Page 45 of Blue Arrow Island
“It’s already done. We’re taking her there now.”
He shakes his head, his voice low and menacing. “This isn’t about her and you know it.”
“Commander Thatcher, my decision is final.”
My heart races as they stare at each other for a few long seconds, the tension palpable. Pax’s glare is murderous. Finally, he breaks the stare-off, shrugging.
“Fine. Guess I’m going too, since she’s shadowing me.”
Virginia rolls her eyes. “Get your shit together, Commander. That’s not an option.”
“How is she supposed to train?”
“That’s her problem.”
They’re going to put me in a cell. I can’t be locked up again. The few weeks I spent in a cell were terrifying. I was helpless, trapped alone with only my fears and regrets.
“Can I leave instead?” I blurt, my heart pounding so hard I’m a little dizzy.
“Leave the camp?” Pax shakes his head, aggravated. “No. I told you, you’ll be dead within a day. You can’t survive this place alone.”
I’m not doing so great here either, but I don’t say that.
“You can’t leave,” Virginia echoes. “You know too much.”
Panic cracks my chest open, flooding me with anxiety. They won’t let me go. I’ll be kept prisoner here until I’m a mindless breeding and fighting machine.
That, or Marcelle will take me out in the circle, and the Rising Tiders will have an orgy next to my dead body. Both options are horrific.
“Let’s go.” Virginia grabs my upper arm to lead me away, and I pull out of her grasp.
She narrows her eyes at me, looking ready to pounce.
“I’m going. Don’t touch me.”
It was a reflex; being touched is almost always bad, and my subconscious knows it.
Pax and Virginia stand on either side of me, both tense, but for different reasons.
I have to stay calm. This is a big setback, but I’m still alive. What I do and say from here may determine whether I stay that way.
We’re near the center of the camp when we stop by a worn raft. At least, I always assumed it was a raft. The side-by-side pieces of bamboo are lashed together with a thin rope made of woven vines that are brown and brittle-looking with age.
Virginia bends and picks up one end of it, flipping it up and over, and I realize it’s a hinged door. I inhale sharply when I realize where she’s sending me.
It’s a deep hole in the ground. It’s about eight feet in diameter and fifteen feet deep, lined with smooth metal.
“No,” I whisper, fighting the burn in my eyes. “Don’t put me in there.”
I give Pax an imploring look as Virginia goes over to a building to take a long ladder, also made of lashed-together bamboo, from an outer wall. He moves in front of me and meets my eyes, putting his hands on my shoulders.
“I’ll check on you a lot. I promise. I’ll make sure you’re okay.”
“Commander.” Virginia snaps. “Help me with this.”
She has no trouble with the ladder’s weight, but she needs help maneuvering the long ladder into the hole. Pax sighs and takes one end.
I’m going to die in a dark hole in the ground. Alone. Starving. I’d rather throw myself from a cliff and be done with it.
