Fight the Tide (7 page)

Parker could hear Adam shouting his name, but he ignored him as he heaved himself up and clambered over the railing. “Get in the dinghy! I’ve got this.” Parker threw himself up the deck toward the winch. He glanced back to see the man still at the railing. “Go!”

He wasn’t going to let this boat capsize completely, or worse, turtle and flip upside down. He’d just finished uncleating the sheets and releasing the boom vang when Adam appeared beside him, his golden eyes glowing and fingers digging into Parker’s shoulders, claws scraping.

“What the hell are you doing?” Panting, Adam gave Parker a shake. Then he blinked and looked at his hands, stepping back quickly and letting his arms fall.

“What the hell are
you
doing? You swam over? You left those people alone on
Bella
? Jesus fucking Christ!” Blood rushed in Parker’s ears as he squinted through the rain. But the people seemed to only be waiting on the deck, watching them.

“They’re fine, Parker. They’re just a family who needs help.”

“No one is just anything anymore! You’d better hope you’re right.” He turned back to the sails.

“What are you doing? This boat is sinking!”

“Not on my fucking watch.” There wasn’t much left in the world he could fix.

“This is no time for your stubborn routine!”

“You want to help? Go stand on the centerboard. We’re going to lever this baby back upright.” He turned to point, but Adam was already climbing up the deck on all fours, and before Parker could do anything else, he was over the other side and pulling. With a groan of wood and fiberglass, the boat came level, Parker holding on to the rigging as it righted. “Or you could just use your freaky werewolf strength. Good call,” he muttered.

They were close enough to land to drop anchor, and Parker rushed about, battening down as much as he could and turning on the pumps to drain any water below deck. Hopefully she would withstand the storm. He seemed to be the only one with sailing experience, so she’d have to wait it out alone.

Adam hoisted himself back onto the deck. “What now?”

“We get back to
Bella
. Use the engine and reach land. There has to be some cove or harbor nearby.”

The man had returned in the dinghy, and they clambered on from the stern. Parker coughed as another wave drenched them. The abandoned boat rocked in the tumult, but wasn’t in any immediate danger in Parker’s estimation. If the storm got any bigger, that could change.

When they were back on board and he was behind the wheel, Parker checked his nav instruments and adjusted course. It would burn fuel to keep the sails completely down, but they needed to get to shelter.

“Thank you so much. We’re so grateful.” The man’s voice was suddenly close by, and Parker jumped, whirling around. The man added, “My God, it seemed to come out of nowhere!”

“Stand back,” Parker barked, concentrating on the outline of land getting closer and closer in the gray, the gun still securely tucked into his jeans a reassuring weight. Had to get out of the wind…

There was a commotion and several cries, and Adam was suddenly there. Parker blinked at him and then looked down at the man sprawled on the deck on his ass. It took a moment to process that Adam had apparently come to his defense and shoved the man away.

The woman and kids clung together nearby with wide eyes. Tension rolled off Adam in waves, a growl low in his throat.

Parker gripped Adam’s arm. “I’m fine.” Adam was a breath away from showing his fangs.

“I just wanted to say thank you.” The man held up his hands defensively. “I’m sorry.”

Parker cleared his throat. “It’s okay. Everything’s fine. We’re all good. Let’s just get out of this storm.”

He hoped there wasn’t another one brewing.

*

The cove would
have to do. Parker had sailed them around to the other side of an island off the main coast, where the rain still pummeled them but at least they were protected from the crashing waves. If his calculations were correct, they’d reached an animal refuge. He couldn’t see any other signs of life, but asked Adam to make sure. Not that they had many options on where else to wait out the storm.

Adam did his Terminator thing, scanning in each direction with a look of intense concentration, then gave Parker a thumbs up. The newcomers huddled in the little seating area beyond the wheel. After dropping anchor and cutting the engine,
Bella
rocked from side to side. Parker kept his voice even. He had to act normal. The people were probably fine. And if they had something planned, he was ready for them. Not to mention the fact that Adam could shred them in a heartbeat.

“Let’s get below deck,” Parker called. “Wait this thing out.”

The little girl stumbled by the steps, and Parker reached out automatically to take her arm. She looked up at him and then promptly doubled over, puking on his bare feet.

The man surged forward and scooped her up. “Lilly!” To Parker, he added, “Oh God, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. In seas this rough even the saltiest sailors can end up feeding the fishes.” Parker tried to smile at the kid.

Her father froze. “Sleeping with the fishes?”

He raised his voice in the storm’s din. “No,
feeding
them. Puking over the side.”

The man’s smile was tense. “Ah. Right.”

The visitors hurried into the hatch while Parker climbed down to the dinghy platform and rinsed his feet. When he came back up, Adam waited.

“You okay?” He watched Parker carefully.
Too
carefully.

Shoving away a burst of irritation, Parker forced a light tone. He wasn’t going to cry over puke for fuck’s sake. “Yeah, of course. What self-respecting college student can’t deal with a little vomit? Not that I’m a college student anymore, since I guess college doesn’t exist. But whatever, it’s fine.”

“No, I mean…” Adam shook his head, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Well, they seem okay to me.”

“Yeah. We’ll see. So far, so good.”

They shuffled down to the saloon, Parker sealing the hatch behind them. The visitors sat in a single row along one padded bench, still wearing their life jackets. Lilly’s was too big, cinched with a belt that had to be her father’s. Adam unzipped his, but Parker shook his head. “We should all keep our jackets on until this is over. You never know.”

Although it was morning, the light coming through the long portholes and the square skylights above the saloon was murky at best. Parker flipped on a lamp, but then thought better of it and switched it off. “Just in case there are any infected on the island. They’re attracted to light.”

The woman nodded. “We discovered that. We were holed up with some other folks in a cabin. It… It was a bad night.”

Eyeing the transparent plastic openings, Parker mused, “We should cover them up at night all the time, actually. Don’t want to attract other people either.” He thought of Shorty and how far light could be seen out on the water.

He sat stiffly on the bench across from their guests, who perched uneasily on the banquette. After standing for a few moments and probably doing another silent werewolf radar sweep, Adam joined him.

Everyone was soaked to the skin in T-shirts and casual clothes, and Parker clenched and unclenched his fingers into fists, trying to get some feeling back. He’d need his hands to be functional if things went south. The gun pressed uncomfortably into the bottom of his spine, but he didn’t shift it.

The man half stood, Lilly clinging to his side as if he’d disappear. He extended his hand. “I’m Craig Washington. This is my daughter, Lilly, and Abigail Lowenstein and her son, Jacob.”

Adam extended his hand and introduced himself, and Parker reluctantly did the same.

The woman stood and leaned across to offer her hand. “Call me Abby. We can’t thank you enough.” Her blond hair was plastered to her head, escaping a ponytail, a couple inches of darker roots by her scalp. She and Craig both looked to be in their late thirties, and when she smiled, her round face exuded warmth in a way that made Parker think of his mother in certain moments, like early Sundays when she didn’t blow out her hair and strap on her pearls. Abby’s pale cheeks were wind-burned red. She nudged Jacob with her elbow.

Jacob stood and solemnly shook their hands, his hand thin and grip tentative. Knobby knees stuck out of his shorts, and his skin had gone red too. Lilly curled into her father’s side, her face tucked into her too-big life jacket, her curly hair pulled into a tight bun and socked feet tucked up under her on the bench. She shivered, her father rubbing her bare arm steadily.

After they all stared at each other for a few moments, Adam cleared his throat. “I’m sorry about what happened on deck. I got carried away. All that adrenaline. It won’t happen again.”

“He’s overprotective,” Parker added with an attempted smile.
Oh God, please let this storm end.
The agony of small talk combined with suspicion and fear. It was the actual worst.

Craig held up his hands. “No need to apologize. I shouldn’t have startled Parker. Don’t distract the driver, right? That’s what my dad always said.”

Silence descended again, aside from the sweeping rain on the skylights and Jacob tapping a staccato rhythm on the floor with his foot. Abby stilled his leg with a hand on his knee.

“Um, do you want something hot?” Parker asked. “There’s a machine. We have hot choc—” Remembering the bared cupboards after the pirates’ visit, he flushed. “Sorry, we ran out, actually.”

“There’s coffee,” Adam said quietly. “I picked some up.”

“That would be wonderful,” Abby said, and Craig nodded.

While the fancy coffee machine built into the counter brewed, Parker settled back down on the bench. “So, um, how did you end up on a boat?” As much as he loathed small talk, the silence was worse.

Craig answered, “We came east from Winston-Salem. First we thought we’d try for DC. Figured things might be better there.” He grimaced. “Turned out it was the worst hit, so we went for the coast. Don’t know much about boats, as I guess you’re well aware. But we thought maybe… Thought maybe it would be better since the infected can’t seem to swim.” He sighed. “Thank you again. I really didn’t think anyone would answer the radio. At least not anybody who actually wanted to help.”

That he’d considered ignoring their distress call made Parker shift uneasily, guilt and shame battling for supremacy, his face going hot. Thank God he hadn’t let fear overwhelm him.

He shrugged, going for casual and probably hitting on spastic. “We weren’t too far away, so. It’s no problem.” Of course it was a massive problem for various reasons, but they were stuck together for the time being.

It was too quiet while the coffee dripped. Parker tried to relax, but there were strangers on his boat, and no matter how harmless they seemed… Nope. No relaxing. He cast about for another question, since he’d never been able to handle silence. “Did you guys meet on the road, or did you know each other before?”

Craig and Abby shared a tired smile, and she replied, “Well, we were just finishing up our third date when the world went to hell in a handbasket. And I guess the rest is history. How about you two? Did you know each other before?”

Parker couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah. We’d just met, but we couldn’t stand each other. We got over it. Now he’s crazy about me. And I guess he’s okay.” Beside him, Adam snorted softly.

“So you’re a couple?” Craig asked.

Tension zapped back into Parker’s limbs. “We are,” he bit out. “If that’s a problem—”

“No, no.” Craig shook his head. “Not at all.”

“Of course not,” Abby added with what appeared to be a genuine smile. She glanced at Jacob, who jerked his head down.

Parker frowned. “Anyway, amazing how everyone dying or turning into bloodthirsty creepers puts shit in perspective.” He glanced at Lilly. “Um, stuff, I mean.”

“Creepers,” Jacob echoed. He wrapped his arms around his middle, and now he stared at Parker intensely with dark eyes. A few red pimples dotted his chin and forehead. “Do you know what’s wrong with them?”

“It’s apparently a virus.” Parker shrugged. “Some people say it was engineered by religious nuts. But we don’t know for sure.”

“Hard to know anything these days.” Craig tried to smile. “Never thought I’d miss those darn twenty-four-hour news channels.”

The coffee machine’s chime filled the air, and Parker leapt up to pour it into mugs. He got water for the kids and opened the box of cookies as well. They passed it around, sipping and chewing and sharing rumors they’d heard on the radio and from other survivors.

“What happened here?” Abby asked, indicating the side of her head and nodding at Parker.

Adam went rigid beside him, and Parker tried to calm the sudden skipping of his heart. “Had a little run-in with some modern-day pirates the other day. Word of warning: If you see a boat called
The Good Life
? Give it a wide berth. They stole most of our supplies, but I’m fine. Adam was on land stocking up.” He held up a cookie. “Good thing, huh?” Shoving it in his mouth, he chewed. Everything was fine. He was
fine.
Yes, his head still dully ached, but he’d hardly noticed it once the storm had set in.