Chapter 7
7
H ollyn woke to the sound of the cabin door shutting, and she felt Kai’s absence immediately.
As the events of last night came to her, she knew she should regret losing her mind so completely, but she didn’t. If anything, she had hoped for a repeat this morning. A thrilling shiver ran over her at the thought.
Now, though, with Kai slipping out the door as if he were trying to avoid her this morning, Hollyn had to wonder if he were feeling a day-after remorse.
Twice now, they’d brought each other to orgasm, and though Hollyn knew her talking pet seagull Bertie would have warned her to put an end to what she was doing, Hollyn had every intention to continue to explore whatever she and Kai had. She was convinced she could walk away from him when the time came, and that she would be able to let him go in the end. After all, she had to. Once she no longer had to run from her father, once she’d freed herself from his forever, she planned to cash in on all her treasure hunting finds and buy her own sailboat. Jesse and she, and now her mother as well, would sail the world together, finally able to set their own course without constantly looking over their shoulder wherever they went.
Just the thought of the freedom and independence that would be hers sent a soaring joy through her. Right now, it was her motivation to throw off the covers and face whatever awaited her today.
She readied herself as best she could and exited the cabin up the bulkhead to the deck. The minute she stepped into the blinding sun, she covered her eyes but reveled in the feel of the heat on her skin. The sea spray misted her face, and she sighed in contentment. Once again, she was drawn to the front of the boat where she could watch the bow cutting through the waves. It mesmerized her, and she could only imagine it was the feeling men experienced when they heard her voice.
She couldn’t look away. Didn’t want to. She wanted to do nothing less than watch the push and pull of the water as the boat propelled forward toward their unknown destination.
Only a hand on her shoulder broke the spell, and she glanced over at Kai as he propped his arms on the railing beside her.
“I asked if you were alright.”
“Did you? I didn’t hear you?”
“I know. I asked a few times without a response. I didn’t know if you didn’t want to be bothered or if you were purposely ignoring me.”
Hollyn wondered if he were regretting what they’d done in the light of day. Did he worry that she would get attached? She was fairly sure he had nothing to worry about.
“I guess I zoned out. I love watching the water. It calls to me in a way.”
He nodded as he said, “That’s something I can understand. Sometimes, I watch the water and feel a pull to dive in.”
She met his gaze, feeling understood in a way she never had before. She’d never met someone who was as connected to the water as she was. Sometimes, it felt like a piece of her soul got lost and found its way into Kai.
The thought was crazy and scary, and she had to remind herself that whatever was between them had a shelf life. The reality didn’t stop her from leaning into him though, liking the warmth of his skin against hers as their arms touched on the railing of the boat.
“How did you become a pilot, so far away from the water?”
He turned thoughtful as he grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers, as if he couldn’t get enough of touching her. She had to admit that she liked his touch and felt a need to be in physical contact whenever he was near.
“My parents worried I’d never find my path in life. School wasn’t a place where I thrived, and I didn’t have a lot of options. I didn’t have a lot of direction, not when I couldn’t help but look back instead of forward. My parents had always been honest with me. They never wanted to hide the truth, but it left me a little lost.”
Hollyn fought the need to wrap her arms around him. She was sure it would be a mistake, sending the wrong message to her heart. She needed to pull back before she got a little too invested.
She pulled her hand free of his and put a few inches between them. She covered the move by facing him and asking, “So, how did that lead to flying a plane in the northeast United States?”
He laughed and shrugged. “I met a grizzled, old pilot by the name of Hutch. His actual name was Logan Hutchinson, but he went by Hutch. He took me under his wing and taught me everything he knew. He was hard on me when I needed it, and I grew up quite a bit. It helped me let go of my hyper focus on my past.
“I flew helicopters over the Hawaiian Islands for a few years, then planes between the islands and the mainland. Eventually, I followed Hutch to the east, and we settled in West Virginia. Unfortunately, he passed away a few years ago.”
“I’m sorry. It must have been hard to lose your mentor.”
He nodded and sighed heavily before he said, “Yes and no. Right before he died, he told me to look for the medallion that matched the image on the shell around my neck. It was the first time I realized it might have been more than random chance that placed him in my path. Now, I have to wonder the same about Akamu.”
“Speaking of which, where is Akamu?”
“He stayed up through the night, watching the captain and crew. He said the captain never went below to rest.”
They both lifted their gazes to the bridge, and Hollyn watched the silhouette of the captain move around the small space as he sailed them to their destination.
Kai turned away first as he said, “When I saw you were on deck, I sent him to our bunk to get some rest. He didn’t want to go into the interior of the ship at first, but I convinced him he needed to get some sleep if he was going to stay up all night again. He finally caved.”
They continued to watch the progress of the ship in companionable silence, broken only by the occasional observation of the sea life around them or one of Kai’s mischievous childhood stories. The way he told the stories, he had been quite a handful.
They laughed easily, and Hollyn couldn’t help but notice Kai’s continued touches that made her skin tingle each time his fingers brushed over her, he placed a hand at her lower back, or he grabbed her hand.
At one point, they began to laugh at a particular story in which Kai brought home a stray dog, one before Otis, and attempted to hide it from his parents for two whole days before they figured it out.
Yet, when the bulkhead door slammed open and Akamu came flying around toward them, they sobered up quickly.
Akamu shouted loudly, “We have to get off this boat! Right! Now!”
Without stopping, he dove over the side of the ship’s railing.
Hollyn leaned over the rail as Akamu resurfaced and waved them toward him. One quick glance in all directions told Hollyn everything she needed to know. There was no land. She was not getting off this ship without a viable option other than swimming in open ocean.
Kai took a quick look up at the bridge before he called down to Akamu below. “What’s the urgency?”
Akamu looked perturbed as they continued to ignore his command.
“This ship isn’t sailing to Hanupali City. It’s taking us toward the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.”
Hollyn called down, “What the hell is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?”
Kai raised his hand and pointed out in front of them. “That is.”
Hollyn’s gaze lifted toward the horizon where a large round, flat island loomed in the distance.
“Looks like land.”
“It’s not. It’s a large, spinning vortex of discarded plastic and other trash floating in the Pacific. I’ve flown over it in my plane before.” Kai explained.
“Why would they take us there?”
But before Akamu could answer, Hollyn cried out as a tight hand grabbed her upper arm and spun her around. Hank wrapped his arms around her from behind and held on tightly as Matty crouched low in a fighting position when Kai turned toward the commotion. As Hollyn fought against Hank’s hold on her, Matty swung at Kai and connected with his chin, knocking Kai’s face sideways before he recovered. Kai reacted quickly and stepped in with a jab that smashed into Matty’s nose. Kai followed the hit quickly with a punch to Matty’s gut.
Hollyn couldn’t seem to break free, but she stomped her heel onto Hank’s toes. His grip loosened for a moment, long enough for Hollyn to drop to the deck and roll away from the fight. She sat up and watched in horror as Hank abandoned her and went after Kai with his buddy. Now, Kai was fighting two men instead of one.
But she watched, fascinated, as Hank swung a wide punch that Kai caught in his hand. Then, he used the captured hand to hit Matty, who was moving toward him with his fist drawn back. He never got to throw his punch because as soon as Hank’s hand connected, the deckhand went down to the planks. In quick succession, Kai flipped Hank’s wrist that he still held and twisted it until the man went to his knees and cried out in pain.
Hollyn stood up, but once again, she was grabbed from behind. This time, though, she felt the cool steel of a knife’s blade against her neck and the hard body of who she thought was likely the captain behind her.
Her guess was confirmed when he said, “That’s enough. Let my man go, and I won’t hurt the woman.”
Kai froze, his eyes wide as he took in the scene of Hollyn in the captain’s grip. Then, they narrowed as anger filled his face. “If we’re scratching backs, you let her go first.”
The captain gave a low, humorless laugh. “I think we might be at an impasse. You see, I have a job to finish—one that ends with you at the bottom of that vortex. Now, my wife will kill me if I let you take her favorite nephew with you, but I’d rather face her than the leviathan living beneath all that trash.”
Hollyn wasn’t satisfied with just knowing the what he was going to do to them. She needed to know why.
“Did my father send you?” Part of her hoped her abilities kicked in and made this guy putty in her hands.
But she knew he could resist her when he responded without issue. “Your father? No. I can’t say that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him. I don’t visit the surface very often.”
Kai’s lip curled with a look of disgust as he asked, “Then, who sent you?”
“I am doing the bidding of my king. The King of Hanupali City, Makoa, your half-sister’s husband. He would love nothing more than to see you take your final breath.”
Suddenly, the boat jerked as if it had hit something solid. The captain’s face broke into a grin. “It’s too late to save yourselves now. Let’s make a trade. You can have this lovely morsel, and you toss over my nephew.”
“Don’t do it. He’ll kill us both.” Hollyn knew their only chance was to keep their leverage.
The boat lurched again, and Hollyn began to suspect something very large and very alive was making passes each time the boat shook.
The captain suddenly let Hollyn go, shoving her toward Kai. “Trust me, I don’t want to stick around any longer.”
Kai let the deckhand go and caught Hollyn in his arms. “There’s just one thing I don’t understand. How did you set us up? I mean, how did you know which boat I would charter?”
The captain shook his head a few times before he said, “That damn, little girl we kidnapped in California wouldn’t shut up about it. Kept going on and on about how we needed to go to Big Sur and to find a boat named The Gala Queen. We lost the girl somewhere on land, but imagine our surprise when we show up in Big Sur, go to the first marina we see, and find the boat she wouldn’t shut up about. Then, we waited, and lo and behold, you showed. You walked right into a trap we didn’t even know we were setting.”
Hollyn sucked in a breath. They had been the ones who’d kidnapped Willow, and being the fate she was born to be, she had led them to a convergence point where Hollyn and Kai would eventually end up.
The boat shook violently again and nearly capsized as something that had to be humongous slammed against the side. Everyone went down to the deck, rolling and sliding around with grunts and cries.
The captain and the two deckhands ran to the railing and dove overboard, leaving the ship completely vulnerable to whatever was attacking from below and the giant trash vortex that grew ever closer.
Once the boat settled upright once more, Kai was suddenly by Hollyn’s side. She met his gaze, wondering if he had a plan to get them out of this.
He sighed heavily and helped her back up to her feet.
She looked around them. “What do we do now?”
As the boat lifted and shook once more, Kai called out, “I think we jump into the water.”
“Are you crazy? That thing is in there, the closest land is actually a swirling mess of hot trash, and we’re in the middle of the Pacific. I don’t know if you remember, but last time we were stuck floating in the open ocean, things didn’t turn out all that great.”
“We don’t have a choice. If we stay on board, whatever has the boat in its clutches will destroy the vessel and us along with it.”
She stared at him in horror, even as she knew he was right. When the boat began to shake back and forth, Hollyn knew it was time to go. Kai took her hand and they threw their legs over the railing, teetering on the edge for a few minutes before plunging to the choppy water below.
Almost immediately, Hollyn regretted her decision.