Wolfsbane Read Online Free Page A

did, she saw the dog limping onto the shore, head down. He looked back at her and snarled, as if to blame her for the leg injury.
Guess we’re even
. With the salt water, the searing wound he’d given her was enough to make anyone cry.
    Anyone but her.
    Knowing Bruzon and his men would hop in their boats and choppers to find her and teach her yet another vicious lesson, Dani swam a mean breaststroke toward the raft. The waves struggled against her, but she pushed herself. Had to. Finally, her fingers grazed the sodden wood.
    Even once she folded herself onto it, she wouldn’t be safe. Bruzon would search hard and long to find her, especially if he figured out what she’d stolen. For her, it was a guarantee the man would never rape another girl. To him, it was the loss of his entire pathetic empire. One he’d seized through brute force over her mother’s beloved country.
    Gripping the slick wood, she hauled herself onto it, ignoring the chill skittering over her pebbled flesh. The handmade raft buoyed her as the waves tossed and turned on this sleepless night as if ready to belch her back onto the beach. She squinted up at the dark sky, at the thick clouds barricading the stars beyond. Much like Bruzon keeping her from home. A dull moon seemed a homing beacon against her bare legs.
    Getting revenge required getting back to the States. Twenty-two kilometers stretched between Dani and hope. Twelve nautical miles that would put her in international waters.
    Light stabbed the night.
    She whipped around, the army jacket heavy with ocean water as she paddled.
    Bruzon’s speedboat roared over the waves.
    They were headed straight toward her. A metallic flavor glanced off her tongue. Watching the boat, she quickened her strokes, the wood chaffed her arm. No good. The boat gained too quickly. She’d have to go under.
    Inhaling deeply, she slid off the raft and swam through the lukewarmocean. Believing herself a safe distance away, she drifted toward the surface. With great control and tilting her head back, she eased her ears and nose above the surface.
    A VFA soldier leaned over the edge of the boat and lifted the raft.
“No es nada. Ella no está aquí,”
he shouted toward the front and dropped the board.
Plunk!
    That’s right. Keep thinking it’s nothing, that I’m not here
.
    The spotlight swung in a lazy circle over the water. As it fractured her space, Dani stopped treading water and sank.
    Even with her eyes closed against the saltiness, she could detect the brightness probing the waters, disappear, then probe again. Flutter kicking as gently as possible, she remained in place. Her head throbbed. She couldn’t hold her breath much longer. A burn emanated through her chest and threatened to drown her. She tensed, knowing she’d have to break for air. Maybe it was okay …
    The light seemed magnetically drawn to her. It pierced the dark waters again. It glanced over her, pausing. Dani let herself sink again, but her pulse ramped up until it pounded in sync with the drumming motor.
    Is this how she would die? Would she never get to see her sister, niece, and nephews again? While she didn’t have the greatest family, she did love her father and sister. Abigail, the wicked stepmother, could take a flying leap. It wasn’t every day your ex-boyfriend’s sister married your father.
    But still, Dani wanted to see them again.
Please
.
    Finally, water churned under the frantic thrashing of the engine. The boat tore off.
    She shoved herself upward—and burst out of the water. Sucking in air, she also caught a mouthful of water. Coughing and gagging, she swatted the hair from her eyes. She spit as she searched for the raft, then swam to it. She dragged herself aboard. Water sloshed her face as the waves tossed her over one crest after another. Although exhaustion tugged at her limbs, she paddled. Had to … get … to—
    Dani yawned.
    International waters.
    Over the next hour, she heard the grumble of more boats and the