Page 156 of Blue Arrow Island
He shakes his head. “That’s not possible.”
“It happens. Marcus has seen it.”
McClain looks at Marcus, who gives him a tight nod.
Rubbing his forehead, McClain slumps in his chair. “We unleashed hell on this island. A hell that can’t be undone.”
44
Dr. Malcolm Lowe was attacked by people at the Rising Tide camp today. His injuries are significant. It’s no longer safe for us to enter the camp for monitoring. As the number of soldiers grows, our control over these experiments diminishes.
- Excerpt from the journal of Dr. Randall McClain
“Briar.”
“Hmm?” I turn my face toward Amira.
“Did you hear any of that?”
My gaze shifts to Niran, then Marcus. We’re at the switch point, the four of us about to go search for the flower after having our aromium switched back on by Nova. It was supposed to be just me and Marcus, but I asked him if we could bring extra help.
He was quick to agree, probably because things are so tense between us. I had to suddenly leave our conversation with McClain yesterday because I got sick. Learning that not only was my mom involved in creating aromium, but that her DNA is part of it, made me physically ill.
I stumbled to the housing block, holding back tears, until I made it to the bathroom and threw up. Then I sat on the bathroom floor and cried until my head ached.
It’s not really a betrayal, but it feels like it. My mom had government security clearance and she consulted on top-secret research that she couldn’t discuss with anyone. I understand why she didn’t tell us what she was working on.
But I can’t stop thinking about all the times I’ve yearned for her since getting here, wishing I could tell her about aromium. Knowing she’d be blown away. The joke’s on me, though, because not only did she know, she helped make it. She helped create the compound that turns women into breeding machines and children into mindless soldiers.
I stayed in the bathroom for more than an hour before dragging myself to the garden to work. I pulled weeds and divided plants, no one questioning what I was doing.
At dinner, I couldn’t tell Amira about my mom. It was still too raw. And though I’d planned to stay in her room, I found myself drawn to Marcus. I’m so angry at him, but I also see him more clearly than I did before. This is why he’s so cold and bitter toward McClain. McClain sparked a fire that became an inferno and then turned his back on it, washing his hands. I’d be just as furious with him as Marcus is.
I couldn’t talk to him last night, but I still curled into his side and cried, his hand smoothing down my hair and his arms wrapped around me. Eventually, I fell asleep.
It’s time to return to our search for the flower. But at least Amira and Niran are with us, so we won’t be able to argue or rage fuck when we’re supposed to be in stealth mode.
“No, I missed it,” I say absently.
“We’re heading to the volcano,” Marcus says, his steely gaze locked onto me. “We’re going to climb it again and check for cracks where something could grow.”
“Yeah, okay.”
After all the crying yesterday, I’m numb today. I want to know everything McClain knows about my mother and her involvement in aromium, but not until the shock of her involvement has worn off.
I can imagine my mom eagerly agreeing to help with a project that was billed as an effort to help prevent and treat diseases. She was passionate about how undervalued plants are in medicine. And if she changed her mind when she found out the project’s true mission, I shouldn’t hold any of this against her.
I don’t really. I was just blindsided by the news. Completely unprepared to find out my mom was partially responsible for what’s going on here, even if she didn’t intend to be.
Niran leads the way, Amira behind him. I follow Amira, and Marcus walks behind me.
It’s raining. Not one of Virginia’s superstorms, but a regular rain shower, rivulets of water pouring onto us from tree branches. I don’t mind it; it’s actually nice to cool off.
We trek through the jungle in silence for more than an hour, the usual bird calls and monkey chatter quieter due to the rain. Even though I know we need to stay quiet in case there are Tiders nearby, I don’t like it.
I’m alone with my thoughts, and none of them are good. No one but me and Marcus can see the vines sliding along the ground beside me. I’ll tell Amira about the vines soon, but not yet.
We’re stopped at a small stream for a water break when Amira asks, “Is there any way you could reverse engineer the aromium? Like work backward from it to create one of the flowers?”
