Page 30 of Harmless
“Ugh, don’t say that!” Rori’s hands dove into her hair. “We can’t just sit here!”
“Unfortunately, that’s the only thing we can do,” Carter said.
We weren’t the only ones taking cover against the canyon walls. People were lined up single file, avoiding the areas most exposed to those preying on us from above. Not everyone was lucky, though. Several bodies laid out in the clearing, unmoving as their blood pooled around them.
Our shooters weren’t just sitting and waiting up there either. They walked the rim of the canyon, trying to catch people at different angles. The spotlight kept moving around, sometimes exposing people’s feet as targets.
It was abundantly clear, though, that the shooters were in no hurry. They would wait us out if they had to. We were sitting fucking ducks.
“Should’ve planned for this,” Carter grumbled with a shake of his head.
“Excuse me? No.” Rori folded her arms and glared at her cousin. “If we’d been any later, these guys would have fought to the death. Can’t believe I had to drag your ass out as late as we did.”
“Well, maybe if we’d planned to mitigate being trapped in the canyon, we wouldn’t be trapped in a fucking canyon right now.”
“Fuck you, Carter. Now is not the time to pick a fight with me.”
I cleared my throat, “Hey guys, maybe we should focu—”
A spray of bullets rained down, piercing the dirt just inches away from our feet. From out in the clearing, a scream rang out.
“Paige!” Rori cried. She leaned away from the wall as if she were about to run out, but Carter pulled her back.
I could barely see the woman under the table. She was curled up on the ground with the gladiator on his hands and knees over her, shielding her with his body. When he touched her hands or arms as if to reassure her, his hand came away bloodied, and he looked up at us with a grim expression.
“Is she hit?” Rori called out to him.
“Just a graze, I think,” the Hunter answered. “But she’s bleeding a lot.”
“Fuck.” Rori’s hands went to her hair again. “We have to do something.”
“I’m all ears, president,” Carter snorted.
“Shut the fuck up! You can talk shit later, but my friend is hurt!”
“She’ll survive a graze.”
“Not if we’re out here for hours and it gets infected! She’s not a fighter, Carter. She can’t just tough it out.”
The woman under the table was sobbing loudly now while the gladiator tried to soothe her, his large hand applying pressure to her wound.
“I’ll get her.”
I didn’t realize the words had left my mouth until everyone stared at me like I’d grown a few extra eyeballs.
“The fuck you will, Torr,” Rori said.
Follow.
Everyone looked down this time at the jaguar who returned our gazes with bright golden eyes. That single word had led Santos and I straight to Rori moments ago. Was I really willing to follow the command a second time?
Follow and trust, Torrance. And stay low.
The big cat left the cover of the curving, canyon wall, and I did as he instructed. Despite the background noise of the others yelling at me, I followed.
Sure, it wasn’t lost on me that I was walking into open gunfire and therefore scared enough to shit my pants, but there was something else besides that all-consuming fear. A strange sense of calm, like I just knew that everything would be alright.
The pinging of bullets all around me was a poignant reminder not to tempt fate too much, so I kept alongside Tezca, low to the point where I was practically crawling. Don’t get me wrong, the jaguar was bigger than most cats, but he wasn’t exactly lion or tiger-sized. The broad side of his body barely covered me, but he trotted along calmly, as if we were just going for a stroll in the park.
