Page 151 of Blue Arrow Island
“Ask Briar,” Marcus says.
I give him a puzzled look as Olin says, “Ask her what?”
“Ask her if there’s a lot you don’t know. Information that would change everything for the ILF if it wants to destroy the experiments on this island. She won’t lie to you.”
Olin’s gaze turns to me.
“He’s right,” I say. “There’s a lot you don’t know.”
Olin sits back in his seat, looking troubled. “What then? I tell you how I’m going to get evacuated when I’m ready, and you tell me more about aromium?”
Marcus shakes his head and stands. “You can leave anytime you want; we won’t stop you.”
“Then what do you want from me?”
“Work with us,” Marcus says. “Earn our trust. From what you’re saying, it sounds like we all want the same thing.”
“Your shield’s going down, isn’t it?” Olin asks.
“It’s not down yet.”
“What happens when it goes down?”
“We switch everyone’s aromium back on and defend our camp.”
Olin’s brows shoot up. “You can turn it back on?”
“Take some time to think about it,” Marcus says. “You’re welcome here if you’re willing to earn your place, respect everyone in our camp, and not lie to me. Again, I mean. We’ll clean the slate.”
Olin’s shoulders slump. “I don’t need time. I’ll stay.”
“For now, everything that was said in this room stays in this room,” Marcus says.
He walks over to the door and opens it, meeting my eyes.
I’m still dazed as I leave the room and walk back out of the tunnel beside him. I thought Olin being able to talk was a shock, but finding out about the group he’s part of hit me much harder.
“Any sign of McClain?” Marcus asks Niran, who’s standing near the tunnel exit when we walk out.
“He’s gone. So are two of the prisoners Ray freed.”
All that work we did to find McClain, and he’s gone. Now, even if we find the flower, we don’t have him to make the stabilizer. This island is the definition of one step forward, two steps back.
McClain said things are “too far gone.” Maybe they are. Maybe trying to get Olin’s group to rescue everyone in our camp is our new best option.
That option makes my chest tight with aggravation. Virginia would still be free to receive boatloads of prisoners to make her robot soldiers. There would be no consequences for everything she’s done.
When Niran and Marcus are finished talking, Niran walks away and Marcus turns to me. His mossy eyes are tortured, his face lined with worry.
“What’s wrong?” I ask softly.
I think he’s going to answer, but instead he looks away. “I need to go take care of some things. See you tonight?”
My heart sinks. He’s shutting me out, and I don’t know why. I’ve done everything I can to show him I deserve his trust.
“Yeah.” The word is barely a whisper.
He walks away without another word.
