“Blow me.”
I gripped the long arrow and broke it at the entrance into his flesh. Jamie’s eyes widened, then blinked. A shiver ran through his body, and he shook out his shoulders.
“Hurts, hm?” I asked.
“I’m good. You done?”
I looked up at the opening. The night had fallen, and our eyes adjusted. If a human got stuck down here, they wouldn’t see squat. I heard nothing from above. All our people must be dead. Men of Earth must’ve left as soon as we fell in the hole. They probably didn’t even peek down here, thinking if we didn’t die of broken bones, we’d die trapped some…hm. “How far up you think we gotta climb?”
“Two, three hundred feet.” Jamie leaned back against the dirt wall, his wounded leg stretched out. “How long you think it took these fuckers to dig this up? Look at this thing.”
I looked around, gritting my teeth at the sight of my mate’s parents. Not that they didn’t deserve this. Too bad they’d probably died on impact, I would have served them on a platter. Yes, yes, I would’ve. But, life had other plans. When we came down here, I didn’t expect to end up in a round hole while Men of Earth cleared out.
Jamie and I got knocked out on impact but awoke with minor injuries. Or so I thought. Jamie’s wound bugged him, and for some reason, he couldn’t use his leg. He’d sustained worse and rode just fine, so I waited for his ass, let him rest a bit longer. “You know where we are?” I asked.
“You do, smartass.”
“In a water well,” I said.
Jamie clapped his hands. “Bravo. I’ll die smarter.”
Turning, I swiped a claw over the wet ground. I threaded it though my fingers. Mud, not even fresh ground. “It’s still wet. A recently drained well.” Jamie gave me a bored look, telling me to get on with my point. “What I’m saying is they took the water, took the people, and moved everything somewhere else. Community Three is empty.”
“Why?” he asked.
“To escape the raid.”
“They didn’t know we were coming.”
True. “Let’s get out of here, hm?”
Jamie tilted his head and looked up. He rolled to the side and pushed up to stand on one leg.
I frowned as he swayed on his feet. “What’s wrong with you?”
He fell back.
I leapt up, alarmed. “What the fuck is wrong with you? We gotta climb out. No other way.”
“No can do.”
“Why not?”
“My legs. Like they’re not mine.”
I crouched by him and squeezed his wound. He didn’t flinch. When I’d broken off the arrow, I thought he was faking it didn’t hurt. It must’ve hurt, but now I realized he didn’t feel anything in his leg. Fuck! “How are you not… The arrow. Dewlyn used darts on Medrix. They slowed him down. We gotta dig the tip out.”
“You think it’s poisoned?”
I didn’t answer but got to work. My claws extended; my sharp teeth dropped. I jabbed a claw into his soft flesh and dug as far as it would go. I felt the end of the arrow and pushed it up, then bent and ripped it out with my teeth. I spat on his lap, then removed my shirt and pressed it on the gushing wound. “Hold that,” I ordered him, ’cause my brother was checking out on me. I wrapped a belt above the wound while Jamie inspected the arrow with his nose. “Too much blood. Can’t smell anything.” He put the arrow in my pocket. “Take it to the bio team.”
No way. Still crouched, I turned around. “Hop on.”
“On what?”
“My back.”
When nothing happened, I twisted back around. Jamie would rather eat shit than depend on someone, and to be rescued and told he couldn’t do something? Disaster. Our father used to tell him a real Alpha never showed weakness. The day an Alpha showed weakness was the day he died by another more worthy of an Alpha title. Father never lectured me about such things, thinking I wasn’t worthy, seeing as I was more interested in learning than building strength. Too much brains, no brawl, he used to tell me.
Jamie hated him. I hated him. But Jamie believed him because Father had ruled longer than any other Tineyan Alpha. With an iron fist.
“You can’t walk,” I told my brother. His eyes turned silver, and I didn’t care. “Hop on my back. I can get us out of here.”
“No.”
I sat down next to him, leaned on the wall. Dewlyn and Jamie? Same peas from different pods. So I had to work with these tough peas. “It’s fine by me if you wanna stay here. You know, Rey could deliver any minute. Let’s say I climb out and you stay. Maybe I’ll forget you. Maybe I’ll take the City. Odds of Dewlyn and me are pretty slim, so the only other person I’ll have around is Rey.”