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“Done,” he said, and stood up quickly.
Once he’d done it and was strapped in, all our eyes trained on the ruined building that was emerging on our left.
“This is gonna be the biggest fucking handbrakie I’ve ever thrown, so hold on tight,” Slade snapped.
Arms shot out, grabbing onto seats, bracing against the dash, and then the whole world slid sideways. Slade had wrenched on the handbrake, causing the back of the truck to swing out and around in a dizzying turn.
“Out!” Brandon said as soon as the car came to a stop.
“Here,” Jack said, reaching under the seat and pulling out weapons. He tossed them and ammo to the guys as they got out.
“Down here, love,” Hawk said, pulling me to him and bringing me down to a crouch behind the car. “If those fucks come in, we’ll take them out.”
“You OK?” Aaron dropped down beside me, lifting my chin and inspecting me, as if an answer from me wouldn’t be enough.
“She’s fine,” Brandon said. “Nothing got through to us.”
“And you?” Aaron asked, his voice much lower. I smiled when I saw him reach out to the other man, rubbing a thumb across Brandon’s cheek.
“Never in danger. You kept us safe.”
It wasn’t just me that saw the smile spread across Aaron’s face. Jack and Hawk watched the exchange, then glanced at each other when they took the gesture in, questions in their eyes.
They didn’t get a chance to investigate this change in the pack dynamic as the other utes arrived. I searched them as they pulled up and created a little barricade between us and the plains beyond. My heart clenched when I saw the guys pile out, Finn among them.
“Johnno’s been hit,” he said, holding one of Aaron’s men, keeping him upright with an arm around his shoulders.
“Hicks, you got the med kit?”
“On it!”
“C’mon, mate,” Aaron said, helping Finn lay the man down.
“The fucking cunts shot me with fucking stone age weapons!”
“Not quite stone age,” Finn said, inspecting the brightly fletched arrow protruding from the man’s shoulder. “This has been well crafted.”
“Yeah, well, feel free to congratulate the maker after you get the fucking thing out of me.”
“Are they barbed?” Aaron asked the other men clustered around. One nodded. “Mate, this is gonna suck, but we’ve gotta push the bloody thing through.”
“What? Fuck off, just yank the bastard out.”
“I saw it in a doco. The barbs will anchor in your flesh and tear everything in its path coming out. You’re less likely to end up with a permanent injury if we do it this way.”
Aaron waited until the other man nodded before gesturing to one of the men to hand Johnno what looked like a bottle of spirits.
“Get a good mouthful into ya,” said one of the guys crouched down beside him, watching Johnno’s throat work as he swallowed the dark liquid down. Then, as he was passing the bottle back, they lifted his shoulders, snapped off the end of the arrow, and then thrust it through with all their might.
Birds I hadn’t noticed f
luttered up into the air at Johnno’s screams. I focussed on them instead of the man, but the ragged sound tore at my ears. I felt a warm presence at my back and looked up to find Hawk there. He pulled me to him, holding me close, and for a moment, I just felt that, let my eyes scan the ancient building before us as I tuned out the sound of the men helping Johnno.
What if it had been one of them?
Of course, my mind went there, and I felt instantly guilty that that was more important to me than Johnno being hurt. He had family, perhaps a mate waiting for him at home, or maybe he’d get one. He might not go home to find one, none of us might return. I’d been distracted by purple monsters and pack dynamics at Sylvan’s insistence, but that had left a glaring blind spot. I turned within Hawk’s arms, loving the weight of them, feeling like I needed to initiate more of that, and rested my head against his chest as I watched the guys get the wounded man to his feet. We were walking into the lion’s den, and one of us was hurt already.
“Jules,” Hawk said as he stroked my hair. “It’s OK.”
