His eyelids fluttered, his deep voice barely a rasp. “Vivienne… they ambushed us. Enyo’s men... they came in the night. We didn’t stand a chance.”
Vivienne’s hands trembled as she assessed his wounds. A deep slash on his arm, nearly to the bone. Defensive wounds marred his hands. He’d fought back.
Gus exhaled, the sound sharp with pain. “Please tell my Millicent?—”
“Stop,” she cut him off, pressing her hands against his arm to slow the bleeding. “None of that talk. You’re not going to die here.”
His skin was gray beneath his tattoos, his breathing shallow. “Stay with me, Gus. We’re going to get help.”
“MELODIE!” she screamed. The doctor sprinted toward them, followed by the other officers.
“They took them…” Gus choked out. “Some of the crew. They took Florence… I tried…” His head lolled back, his voice fading.
Melodie crouched beside them, binding Gus’s arm with a strip of cloth. “Vivienne, get water. Find Lewis. Tell him I need yarrow and dragon’s blood.”
“Dragon’s blood?”
“He’ll know. Go.”
Captain Garrett stormed past, fury burning in his eyes. “How many did they take?”
Gus groaned, struggling to sit up. “Six... maybe seven. I—I couldn’t stop them.”
Commander Thorne swore, crouching beside another crewman, bound to a tree, throat slit. “They came to kill. The supplies were an afterthought.”
Vivienne’s stomach lurched. Half their crew was dead or wounded. More had been taken.
Garrett slammed his sword into its sheath. “We have to find them before it’s too late. Enyo’s crew won’t let them live.”
Vivienne swallowed hard. “We can’t fight if we don’t have the strength to stand.”
“We’ll go after them,” Thorne agreed, “but first, we tend to the wounded and salvage what’s left.”
Melodie tightened Gus’s bandage. He winced. “I’m sorry, Captain,” he whispered. “I failed.”
“No, Gus,” Garrett said firmly. “You did everything you could.”
“Vivienne!” Melodie snapped. “Water. Yarrow. Dragon’s blood.Now!”
Vivienne squeezed Gus’s uninjured hand before bolting across camp. “Lewis!” she gasped. “Melodie needs water, yarrow, and something called dragon’s blood.”
Lewis stood by the slashed-open water barrels, his expression numb. “They sabotaged the supply. I’ll get the herbs. You’ll have to fetch water from the stream.”
* * *
The next fewhours blurred into tending the wounded and preparing the dead for burial. The camp was rank with the scent of flesh and blood-dampened earth, the silence punctuated only by ragged breaths and muffled groans. Vivienne wiped her hands on a torn scrap of fabric, her chest tight as she took in the devastation.
Captain Garrett stood where his tent once had, his sharp gaze sweeping over what remained of their camp. His expression was carved from stone.
Melodie appeared beside him, dirt and sweat streaking her face. “Gus is stable for now, but without proper supplies, he won’t stay that way. If we don’t get him and the others back to the Zephyrus, they won’t make it.”
The captain’s jaw clenched. “Understood, Dr. Mercer. Do what you can to keep them comfortable.”
Melodie nodded and hurried back to the triage area.
Garrett exhaled slowly. “We need a plan to get our people back.”
“We outsmart him,” Cirrus said, his voice cool but edged with something lethal. “Enyo thinks he’s got us beaten, and right now, he’s right. But he won’t expect us to strike back so soon.”
