Page 78 of Blue Arrow Island
He shakes his head. “This is a hard line for me. No way.”
My mouth comes up with a new deal before my head has time to think it through.
“Your two best female soldiers against me, one at a time. Five minutes each. If I take both of them down, you and I deliver food for Rising Tide. No one else has to know.”
He scoffs, then bursts into laughter. It’s the first time I’ve really heard him laugh, the amusement even reaching his eyes. It throws me off balance, because I like it and hate it at the same time. He’s laughingat me. But damn,that smile.
“You’re cocky as fuck. Our women are just as good as the men.” He holds his hand out. “Deal. And props for trying.”
Our second handshake sends the same thrill of awareness shooting through me as the first one did. How long will it take to be completely free of the aromium’s influence?
I pull my hand away, the reality of what I just shook on settling over me. I have a feeling Marcus’s people are very well trained, and I’m out of practice. There’s a good chance he’s right and I’ll get my ass handed to me.
But I’m too stubborn not to try.
24
Humans have always been drawn to plants that produce psychoactive compounds, but that’s not a coincidence. Opium poppies (used in morphine and codeine), cannabis (THC and CBD), coca plants (cocaine), coffee plants (caffeine) and tobacco plants (nicotine) are all well-known and ingrained in our daily lives. Every one of these plants evolved to produce these compounds specifically to affect the mammalian nervous system.
-Excerpt from the Introduction to Plant Biology course taught by Dr. Lucinda Hollis
I tug my hair free from its tight bun as I walk into the tunnel with Vance later that night, the air cooling quickly as we descend. My sweat-soaked hair trails down my back, the waves full from the thick, humid air.
After talking to Marcus earlier, I ate and worked in the garden all day, harvesting food and pulling weeds. My neck and shoulders ache, and once dinner was finished, I only hung outwith Amira for about an hour in the Hub. I need a cool shower and my bed.
My room is midway down a long hallway, one of forty rooms in the underground area. There are twenty on each side of the main walkway, and most of them are occupied by two people. Then there’s the security team housing block above ground, and another above-ground block for families.
Even though this is my room, it’s currently programmed to only accept Vance’s thumbprint on the keypad outside the door. He presses his thumb to the pad and the door slides open with a whooshing sound.
“I’m taking a shower.” I grab my towel and clean clothes, feeling Vance’s watchful gaze on me.
He follows me out of my room, as usual, silently shadowing me until I get to the bathroom door. That’s where he waits for me every time I shower. I don’t know if it’s because of my fatigue, but I’m extra annoyed by his presence tonight.
If Marcus trusts me enough to tell me the things he did earlier, he should trust that I’m not going to run back to Virginia and tell her. It’s something I plan to discuss with him when I take him to the cave’s location.
Or maybe I should sayif. I backed myself into a corner earlier, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to beat two of Marcus’s best fighters. I asked him to match me with women so I’m not physically outmatched. Some of the men on the security team—Marcus included—are far bigger and stronger than I am.
I know as well as anyone that women are underestimated, though. If I lose, I’ll have nothing. Marcus and I have a shared enemy in Virginia, and if he’s telling me the truth, I want to help him. If we can find a way to bring her down, it could change everything for the Tiders.
With all of us working together, we could find a way off this island. Warring factions are exactly what Whitman wants,because if we’re fighting each other, none of us are focused on the real enemy—him. He’s the one who shot us all up with his experimental serum and dumped us on this island.
There’s a woman at a sink brushing her teeth, but other than that, the bathroom is empty. With only four shower stalls and six sinks, it gets crowded in here right before most people go to bed and first thing in the morning.
The shower stalls here are made of concrete, only the floors tiled. There’s a small opening to get into the shower, and then as long as you stay right under the showerhead, no one can see you. I never take the initial spray of cool water on my hot, sweaty skin for granted. We only have five minutes to shower, but I always spend my first ten seconds or so letting water wash down my face and body.
My skin is bronzed from the sun now, though my torso is about ten shades lighter than the rest of me. Some of the women here go to what they call “the pool” on days off, which is a spring with a waterfall. They swim nude, taking turns guarding the perimeter. I’m too modest for that, but I’ve thought about going and keeping my underclothes on.
The ache in my neck when I crane it up makes me cringe. Soreness is the only downside of working in the garden. I’ll have to push past this discomfort tomorrow.
I mentally run through my dad’s lessons as I lather my hair. He used to tell me and Maven about something he learned when he was a Marine, calledyou’re already dead. By reframing your thinking and accepting that you’re already dead, you can eliminate your worries about living or dying and focus only on the task at hand. I’ve drawn on that many times since the virus.
Eyes, throat, solar plexus, groin. Be decisive. Strike first.
Movement in the doorway of the shower stall makes me clear the soap and water from my eyes with my hands and step out of the shower stream.
Vance is leaning into my shower stall, his predatory eyes locked onto my body. Adrenaline courses through me as I scream, “What the fuck are you doing?”
He looks smug as he says, “Sorry, thought I heard you yelling.”
