Page 93 of A Monarch's Fall

Ana fell to her knees beside Kat, her hands pressing against her back. Kat’s green fleece began to turn black. Ana’s hands lifted, shaking, red-stained.

The red of Ana’s hands shocked me into action, and I fell to my knees opposite Ana on the other side of Kat.

“She’s been shot in the back,” Ana said, looking at her trembling red hands.

“Help me,” I said as I pushed up Kat’s fleece to find the wound. “We need to apply pressure,” I instructed as I put my ear against her back to listen to her breathing; it was a wheezy, ragged sound.

“How do we apply pressure?” Ana asked, her voice shaking.

“Here, help me,” I said as I took off my own fleece. “We need to put her on her side to help her breathe,” I said as I rolled Kat to her side, and Ana helped me, steadying her. I moved Kat’s leg and arm out as I had learned in my healing classes, placing her in the recovery position. But I didn’t know what I was doing. Not really. I wasn’t prepared for this.

“She’s bleeding so much,” Ana said, and I remembered the fleece in my hand.

“Here,” I said and pressed my fleece hard against the entry wound, trying to stop the bleeding.

“Percy,” Ana said.

“Percy,” she said louder.

I turned to her.

“What do we do?” she asked, tears in her eyes, Kat’s blood across her forehead.

“I, I don’t know,” I admitted. “We’re doing what we can,” I said. “Hold this for me, keep the pressure,” I instructed, and after Ana had taken over applying pressure, I tried to check Kat’s breathing and pulse.

“Percy?” Ana asked, as I desperately tried to find a pulse, and put my ear up to Kat’s nose, trying to hear if she was breathing. “Percy?” Ana asked again, crying openly, “Is she?” she asked.

“I —” I couldn’t say it, I checked again, and nothing.

Ana and I looked at each other, and I shook my head.

The quad behind Ana had become a grey sea of nothing, like a fog had descended upon us. But the air was thick; it coated my tongue and throat, making me want to cough and hack.

“She’s dead?” Ana asked.

Somehow, Ana saying the word made it real.

“I’m sorry,” I said, speaking to Kat. “I’m so sorry,” I cried.

Ana was suddenly beside me, her arms around me, crying against my neck.

“What do we do?” she asked me.

A metallic screeching type of sound rang around us as if bouncing off the walls we were between, and a spark of light flashed in front of us as a bullet scraped against the wall of the building.

“We can’t stay here,” I told her.

“Where do we go?” she asked, looking at me for guidance, and I stood up, pulling Ana up with me, her arms still holding me.

“We can leave now,” I said. “Arvid said we would be picked up tomorrow night,” I explained, “We follow the trails east behind Witching Command, and someone will meet us tomorrow night.”

“You want us to spend the night in the forest?” she asked.

“I don’t think we’re going to get another time to get away unnoticed other than right now,” I said, hating how heartless I sounded. Kat was dead at our feet, and I was already thinking about how I could get back to Selene.

Ana nodded in agreement, “You’re right,” she said.

“We can’t go through the quad,” I said. I really didn’t know my way around; I had barely been allowed outside of Witching Command.