Chapter 38
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
NAV
For a female, Gwen had a great deal of strength, and it felt like she was using all of it to push against the bullets lodged in my back. Pain pulsed through me, making it hard to think.
I saw Arena pale, and her eyes rolled closed.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, my words slurred.
“She’s afraid of the water,” Lettie said. “She’ll sleep until the boat stops, hopefully.”
The boat landed hard on the next wave, sending a spear of pain through my back and jostling Arena. I released her hand and tried to put my arm around her waist, but my back burned when I moved.
“You need to hold still, Nav,” Gwen said, adding more pressure. “It’s going to take us an hour to get to where we’re going, and you bleed more when you move.”
I grunted and took Arena’s hand again.
“You’re not going to die, right?” Lettie said, sitting behind Arena to help brace her.
“No, I won’t die.”
Lettie let out a shaky breath. “Good.”
Her answer surprised me. Usually humans who feared us wanted us dead.
She drew Arena’s head into her lap and brushed her hand over her hair like she was comforting her. Keeping Arena’s hand in mine, I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the pain.
“How are we going to get him out without hurting him?”
The sound of Arena’s worried voice carried over the crash of waves against rock and pulled me out of the fog. Pain radiated through my back.
“I’ll walk,” I said, trying to sit up.
Several female voices shouted denial.
I blinked, trying to focus as I looked up at the dozens of faces surrounding the boat.
Females. All females. Young and old.
And…
I blinked again at the pair of children peeking at me from over the edge of the boat, held in the arms of two females.
Not wanting to frighten any of them, I sat up slowly.
“Dammit, Nav,” Arena said, her hands on my sides. “You’re bleeding again. Gwen just got it to stop.”
“I apologize,” I said immediately.
She swore again when I started to get to my feet, and she hurried to duck under my arm to support me as the boat rocked. Several of the females reached out to steady it. My gaze swept over them. I counted fourteen and two children.
The ones closest to us shuffled back as we moved to the side of the boat. They watched me swing my leg over the edge and didn’t run. Or scream.
Landing in the knee-deep water jarred my wounds, igniting more pain.
“Hurry and get Tori,” Arena said behind me. “He’s bleeding too much again.”
A female ran off as I glanced back at Arena. She wasn’t jumping down into the knee-high water. Her face was pale as she looked at it. I held out my hand.
“No, I’m okay. I’ll wait for—”
I grabbed her wrist and tugged her forward. Off balance, she tipped over the side and into my arms. I grunted, feeling the burn in my back, but didn’t put her down. I carried her to the rocky shore.
“Terrifying, but I think I might want one,” one of the females whispered.
My gaze swept over them. I couldn’t tell which one spoke, but they were all watching me with a mix of fear and awe.
“All right. Break it up,” Gwen said. “We need to get him to the village before he passes out again. Get out of the way and help with these supplies so we can move the boat.”
The females rushed around us, clearing the path. Arena nudged my lower back as Gwen ducked under my other arm.
“Gwen, Arena doesn’t like other females touching me,” I said, trying to remove her hold.
Gwen made a choked sound and looked at Arena.
“Shut up,” Arena mumbled before looking up at me. Her cheeks were flushed, no longer pale. “It’s okay this time since you’re hurt. I know that Gwen’s only helping you.”
I grunted and leaned closer to Arena as we made our way up the trail, into the trees.
The sound of the water faded, and I could smell smoke in the air. A murmur of conversation drifted from ahead. It didn’t take long before the path opened to a large clearing.
Huts edged the space. With rock bases, the walls were built from a collection of boards, metal or plastic panels, and tree branches that didn’t look sturdy.
In the center, smoke curled up from the opening of a very large hut that had the same rock wall base, but had sturdier timber walls.
The netting they’d suspended above the opening dissipated the smoke.
Arena and Gwen walked around that hut to one of the smaller ones.
The cloth covering the opening was pushed aside by another female, who jerked at the sight of me. My steps slowed.
“He’s been shot twice in his back and has lost a lot of blood,” Gwen said. “You need to get the bullets out.”
Her gaze flicked from Gwen to Arena to me again.
“I’m not a doctor. If I go digging around for those bullets, I might make it worse.”
“I’m not a human. I won’t die,” I assured her.
She arched a brow at me then stepped aside to make room for us. Arena and Gwen helped me to a long wooden table that creaked when I sat on it.
“It’ll hold you,” the woman said. “Lie on your stomach.”
Arena stood by the end of the table while the other two moved around the room, gathering things. I propped my chin on my hands so I could look at her. She pulled up a chair, bringing herself eye level with me.
“We don’t have anything to numb it,” Arena said, rubbing my forearm.
“Human medicines don’t work on us.”
“Oh. What do you do when you get sick?”
“We don’t get sick.”
“I’m betting you get shot at a lot, though,” Gwen said.
“Yes.”
“What happens then? Do you get infections?” she asked.
Worry crept into Arena’s gaze, and I held out my hand.
“I will heal quickly once the bullets are out.”
“Are you going to be okay with me removing them?” the woman asked, pulling on gloves. “I’d rather keep my head attached.”
Confused, I looked at Arena.
“He only does that to infected,” she said.
I grunted, understanding, and hating that they thought my brothers and I were killers. We were, but never females.
Never alive females.
“Fuck. He’s bitten?” the woman said, sounding panicked.
“Keep it down, Tori,” Gwen said.
“That was over an hour ago,” Arena said. “And that’s not his first bite. He’s immune.”
“Immune?” Tori echoed.
“Yes. Can you just get the bullets out, please?” Arena asked. “He’s getting pale again.”
Her worry warmed my heart, and I rubbed my thumb over her palm.
“On it,” Tori said. “Shine the light right into the hole.”
Pain speared through the wound, spreading like lightning to the tips of my toes.
“This one is scary close to his spine,” Tori said softly.
The relief was immediate as she pulled the bullet free.
“It’s a good thing it wasn’t that deep,” she said.
It had been deeper an hour ago and would have fallen out on its own in a day or two, but I didn’t tell them that. They were already afraid enough.
The second one was less painful to remove, but I let out a tired breath once it was done.
Arena leaned in and kissed my cheek.
“You are amazing, Nav.”
“Very,” Gwen said. “I can’t believe he didn’t move at all. That had to hurt like a bitch.”
“Just let me clean these and add a few stitches,” Tori said. “Gwen, would you mind stepping out? I heard Mom and don’t want her coming in and causing trouble.”
Arena leaned in and kissed me again, this time on the lips, as Gwen left.
“After this, I’ll take you to my place so you can sleep.”
I nodded, already looking forward to holding her.
It didn’t take long for Tori to place the stitches, and I sat up, feeling them.
“Don’t let him lift anything heavy for a while,” Tori said. “Nothing that will pull at the stitches. Keep them covered. Keep him hydrated. I’m sure he lost a lot of blood.”
“He did.” Arena’s worried gaze shifted to me, and I kissed her hand.
“I’ll check on him tomorrow to change the bandages.”
“Thanks, Tori,” Arena said, standing.
She led me out, and I saw many of the females from the shore lingering nearby. Their gazes tracked our progress around the central hut until Arena stopped at the entrance to another small one.
“We’re in here,” she said, pulling aside the cloth covering.
Ducking to enter, I swept my gaze over the space, noting the narrow beds on each side of the entrance and two totes near the back wall. That was it.
“There’s no fire,” Arena said, entering behind me. “But we have plenty of blankets to keep warm, and even though it doesn’t look like it, it’s pretty wind-and-water resistant.”
The light in the space dimmed considerably when she dropped the heavy cloth covering the door.
“It’ll hold you,” she said, pointing to the one on the right. “I promise.”
Constructed of branches the size of my forearm, the bed did look sturdy, but wasn’t like the ones humans usually slept on. Was this where Arena slept? No fire? No warmth other than her clothes and the blankets?
I touched the stack covering the bed and found she did not even have the softness of a mattress under them. Only boards.
“Will it hold both of us?” I asked.
“It will, but you might be more comfortable without me.”
“No.” I pulled her into my arms, hugging her close. “I will sleep better if I hold you.”
She sighed, wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her head on my chest.
“I think I’ll feel better if you hold me for a while too,” she said, making my heart race. “You really scared me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Just get better, okay?”
I grunted, and she kissed my chest before slipping from my arms to pull back the covers. While her back was turned, I stripped out of my shorts. The stitches pulled uncomfortably, but didn’t stop me.
She snorted when she saw me, her gaze lingering at my waist. “You better hope that Lettie doesn’t come in and see that. I share this hut with her and two other women.”
I looked at the beds, understanding. Arena slept with another female at night. Jealousy poked at me.
Taking her hand, I pulled her into bed.