Nathaniel walked toward us with an awful, evil smile. He studied us for a moment and then turned to Sandra.

"Well? What took so long?" he snarled.

"They were uncooperative."

"And why is the water elemental bleeding?"

"He was very uncooperative."

"What did I say to you about him?" Nathaniel asked.

"That you wanted him alive," Sandra said.

"Alive? Is that the word I used?"

Sandra actually looked afraid. "Uninjured," she whispered.

"I thought that's what I said."

"He spit on me," Sandra said.

"Uninjured? Should I be flattered?" Dani asked.

Nathaniel turned back to him and smiled. "I only want you unharmed so that I can have the pleasure of doing it myself." He looked at us for a moment. "When... Oh, I've forgotten his name... A pity." He didn't sound at all sorry. "When I learned of your presence on the ship, I thought it would be fun. I've never been able to hunt on a ship. I never imagined you'd all put up such a fight. And I did have some fun. But now... Well, you killed several of my dhampirs. And Francesca. I was beginning to tire of her, anyway, but I did intend to do it myself." His eyes narrowed, and he glared at Dani. "You were especially irritating." Suddenly, his glare turned into a frown. "What did you do to him?" he snapped to Sandra.

I looked at Dani in concern. He was breathing heavily and looked unsteady. I was still having trouble keeping my balance as the rough waves hit the ship, but I had never noticed Dani having any problems. Now every time the ship rocked, I worried that Dani would fall.

Sandra looked nervous. "I had to use force."

And then Dani crumpled to the ground and lay still.

"Dani!" I cried in horror.

"Leave him," Nathaniel said.

I stopped before my knees hit the ground and stood, shaking. Nathaniel walked closer to us, face twisted in fury.

"What did you do, Sandra?" he repeated.

"I hit him... I didn't mean to hit him as hard as I did. I..." Sandra hesitated and swallowed hard. "I think I may have... accidentally ruptured something."

Nathaniel's hand flashed out, and he slapped her across the face. "Fool! I told you that the water elemental was probably the only one who would put up a decent fight! And you bring him to me like this?"

"I'm sorry!"

"You realize that this is the exact opposite of uninjured. What are you going to do about this?"

"I-I... I could kill him for you?"

Nathaniel just glared at her.

"He spit on me and nearly staked me!" Sandra cried. "Please, allow me to kill him. I'll make sure he screams, I promise!"

Nathaniel considered it. "Fine."

"Thank you. You'll enjoy watching this."

Sandra hurried over to Dani and lifted him off the deck. He hung limply from her hand. I felt a few tears slide down my cheeks. I hoped that the rain would hide them, because I knew Nathaniel would be pleased that I was crying. Nathaniel crossed his arms over his chest and glared. Then, something on Dani's wrist caught my eye. It was a tattoo of a red and black star. I hadn't seen that one, before, which made sense given that it only showed up when his wrist was wet. My heart skipped a beat. It was raining. If Dani was wet enough for his tattoos to appear, how could he possibly be hurt enough to pass out? He'd seemed better before being soaked by the rain.

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"I don't hear screaming," Nathaniel said with a bored sigh.

He spoke too soon. A horrible shriek of agony echoed across the deck. Sandra fell to the ground, Dani's stake embedded deep in her chest. For a moment, the only sounds were the roar of the wind, the thundering rain, and Sandra's gasps of pain. Then, Nathaniel started laughing.

"You fool! You brought a water elemental into the rain!"

Dani was back on his feet, carefully edging between Nathaniel and me. The cut on his lip was completely gone, as was the bruise. It looked like Sandra had never struck him at all.

"Dispose of that," Nathaniel said, gesturing to Sandra. "Throw it overboard."

The other five sitting by the pool got up and walked closer. One of them stopped next to the Sandra.

"She's still alive, Nathaniel." I spotted short fangs as she spoke and sighed in relief. At least one of them was only a dhampir.

"And two of her hearts are clearly punctured. I said throw her overboard. Do it or you'll join her."

The dhampir girl went to grab Sandra's legs. Another person went for her arms. It was a balding guy who looked well over thirty. Another dhampir.

"Wait, let me have my stake back," Dani said. He sounded fine, the rain had healed him.

"Excuse me?" Nathaniel laughed.

"You heard me."

Nathaniel held up a hand, and the two dhampirs holding Sandra paused. "Why do you think I would want you to have a stake?"

Dani shrugged. "You said you thought I'd put up a decent fight. I assumed that meant you'd like one."

"And you think I'd want you armed?"

"Well, we both know you're the one who will walk away," Dani said lightly. I couldn't believe he was able to say it with a grin. "If I'm armed, the added element of danger might make things a little more exciting for you."

Nathaniel burst out laughing. "I like the way you think!"

He walked over to Sandra and drove the stake farther in. Sandra gasped one last time before dying. Then, Nathaniel yanked out the stake and waved at the dhampirs. The two of them carried the body to the rails and tossed it over. With a threatening smile, Nathaniel handed Dani his stake.

"Here you are. I hope it gives you an extra minute or two."

"Me, too."

As far as I was concerned, the stake had already bought us a minute. I wondered if Dani was trying to stall, too.

Nathaniel's smile widened. "Keep the attitude while you can, elemental. You and all of your friends will die tonight."

"Funny, I was going to say that to you." There was something in Dani's voice. A slight strain. The fear that he wasn't fully healed and was just bluffing struck me.

Nathaniel laughed, again. He took a few steps back and regarded us for a few moments. Then, he curled back his upper lip and snarled. I watched in horror, as Nathaniel and Dani stared each other down. Any moment, one of them would lunge. Nathaniel took a step to the side, and Dani mirrored him. They slowly circled each other. Too late, I realized that Nathaniel was trying to position himself between Dani and me. I glanced nervously at Nathaniel's companions. They were all watching in amusement. I trusted that they were too afraid of Nathaniel to interfere in his fight. But I didn't believe that Nathaniel wouldn't go after me. I pulled out my wand and backed up, almost shaking with fear. I wished that I had spent more time practicing my fire spell. Maybe if I had put more effort in, I'd be able to make more than sparks now.

I realized a fraction of a second before Nathaniel did that his plan had backfired. He had managed to get Dani away from me, but Dani had let him. In turn, he had gotten Nathaniel to stand directly under the roof that covered the pool bar. I spotted movement on the roof just before Thomas dropped down right on top of Nathaniel. Everyone on the deck stared in shock as Thomas and Nathaniel fought. Everyone but Dani. While Thomas grappled with Nathaniel, Dani turned and rushed the others before they could join the fight. He reached them at the exact moment TS hurled himself off the roof. All five of them went down in a heap, as hundreds of pounds of wolf landed on them. For a few moments it was chaos.

"Jen! Jen!"

I turned to see Charlie, by the snack bar and well out of the rain. He beckoned me over, and I raced to join him. He hugged me, and I felt the rain drying as he did.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine." I was still shaking. Once I was dry, I knew it hadn't been the cold rain.

We both turned and watched the fight helplessly. Thomas and Nathaniel fought, while TS and Dani were busy with the rest. They were outnumbered, but miraculously holding their own. But Dani didn't seem as agile as usual. He was still hurt. I knew that the girl and the older guy were both dhampirs, which gave me hope that we could still win. I had a feeling that another man was a dhampir, too. He looked about our age, but he and the other two acted nervous. Judging from their reactions, they had never seen a werewolf, before. They also looked shocked the first time Dani chucked a ball of water at them. He gathered the rain into balls and lobbed them right and left. I doubted that they hurt, but being hit in the face by a ball of water had to be distracting. But, I could tell from the way the fourth man darted around that he was a vampire. Luckily, he had trouble without the dhampirs' help. Every time he went after Dani or TS, the other one jumped in. It was the fifth person who made me nervous. He was fast enough to be a vampire, but he hung back from the rest of the group. There was something different about him.

"Mariana is in the room. Go back with her and stay there," Charlie said.

I gaped at him. "I can't just leave!"

"There's nothing you can do." Angry flames flared in his eyes. "There's nothing I can do. Go get somewhere safe."

"But-"

"I can hardly see in this rain, Jen. I can take care of myself, but if we get attacked, I can't be sure that I'll be able to protect you. Get out while you can."