Page 92 of Blue Arrow Island
Her brows shoot up. “What happened, Seth?”
He groans. “Tripped over a log and they swarmed me. I even got stung on the nipple.”
“You loved it,” Niran quips. “Heard you begging ’em to sting the other one.”
His lighthearted comments leave me with a warm feeling as I exit the tunnel, the snowfall thicker now.
I put my arms out, letting them catch a few flakes. When I was growing up in Washington, we’d get snow, but it never lasted. Mae and I always wanted to build snow castles, but we rarely got enough accumulation to even make snowballs.
“There you are!” Amira runs up to me, breathless. She looks me over from head to toe, her expression concerned. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
She bursts forward to hug me, holding me tightly. “I’m supposed to be sharpening knives, but I had to find you. You’re sure you’re okay?”
I nod and quickly recount last night’s events, her expression unsurprised when I tell her about Marcus shooting Vance.
“My team wasn’t called there last night,” she murmurs. “But I heard about it first thing this morning.”
“I just talked to Ellison and found out some things I want to tell you,” I say softly. “Will you be at dinner at the usual time?”
“I should be. If I’m not, I’ll find you later.” She hugs me again before darting off.
I’m not resting all day, so I need to find Marcus. When my heart leaps at the prospect of seeing him, I groan inwardly. I don’t want to be this drawn to a man—anyman. But he’s my best chance of finding the answers I need about this place, so I have to find a way to be around him without letting on how I’m feeling.
My boots slush through mud as I make my way to the ring, assuming that’s where I’ll find Marcus. I pass the kitchen entrance, where Vadim is standing next to a cart of produce, inhaling the scent of fresh basil. His expression is pure bliss.
He waves as I pass, a pang of jealousy hitting when I see another garden worker with him. She probably delivered the produce today. I liked my routine in the garden, but Vance ruined it. At least temporarily. I hope to be back there soon.
When I reach the ring, no one’s outside it. I hesitate outside the closed door before opening it and walking inside.
There are around fifty people inside the ring at various stations. Some are practicing archery, others are using rocks like weights and lifting them, and others are doing pushups in the mud.
Through the swirling flakes, I see Marcus demonstrating archery form to a small group. I get the usual flutter in my stomach, but I ignore it, walking around the perimeter of the training area to reach him.
I watch as he nocks an arrow and takes aim at a target, talking to the people nearby as he does it. He goes quiet for a few seconds and then shoots the arrow, which lands dead center on the target.
A woman claps, but he silences her with a scowl. He glances in my direction, doing a double take when he sees me.
Passing the bow off to a woman, he talks to her for a few seconds before coming over to me.
“How long’ve you been there?” he asks.
“Since before you were applauded.”
He shoots me a quick, halfhearted look of annoyance. “How you feeling?”
“Good.”
“Did you find Ellison?”
Did I ever. I laugh inwardly over the absurd idea of telling him what we talked about.
Not a chance in hell.I just nod.
His eyes land on the sheathed knife at my waist. “You still interested in taking me to the place where you found that?”
My pulse pounds as his gaze locks onto mine. I’m stuck on the wordinterested. So stuck that I can’t seem to get a single word out of my mouth. “Um, yeah. Sure.”
