When all else failed, I did the only thing I could. I pulled Mason aside and asked him to talk to her. It stung to know she felt more comfortable talking to another male, but I’d do whatever it took to ease her mind. They spent over an hour together out on the back deck. When they came in, she was smiling, and he shot me a look to let me know she was okay.
I was trying to find a way to get Mason alone and ask him about what had been troubling Beth when Juan called to Charles from the control room. I followed Charles into the room.
“What’s up?” Charles asked him.
“Soren’s on the phone. He saw an Incubus carrying a human girl onto a boat.”
The small gasp behind me told me Beth had followed us and she’d heard what Juan had said.
My whole body tensed. “What boat? And who is Soren?”
“Soren is a vrell demon who works at the marina,” Charles said. “Sara and her friends put us in touch with him a few months ago, and he lets us know if he sees anything suspicious.”
Charles nodded at Juan, who hit the speaker button on the phone. “We’re listening, Soren. Tell us about the girl.”
“She’s dark-skinned, and she has those long braids. She tried to fight him, and he used his power to subdue her.”
My eyes met Beth’s wide ones. The girl matched the description of the Thomas sisters.
I moved closer to the phone. “You’re sure it was an Incubus?”
“Yes, sir,” Soren said. “I was close enough to feel his power.”
“It’s them. I know it is,” Beth blurted, and the air in the control room suddenly seemed to crackle with excitement and a sense of urgency.
“What boat are they on?” Charles asked. “Is it still there?”
“It’s a Sea Ray at one of the guest slips.” Soren paused for a moment. “I can see him on the boat, talking to another one of them. It looks like they’re waiting for someone.”
“This is good. Thank you, Soren,” Charles told him. “Can you keep an eye on things until we get there?”
“Sure, but hurry. They look like they’re getting the boat ready to leave.”
Charles smiled at me. “Feel like going for a ride?”
“You bet,” Beth said for us, already headed for the door.
The last place I wanted her was near an Incubus, but I had no good reason to ask her to stay behind. I followed her, already trying to figure out how to do this while keeping her out of danger.
The four of us and Charles piled into our SUV, and a minute later, we were speeding toward the marina. On the way, we discussed the best way to approach the situation. It was Charles who suggested Beth and Mason stay with the SUV while he, Brock, and I entered the marina.
“If these are the Lilin’s sons, we’ll need the strongest warriors in there,” Charles explained when Beth and Mason protested. “We’ll call you in after we neutralize the threat.”
I parked the SUV across the street from the marina, tossing the keys to Beth before I got out.
“This shouldn’t take long,” I told her as I checked my comm and made sure she and Mason were wearing theirs. “We’ll stay in touch the whole time to keep you updated.”
“Okay,” she said unhappily, and I wanted to kiss the little pout off her lips.
I understood her disappointment, but there’d be many more opportunities for her to see action. Capturing these Incubi could be the break we needed to find the Lilin, and I needed to go in there undistracted.
Charles’s phone rang as we were about to enter the marina. It was Juan calling to let him know he had Soren on the phone again. Two more Incubi had shown up with another girl, and they were all on the boat now.
“Oh, shit,” Juan said so loudly I could hear him. “The boat’s leaving.”
Charles, Brock, and I sped across the street and into the marina, where we met up with an agitated vrell demon by the harbormaster’s office. He pointed to the fifty-foot yacht easing out of its slip on the other side of the marina.
I engaged my Mori speed and raced along the docks with Charles and Brock at my heels. Reaching the slip, I moved to jump aboard the boat, but I flew backward when someone leaped off the boat, tackling me. We hit the water together and sank below the surface.
The Incubus wrapped his arms around me in a choke hold, and his strength surprised me. I had to fight harder than I would have expected to break his hold, and my punches did little to slow him down. My first thought was of Beth and how glad I was we’d made her and Mason stay with the SUV. There was no way either of them could have gone up against this demon.
My feet hit bottom, and the Incubus lunged for me again. It became clear when he tried to get me in another hold that his aim was to restrain me, not kill me. Both of us could hold our breath longer than a human, so we were in no danger of drowning, but he had to know by now he wouldn’t win this fight.
He was a strong bastard all the same, and it took several minutes and well-aimed strikes to subdue him. I could have used the knife at my hip to end him, but I wanted him alive.
I kicked off from the bottom, dragging the limp body of the Incubus with me, and sucked in a lungful of air when I broke the surface.
Brock shouted my name, and I swam toward the dock that was a few yards away. He grabbed the unconscious Incubus by the arms and pulled him up onto the dock, where two more lay. One was dead, but the other appeared to have been knocked out. Brock sported a cut on his cheek and another on his leg.
I hoisted myself up to the dock and looked at Charles, who was binding a bloody gash on his stomach.
“You okay?” I asked him.
He grimaced. “Yeah. Bastard blindsided me and nearly gutted me.”
“I’ve never seen Incubi fight like that,” Brock said from behind me. “They came at us with blades and fought like warriors.”
“Did we get them all?” I turned to see an empty slip. In the distance, I could hear the fading sound of a motor.
I jumped from the dock and ran along the jetty in time to see the boat speeding north toward the strait. Once it passed the Golden Gate bridge, they’d be in open water and those girls would be lost.
Racing back to the others, I jumped aboard a small runabout and had it hotwired in less than a minute. It wasn’t as fast as the Sea Ray, but I only needed to keep them in sight until we could call in reinforcements.
Brock leaped into the boat as I cast off, leaving Charles to deal with our captures. He was on the phone, calling in his team as we pulled away from the dock.
I reached for my radio and came up empty. It was probably at the bottom of the marina.
“Tell Beth and Mason to stay put until backup arrives,” I told Brock as I steered the boat through the choppy water.
“Beth, Mason, you copy?” Brock called over the engine and spraying water.
Someone must have answered because he said, “Chris said to stay there until backup gets –” He paused. “You’re what?”
I shot Brock a sideways look and saw him watching me warily.
“What?” I asked with a sinking feeling.
“They’re headed for the bridge, following the boat.”
I swore loudly. “Tell Mason to turn around immediately.”
Brock repeated what I’d said and gave me a helpless look. “Uh…Mason’s not driving.”
“Goddamn it.” I motioned for him to give me his radio and to drive the boat while I donned the earpiece.
“Beth,” I said in a commanding voice. “Stop whatever you’re doing and go back to the marina.”
“I’m doing my job,” she replied.
“No, you’re going back to wait for backup.”
“And let them get away?” she bit out. “Not happening.”
“We’re losing them,” Brock shouted.
He was right. The Sea Ray was getting smaller by the minute.
Beth’s voice came over the radio again. “You know what will happen to those girls if we lose them. I’m not letting them go.”
I cursed myself for giving her the keys to the SUV and for not realizing she’d do something like this. I’d seen how affected she’d been by the news of the missing girls. I should have known better than to bring her into this situation.