We pulled up alongside Kabita, who was calmly treading water as if she ended up in the middle of the ocean every day of her life. She gave the Hippocampus a nose rub, and he whickered some more. Then she used his mane to lever herself up so she was straddling his back like she was on a proper horse.
"I thought you said we had to ride him like a dolphin," I said, pushing a strand of soaked hair out of my eyes.
"Apparently he wants the two of us to ride astride. Magnussen will have to do the dolphin thing."
"What? You can talk to him now?"
She smirked. "No. Eddie can."
"He and I are going to be having words later." I reached up, and she helped me haul my ass on board while the Hippocampus waited patiently. As soon as I was on, he swam toward a third figure in the water. Magnussen was already plowing through the waves toward us with long, even strokes. Clearly he and the water got along just fine.
The ship had nearly disappeared into the darkness by the time we were all aboard the Hippocampus. The creature wheeled and took off for the nearest island at top speed as if carrying two normal humans and one massive one was all in a day's work.
Chapter Nine
The hippocampus sliced through the water, legs churning up foam in front of him. It was a good thing we were doing this at night. I'd hate to have to try and explain our ride to the harbor patrol. I was having a hard enough time trying to explain it to myself, and I was used to weird things.
Our ride dropped us off on a deserted beach on the least populated side of the second island from the charts. Then he turned around and charged back into the sea, disappearing beneath the waves.
"Well," Kabita said, wiping salt water off her face, "that was different."
"No shit." I stared at the deserted beach. I couldn't see anything but the faint glow of pale sand and the dark outlines of palm trees. No lights from a nearby house or headlights from cars passing by the beach. There was absolutely no sign of human life. No sign of vampire life, either, if the lack of pain in the back of my skull was anything to go by. "Why did he drop us off here? Other than obviously not wanting to be seen, I mean."
"This was the nearest point of populated land to the ship at the time the vamp went overboard," Magnussen said, voice cool, face impassive. "Couple that with this being a low populated area, it seemed the most logical place to start."
"Okay, Mr. Spock," I snarked under my breath.
A smile twitched the corner of his mouth. "You can call me Haakon."
"Uh, sure thing. Haakon." I pronounced it "Haw-ken" which wasn't quite correct, but I couldn't seem to get my mouth to form the vowels properly. He winced.
"Close enough."
"Now, how are we going to find this vampire?" Kabita interrupted as she finished wringing seawater out of her long, thick braid. "This is a pretty big island. The vamp could be anywhere."
"I can't sense him," I admitted. "And he's got at least an eighteen-hour head start on us. Even if he landed on this very beach, he could be on the other side of the island by now."
"If we are correct and he is headed toward whomever is controlling him," Magnussen—er, Haakon—said. "I would think it unlikely such a person would reside in the center of town or any other heavily populated area."
I shrugged. "Depends on if the vamp's master is a people person or not." Or was human or not. But I didn't mention that out loud. I figured I didn't need to. "Let's find a road. There must be one nearby. We can figure it out from there."
The three of us trudged across the beach toward the dark silhouettes of palm trees waving in the sea breeze. The sand shifted constantly under my boots, making walking difficult. My legs burned with the effort. Kabita and Haakon had out their flashlights, but I didn't bother. I could see better without one. One of the more positive side-effects of channeling just a touch of the Darkness.
I scanned the line of trees for a path leading off the beach. I finally found an area where the foliage seemed marginally less dense than the surrounding underbrush. I led the way through, stopping short as something caught my eye. Streaks of something dark glimmered on a low hanging branch. I'd have never seen it if it hadn't been for my extra-special night vision. I stepped closer, sniffing. I caught the faintest hint of copper and decay. Vampire blood. Idiot had gotten himself sideswiped by a low-hanging branch.
"We're in the right place," I told the others. Without waiting for a response, I pushed my way quickly through the brush, scanning intently for more signs the vamp had been there. Without my bidding, the Darkness rose. My vision tunneled down to a pinprick of light against a field of black. Suddenly it was as if a path was laid out before me: a smear of blood here, a strand of hair there. Each object was surrounded by a slight purple glow as if the Darkness was saying, "Here you go." Yes, the vamp had definitely come this way.