Page 54 of Blue Arrow Island (Blue Arrow Island #1)

Dr. Malcolm Lowe was attacked by people at the Rising Tide camp today. His injuries are significant. It’s no longer safe for us to enter the camp for monitoring. As the number of soldiers grows, our control over these experiments diminishes.

- Excerpt from the journal of Dr. Randall McClain

“Briar.”

“Hmm?” I turn my face toward Amira.

“Did you hear any of that?”

My gaze shifts to Niran, then Marcus. We’re at the switch point, the four of us about to go search for the flower after having our aromium switched back on by Nova. It was supposed to be just me and Marcus, but I asked him if we could bring extra help.

He was quick to agree, probably because things are so tense between us. I had to suddenly leave our conversation with McClain yesterday because I got sick. Learning that not only was my mom involved in creating aromium, but that her DNA is part of it, made me physically ill.

I stumbled to the housing block, holding back tears, until I made it to the bathroom and threw up. Then I sat on the bathroom floor and cried until my head ached.

It’s not really a betrayal, but it feels like it. My mom had government security clearance and she consulted on top-secret research that she couldn’t discuss with anyone. I understand why she didn’t tell us what she was working on.

But I can’t stop thinking about all the times I’ve yearned for her since getting here, wishing I could tell her about aromium.

Knowing she’d be blown away. The joke’s on me, though, because not only did she know, she helped make it.

She helped create the compound that turns women into breeding machines and children into mindless soldiers.

I stayed in the bathroom for more than an hour before dragging myself to the garden to work. I pulled weeds and divided plants, no one questioning what I was doing.

At dinner, I couldn’t tell Amira about my mom.

It was still too raw. And though I’d planned to stay in her room, I found myself drawn to Marcus.

I’m so angry at him, but I also see him more clearly than I did before.

This is why he’s so cold and bitter toward McClain.

McClain sparked a fire that became an inferno and then turned his back on it, washing his hands.

I’d be just as furious with him as Marcus is.

I couldn’t talk to him last night, but I still curled into his side and cried, his hand smoothing down my hair and his arms wrapped around me. Eventually, I fell asleep.

It’s time to return to our search for the flower. But at least Amira and Niran are with us, so we won’t be able to argue or rage fuck when we’re supposed to be in stealth mode.

“No, I missed it,” I say absently.

“We’re heading to the volcano,” Marcus says, his steely gaze locked onto me. “We’re going to climb it again and check for cracks where something could grow.”

“Yeah, okay.”

After all the crying yesterday, I’m numb today. I want to know everything McClain knows about my mother and her involvement in aromium, but not until the shock of her involvement has worn off.

I can imagine my mom eagerly agreeing to help with a project that was billed as an effort to help prevent and treat diseases.

She was passionate about how undervalued plants are in medicine.

And if she changed her mind when she found out the project’s true mission, I shouldn’t hold any of this against her.

I don’t really. I was just blindsided by the news. Completely unprepared to find out my mom was partially responsible for what’s going on here, even if she didn’t intend to be.

Niran leads the way, Amira behind him. I follow Amira, and Marcus walks behind me.

It’s raining. Not one of Virginia’s superstorms, but a regular rain shower, rivulets of water pouring onto us from tree branches. I don’t mind it; it’s actually nice to cool off.

We trek through the jungle in silence for more than an hour, the usual bird calls and monkey chatter quieter due to the rain. Even though I know we need to stay quiet in case there are Tiders nearby, I don’t like it.

I’m alone with my thoughts, and none of them are good. No one but me and Marcus can see the vines sliding along the ground beside me. I’ll tell Amira about the vines soon, but not yet.

We’re stopped at a small stream for a water break when Amira asks, “Is there any way you could reverse engineer the aromium? Like work backward from it to create one of the flowers?”

I shake my head. “No. I’d need a seed.”

“Jerk me?” Niran offers Amira a piece of beef jerky from his pack, grinning over his quip.

“Pass.”

He turns to me and I shake my head. Marcus just flips him off.

“Damn.” Niran bites a chewy end off the long stick. “You guys are like a commercial for depression medication.”

Marcus catches my attention and angles his head to the side, asking me to follow him. He leads me about fifteen yards away, where we can talk without being overheard.

“You okay?” he asks.

I shrug. “I guess?”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“No. I think I just need time.”

He’s wearing a gray T-shirt and dark-green canvas pants today, my eyes roving over his chest and arms. There’s not a single part of the real me that wants to be in the mood right now, but aromium doesn’t care how I’m feeling. It’s making me want to drop to my knees and unfasten Marcus’s pants.

Use him. Fuck him. Take his power.

I furrow my brow, looking at him and speaking softly. “Does the aromium just make you want sex, or is it ... more? I feel urges to use you and ... I guess, take advantage of your desire.”

“It’s the aromium. It tells me the same things.”

I glance at Niran and Amira. “And you never feel any of that about Amira?”

He shakes his head. “Only you. It amplifies real feelings, and you’re the only woman I want. Why, are you drawn to anyone else?”

“No. Just you.”

He takes my hand, his expression solemn. “I know you’re mad at me, but if you need something, tell me.”

“You mean sex?” I glance at Niran and Amira again.

A smile quirks on his lips. “No, but also ... yes. It’s not what I meant, but if you say the word, we’ll find a place and make it happen.”

“You meant like moral support.” I fight a smile.

“I meant like anything. If you need someone to yell at?—”

I roll my eyes. “If I yell at you, it’s because you deserve it. Not because you’re my benevolent punching bag.”

“That’s fair. What I’m trying to say is I’m here if you need me.”

“Marcus.”

We look over to Niran, who’s giving us a questioning look; he and Amira both packed back up and ready to go.

Marcus exhales through his nostrils. “Why’d we bring them?”

“To keep us on track.”

I bend and fill my canteen from the stream, looking up at Marcus. “So it’s not just me who has a relative who helped make aromium. You, Virginia and Pax do, too.”

He nods. “But that’s a conversation for another time. Niran’s right, we need to get moving.”

We resume our walk, Marcus and Niran checking to our right and Amira and I watching to the left for any sign of the bright-blue flower. There are orange, red, yellow, and even purple flowers, but not a blue one in sight.

“Oh!” Niran points, all of us turning.

There’s a flash of bright blue, but it’s moving.

“That’s a fucking bird,” Marcus said.

“Oh.”

Amira reaches for her bow. “Is it a regular bird, or is it like those mutant mantises?”

“Regular bird,” Marcus says. “Keep moving.”

We only stop when we need to pee or refill our canteens, and we reach the volcano late in the afternoon. Our boots are still wet from the rain. We have to slowly climb the volcano, our shoes slipping on the wet rock. On days like this, the bottoms of our boots are never fully dry.

“What do you think the temperature is?” Amira asks as we walk up an area of the volcano without a steep incline. “I’m saying a hundred and three.”

“Ninety-nine,” I guess.

“Remember chilly fall walks? And scraping off your icy windshield in the morning? I honestly can’t remember what it was like to be cold.”

My foot slips, but I catch myself. We only make it halfway up the volcano before Marcus tells us we have to go back down, so we aren’t walking down the uneven surface in the dark later.

It’s dusk by the time we set up camp for the night, which isn’t much. We can’t risk a fire, so it’s just the four of us sitting on blankets and eating dried meat and fruit, a thick swarm of mosquitoes surrounding us.

“People used to spend a shitload of money to vacation in a place like this,” Niran says.

“In a luxury resort, though,” I say. “With walls and air conditioning and fruity drinks.”

Niran groans softly and looks at Marcus. “I could go for an ice-cold Modelo right now.”

“Wouldn’t say no.” Marcus leans back on his elbows.

Even though I’m still mad at him, I lie beside him, staring up at the clear, star-filled sky. The long day of hiking through the jungle mellowed me. I’m no longer worried I’ll burst into tears out of nowhere.

“I’d do just about anything for an ice cream sundae right now,” Amira says. “With whipped cream and hot fudge and caramel.”

I smile, trying to imagine the taste of warm, salted caramel sauce. It’s been my favorite since I was a kid. Mae and I would fight over whose favorite it was first, because we didn’t want to share a favorite.

“What the hell is that?” Amira jumps a foot closer to Niran, pointing at the sky.

“Just a couple of bats,” Niran says. “Probably looking for some bugs to eat.”

I shiver. “In the cave I found McClain’s knife in, we ran into about a hundred thousand bats.”

Amira gasps. “Are you serious?”

“It was awful. You could feel the vibrations of all those wings, and the sounds they make ...”

“They’re nocturnal,” Niran says, bumping his shoulder against Amira’s. “Maybe they’ll give you a goodnight kiss later.”

“Ugh, no. I’ll send them your way, since you’re clearly the one in need of affection.”

“You noticed my footlong? I can’t help it, it’s the aromium.”

His erection is tenting his lightweight pants, and he’s making no effort to hide it.

A thought flickers through my mind, my smile sliding away. I sit up, my heart racing.

“That’s it,” I say softly

“What?” Marcus bolts up, putting an arm on my back. “What’s wrong?”

I look at him, excitement racing through my veins. “I know why we haven’t found the flower.” The words tumble out of me. “Bats are nocturnal. They mostly pollinate flowers that bloom at night. That’s the one thing we never thought of. The flower must only bloom at night.”