
“The security team said he caused trouble during the trip from South America. He apologized and told them he was ashamed of himself, that he’d drunk too much alcohol and wouldn’t do it again. He’s behaved since, but they don’t trust him.”
“But to kill him…” Nyree trailed off and jerked forward three steps when Ari shoved her. That’s precisely what she’d planned for Ari.
“Isn’t that what you intend to do to him? This way, he dies or gets injured, and you don’t have his death on your conscience.”
Nyree shot a glance at Ari. His expression held determination, but she didn’t think he’d hurt her since he intended to sell her.
God, her mother, and Hana. If he’d hurt them…
“All right. But let me try to talk him down again. Maybe he’ll listen to reason.
” She doubted it, but then she wouldn’t have to explain dragons to everyone witnessing this drama.
“Ari, this is crazy.”
“Keep walking,” he snarled, and his tone had her stiffening. Tension threaded through it. Stress. He was about to snap because things weren’t going his way.
“Ari, they have guns too. This plan of yours won’t work. You can’t force me to do anything.”
“You’ll follow my word to the letter if you want the continued safety of your mother and sister. If you want to see them again, you will follow my orders.”
She hesitated because he sounded so confident.
“Where is this ship?” she asked as she started walking toward the church.
“Nyree, don’t go with him,” Tāwera pleaded. “I don’t trust him. He looks like my brother, and if he is as loose with his morals and the truth as Rāwiri turned out to be, he won’t keep his word. He’s learned your secrets and thinks to profit from them. You can’t believe anything he says.”
“No,” Nyree agreed. “But I don’t want anyone here to get hurt. We’re so far away from help.”
Ari pushed her again and snarled at her. “Walk, dammit.”
“I’m moving. Stop shoving me around.”
“You will come with me. You will fly me to the boat, or you’ll never see your precious family again.”
Nyree walked as slowly as she dared without drawing more of his wrath.
Once they reached the hill above the church, they were out in the open until they climbed to a higher elevation.
Not even for Ari was she shifting there.
She vacillated over what to do. No matter what choice she made, it was dangerous.
If Keith or Carolyn, or any of the scientists spotted a dragon flying off with Ari, that would be a disaster.
Carolyn had come to believe the dragon she’d seen was a figment of her exhausted imagination.
Nyree wanted Carolyn to continue thinking of dragons as fictional.
They passed the church, and Nyree still dithered over her best course of action.
Ari dug his gun into her back. “I know what you’re doing. Walk faster.”
Nyree lengthened her strides. “Tāwera, I don’t know what to do. Tāwera?” When he didn’t reply, she glanced over her shoulder. The security team was following but maintaining their distance. They weren’t sure what to do either. “Tāwera,” she called again. “Where are you?”
Complete silence greeted her, and she had never felt so alone.