I kicked him in the back until he fell again.
When he got up, I did it again. “I can do this all night, Alix.”
This time, he stayed down, blood still dripping out of his mouth from the kick. He turned over onto his back and looked up at me, his chest rising and falling quickly, soft groans accompanying his breaths. But he looked up at me like he still wanted to kill me.
“No more mercy, Alix. Try this shit again…I’ll kill you.”
Seven
Ultimate Sacrifice
Eric was in the infirmary for a few days. He couldn’t walk because the blade had pierced his muscle so badly that he couldn’t hold his weight anymore. Nathan and Karl steered clear of me like they thought I might decide to finish the job. Alix stopped staring at me every chance he got.
When I saw them in the evenings, they pretended I didn’t exist.
I hoped that was the end of it.
But I wasn’t stupid enough to assume anything.
A week passed, and my time at the camp was repetitive and uneventful. Alix did the execution every Friday, and I was never around to witness it. I tried to work out a bigger distribution with our Colombian partners, but the cargo hold simply wouldn’t allow it. I tried to think of another shipment route, perhaps by a cargo ship. They could dock in Spain, and our guys could meet us somewhere near the French Alps. It was risky, but Fender wanted to grow this business more, to be richer than we already were.
I didn’t glance at Raven again.
She always tried to look at me at the clearing, but I ignored her.
The only reason I’d cut her down in her cabin was because I was already there, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to check on her or intercept danger in any way whatsoever. I shouldn’t have even delivered that note, but it would have haunted me if I hadn’t.
I went to the clearing at midday when the girls were eating. They sat together at the tables, eating in complete silence so they wouldn’t be punched in the face, or worse, hung. I went to the product table and made my notes on the spreadsheets. I meticulously checked everything that was there so people wouldn’t try to steal. The best way to keep people honest was to make it impossible not to be honest.
One of the guards yelled unexpectedly. “What the fuck is she doing? Get her!”
I turned, assuming Raven was the culprit. She was probably doing some stupid stunt to escape.
But she sprinted right at me, panicked. “Move!”
What the fuck? Stunned, I just stood there.
It all happened so fast.
She crashed into me, making me fall onto the table.
I rolled and hit my head, confused.
A collective gasp sounded from the women in their seats.
I turned to look, seeing Raven standing there, a knife buried deep in her stomach.
She swayed slightly, her legs growing weak, and then she fell to the ground.
Alix stood there, staring down at her like he was surprised by what had happened too. His hand was bloody.
I immediately righted myself and looked down, still in shock.
Alix spat on her. “That worked out better, if you ask me.”
I finally understood what had happened.
Alix had come up behind me to stab me, knowing this was the only time of the day when my guard was down, and Raven had seen what he was about to do…and tried to help me. “Fuck.” I hopped off the table and leaned down over her. Her shirt was already wet with the blood seeping from the wound. A puddle was growing on the dirt beneath her.
“Leave her.” Alix stood over me.
I scooped her into my arms and carried her away.
Alix walked after me. “Let that bitch die!”
Revenge was the last thing on my mind right now. “Stay with me.”
She turned limp in my arms.
“I said, stay with me!” I ran with her to the cabin that housed the medical supplies. Up the stairs and through the door, I carried her to the table in the center of the room. I laid her flat then shouted out the door. “Daniel!” I came back to the table, unsure if he would help me since he hated me along with everyone else.
I worked like no one was coming.
I lifted up her shirt and saw the bloody gash. “Jesus.”
Her eyes were still open, and she breathed hard, the color leaving her face right away. She shifted her gaze to me, like she knew she was going to die.
“You aren’t going anywhere, Raven. What’s your blood type?”
“I…I don’t know.”
I pulled out the universal bag, stuck a needle in her vein, and started to give her blood.
Then Daniel appeared in the doorway. “What the fuck happened?”
I couldn’t believe he’d actually come. “She’s been stabbed. She’s bleeding out.” I covered the gash with gauze and tried to keep her alive.