I was surprised to wake up to find Blake’s arms around me. I’d grown so used to falling asleep with him, and then waking up to nothing, that the sound of his even breathing was a welcome change. We were facing one another with one of his arms tucked under my head, the other draped across the side of my body.
I couldn’t help myself; I studied his face, even though it felt like spying. There were no worry lines to crease his brow. His forehead was smooth, and his lips were slightly parted. I was tempted to reach over and touch them. They looked so soft. Instead, I nestled my face into his chest. He stirred, his grip tightening on me as he pulled me closer.
“You awake?” he asked, his voice gravelly from sleep.
“Barely,” I answered, loving how warm he felt.
He grunted and leaned over to kiss the top of my head. “Feeling better?”
“Yes, much,” I said, happy the dizzy spell had ended. “Sorry if I freaked you out last night.”
He leaned back a bit, so he could look me in the eyes. “I have to admit, you did worry me. Are you still feeling lightheaded?”
I shook my head.
He grinned. “Good. Because I think I have an idea about how we can figure out what Sammy may have been up to.”
I sat back further, excitement pushing away all drowsiness. “Really? How?”
He let go of me so we could sit up. I tried to move and realized sleeping in jeans was so not cool. My legs were wrapped in bedding like a burrito. Tugging at the blanket, I tried to detangle myself. Blake watched me for a moment with a crooked grin.
“So, what’s the idea?” I asked, finally getting rid of the blanket and kicking off the sheet.
“You know Tonbo mentioned the ancients were disappearing?” I nodded. “Well, last night, after you… er… left me, I decided to ask Tonbo more about them.”
I felt my face flush at the memory of acting like a two-year-old and stomping away from Blake.
“Turns out they weren’t just random ancients taken,” he continued, like he hadn’t noticed my embarrassment.
“Really? What do you mean?”
“The four taken were experts in different scientific fields. At least they were long ago. One was a renowned biochemist, one a biophysicist, another a genetic engineer, and the last studied under Mendel when Tonbo did.”
My eyes widened. “Sounds like whoever took them knew what they were doing.”
“I agree. Same goes with Kate too. She wasn’t a mad genius by herself, but she helped Sammy develop your serum, which Tonbo considers groundbreaking. She could prove a valuable asset to someone trying to, let’s say, build a new bug army they could control.”
“Kory,” I said, hating him more by the minute.
“That’s what I was thinking, at least until last night. But now, thinking about what you just said, I’m wondering if Sammy is up to something.”
“You think she’s somehow involved with Kory’s plans?”
“I’m not saying she is for sure, but there might be a way we could know if she had anything to do with the ancients’ disappearances. Other than Tonbo’s science experiments.”
“How?”
“We could go to the Outskirts today.”
I stared at him. “How will that help?”
“We could ask some of the ancients if they’ve seen you before. You’ve never been there, so if you look familiar, then…”
“Sammy’s been there.”
Blake nodded, seeming pleased with his idea.
“And even if they don’t remember seeing me, I might still be able to tell. Remember when I went to Tonbo’s office for the first time? Everything about it felt so familiar. Like the strongest déjà vu I’ve ever felt.”
Blake nodded along. “So you might be able to sense it there too. Even better. So how about it? Up for a little field trip today?”
“Thought you’d never ask,” I said, jumping from the bed.
Blake climbed off a bit slower. Smiling at me, he reached for my hand. “Sam, just one thing. Don’t go too far from me, okay?”
“Why?” I asked, not sure if he was teasing or serious.
“Well…” He scrubbed at the back of his neck with his free hand. “Some of the ancients are a bit… intense.”
“Okay,” I drawled back. “Should I be getting worried now?”
“Not at all. If you stay close to me, no one would dream of touching you.”
I didn’t argue, worried if I kept harping on how potentially dangerous this could be, Blake might change his mind.
Instead, I squeezed his hand. “Okay, you have my word. I’ll stay glued to your side.”
---------------------
I glanced over at Mack, happy Blake had asked him to come along. Every time I expected Blake to become catty about Mack’s presence, he surprised me with how ready to forget and move on he was. Technically, Mack hadn’t done anything wrong last night. He’d come to me as a worried friend, fulfilling his promise to help me sort through the Sammy thing. Sure, Blake had misread Mack’s actions at first, but now watching him relentlessly tease him over his lack of prowess in the air, it felt like nothing had happened last night at all.
Other than me acting like a big baby. I sighed, pushing my wings faster. The guys were pulling ahead of me. I felt sluggish. What’s wrong with me today? Guess I’m just wiped out.
“Is that all you got?” Mack hollered back at me.
Blake spun around in the air, half of his wings rotating the opposite direction to allow him to continue backward as his eyes studied me.
“Feeling okay, Sam?” Blake asked, slowing a notch.
I caught up and playfully pushed past him, putting quite a bit of space between us. “I’m great,” I lied, hoping he wouldn’t see through me.
He cocked an eyebrow at me and folded him arms across his chest. I pushed further away, trying to prove to him that I was just fine. He grinned as the distance between us grew. Then, in an instant, he was wrapping his arms around me, like he’d been right next to me the entire time.
I yelped. “Holy cow! Blake, you just scared me to death!”
“Oh, sorry. Didn’t mean too. Are you dizzy?” he asked, his eyes filling with sudden concern. “Want me to carry you?”
With how hard I was breathing to get over my shock, I did feel a bit dizzy. I’d never seen anyone move that fast before.
“No, I’m good. Really. You can let me go,” I said, playfully pushing against him.
Mack had flown over to see what was up. “Everything okay here?”
“Yes,” I said as Blake reluctantly released me. He eyed me as if he still didn’t believe I was okay. Trying to appear a lot stronger and steadier than I felt at the moment, I flew ahead of them both. It was Mack who caught up to me first. I was surprised to see Blake buzz past us. Not too far, but just far enough I wasn’t sure if he was giving us a little space or not.
I glanced over at Mack, who gestured to Blake with his chin. “Remember what I was saying about being able to track and predict your mark’s movements?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
Mack glanced ahead at Blake, who was darting back and forth. Almost looking like he was scouting something out, but there was nothing but water below us. So far, there was no land in sight.
“Few do it better than Blake,” he said.
My eyes widened. “Is that what that was?”
He nodded. “Who do you think killed the last bug? Sure wasn’t Kory. Looks like that dirty weasel just stayed long enough to figure out how to get the bug’s DNA. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the only reason he went on that hunting trip and got Blake all pumped up to go too.”
I stared at Mack before glancing ahead at Blake, who had decided to dip down closer to the water. I wasn’t sure why I was surprised by Mack’s words; I’d known about Kory and Blake’s hunting trip to kill the last bug. From what I’d seen of Kory’s character, I wasn’t shocked to hear he’d probably watched Blake kill the beast, only to take credit for it.
I gazed at Blake, who was now soaring extremely close to the swelling, black ocean. My heart warmed, watching him dip a hand in the waves. With his speed, the water shot up, leaving an enormous wake behind him. I was glad to see him enjoying himself. Things always seemed to be so serious in our lives; it was nice to see his playful side. Although he didn’t say much about it, I knew his brother’s condition weighed heavily on him.
I’d never met a guy like Blake before. In a world where I had a hard time trusting anyone, myself included, he tried to do the right thing. His sense of duty only seemed to waver when it came to taking over the island, but even there, he’d committed himself to something he didn’t want to do for his brother. Tonbo promised he’d do everything in his power to save Jaxon, if Blake would finally relent in taking over for him when the time came.
I shook my head. “So in other words, with Blake around, I shouldn’t be worried about a few ancients today, right?”
Mack glanced over at me, I expected him to laugh off my fears. Instead, he said seriously, “Well, as long as they see you with him, you should be good.”
“Oh, great. Thanks a lot.”
I was about to ask just what made the ancients so dangerous when Blake hollered back at us, “Hey, Mack, it’s your girlfriend!”
Say what? I glanced around, seeing no one but us. Who is he talking about?
Mack let out a hoot and dove down to where Blake flew. He soared across the water’s edge, his face pointed downward. What are they doing? Fishing or something? Is that the girlfriend Blake was talking about? Fish?
I gasped as a pair of slender, suntanned arms reached out from the water and wrapped themselves around the base of Mack’s neck. A second later, Mack disappeared under the surface.