Page 63 of Choosing Jenny
He nodded, silently understanding that I could not hold still. “I keep a bottle of whickler in the dash, if that’s more your speed.”
“I appreciate the offer,” I said, my voice tight. “But I’d rather remain sober for whatever comes next.”
“Understandable.”
I would not allow any distractions from the situation at hand. My only focus was Tiger and Jenny. Whickler would only dull my senses. The small selfish part of my mind wanted that numbness, craved it.
I had never felt so helpless in all my life, because I had never been so in love with two people I couldn’t protect. There was no planning ahead, because I didn’t know what we would find on the island. Jac had said Jenny was okay, but I didn’t know what that meant. She had been shot according to the message, but he didn’t say where or what the extent of the damage was.
My gut and my heart and my mind all boiled with rage.
But hearing Tiger’s voice on the comm had gone a long way to calm me down about him. He was alive, or at least he was fifteen minutes ago. It was enough of a balm that I had scrapped my mutiny plans. Drift was a good pilot, making all the moves I would have and then some.
As I watched him steer the ship toward our destination, I knew three things.
I was not going to let Tiger or Jenny out of my sight ever again.
Whatever the cause of all this madness, I was certain Justice was at the center of it and I would enjoy his brutal death.
And I was going to slowly, painfully remove Sam from her body for her betrayal.
In the dark of night, the Diamond Sea sparkled beneath the quarter moons and stars, except for one spot ahead that was pitch black, and that’s when Drift announced, “There it is. The island.”
When we closed in on it, my eyes focused on the island as its shape became clear. Like a crescent with land in the middle. As Drift smoothly landed theAllegiantnext to the beach, he turned to me and said, “I’m staying on the ship. Good luck.”
That surprised me. “Aren’t two of those trapped in the cave your cousins?”
He shrugged without remorse. “They know how to stay alive. I know how to keep this ship in the air.”
Fair enough, considering some of the things I’d heard about the beasts inhabiting the island.
I bounded out the exit before anyone else got there. Running for the only cave on the island, I didn’t feel the sand beneath my feet. Didn’t smell the air. Didn’t hear my companions behind me shouting, “Wait, stop!”
The cave before me had a huge slab of stone at the opening, and smaller rocks had wedged around the base and the edges. The large stone didn’t budge, even when I tried shoving it with all my might.
Longshot caught up first, so I hollered, “Help me push.”
“That won’t do it,” he said, more calmly than I felt. He shone his gauntlet driver light all over the smaller rocks. “We must take out the small stones very carefully. If we don’t take them out just right, the boulder may never move. Give me a moment to sort it out.”
I nodded, trying not to demand speed. I knew he was hurrying. Shouting would only distract him, but I wanted to scream.
The others caught up, and he told them the same thing. They murmured among themselves, and I was surprised to see the android with them. Lanai Dea illuminated the area with her eyelights. Her pink metallic body was shaped more like a Ladrian than any android I’d ever seen.
Longshot cursed under his breath, before he tried to pull the keystone near the base of the boulder. Rhonda curled up to his neck to stay out of the way, but Longshot couldn’t get it to move.
Lanai’s voice was like silk when she spoke. “Would you like me to try?”
“Please,” he said, deferring to her and stepping back out of the android’s way.
She knelt, long fingers sliding around the rock like a puzzle piece. With precision, she carefully pulled it free. The others did not shift.
Longshot exhaled a relieved breath. “Okay, you’re with me on this. That one is next,” he said, directing her.
I stood by anxiously as the two of them worked together until he finally said, “Perfect. Last one. Can you push it to the right, from there?” he asked her. “I want the boulder at a forty-five degree angle, still covering the bottom of the cave, in case the Vulavi try to chase them out.”
Her gears whirred loudly as she used her superior strength to shove the newly mobile boulder. As it moved, the rocks scraped past each other, causing a loud shearing sound, which earned a beastly snarl from the inhabitants inside. The shape of the boulder was rounded on its side, so when it rocked over, it still covered most of the bottom of the cave.
When it settled, Tiger shouted over the gnashing animals. “Jac, is that you?”
