Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 110757 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110757 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
It’s not through my own eyes that I see the six people behind him, but through the vines. I don’t see them in a traditional sense, but I know. It must be the exiles who left Pax’s camp.
An arrow lodges in Theron’s chest. At his size, it’s like a pushpin. He pulls it out easily and casts it aside.
He’s not getting any closer to Amira. I dig as deeply into my mind as I can and send my command through the connection.
Attack. Protect us.
A deep hissing sensation floods through me. Lianas and vines lunge at Theron, pulling him to the ground.
A vine easily takes the axe from his hand. He bellows with alarm, reaching toward the people behind him as he’s dragged by the lianas, his lower legs tightly encircled.
My connection flickers, like a new message incoming and interrupting my flow.
There are more predators coming from a different direction. They’re close.
Energy is leached out of me as I try to focus on both groups of people at the same time. There are more in the second group. Closer to a dozen.
Ingrid’s soldiers. My frustration flickers like a hot coal. I don’t know how to send my defenders in two different directions at the same time.
The six people behind Theron are retreating. I want to finish him, but I don’t know how close Ingrid’s soldiers are.
I redirect my fury toward the new threat. They probably have guns, so I pull on every ounce of wrath inside me. A tsunami of rage and power floods through me, blinding in its intensity.
A dim light flickers somewhere. It fades. It’s going to darken without me.
I’m empty, though. I give in to the darkness.
38
“My son is on that island. With the substantial investment of resources into the infrastructure, experiments, and people, why would we leave the two sides to fight it out and see who prevails?” – Electronic message from Aldous Thatcher to New America President Soren Whitman
Briar
I’m surrounded by a damp ammonia smell. I stir and someone smooths a hand over my hair.
“We’re in the cave,” Amira whispers. “Rest while you can.”
I’m curled up on my side, the cave’s floor a cold, hard mattress. My head is in Amira’s lap.
The smell of bat shit is downright invasive. It didn’t smell this strongly when I was last here with Marcus. I shift and get into a sitting position, my head heavy with grogginess.
“How did I get here?” I whisper.
“Pax carried you. You passed out, but Ellison says you’re fine. She thinks it was just from exhaustion.”
I remember the light in my mind flickering out, but after that ... nothing. I shake my head.
“When was that? I don’t remember what happened.”
“A couple of hours ago. Seriously, go back to sleep. Do you want some water first?”
I nod and she grabs a canteen, her outline barely visible in the near pitch-black darkness of the cave. She unscrews the cap and passes it to me, making sure it’s in my hands before she lets go.
After a few sips, I’m more awake. I pass it back to her and ask, “Is everyone okay?”
“We’re all okay. Ingrid’s guys not so much.”
A dim light appears at one end of the cave; I don’t know if it’s the cave’s belly or its entrance.
“That’s Pax’s torch,” Amira whispers softly. “He and Olin are checking the cave.”
She doesn’t sound like herself. Amira can usually crack a joke no matter how serious things are, but she seems almost scared.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
She sighs heavily. “There was a snake hanging down from the top of the cave by the entrance. I ran into it and genuinely thought I might die of a heart attack.”
“Oh god.”
“Yeah. I guess we’re safe, but with quote marks around the word safe? I’m dissociating since I can’t see anything or scream if something slithers over me.”
As Pax moves closer, I can make out Nova and Ellison sitting across from us, their backs against the cave’s wall. Ellison is resting her head on Nova’s shoulder.
“What happened to Ingrid’s guys?” I ask, sensing I already know.
“The vines killed all of them,” Amira says. “They ... wrapped around them really fast and cut off their heads and legs. Some of them just got squeezed into like ... human pulp.”
“Oh.”
“They all had guns. They’re our guns now. We couldn’t have defended ourselves against them and Theron. Don’t feel even a little bit bad about it.”
I cross my legs, remembering the raw power that flowed through me. It was almost electric and unlike anything I’ve ever felt. I was more deeply connected to the plants, trees, and vines on this island than I’ve ever been.
Fight for us.
“There’s a little pond about a quarter of a mile away,” Pax says softly when he reaches us.
“You didn’t drink from it, did you?” I ask sharply.
“No, but—”
“No one drink the water in here,” I say. “It could have leptospirosis. We could get histoplasmosis just from the air in here. We need to stay as close as we can to the cave entrance.”