Matthew Silver and the Monster Hunters, Book One: The Darkest Waters

Chapter Twenty-Nine

SilverCHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Parker hog-tied and locked us up in the very same storage closet that we’d used to store our equipment. But instead of scuba gear, it now held his gigantic harpoon launcher. I thought about trying to attack him with it, but I decided against it. There was a reason that it was made to mount onto a boat. It was way too heavy to free-fire.

That wasn’t the only problem. He’d known what he was doing when he had tied us up. With our limbs bound together, and both of us having injured legs, we couldn’t move at all. It was straining my back and pulling on my injured leg. Having a bullet in your leg didn’t go well with being hog-tied.

He hadn’t bothered gagging us, but that was a hollow victory, because anything we would’ve said, he would’ve heard anyways, so we just sat there in our pain. I glanced at my leg, and the blood was still seeping through my pants. I wished that I could tie it off to staunch the bleeding. Dying of blood loss was in the Top Ten of my “To Don’t”list.

Only six or seven minutes later did he get us, which surprised me. He cut our bonds and marched us out into the dawn. I struggled along, because every single bit of muscle movement in my leg worked up to my leg wound. Jay’s ankle seemed to be doing a lot better, since she was walking with only a minor limp.

He ushered us over to the side. “Just have to make a quick drop-off to the Pukwudgies, and then I’ll be on my way.”

“The drop-off being us?”I asked angrily.

“Smart kid.”

“I don’t get it! What do you get from turning in a bunch of kids to the monsters? Some sick satisfaction?”

He punched me in the face, and I saw stars.

Jay yelled in protest, and I stumbled for a second, groaning, and groping my arms to find something to balance on. The punch actually didn’t hurt me, but I needed him to think that it was. I bit my lip hard, and when I brought my face back up, I spat out blood to make it look worse than it really was.

“That is my business!”Parker snarled. “Right now, my life depends on this, and if I can get things done, my place will be set! I don’t need you messing this up for me!”

“How? Like this?”

Before he could answer, I punched him in the chest as hard as I could, with three throwing knives between my knuckles.

In his anger, he’d forgotten to pay closer attention to his prisoners. I’d goaded him to punching me, and when I’d pretended to stumble all over the place, I’d actually been loosening my throwing knives from my hidden arm sheath under my sleeve. If he had been in his right mind or an actual Hunter, he would’ve known to search me. He may have been a good Hunter in the past, but this was the second time I’d used my hidden sheath against him.

He stumbled forward, and I slipped the pistol from his waistband. I didn’t have a chance to do anything else, because he grabbed me around the waist, hoisted me into the air, and slammed me against the cabin.

My head hit the glass on a window, stunning me. I felt Parker slip away, and through the haze, I heard loud sounds of rushing feet, yelling, and lots of intense fighting.

When my eyes cleared, Parker was on his stomach, and Jay was standing over him holding his arm behind his back. She kept one foot on his spine to keep him down. Parker’s face was covered in bruises, his lip was split and bleeding, and he was only semiconscious.

Of course he hadn’t considered Jay a threat. She’d been unconscious when I’d last fought him. He told me I was a good fighter, but Jay could beat me with both arms tied behind her back. This time, she’d been fully conscious, and she’d jumped right into the fight. I almost felt bad for the guy.