Chapter 1 #3
I took a moment to catalog my injuries. The back of my head pounded from when I was knocked out, but at least the gash in my temple hadn’t reopened.
Small but painful cuts covered my palms and knees from the tin roofing.
The left side of my chest under my shoulder hurt the worst. I remembered landing hard on sharp metal when I jumped off the roof.
I winced as my thick plaid shirt caught on the wound, and warm blood started trickling down my chest. I’d have a new scar, one right next to my final gift from Juck.
“What’s your name?” Brown Eyes spoke over the engine.
I hesitated, debating whether stubborn silence would be worth it. Probably not.
“Bones,” I muttered.
I didn’t look up, but in the silence, I assumed all of them had the same surprised expression most people got when they heard my name.
“Bones?” Brown Eyes repeated.
Muscles snorted. “Funny name for a pretty little thing.”
“That pretty little thing near knocked your teeth out,” Brown Eyes said.
I stole glances at both, tensing. Muscles glared daggers at him, but Brown Eyes grinned. I stared back down at my feet.
“Sounds like a bounty hunter’s name,” the young boy in the front seat chimed in, twisting around to peer back at us.
“Shuddup, Jax,” Mac ordered.
The boy scowled but turned back around.
“Got a surname?” Brown Eyes asked.
“No,” I lied.
“Okay,” he said. “So how’d you heal me, Bones?”
I gritted my teeth and tried to focus past the pounding in my head. “I’m a healer.”
“Yeah, you’re gonna need to explain that a bit more,” he said. “Because I’ve never met a healer who could do what you did.”
I caught a glimpse of Mac’s eyes in the rear mirror and glanced away quickly. “I have—” Gods, help me. “Powers.”
A short silence fell before Muscles repeated, “You have magic healing powers?”
My temper rose, and I forced it back down. “Yes.”
“Magic healing powers?” Muscles said again, even more skeptically.
“Ask your buddy why he’s still breathing if you don’t believe me,” I snapped.
“I mean, I got no explanations,” Brown Eyes said. “It sure as hell seemed like magic.”
“Maybe it was a trick,” Muscles said.
“If it was, it fuckin’ hurt,” Brown Eyes replied.
“I don’t do fucking tricks,” I muttered.
“So you have magic healing powers.”
Gods, if Muscles said that one more time, I would jump out of this rover.
“How?” Brown Eyes asked.
“Fuck if I know,” I ground out through clenched teeth.
“Have you always had them?”
“Yes.”
Silence fell again. I could sense them exchanging looks, but I folded myself farther in half, elbows on my knees and hands clasped behind my neck.
If I hadn’t so stupidly healed Brown Eyes, I probably could’ve passed myself off as Juck’s runaway whore or something.
Not like that’d be far from the truth anyway.
But now they’d seen what I could do, and there was no way in hell they would let me go.
“I’m Trey,” Brown Eyes said.
I didn’t move.
“Griz is the one still spitting blood,” Trey added, amused.
Muscles growled on the other side of me, but it sounded half-hearted at best.
“Mac’s drivin’, and that’s Jax up there,” Trey continued.
I stayed still. My eyes were so dry they felt like they might crumble to dust in my head.
After a few minutes, someone nudged my shoulder.
I tensed as I peered up, but Trey held out what looked like a granola bar wrapped in wax paper.
My stomach cramped in hunger. I took it, hands trembling, and bit off a small piece.
I wanted to inhale the whole thing, but I knew that wouldn’t end well, so I nibbled a few bites before holding it back out to him.
Trey frowned. “You can eat all of it.”
“I’m done,” I said, then, trying not to sound too desperate, I asked, “Do you have any water?”
Trey reluctantly took the granola bar and pulled a battered metal bottle out of his pack. I tipped it back, gulping down the water. I had to force myself not to drink it all, but when I tried to give it back, Trey shook his head. “It’s okay. You can finish it.”
I didn’t need to be told twice.
“Can you heal yourself?” Griz asked, looking at the gash on my head.
“No.”
Griz gave me a look I couldn’t quite read and then glanced down at my shoulder. “Did you get shot?”
I curled inward, away from his gaze. “No. Just a cut.”
“That’s a lot of blood for just a cut,” Griz protested.
“It’s nothing.”
They didn’t say anything more. We drove and drove through the endless woods, nothing but trees and mountains as far as I could see.
Where the hell were we going? I had no idea what sort of holds existed out here in the mountains.
I wanted to ask, but it was safer to stay quiet and small and observe.
Of all the half-assed plans—
Shut up, Wolf.
I didn’t know what to think of these people.
Mac knew I’d belonged to Juck. They’d been looking for his “secret weapon,” and I’d be willing to wager that didn’t mean anything good.
So far they hadn’t hurt me too much besides knocking me out.
Trey seemed to care about my well-being, but I knew all too well that one person caring didn’t mean shit.
Exhaustion crept over me. I tried hard to fight it, but I dozed off several times before jerking awake, startling both men next to me every time.
“Bones, it’s alright if you sleep,” Trey murmured, which only made me try harder to resist.
Stay alert, Wolf snapped.
Despite my best efforts, it wasn’t long before the fatigue won and pulled me under.