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Soon Krieger was striding by her side. “Eva, what are you doing?”
They stood opposite Donald’s men, looking down on the bleeding man. He inhaled an unsteady breath, then released a heavy one. His eyes remained open, but the man known as Donald was gone.
The warmth of her blood oozed between her fingers, reminding her why she came. “I’m retrieving my knife.”
Donald wanted a good fight, well, he got it. He just hadn’t realized she wasn’t just a woman—she was a soldier.
She bent at the waist and drew the dagger from his chest. Suppressing the urge to grimace was difficult as she felt the blade gliding along his breastbone and heard the suction sound the weapon created as it left his body.
The Others began to scatter. Their purpose here accomplished, the disdain clear in their eyes and in the way they moved.
As she wiped the excess blood from her knife, the coppery smell assaulted her nose. Her sense of smell wanted nothing more than to shut down and call it a day, but that wasn’t an option.
There was still much to do. The letter needed to make it to the Skyline Sanctuary, and she needed to make notes of the weather in the villages. Her crew needed her to lead.
She faced Krieger, not afraid of what she might see. This was life. This was the way things were, and it was better he understood that now.
As they stood over the still form of her enemy and she bled from the shoulder, she found no shock in his eyes.
Did he really understand the ways of this land, of her?
He studied her face as if she was going to turn into mist and disappear. That didn’t sound like such a bad idea to her.
In another world, in another time, in another place, she might have been the prom queen or a college grad. Not a warrior, a leader, a killer...
He took her arm. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”
It was then that her head began to feel like a hot air balloon. The pain in her shoulder seemed to lessen as her legs went numb and gave out. Krieger caught her in his arms before she hit the ground, his strength encompassing her. Compassion glowed in his eyes as he caressed the side of her face with the back of his fingers.
Her eyes squeezed shut as she whispered, “Bury him first.”
She wanted to disappear, that much was true, but not into mist, into these arms. His arms. Arms that offered her something she thought had been long forgotten and lost to this world.
The mist was winning—creeping, wanting entrance so badly. She couldn’t fight it; she let it consume her mind and block out the pain.
She heard movement around her, but her lids were heavy. The fog had eased out of her brain, but the weakness remained. Her back was against something hard, and her body was weighed down... with a fur pelt?
The voices of her crew surrounded her, an argument brewing between them.
“We should remain here.” Krieger’s voice held an edge of anger.
“You’re not in charge here. I am. Let’s get that straight right now.” Derek’s voice rang out and echoed around them. “And I say we move out, now. Eva would want us to.”
“She’s lost too much blood, she can’t be moved,” Krieger said. “What’s your plan, to leave her here?”
It would be hard for him to understand, but this is what she had tried to explain to him. The sick and the injured were liabilities. They endangered the rest of the crew and made moving around difficult.
Derek was right. They had to keep moving. The longer they lingered in one area, the more dangers there would be. The Others were only part of the problem of coming into the valley. Wild dogs and weather could also be issues. Their motto had always been and would continue to be: get in and get out as fast as you can.
Derek didn’t have to answer. He would leave her here and assign someone to tend to her as the rest of them moved out to finish their mission. It’s what she would do. The whole of their people was more important than just one life. The people of Everwood depended on them, and they would not let them down.
She heard Krieger’s low growl of frustration—a sign his temper was rising. He didn’t understand. Maybe he thought their ways cruel, but it was the way things worked. The method they found held the best chance of survival for the masses.
Waking up was a must. She reached deep for what strength she had, hoping to clear away the weakness in her limbs. She had to blink a few times to clear her line of sight, but then she was able to see him. Krieger sitting with his back to her, as if to protect her from any approaching threat. He was serious about safeguarding her? As a way to repay some debt he thought he owed her for saving his life?
Ridiculous. She ignored the flutter in her belly as she focused on the area before her. They were in some kind of drainage ditch, camped in a giant dislodged concrete pipe. Morning sunlight graced the land with its presence. Had she slept through the night? Water trickled outside the tunnel and the smell of sewage was strong, but it was a good place to camp. Off the beaten path, easily protected, and hidden out of sight.
She was leaning against the hard wall while Sarah tended a small fire in the middle. Glancing to the right, she saw John guarding the opening. Luke must have been outside scouting.
