Chapter 11
Tera held his hand as he led her through the woods. He was so natural at it, easily helping her avoid stepping on twigs that would have alerted the men guarding the camp. She knew he was a tracker and a hunter; she could see him now in his element, and she was impressed.
His eyes were bright and sharp, noting every movement, every blade of grass, and every squawk of the birds above them. CristOF was amazing and incredible.
“Wait,” he told her as he moved them to hide behind a large tree.
She couldn’t hear or see anything, but she remained perfectly still. A few minutes later, she could make out the shape of first one man then another as they walked toward each other from opposite directions. The men stopped for a moment and stared in their direction. Tera held her breath and didn’t release it until the two men had passed each other and continued on their way.
CristOF reached for her hand and gave it a tight squeeze. “The boat is hidden another twenty or thirty feet away, straight ahead of us. Once I sense that they’re out of earshot, we will make a run for it.”
They waited until CristOF gave the go-ahead. He kept hold of her hand and led the way, running at a slower pace that she knew was for her sake. She had to pause for a moment occasionally, not used to such rigorous exercise. She should have done more walking in her life.
He didn’t say one word of complaint, remaining patient and vigilant when she had to take a moment for breath. CristOF was strong for her when she needed him to be. And in return, she wanted to be more for him, stronger or braver. He deserved a woman who equaled him, and at that particular moment she didn’t feel up to scratch.
They soon began to emerge from the jungle part of the island. “The boat is over there, under those branches and leaves.”
All of a sudden she heard yelling and screaming from behind them. She looked back the way they’d come, and saw the two men running toward them.
“Go, Tera! Get to the boat and get it in the water!”
She ran to where the boat was hidden and pulled branches off of it. There were oars inside. It was inflatable, but also heavy. She used two hands to drag it down to the water. Grunts and yells made her glance up, and her shock at seeing CristOF battling the two men on his own made her drop the boat.Damn it!
Picking the end up again she continued to drag it to the edge of the water with more desperation. Finally her feet hit the water.
She looked up and watched with hypnotic horror as CristOF stabbed one male in the heart, making him fall to the sand. Unfortunately that move left him vulnerable to the other man, who sunk his own blade into CristOF’s side.
“CristOF!”
He started to fall, and the man was about to stab him again.
She took one of the oars and ran toward the man, who had his back to her. She lifted the oar up and brought it down hard over the man’s head. He fell to his knees, and CristOF reached over and twisted his head, snapping it. Then CristOF fell backward onto the sand.
“No, no. You can’t be hurt,” she cried, kneeling next to him.
“Get to boat,” he told her.
“Not without you. You’ve got to help me, I don’t think I can drag you on my own.”
She put her shoulder under his arm and helped him to stand. They walked to the boat, him limping and clutching his side. She helped as he half-climbed, half-fell into it. She remembered the other oar and ran back to fetch it, ignoring the bodies on the sand.
Running back to the boat, her adrenaline was pumping through her body. She shoved the boat out into the water, and then waded waist-deep, pushing it out far as she could from the shore. Then she dragged herself up into it.
CristOF was slumped back against the side of the boat and his shirt was being soaked in blood. He looked deathly pale, holding his hand to his side. She had to do something to stop the bleeding or he would bleed out. She lifted his hand off the wound to take a look. It was gushing so badly; she had never seen so much blood before. Taking her shirt off, leaving her in just her bra and pants, she wrapped it around his waist and tied it tight to help stop the bleeding.
“Look inside my coat, there’s a syringe with emergency nanos. Inject it near my wound. I would do it, but…I think I’m about to lose consciousness.”
Reaching inside his coat, she pulled out what looked like a needless needle. She injected the nanos into his side. Hopefully they would repair the damage, but she wished she could have given him something for the pain.
“I need to…row,” he mumbled.
“I’ll do it, I just don’t know where to go.”
“Go straight through the twin islands and keep going. Team will be on the fourth island.”
The fourth island? How long was that going to take her to row to? He’d lost a lot of blood, and she worried that it was too much.
“CristOF?”
