by Cara Dee
Gray nodded slowly, contemplating the answer. There wasn’t a trace of confidence in his own freedom; however, he didn’t falter as easily now. Being away from the boat had returned some of his strength and resolution.
His mouth quirked up a little. “So I might even get to meet your family one day?”
Darius huffed a chuckle, surprised the knucklehead’s thoughts had gone that direction. But sure, Gray could meet the rest of the Quinns, no sweat. “Have at it. I’ll introduce you, and you’ll regret it.”
Gray’s smile widened. “Loud bunch?”
“You bet.”
“Good. I like big, crazy families.”
Darius had already gotten that impression, first from Chloe, Gray’s mother, then from Gray himself whenever he mentioned his brothers and stepsister. “I saw a picture…” He cleared his throat and set down his paper plate. “I guess it was from your mother’s wedding. You looked happy.”
The look in Gray’s eyes softened, his affection for his family strong. “It was a good day. Mom and Aiden wanted to do something small and quick, but Isla and I interfered. They got hitched up at Coho Pass.” He paused. “The only thing that bugged me was that the leaves hadn’t started turning red yet. It was still kinda green everywhere.”
Darius chuckled. “You remind me more and more of my youngest brother. Lias is a romantic. I think he was seven or eight when he decided that he was gonna marry his crush at Coho Pass one day.”
Back then, it’d been funny. Then Lias had actually spent all his school years with that girl. Evelina had become a permanent fixture in the family, as had their mountain wedding plans.
Darius shook his head pensively, still curious about why the two had broken up. Lias was tight-lipped, a stark contrast to every other facet of his life. Oh, well. Darius released a breath and brushed some sand off his jeans. “Weddings. Not my thing.”
Gray faced him with a deadpan expression. “This is my shocked face.”
Darius let out a laugh, and Gray grinned at him. This fuckin’ kid…
Six
By day four, they’d all found a routine. There was one group that handled the fishing and looking for food in the jungle. Ryan stepped in as their leader once he was happy with the positions he’d scouted in case they ran into trouble. And once he’d cursed the dead satphone to hell.
Darius was in charge of security and had armed six of the boys on Nikolaj’s list, including Gray, Cole, Jonas, Niko himself, Casper, and Tai.
They didn’t have guns for everyone since they’d had to leave most behind on the yacht, and Gray had been cute as fuck when he’d been handed a knife. He’d scowled, and his mouth had drawn tight in a way that still made Darius smile to himself.
“You can barely walk, knucklehead, much less run. I would’ve given you a gun if you hadn’t been a liability—”
And he’d regretted using the term liability the moment the word had left his stupid fucking mouth.
This was why he didn’t deal with emotional people. Because they focused more on how a message was delivered, rather than the content of it.
Even so, Darius knew he was a dumbass. He’d accidentally pushed a button Gray was insanely insecure about.
Gray hadn’t spoken to Darius all afternoon, choosing to sit down on the beach with Charlie and Lee. They were gutting fish and distributing water bottles.
Actually… Darius stepped out of the jungle and cocked his head. Gray was doing something else now. Resting on his hands and knees—his bad fucking leg—he was digging in the sand.
“Darius.”
Darius returned to their campsite and nodded at Nikolaj and Jonas. “Any news?” They’d been on the other side of the island where Ry was patrolling while gathering driftwood.
“Yeah,” Nikolaj replied. “Message from Ryan. Um.” He exchanged a weird, half-confused look with Jonas, who nudged him in encouragement. “Right. So the message was ‘Twelve, twenty-four, six, when you’re short of almost everything.’ Does that even make sense?”
Aye, unfortunately. Darius’s mouth flattened grimly, and he patted his pockets, only to remember he’d finished his last smoke last night. Fuck. Okay, well, they could handle this. Ryan had spotted six targets and estimated they had twelve to twenty-four hours before it became their problem.
Given the number of targets and the estimate on the timing, Darius assumed it was boats. Close enough to suspect they weren’t sport fishermen, far away enough not to make it an urgent catastrophe.
He was glad Ryan hadn’t given the details to Nikolaj and Jonas. Because the quote that went, “When you’re short of almost everything but the enemy, you’re in a combat zone,” would be interpreted in the worst way possible by Gray. No, it was better Darius kept this to himself until he’d talked shit through with Ry.
Darius threw a glance at the two boys in front of him. Both had pale eyes, Nikolaj with green and Jonas with light brown. They’d been hardened but wouldn’t be too difficult to break down. Not now. Not when they’d been given hope. Nikolaj twisted his mouth and studied Darius, waiting. Jonas was waiting too. They wanted explanations and plans. They, along with a few others, constantly needed something to do.
“We’ll go over security for tomorrow after dinner,” Darius told them. “For now, kill the big fire and create four smaller pits.”
Tonight, they went dark. Four cooking fires wouldn’t send up as much smoke—or as high, rather—as the big one they had running now.
“Something’s up.” Just like that, Niko’s shoulders squared. His internal defenses shot up a wall, and his jaw ticked. “You need our help, man. We can be of use. We’re not like—” He stopped talking when Charlie and Rob came up from the beach.
Nikolaj’s sentence didn’t need an ending. Darius finished it himself. Them. We’re not like them.
Obviously sensing the tension, Charlie set down the water bottles he’d filled and looked around anxiously. “Is something wrong?” The bruises on his face had started yellowing in places, and he flinched as he bit his bottom lip, probably forgetting the cut he had there.
“It’s all good.” It was Jonas who answered. “Come on, you can give me a hand and create new fires.” For every day that passed, it became clearer that he was much like Gray. Quick to offer moral support, even quicker to care for others.
Nikolaj was more like Darius.
“We’ll talk later,” Darius told him, then backed away and returned to the beach.
Gray was still near the cliffs, digging in the sand. His leg had to hurt in that position.
“What do you have against resting?” Darius asked, reaching him.
Gray looked up for a second before resuming his work. “I could ask you the same.”
“Fair enough. What’re you doing?” The hole he’d dug had to be about three feet deep and looked a lot like a shallow grave. “You gonna bury me there for being a dick?”
Gray snorted and scooped up more sand. “You didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.”
Goddammit. Darius sighed and squatted down. “Gray, you know you’re not a liability. I phrased it all wrong. I was talking about fighting—you wouldn’t be able to run or use your strength with that leg.”
“I get it,” Gray responded. He wiped sweat off his forehead and plopped down in the sand, out of breath. “It just sucks. I wanna be more than a babysitter.”
That irritated Darius, who’d seen the impact Gray had on the others. Oscar and that quiet kid, Rob, had both suffered complete meltdowns yesterday. On two occasions, they’d woken up terrified from nightmares, and Gray had been the one to distract and comfort them. Darius had been a dick then too, opting to pretend to sleep in order to observe and eavesdrop.
Gray had turned the lifeboat into a slumber party of whispered reassurances and breathing exercises. Then he’d stayed up until they’d fallen asleep next to him. Now both boys kept Gray within sight, depending on him.
“You and Jonas are exactly what these boys need, knucklehead. Haven’t
you noticed how they gravitate to you two? It’s because you keep their anxiety at bay.”
“You gave Jonas a gun,” Gray muttered.
At that, at the petulance in his tone, Darius had to rub a hand over his mouth and jaw to hide his grin. It was as if Gray constantly went back and forth between endearingly juvenile and older than his years. The latter came out when he spoke of his family, his best friend, and—
“Be careful, Fil!” Gray hollered.
Darius snapped his gaze around and spotted Fil on the cliffs.
“There’re so many clams, Gray!” Fil yelled back. “I know how to cook them!”
Gray dusted sand off his hands and rose to his feet. “You can’t cook if you break your neck! Get down from there!”
Case in point. Darius smiled to himself and stood up too.
Gray continued to prove Darius’s point that night at dinner. Sitting on the edge of the lifeboat with Ryan, Darius scarfed down more grilled fish and watched Gray and Jonas cheer up a few of the boys.
They cranked up the entertainment tonight. Two of the four fires crackled and popped, sending tiny embers skyward as Jonas told jokes and Gray shared tales of mischief involving his twin brothers.
“Okay, I got another one,” Jonas said. “What did the hurricane say to the coconut tree?”
“Oh, I know this one!” Owen grinned. “Hold on to your nuts. This isn’t a regular blow job.”
Ryan chuckled quietly next to Darius and jotted down something in his field notes.
“You’re bringing that one home, aren’t you?” Darius smirked.
“Maybe.”
He shook his head in amusement and refocused on Gray, who was telling the others about a Mother’s Day card the twins had given their mother once.
“…then her smile was just gone. Like, it fell from her face, and the room turned silent.” Gray pinched his lips, his eyes sparking up with anticipation. “Quick background story. Our mom was sick that day, and they were trying to cheer her up with a joke. Inside the card, it said ‘The only difference between a woman and a terrorist is that you can negotiate with the terrorist, but we love you anyway.’”
Jesus Christ.
Laughter traveled around the fires. Casper said his sister had done something similar once, while Fil cursed in Spanish and announced his grandmother would “kill him dead” if he said that.
“But I kind of want to try.” His eyes widened with his innocent grin. “Just to see her chase me around with the wooden spoon.” He fell into a fit of giggles.
Darius lowered his food when he saw Charlie resting his head on Gray’s shoulder. In turn, Gray put an arm around the boy and murmured something in his ear. The concern was clear on his face. Charlie nodded, appearing more and more anxious.
Darius was getting sucked into something he didn’t understand. He couldn’t tear his gaze away. Judging by their body language, Gray was trying to prevent another anxiety attack for Charlie.
When Gray was worried, his forehead would crease and he’d chew on the corner of his bottom lip. Or the inside of his cheek. And he was affectionate. Perhaps that was the wrong word, but using his hands was a big part of his language. He reached out and touched people when he was concerned.
Their bruised bodies glowed in the flickering light, the shadows dancing around them.
“Hey.”
Darius’s scowl was instant. Nikolaj had interrupted. He sat down next to Darius on the lifeboat and leaned forward on his knees so he could see Ryan too. The kid just couldn’t wait, could he?
“Darius told me you were chomping at the bit,” Ryan noted with a smirk.
Niko cut straight to it. “You saw something today.”
Ryan cleared his throat and got serious. “It’s not an immediate threat. They haven’t located the tender yet.”
“Who’s to say they’ll start searching the big island?” Nikolaj asked. Part curious, part challenging.
“Because we left the tender in plain sight as bait.” Ryan furrowed his brow. “You were there with me, kid. I explained this to you.”
“Maybe they’ll think it’s an ambush,” Niko pointed out.
“They’d still investigate,” Darius replied. “They won’t ignore it.”
Ryan had come back from the other side of the island before dinner, at which point he and Darius had decided the best course of action. Tomorrow, they would have everyone close to the camp, and they would pack up for an easy escape. Additionally, they would have someone keeping watch on the cliffs. Fishing and swimming were only allowed in the cove as it was, and it wouldn’t take very long to get everyone out of the water if a boat came closer.
Six identical speedboats had been sighted by Ryan, though they’d been far away. Either they’d only just begun their search, or their trail hadn’t led them here yet.
Trail was a strong word. The yacht and the boat the first group of smugglers had arrived in rested on the ocean floor, leaving one abandoned speedboat drifting. Everyone on board had been thrown into the water. Only once they’d searched that area would the new boats make an educated guess to circle the islands.
Ryan had a theory that a war had already started between the slavers and the cartel. Enough days had passed, and they would be each other’s first target.
Darius flinched as the lifeboat shifted, and he blinked sleepily and lifted his head.
“Go back to sleep,” Gray whispered, getting comfortable next to him. “I was just helping Lee with Charlie.”
Darius yawned and rolled onto his back. “What time is it? Is it my shift—”
“Hon, you haven’t slept an hour yet. Tai and Niko are up.” Gray moved closer and bunched up a hoodie to use as a pillow. “Lift your head.”
Or perhaps not. Darius frowned but complied, and then his head was cushioned by the soft fabric. “What about—”
“I’ll use you.” There was a smile in Gray’s voice, and it didn’t even occur to Darius to resist when his arm was lifted. Soon, his chest became Gray’s pillow instead, and it felt fucking good.
Darius released a long breath and hugged Gray to him. How could this feel so natural? It’d been the same on the yacht. They hadn’t slept this close since then, and he kinda wanted to know why. This was just what he needed.
With the sleep out of his eyes, he stared up at the palm trees, every now and then catching a glimpse of a star. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and the leaves rustled with each gust of wind.
“Are we calling each other hon now?” Darius whispered.
He felt Gray smiling against his chest. “I figured it was fair. I distinctly remember you calling me sweetheart when you removed the bullet.” He lifted his head and peered at Darius, who let out a soundless chuckle. Had he called Gray that? To be honest, he was just relieved Gray wasn’t mad at him anymore for the liability shitshow.
“Sweetheart is code for wuss,” he joked.
Gray cracked a soft grin, then laid his cheek on Darius’s chest once more. “Nice try, but I’m onto you, Dare. You’re not as tough as you’d like to think, and your brother tells me stuff when you’re not looking.”
“Oh God,” Darius muttered. “What did he tell you? It’s probably complete bullshit.”
Gray snickered under his breath. “Goodnight, Darius.”
Hell.
There was a tightness in Darius’s chest the next morning. The sky shifted in white and gunmetal, the air was sticky with impending rain and thunder, and Nikolaj was visibly on edge.
Gray had been up a while already, preparing breakfast with Jonas.
“Morning, mister,” Fil said in passing. “The water’s nice if you’re going for a swim.”
Darius nodded once and eyed the boy. It was amazing to him that Fil’s spirits were so high. Would he break when he got home and could see his grandmother again?
Gray looked like he was gonna be busy awhile. He and Jonas were surrounded by coconut bowls and banana leaves where they divided fruits and fish.
What the
fuck was Darius doing? Just standing there, staring like a…whatever. He felt misplaced in the moment and needed to get the day started.
Knowing that Ryan was gonna fill everyone in on what was going on, Darius bowed out to do rounds. He grabbed a couple water bottles and a mango, then set off into the jungle. Ryan was better with people. Way better.
Seven
Darius lifted the binoculars and checked the horizon. The calm was bothering him. No boats in sight… It’d been twenty-four hours now. Where the fuck were they? Grumbling to himself, he leaned back against a big rock and continued with his project. He’d taken the evening shift on the cliffs while the others ate dinner, and he might as well make good use of his time.
He was making weapons. Sitting around and doing nothing was useless, so he’d found bamboo and smaller branches that he’d dragged out to his perch. Splinters, sharp stakes, and short arrows were easy enough to make. If there was time later, he’d venture into the jungle and collect seeds and sap he knew were poisonous.
Maybe he sucked at growing vegetables at home, but he was well versed in using the deadly arsenal of Mother Nature.
The problem was time. To gather it, as well as if they had the chance to use it on someone. A target wouldn’t merely drop. It was a dragged-out progress. Although, to render somebody defenseless, death wasn’t required.
Every now and then, he eyed the horizon, even after the sun had set and as his own arsenal grew, he found the calm the picture-perfect setting couldn’t provide. It was stupid just to wait for trouble to show up. They could prepare.
Preparing, Darius knew.
“My turn, Darius.”
He looked up, realizing he’d been straining his eyes in the dark, and spotted the silhouette of Niko.
“Gray’s impatient for you to get food.”
That was…definitely a Gray thing, and Darius kept the brief rush of warmth to himself. He stood up, face composed, and gathered his weapons. It was a good armful—and fuck, Gray was sweet. Goddammit.