Page 148 of Blue Arrow Island
Ray turns again, his head back where it was before. I squeeze the trigger.
The knife in Ray’s hand drops, Blythe screaming. As soon as I have a clear shot, I put a bullet in Ray’s chest.
Exhaling slowly, I turn the gun to the man who was chewing his nail. I fire once at his head and once at his chest.
When I try to aim at the next man, he’s already falling, an arrow in the side of his head. It was probably Wyatt; he took a bow and arrows from the bunker.
Marcus tackled the last guy, and now they’re on the ground fighting. I run toward them, someone yelling.
I go to Nova first, working on the knots around her wrists.
“We have a total of six people,” I murmur in her ear.
“They’re holding everyone prisoner in the Sub,” she says. “One of them has my gun.”
The knots are tied tight. I keep working on them, Wyatt and Stella running up to untie others.
“You’re a crack shot,” Wyatt says to me. “Nice job.”
“Thanks.”
I haven’t even processed the gunshots yet. There’s relief that I made them, but later I’ll lie awake thinking about all the ways it could’ve gone bad.
It takes forever, but I finally get Nova’s binds untied. When I’m finished, I turn to find Marcus approaching. He meets my gaze and nods his approval.
Niran yells at us from nearby. “The Sub door just opened!”
Marcus passes Nova one of his guns. I offer Amira, who just got untied, a knife, but she shakes her head.
“I’m useless without a bow,” she says.
Marcus takes off at a run for the Sub, and everyone follows. People start flooding out of the Sub, most of them our own people trying to get to safety.
“There’s been a big misunderstanding.” Darien, one of our people who Adele said joined Ray, is approaching Marcus with his palms out in a calming gesture.
Marcus punches him in the face so hard he drops to the dirt, unconscious.
“Briar!” A man’s frantic voice slices through the air. “Behind you!”
Instinct sends me flying to the ground. When I look up, Marcus has a knife buried in the chest of Jax, one of our other people who joined Ray. Jax was about to bury a hunting knife in my back.
I’m breathing hard as I get to my feet, meeting the gaze of the man whose warning saved my life.
Olin.
42
I could describe Agentic State Theory to someone who doesn’t understand it. But all my previous understanding came from textbooks and professors. The reality is significantly more disturbing.
- Excerpt from the journal of Dr. Randall McClain
“You can talk?” I stare at Olin, stunned.
He nods, an apology in his brown eyes. “I can, yes.”
“But ...” I shake my head, confused.
“When you’re ready, I’ll explain.”
