Chapter 169: Ada's POV
It was at midnight, about two weeks after the island, that the first crew member got sick.
At first, it seemed like a stomach flu that had been passed around a few years ago. Within hours of the first person showing symptoms, a couple of dozen on our ship were reporting they were unwell. By the morning, every single crew member we had on our ship was sick. Worse, on every other ship in our small fleet, every single wolf was sick.
Except us.
Phoenix, Dagger, Blade, Heath, Paul, Felix, Alpha Bryant, and I were all perfectly well. We’d debated splitting up and going to assist on other ships to minimize casualties, but as the symptoms progressed, it was deemed too dangerous. Wolves started to vomit up blood, screaming and writhing in pain as they clutched their stomachs. From there, one of two things would happen: the bleeding would escalate and start coming from every orifice, or the blood would pool in their lungs, making them short of breath as they slowly drowned in it.
We had anchored somewhere hundreds of miles from any coast to wait this out. By the morning of the second day, we’d had to give half of the crew on every ship burials at sea. On our ship, we were making the rounds, trying to alleviate discomfort and provide them with some semblance of peace.
None of them were angry with us, but we were angry with ourselves. We had been eating the same food, sharing the same bathing areas, and breathing the same air as all of them. The only thing we could think of was that we didn’t have our wolves at the moment.
Heath seemed to be taking this harder than any of us. On several occasions, he’d walk below deck with one of his brothers or me and look like he was about to faint. Even when he was taking breaks from visiting with the ill or tossing the dead overboard, he didn’t seem like himself.
We were all very quiet, reserving all energy and conversation for the fading crew. Nothing we did helped. It was futile. By the end of the second day, half of the other ships had stopped reporting in at all. Alpha Bryant and Paul used his portals to reach each ship that had stopped, then returned to report the same thing: everyone was dead.
By noon on the third day, everyone had been lost. Not a single crew member on a single ship remained. It was just us. Phoenix, Dagger, Blade, and I were lifting the last few bodies from our ship up and tossing them overboard as the three Lennox brothers leaned against the wall leading to the Captain’s quarters and stared vacantly into the distance.
I hadn’t known any of these wolves well at all. They’d done their best to avoid us since we arrived, and at this very moment, I was thankful. I don’t think I could handle what had just happened if I’d known any of them well. This plague had taken what little hope we had left.
And we knew who to blame. But with just us left, we couldn’t do anything but forge ahead.
A wispy black portal opened up, and Alpha Bryant stepped onto the deck of the ship, locking eyes with me from across the way. “No one is left.”
Paul, thick red scars blazing in the sunlight, climbed to his feet. “We’re weeks away from where we need to be. We no longer have any army at all, and none of us have our wolves.”
Blade and Dagger, who were without their armor and weapons for the first time since I’d met them, exchanged a look. Dagger’s voice filled my head: Do not let them cave to the despair in front of them. We cannot act out of desperation when we face Velentaria.
I don’t know what I can do to help stop this feeling. I placed a hand over my heart and met the High Fae’s gaze.
Phoenix narrowed his eyes at us, scuffing his shoe against the deck. Blade fought a smirk forming on his face. I cleared my throat and turned my attention back to Paul. “We don’t have an option. We can’t just sit in the middle of the ocean and do nothing.”
“What the hell do you suggest we do?” Heath snapped, narrowing his eyes at me. “All of this is pointless now anyway.”
“If we give up now, she wins without a fight,” I rolled my shoulders back, planting my feet on the deck. “We can’t abandon the rest of our people.”
“Oh, please,” Heath’s voice was low, dark. “We all know you’re more worried about the fact that your other two mates might be alive than any of the thousands of omegas that might die.”
I furrowed my eyebrows, but it was Phoenix who took a step forward and snapped, “Don’t you fucking dare question her character like that.”
Heath smirked, resting his elbow on his bent knee. “I’ll do or say whatever I like, imposter.”
Felix rested a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Heath. Perhaps you should rest. It’s been a trying day for you. We can reconvene in the morning.”
He didn’t look capable of arguing. Dark circles were beneath his eyes, his skin still pale despite the heat of the evening. A thin sheen of sweat glinted in the setting sunlight.
Blade, who had taken a few steps forward, cocked his head to the side. “Are you a reaper, Heath?”
Vacant eyes lifted, seeming to search for Blade, who was standing right in front of him. Once he locked on, Heath gave a dip of his chin, whispering, “None of them want to leave.”