“How much do you pay that guy to visit and deal with suspicious wounds?” I mused out loud.
Neither of them answered.
Instead of lingering near the mounds of dead goons, we hobbled back toward the helicopter, then past it toward the outskirts of the forest. Hopefully, a road would help. No doubt the captain would have a plan for vehicles not being able to reach us in the thick of the trees.
We were a sad group, the captain and I limping. Fin rubbed his head with his hand, back and forth.
Eventually, my side ached too much for me to continue. I stopped in the path and the men glanced back and halted.
“Just give me a moment. I’ll catch up.” I waved them on, but of course neither of them listened to me.
I pressed my hand into my side, my shirt sticking to the wound uncomfortably. The extra support made it a bit easier to breathe while I walked. I took another step and exhaled. It hurt a bit less. I caught up with the guys and continued walking with them.
We made it another few hundred feet until we met the edge of a gravel road.
“Convenient,” I said and stared down either side of the road.
No headlights, no lights at all. The heavy weight of the forest had dissipated when my feet hit the gravel, so I stepped into it and sighed.
“I’m assuming you called for a ride?”
The captain nodded. “They took off at the same time as we did, as back up. Shouldn’t be too far away now.”
Would I have to moderate my life around how magic affected me now? Could I block it? I glanced up at Fin, who looked anywhere but at me. That conversation would have to wait until all of us had a little recovery time.
We waited for a half hour until I almost dropped onto the side of the road just to get some relief from the ache in my side.
Headlights appeared in the distance, then one of Fin’s many black SUV’s pulled to a stop in front of Fin and we all piled inside. The driver came around and shut my door. The captain and Fin managed theirs.
I hated looking weak in front of anyone, especially people I’d started to become close to. Even more so, Fin.
I tipped my head against the window and stared out at the trees as they passed the window. Once the trees disappeared, I finally relaxed somewhat. It would be hours before we reached the house, and right now, a helicopter might not be such a bad idea.
No matter how I shifted, I couldn’t find a comfortable position.
“Do you want some morphine?” The captain asked from the front seat.
Neither of them took it, so I shook my head. “I’m good. I’ll be fine. Just make him drive fast.”
The captain and I were in a bad way. And Fin seemed furious at me.
I wasn’t sure what was worse. The pain in my body or the ache in my heart.
How was I going to survive the blows that just kept coming?
Chapter Fifteen
If someone looked up the word ‘tense’ in the dictionary, there would be a picture of the inside of our SUV. The captain sat up front in the passenger seat, hunched to the side toward the window. He was almost as hurt as I was. My posture was similar; I basically lay canted toward the window.
In any other circumstances, I would have leaned on Fin, let him take my weight and some pressure off the sloppy stitches the captain had given me. Not that I could complain, since they were currently holding my insides on the inside. He’d had a couple of shots of antibiotics in his field kit so that was currently working its way through my system now too, but I would have to top up and see a proper doctor once we reached civilization again.
Every time I closed my eyes longer than a couple of blinks, the captain barked at me to wake the hell up and keep it together.
Fin had erected a major ‘don’t even look at me’ sign once we got into the car. I didn’t know what he was upset about, but considering my pain level I didn’t have the brainpower to process his hurt feelings. He didn’t seem to want to clear the air, so for right now, fuck him and the horse, I’m glad we didn’t have to ride home on.
The captain yelled at me again. “Wake up, Zoey. If you don’t stay awake, I’m going to drag you into my lap and yell into your ear for the next hour until we make it back to the manor.”
I grumbled what I thought was a fuck you, but he didn’t hear me, and I didn’t have the energy to yell.