Blood for Honor

“Take the reins.”

“What?” I ask in a daze.

“Take the reins,” Jai repeats through gritted teeth.

I look at him, and worry settles in the pit of my stomach. His tanned skin has gone pale. He shoves the reins into my hands before I can respond. My fingers grasp the worn leather, and Jai clumsily climbs over the backrest of the wagon bench.

He collapses into the back of the wagon with a grunt of pain. “Get home,” he says, barely loud enough for me to hear over the thudding of horse hooves, and then he is out cold.

“Jai?” I yelp, frightened at seeing him like this.

A Y-bend approaches, pulling my attention to the horses. We only have a few miles left, but not knowing whether Jai is alive or dead makes it feel like a hundred.

I stand as the South Gate finally comes into view, waving at the guards on duty.

“Open the gate!” one guard shouts upon spotting me.

I lead the horses through the gate and up the path to the infirmary. Stopping at the open front door, I jump in the back to check on Jai, with a “Get Dr. Matthews!” to Carika, who comes outside to see what is going on. With two fingers on Jai’s throat, I find a faint pulse. At my touch, he opens his eyes and looks up at me blearily, coming back from unconsciousness for the moment.

“Asshole was going to take you out the same way they did your—” Jai inhales as a shudder runs through his body.

I strip off the fur covering his shoulders and back to find that blood has completely stained the back of his beige undershirt. A single bullet wound rests off-center between his shoulder blades.

“Dammit,” I breathe. “He wasn’t shooting at me.” Jai doesn’t answer if he can even hear me.

I look up as heavy footsteps pound toward us. “Alec, help me get him inside!” I yell out in panic, recognizing the burly, red-haired man headed for us in a sprint.

With a nod, Alec leaps into the back of the wagon, grabbing Jai’s head and shoulders while I grab his feet. We carefully lower him down and walk awkwardly toward the door with him between us.

Dr. Matthews meets us at the door with a rolling cot for us to lay Jai down on. “What’s happened?” she asks frantically.

“Bullet wound.” My voice quivers at the ramifications of those two words.

Dr. Matthews nods, rolling Jai into an open room without another word. Alec follows behind us, brows furrowed in confusion.

Bending over Jai’s prone form, Dr. Matthews checks his vitals while I hover over her shoulder. “Roll him onto his side, gently,” she says to Alec.

He carefully rolls Jai onto his side, revealing his bloodstained back. Dr. Matthews turns to the shelves, pulling a few jars of herbs and liquids down before mixing up an unknown concoction in a bowl. She sits it on a rolling tray next to Jai’s cot, along with scissors, tongs, bandages, and a scalpel.

With the scissors, she cuts Jai’s shirt, revealing his back. Dr. Matthews dabs around the wound, cleaning the blood away to assess the damage, and I start pacing.

Too much blood.

“Stop and come here,” Dr. Matthews tells me sternly. I raise an eyebrow at her tone but say nothing. I am not helping Jai with my pacing.

I approach with apprehension, not knowing what to do. Helplessness nearly overwhelms me as I stand next to Jai’s head, watching blood continue to ooze from the hole in his back slowly.

She hands me a clean strip of cloth from her tray. “Clean his face.”

I do not understand what cleaning his face will do for him, but I withhold my question, dipping the cloth in the bowl to find the liquid lukewarm. It smells strongly of mint and basil. Squeezing the excess out, I dab at the side of Jai’s face, wiping away the blood with shaking hands.

“Whose blood is that?” Alec asks warily. “Can’t be his.”

I stare at him, trying to restrain the tears that threaten to spill forth. “My father’s,” I manage to say loud enough for them to hear. Dr. Matthews glances at me in surprise, and Alec nods solemnly, but neither of them asks any more questions.

Without warning, Dr. Matthews grabs a set of forceps from the tray and starts digging the bullet out. Jai yells out in pain, his eyes opening in alarm. I grab his shoulder in an attempt to hold him still.

“It’s okay. Stop moving,” I say firmly, trying to be calm for Jai’s sake as he attempts to arch away from Dr. Matthews’ probing tongs. I don’t hide my aggravation from her. “A little warning next time would be nice.”

She does not respond, as if I have not spoken, and focuses on her work. I sigh in annoyance and turn my attention back to Jai, who has stopped fighting me. His muscles are tight under my fingertips. He is still conscious.

In record time, Dr. Matthews lifts the forceps gripping a rather large, twisted bullet covered in blood. Jai goes limp, and I look at her with worry in my eyes. “He is out again.”

Dr. Matthews nods. “He has lost a lot of blood. We need to find a match for him.” She gets up to rummage through a stack of drawers under the shelves on the wall. “Luckily, I already have you all on file. I will be right back,” she says, darting out of the room.

“What does she mean?” I ask Alec. “I thought blood was blood.”

“You have to have the right blood type to give a person, or their body will reject it, killing them,” Alec answers. I stare at him questioningly. “I’m trained as a field medic,” he adds.

“Oh, so what will happen without it?” I ask, looking at Jai with fresh tears in my eyes. I already know the answer, but I need to hear it.

Alec frowns, blue eyes glistening. “Without it, Jai dies.”

I force tears away, but it is not easy.

I can’t lose anyone else.

“But there is bound to be a match somewhere, if not one of us,” he adds to reassure me, seeing the distress on my face. “But the match has to be willing to donate.”

No, they don’t. I will force it from them if I have to.

Dr. Matthews appears with a black box in her hands, her eyes on me. “You’re a match. Take your coat off.” I unclasp my jacket and slide out of it without question. I sit on the chair Dr. Matthews offers me. She yanks my right arm out straight on the tray. “Don’t move,” she orders.

I glance up at Alec, unsure of what is about to happen. He nods in reassurance, and I try to steady my racing heart. I turn my eyes to the older woman’s fingers delicately cleaning the area of skin in the bend of my elbow. I take slow, deep breaths, my foot tapping with anticipation.

Dr. Matthews looks up at Alec, motioning to the black box she brought in. “Open that.”

Alec opens the box to reveal a glass bottle with a strange-looking stopper on the top with hoses coming out of it. Dr. Matthews produces two needles from a bowl filled with some solution from the cupboard and attaches them to the ends of the hoses Alec hands her. She ties an elastic band around my upper arm tightly, thumping the crease of my elbow with her middle finger. In one practiced motion, she steadies my arm and pushes the pointed end of the needle into my skin. I hiss at the sharp pinching sensation but hold steady against the discomfort.

Blood gushes inside the tube, and Dr. Matthews places a piece of tape over the needle to hold it in place. “Stay like that,” she says, releasing the elastic band. My arm goes tingly for a moment as blood rushes back to the area, only to be siphoned into the jar. I watch in amazement as my blood fills it before flowing through the other tube. When all the air is out, Dr. Matthews sticks Jai with the needle connected to the other hose, and my blood disappears into Jai’s arm.

I lose track of time, entranced by the procedure. I start getting lightheaded as Dr. Matthews hobbles back to me. She removes the needle from my arm and wraps a piece of gauze around my elbow to staunch the bleeding. “You are good to go,” she says. “Fresh air may do you some good. You’re pale.”

I stand up, and Alec has to steady me as the room starts to spin. “Never gone without that much blood, huh?” he asks me, trying to lighten the situation.

I take a deep breath, trying to ease the room’s spinning. “Is it that obvious?” I ask in a strained voice. “I might puke,” I say, hands clenched around my jacket like a lifeline.

“Jai is going to be fine,” Dr. Matthews says.

Jai’s pallor is not as drastic as earlier, and his breathing has steadied. I will have to be content with that as Alec leads me outside. The cool air of evening causes goose flesh to rise on the exposed skin of my arms, wet with sweat. It helps the nausea, though, so I cannot complain about being cold for once.

“Would you like me to walk you home?” Alec asks. “You should rest now.”

“I can’t leave him,” I say earnestly, eyes filling with tears. “They killed my father. I can’t lose Jai too. I need to be near in case he needs me.”

Alec looks at me sadly. “There is nothing else you can do for him. Trust the doc’s skills. She knows what she is doing.”

He is right, of course. I have seen that woman work miracles. “Fine,” I say, taking a slow step forward. “I can do this,” I assure myself under my breath.

My knees start to get wobbly after a few feet. Before I can protest, Alec scoops me up carefully in his arms and carries me home as if I weigh nothing.

“Thanks,” I mumble, breathing deeply as my ears start to ring. It takes a moment to recede.

“You’re welcome, uh—” Alec’s brow furrows. “I guess I call you Chief now, huh?”

My breath shudders, and I unconsciously grip the front of his coat. “I suppose so,” I say drearily, the cause of my sudden promotion searing my heart like a hot knife.

At the courtyard, the guard hurries over to open the gate to let us through. Seeing his worried face, I force myself to tell him everything is okay, but I am lying. Nothing is okay.

I focus on the buttons on Alec’s coat, ignoring the empty place where my cabin once stood. Mother Nature has already begun to cover the patch of dirt with weeds despite the coming of winter.

Alec takes me up the stairs and stops, unsure what to do. “I will be fine. Sit me down on the porch. I’m not ready to go in yet,” I say, saving Alec from the awkwardness.

“Yes, ma’am,” he says, sitting me down on the edge of the porch. My feet dangle, booted toes brushing the grass underneath.

“Will you stay with him?” I hope it is not too much to ask, but he will do it either way.

“Of course,” Alec says with a gentle smile on his rugged face. “I will let you know as soon as he wakes up.”

“Thank you,” I say again. I don’t know what else to say.

“Anytime, Chief,” he says, leaving me alone on the porch to silently tremble at my new title.

I’m not prepared for what comes next, but I have no choice but to face it. It is all up to me now to do whatever it is that we are doing.

But what are we doing?

I remember Carnegie’s words as if he were speaking to me now. Maybe he is. They pierce my mind, affirming my fears regardless of being past or present.

Blood rules, and you will be the only one left who can fill that order when they need it most. No one other than you will do with Damian gone, but unfortunately, you won’t do either.