Mmmm. No. Maybe the hand.
I open my mouth and jolt back when she hits me on the head. “No. Stop it. Bad dog.”
Bad…?
I whimper. “But…but I’m a good boy.”
Shetoldme I am.
“Yes, Cindi.” Ordus glares at me all smug and dumb. “Vasz is a bad dog.”
The betrayal strikes me through the heart.
New plan: must eat Ordus.
17
Cindi
My skin is only getting paler. Dryer. My body weaker. The pounding in my head is worse. I can barely keep my eyes open. The only thing I’m capable of is sleeping.
I shouldn’t have spent so long in the sun yesterday. Sweating and burning has made it worse.
Ordus keeps trying to bait a reaction out of me, probably thinking it’ll keep me alive. All I can muster is a faint mumble before turning over, clutching my stomach, and letting my eyes drift shut.
There’s only one thing I’ve asked for: to be taken back to the mainland.
The two coconuts I’ve had since being here have only worked to prolong the inevitable.
Ordus’ selfishness will kill me, and I think he’s starting to realize that. In the short moments of consciousness, I can feel his frantic energy as he moves around the cave, trying to get me to eat or drink things that will only make me worse. I’m cradledin his limbs more often than not and have woken up to gentle poking and prodding more times than I can count.
I jar awake when cool water engulfs my body. I whimper from the shock, curling up against Ordus’ warm, hard torso. Peeling my heavy lids open, all I can make out is the glowing algae and Vasz watching me from his corner.
“Shh, Cindi. I have you,” he whispers, lowering us into the pool.
My head is plunged beneath the water’s surface. Oxygen slams back into my lungs before I can panic. The giant air bubble is the last thing I see before I succumb to sleep again, drifting in and out of consciousness, waking only when a gust of wind slams into my face. I sputter a cough, shivering against a warm body as I force my eyes to open against the weight of exhaustion. I can’t feel my fingers and toes.
How long was I out for?
Water crashes against my face. I gasp, swallowing saltwater and whimpering, squeezing my eyes shut against the harsh moonlight.
A roaring sounds in my ear.
Is that my pulse?
I force my eyes open again.
Not my pulse. A beach. It looks familiar, but I can’t pinpoint from where. I can barely think beyond the stabbing pain in my head.
I blink, and the sea shifts to sand.
Blink, and it’s dirt.
Another, and palm leaves hang overhead.
Once more, and suddenly, there’s a beeping sound.
I groan, twisting my head to the side. Someone says something, but I can’t make out their words. The world turns, and a ringing noise starts in my ears from trying to make sense of my surroundings in the darkness.
