Page 140 of Blue Arrow Island
“No. They lost a few people. I got a good hit in on Pax, but with the aromium, he’ll heal quickly.”
They lost a few peoplemeans he killed them. I heard some of them go down. Marcus sounded like an angel of death, striking down anyone who dared come close to him.
“Really nice trick with the vines,” he says.
“It seemed like ...” I hesitate, unsure how to describe what I felt. “Almost like they were communicating with me. But how? And why only me, and only wolves for you?”
He takes in a breath and lets it out before responding. “The bond gets stronger with time.”
I wait for him to say more, but he doesn’t.
“Marcus,” I say, frustrated. “Why am I the only one who can communicate with plants, and you’re the only one who can communicate with wolves?”
“There are different strains of aromium. McClain also experimented with putting it in animals and plants, but every strain is different.”
I shift, the tree branch in my leg scraping over my skin as I move. “You only tell me things when you have to. When I straight up demand to know. Why are you so secretive?”
He sniffs. “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know, just ask. It’s not my favorite subject, so that’s why I don’t bring it up.”
“How many people on this island are connected to animals or plants?”
There’s a pause before he answers. “I don’t know for sure.”
I make a low, grumbling sound of aggravation. “You know more than that. Keep talking.”
“There’s you and me. Pax has a connection with anacondas. Virginia can call ravens. They’re giant fucking things, mean as hell.”
“Why us and not other people? Or more people?”
“Because of the strain we were given. That’s all I know.”
My heart sinks, because I don’t believe him when he says that’s all he knows.
“The Tiders are eating people,” I say.
His chin drops a notch. “What the fuck do you mean?”
“I worked in the kitchen there, and I did a job they call meat prep. They’re eating everything they can scrounge, even rats. There were human body parts there one time. I didn’t ... I was looking for someone, and I saw a human leg and ...” I grimace. “Several toes. On the table, with the other meat that was being prepped.”
He’s silent, the only sounds the rasp of his hand scraping over his stubbled jaw and the soft breathing of the wolves around us.
“Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“I don’t know. At first, I didn’t trust you since I was under guard and you thought I was a spy. And then...I don’t know, I just haven’t thought much about it, I guess.”
“Fuck.” His sigh is aggravated. “This is something that’s not common knowledge?”
“I don’t think it is, but I don’t know. I can ask Olin.”
“Virginia’s out of her fucking mind.”
“Yes. Like you said, she’s desperate.”
He’s quiet, but I can feel his tension. I clear my throat.
“I told you because that’s the last thing I hadn’t shared with you. Now you know everything I know.”
He breezes past my attempt to clear the air. “What happens when people with one strain of aromium eat people with another strain?”
