Drake Sisters 07 - Hidden Currents

boat.
    â€œHurry, Jonas, I can’t keep them safe much longer,†El e cal ed. Blood streamed down her face like tears. It matted in the hair near her ears and she could taste it in her mouth.
    â€œHold them, El e,†Jonas commanded. “Don’t you let Hannah die.â€
    The surf caught at the dory as Jonas primed the pump with three pul s before he ripped at the cord to start the engine. Cursing when it didn’t start the first time, it caught the second, roaring to life just as Ilya flung himself into the boat. Jonas turned the throttle and the dory reacted fast, cleaving through the surf out toward the sea where he knew Hannah was barely holding on. He could feel her in his mind, her thoughts sluggish, her body freezing.
    Although pregnant, Hannah was thin and not far along. She couldn’t last long in the cold water without much body fat. It was only El e, sending her warmth, trying to keep Hannah’s body temperature up that was giving them the few extra minutes needed.
    Jackson, Ilya and Jonas are coming for you. Hannah, just float. I know you’re cold, but Jonas is coming in the boat. Hang on a little longer.
    El e’s brain felt as if it were shredding from the inside out. She could barely breathe through the pain. She went down to one knee and ducked her head low to try to gulp air when she was dizzy and near fainting.
    Bomber lunged at something and she caught sight of her sister Sarah, crawling toward her up the path. She hissed the command to disengage, remembered she needed to speak the command in Russian and repeated it, stil breathing deep, fighting waves of dizziness.
    Jonas opened the dory ful throttle and took them out to sea, straight into the unnatural fog bank. Elle. Give me a direction. Hannah’s too far gone and I can’t reach her.
    Jonas felt the sudden impact as the rest of the sisters joined what strength they had left to feed El e so she could reach Jackson. It was a shaky bridge at best. He felt Jackson’s direction more than getting an actual signal from him. But it didn’t matter, he took the dory over the surf, slicing through the waves and the heavy fog in a straight line to them. Jonas prayed that Jackson had Hannah, as he couldn’t feel her in his mind at al .
    Slowing the boat when he knew he was getting close, he chugged along, trying not to panic, his gaze frantical y searching the sea. A hand came up out of the water to the right of their position and his heart nearly exploded in his chest. Through the choppy water and the heavy veil of fog, he could just make out Hannah’s body stretched out on top of the water with Jackson’s arm hooked around her neck, holding her to him. Jackson shivered uncontrol ably, but he kicked strongly to keep them from going under.
    Ilya knelt up in the boat as Jonas pul ed alongside them. Jackson tried to help Ilya pul Hannah into the dory, but his movements were slow and clumsy.
    â€œI’l get her,†Ilya said, his voice tight with apprehension.
    Hannah was ice cold as Ilya hauled her into the boat. He took the time to throw his jacket over her and then reached back to get Jackson. The man weighed a lot more than Hannah, and his body was almost dead weight. Jackson set his jaw and looked up at Ilya, nodding to indicate he was ready and as Ilya heaved him out of the water, Jackson surged upward to give himself the momentum to get into the boat.
    Jackson sprawled on the bottom of the boat, shivering, teeth chattering, his brain refusing to work. Jonas switched places with Ilya, stripping off his shirt, covering Hannah’s body with his own, rubbing her arms and talking to her in a voice raw with love.
    â€œHold on, Jackson,†Ilya said. “We’l get you warm.â€
    Jackson couldn’t answer, but he held on to El e, afraid to pul out of her mind, afraid of letting go of her in much the same way he was certain Jonas was afraid to let go of Hannah. In spite of the icy cold, and the way his brain cel s refused to function properly, he could stil feel her pain, like a thousand needles piercing his skul .
    Elle, baby. Hold on for me. Just hold on for me. He was more afraid for her than he was for himself. He was stil shaking, shivering, his teeth chattering, which meant he was stil functioning, but El e was fading away from him, as if she might be passing out.
    Ilya ran the dory right onto the beach and leapt out, reaching to help