Page 109 of Blue Arrow Island
She sighs heavily.
“You have plenty of arrows?” I ask her.
“Yeah, but not all of them with me.” She leans in, her head right next to mine. “Should we come up with a rendezvous point in case shit ever hits the fan?”
Just the thought makes my stomach feel like a tumbling dryer, spinning endlessly. As far as life on Blue Arrow Island goes, we’ve got it great. But that’s all dependent on the shield that keeps anyone or anything with aromium out.
“The beach? Where we were first dropped off?”
She nods. “Okay.”
“I killed a dog-sized praying mantis.”
I hear her sharp intake of breath. “Are you shitting me?”
“Nope. It was a walking nightmare.”
Her groan is weary. “This fucking place.”
My gaze wanders the room, landing on Stella. She’s listening to something over the radio, her brows drawn together with worry. A few people near her stand up.
“Everyone, stay here,” she says, her voice stern. “Ellison, Breck, come with me.”
Breck is a tall, burly member of Command Team Two. Ellison’s face is drawn with concern as she follows Stella.
“She’s worried about Nova,” Amira whispers.
She takes my hand, both of us holding on tight as we wait. Marcus is so strong and capable that I’ve never considered him dying. But I’m holding my breath, staring at the doorway whenNova walks through it a couple minutes later, blood splattered on her face and in her hair.
Marcus comes through next, a woman limp in his arms. He scans the room, his gaze landing on me. The agony I see in his expression makes me want to run to him, but I can’t. Not now.
“Put Shan in the surgery room!” Ellison flies through the doorway next. “Des in an exam room. Niran, keep pressure on that wound.”
Everyone who’s been sheltering here is standing now, people putting their arms around each other as we all look on in shock. The woman in Marcus’s arms leaves a trail of blood as he carries her through a doorway.
“What the hell happened?” Amira says softly.
“Virginia.” My fury for her seeps through my tone.
She’s on the wrong side of the battle for control of this island. Her niece’s life isn’t worth more than those of the people she’s hurting and killing here. All so Whitman can build a supernatural army to help him murder more people and amass even more power.
Marcus said Whitman could find out what’s really going on here at any moment. And if that happens, there’ll be no stopping Virginia. If she has all the supplies she needs and no one keeping her in check, she’ll be able to supply Whitman with countless pseudo-human soldiers.
“Everyone!” Stella calls out, her hands cupped around her mouth. “The storm has weakened. We’re calling everyone else here so we can all be briefed by Marcus. Hopefully we can start that soon.”
Marcus comes back into the Sub, his eyes finding mine immediately. He’s hurting, and not from his swollen black eye or the cut on his bicep. Bone-deep ache is written in every line of his face.
“What’s happening with you two?” Amira says, her voice so low I can hardly hear her. “I feel like I just walked in on an intimate moment, but you guys are just looking at each other.”
I break Marcus’s hold on me by looking away, not wanting to give my feelings away to the entire camp. “It’s nothing.”
“I’ll taketotal bullshitfor a thousand, Alex,” she quips.
Within five minutes, the room is filled, well over a hundred fifty people packed into the space. Marcus crosses his arms over his chest and speaks to us. “Command Team One encountered a group of Tiders while we were coming back to camp after assessing damage to our solar array. I’m deeply sorry to tell you Shan was killed and Des was wounded. Ellison is working on him now.”
The room is eerily quiet, everyone’s attention fixed on him.
“Our walls are all intact, but we lost the tower to the storm. For now, we’re keeping everyone in the Sub who isn’t essential to running the camp. We have to get the tower back up.”
