Page 80 of Lies That Bleed
“Okay!” Alek jumped down next to me, cutting off my sentence. “Let’s clean up and look alive. Aisling is right, the attack could be any moment, and if we fail it’s on you for not being ready.”
A few cadets actually had the nerve to roll their eyes at him. Tetra had just woken up from her little nap looking guilty. I wasn’t mad at her, but I was concerned that she still seemed to be elevating her foot. That meant it hurt worse than she let on.
“They split us into five teams for what reason? Navigation? The train is taking us where we need to go. This simulation is a joke,” Summer said. I had to admit it seemed silly to make a team learn maps and be tasked with navigation when you intended to have a train take them all of the way. It didn’t change the fact that they were being lazy and unready for the attack we all knew was coming.
“I SAID GET UP!” Alek barked so loudly and forcefully that I jumped, along with half the car.
His assertiveness was attractive at that moment, I had to admit.
“Alright, you heard him. Let’s get things straightened up in here,” Jace agreed, walking in through the hatch from the second train car. The doorway wasopen so people could move in and out freely. His shirt was unbuttoned, and was that chocolate on his face? Good grief, the son of the commander of my father’s fleet and even he wasn’t taking this seriously.
That got the cadets moving. They began to clean up their mess, fold away their cards, and get into a standing position. It seemed they respected Jace’s authority more than Alek’s. Or maybe just two people yelling at them was enough to get them to move their butts.
I knelt next to Tetra and peered down at her. She looked like she was having areallybad pain day. Semi-permanent wince, slightly sweaty appearance. Her creature nuzzled my thigh like she was trying to tell me something.
“How you holding up, T?” I reached out my hand like I would to a stray dog and her creature sat her chin inside my palm, allowing me to stroke her muzzle with my thumb. It was unheard of for a creature, and it meant she trusted me to take care of Tetra, which was an honor.
Tetra swallowed hard. “Not a great pain day, but I’ll manage.”
I nodded, looking to my right and lowering my voice to make sure I couldn’t be overheard. “Did you try some of those pain relievers?” They were very hard to come by and pretty strong. She would be quite woozy after, and not very much help in an attack, but how much help could she be in constant pain?
She nodded. “Took half a pill about an hour ago, which is why I napped. It took the edge off but it still hurts.” She flicked her gaze to her foot.
It was moments like this that I felt angry at the way the world was designed. Tetra, the most amazing person I knew, lived in constant pain and struggle, and she’d never hurt a fly. Meanwhile, there were murderers and terrorists who ran free while the good people suffered.
I sighed. “I’m sorry. Just hang tight. We’ll see if there is a healer at the imperial base we’re going to.”
Healers were rare, humans who absorbed the power from their creature, but I knew of two in my father’s Imperial Fleet and they were both out on active duty. If one of them was at this base, I’d pull every string possible to see if Tetra could see him. They wouldn’t be able to heal her deformity, but they could take away pain and inflammation.
‘Brace for impact, Aisling!’Liana’s warning blared in my head.
“Brace for impact!” I screamed without question, and threw myself over Tetra’s body, covering her creature as well. I grasped the tie-down strap loops, pinning them both under me, and that’s when the train flew off the tracks.
Chapter
Twenty-One
The train lurched onto its side and my fingers ripped out of the loops I was holding as the weight of Tetra and her creature fell on top of me. Luckily, I was thrown into a pile of rice bags, but others were not so fortunate.
“Alek! Jace!” I cried out their names immediately as I knew they were in the car with me.
Wails of pain rose up throughout the small space.
‘It’s that smell,’Liana said as I tried to get my bearings. Tetra sat up. She seemed shaken but okay.
“Can you stand?” I asked her.
“Broken femur!” Alek called out as he did triage on one of the cadets.
“Head wound,” came another voice.
“Dislocated shoulder,” came another.
This was wrong. The drill instructors wouldn’t do this.
‘Aisling. The smell,’Liana called.
I shook myself, standing and helping Tetra and a few others out the roof hatch, which was now acting as door to the outside since the train had completely fallen on its side.
