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from bolting, to keep me feeling safe as he growled his words to the group of the men that had suddenly come from out of the shadows? I didn’t know. But I gripped his arm tightly in response and tried with everything in me to keep it together as I looked to my left and right for a way out or something to use as a weapon.
    “So who is it now?” Enoch asked in a growl and pushed me with his back, forcing me to retreat backward. “Hatch and Reece are toast. I know that for a fact. I saw it with my own eyes. So who’s the piper now?”
    “Maybe I am,” the redhead sputtered and slithered her hand up one of the men’s arm. He shook her arm off and glowered at her.
    “You can’t even get a simple task done correctly, Angelina. He should be dead now instead of pestering us, but instead I’m going to have to kill him to get to the girl.” I gasped and felt Enoch’s hand tighten painfully on my arm.
    “ The girl is a human,” he growled. “I picked her up a motel and was about to have my way with her before Angelina butted in.” His breaths puffed in the air in front of him. “What could you possibly want with a stupid feeler?”
    I flinched at the insult—not clearly understanding it— though I knew he was just trying to save me. The man tilted his head, clearly not fazed by Enoch’s speech. “She’s going to lead us to Clara.”
    I gasped, unable to stop it. “Clara! What do you want with C lara?”
    They all stood silent except for the man who had been speaking. He smiled. It was the most evil thing I’d ever seen. I covered my mouth with my palm, knowing my mistake had been grave, knowing I’d given the enemy exactly the ammo they’d wanted. I didn’t know why they wanted Clara. That didn’t make any sense. But it was Enoch’s reaction that surprised me the most. He looked at me over his shoulder, his jaw clenched, his eyes angry. “How the hell do you know Clara?”
    I felt my lips part. I dug my nails into his arm. “How the hell do you?” I whispered.
    “That’s enough of the family tree for now,” the man said with a chuckle. “Just send her on over and we’ll be on our way.”
    “What for?” Enoch growled, still looking at my face.
    “Bait.” I heard the smile in his voice. “Come on. Red rover, red rover, send Fay right over.”
    Enoch sighed and pushed me back even further as he turned to face them again.
    “Do you trust me?” he asked in a low voice as he pushed harder and faster.
    “Yes,” I answered without hesitation.
    His eyes closed at that admission. “Hold on tight to me.” 
    In a second before I could think of what he was doing, he snatched me against his chest and sent us sailing over the dock’s edge into the water. I could hear cursing and yelling, even some loud bangs that had to be gunshots, but I just held on tight.
    A deep voice boomed, “Don’t shoot! We need her alive!”
    We landed in the freezing water and he pulled me under further and further. We swam hard toward the opposite dock. If we surfaced before we made the cover of it, they’d kill us for sure.
    The deeper and further we got, the more I tried to stay calm and hold my breath, feeling the burn and ache in my lungs. I needed to take a breath soon. I was trained in holding my breath. I had been put in a chamber with tear gas when I went through boot camp, more than once. I knew how to hold my breath. But we’d been under for a long time.
    I started to panic and began to fight him. He didn’t understand that I couldn’t not breathe like him, that I need air more often—and then his lips were on mine. I couldn’t see much in the murky water, but I could see that his eyes were open. I tensed, still fighting inside, but he held tight and smoothed my cheek with his thumb. I relaxed my muscles, and opened my mouth under his, blowing my air from my nose. He wasted no time in giving me new air in return.
    I worried about him for a split second before I remembered that he wasn’t human, number