“How did you get down there?” Gray questions, lowering himself to the ground so his legs are dangling into the pit like he may jump in.
“Take this, I’m going to get some help.” Dad shoves the orb toward Gray.
“That old fucker…pushed me. Don’t trust…him. Just…toss his ass down…here. I’m pretty sure I could…kill him even with…a broken shoulder and…leg.” He takes several breaths between words as if he doesn’t have a lot of air.
“Your leg and shoulder are broken?” I shout as if it’s his fault.
“I can still kick…his ass,” Remy argues, but his voice is soft, belying his words.
“You’ll have to wait until after they stitch up his neck to kill him. Felix punched him in the side of the head while I had a knife to his throat.”
“He’s not…dead? Come on, Hale…you can do…better than…that.” Remy’s words are getting even slower.
“I can’t help if I can’t see.” Felix ignores Remy trying to make light of the situation.
“How fucking deep could it be? Can’t you shift the dirt and lift the ground under him or something?” Gray snaps at Felix.
“I can’t risk it. He could have a back or neck injury.”
The heavy thud of footsteps shakes the ground of the shed, and more dirt and pebbles fall into the cavity. “Be careful, I don’t want this place collapsing on him,” I warn. “Do you have a ladder? More light?”
A petite woman works her way to the front of the new arrivals. “I can levitate,” she says, panting.
Gray pushes his palm toward the woman to give her the light. Once she has it cradled in her palm, her heels lift off the ground first, then her toes, until she’s several inches above the dirt floor.
“We’re sending someone down,” Dad yells. I expect Remy to say something smart, about being able to get out himself, but there’s nothing.
Felix is still lying on the ground looking into the hole. I plant my feet on either side of his hips to allow room for someone else while I watch the woman slowly lower herself.
“I see him,” she calls, then gasps.
“What’s wrong?” I cry out.
“Hey.” I watch her crouch, and it takes my mind a moment to understand what I’m seeing. The crumpled shape in front of her is Remy. His eyes are closed, and the side of his face is scraped and dirty. “Can you hear me?” she asks softly, placing her fingers on the side of his neck to feel for a pulse.
Remy doesn’t react to her touch or voice at all. “Don’t you fucking try it, Broussard!” I scream. “Wake your ass up right fucking now!”
His eyelids flutter. “Trying…doll,” he mumbles before his eyes fall closed again. I collapse on Felix’s back, not caring one bit that all my colleagues are seeing me fall apart.
“Unless you can help, clear the room.” Lewis pushes into the space with Kline right behind her.
“Shit, that’s a long way down.” The healer whistles. I want to throw up just from thinking about Remy falling all the way down there.
Gray comes over, lifts me up from Felix’s back, and cradles me to his chest. When he starts to walk toward the door, I begin to struggle and fight him. “No, I need to make sure he’s okay.”
“We need to give them room so they can help him. Remy’s a tough bastard, he’s going to be fine,” Gray promises. I’m still pulling at his shirt, but I don’t have enough energy left to put up much of a fight.
“Promise, Gray. Promise he’s going to be okay.”
“I promise. He’s too stubborn not to be.” Gray stops walking when I can just make out the light coming from the root cellar. He releases the hold he has on my legs and allows my feet to touch the ground, but he keeps me locked against him in a tight embrace.
The minutes tick by, and everything feels fuzzy and muted, like I’m trapped in a bubble with just enough air to survive but not enough to actually take a deep breath.
“They are moving him,” Felix shouts from the doorway.
In my fog, it takes me a moment to register his words. Gray must process them much faster, though, because he calls back, “Where to?” and starts to take a step. My feet aren’t ready to move yet, so I stumble a bit before he bends down and hoists me up by my butt. I wrap my legs around his waist, and he carries me over to Felix.
“Hospital. There’s too much trauma.”
