Page 13 of Mace

“Oh, wow. I can’t imagine how long it’s going to take to get that under control.”

“It doesn’t matter. I managed to get a call through to my club and they’re gonna send back up and supplies via the river, probably after dark since there’ll be less of chance of being seen by your father and his men.”

“How long will that take?” I asked.

“It might be five or six hours.”

I worried that he didn’t have five or six hours.

But Mace continued talking, “We installed a reverse osmosis filter on the kitchen sink so we have a continuous supply of clean drinking water. I think we have enough energy bars to get by, and I’ve got some jerky in my rucksack. We just need to sit tight until my club brothers show up.”

Shock roiled through my body. “We can’t sit tight for six hours. You need emergency medical treatment. If not, you might bleed out internally or end up with a raging infection. I need to go out and call for help.”

He frowned at me. “Your father and his men could be out there waiting. I don’t feel like I’m bleeding out internally. I’m not lightheaded or tired—”

“You fainted,” I said.

A look of indignation flashed over his face. I guessed that even in his injured state I’d wounded his masculine pride, “I had to run up the embankment, it was an aftereffect of adrenaline and exertion.”

I didn’t know if he was just telling me what he thought I wanted to hear, or if he truly believed what he was saying. Since we really didn’t have another option, I tried to be positive. “The bullet wound was so far on the outside of your body that it might not have done internal damage, but you really need to stay off your feet and let me do all the taking care of you.”

He reached out one bloody hand and thought better of it before he touched me. “Sorry, I need to wash up.”

“You sit right here,” I insisted. “I’ll get a bowl of warm water and clean you up.”

When he didn’t immediately object, I rushed off to the kitchen to get what I needed.

As I heated up a pan of warm water, I tried to logic my way thought this. The road was flooded, so his brothers were coming by boat. That made perfect sense.

I pulled out my phone and switched it on to see if my text had gone through and thankfully it had. Unfortunately, the connection hadn’t lasted long enough for me to get a reply back. I slid it back into my neck pouch and went out to tend to Mace.

He was definitely the hero of the hour. Taking a chance with his own life rather than risk mine. I was grateful but hated that he’d been injured. Maybe if I’d been with him, I could have talked some sense into my father? Unfortunately, I wasn’t given the chance.

I knelt down beside Mace. Wringing out a warm cloth I wiped it over his skin in a soothing manner that I’d seen my mom do a thousand times. I found myself praying that he didn’t have internal injuries as I cleaned him up.

Chapter 6

Mace

Within a few hours my club brothers showed up in force. The Dark Slayers don’t skimp when it comes to taking care of each other. And although I was only a prospect, they treated me like a brother, bringing a medic and all the supplies we could need along with a cell phone booster, so there would be no more breakdowns in communication.

The medic, David, had a good bedside manner. He joked with me, “Look, it’s practically a flesh wound.”

I looked down to see that he’d poked the end of his gloved finger into the wound and wiggled it around. It felt weird, but he’d numbed the area beforehand, so it didn’t hurt. “I’m going to pack it with gauze after I’ve cleaned it out and let it close on its own.”

Alicia spoke up, “Doesn’t he need to go to the hospital?”

David shrugged. “Not really. We can get our club doctor out to have a look at it, but I don’t know that she would do anything differently.”

Alicia raised one eyebrow, “She?”

I quickly explained, “One of our club brothers is married to a doctor. She’ll have a look at it, if David thinks she needs to.”

Storm stalked into the room, all boundless nervous energy. Standing over me while the medic worked, he gave mean update. “We filled the fridge and freezer, so you should have enough to eat for weeks.”

I shot Alicia a quick glance. “I sure hope we don’t end up staying here for weeks.”

“Well, if you do, you’re set with food,” He responded mildly. “I wanted to let you know that Hacker got the cell phone booster installed and as far as we can tell it’s working just like it should.”

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