Broken Aro (The Broken Ones) (15 page)

She curled up and listened while the others talked.
She felt safe, with Prince and her other friends around her. That was something
at least.

Chapter 12

What We Found on the
Beach

The next morning she was in a foul mood. She couldn't
even really say why. Maybe from all the crying she'd done the night before.
Maybe because the only person of their group not found was Kei. But even that
wasn't true. He could be still pinned in the wreckage of the ship now under the
sea.

She washed up quickly and joined the others, spending
the morning gathering wood, and searching for food or anything else useful.

It didn't take long for Avery to join her. His
presence didn't surprise her much, they were closest in age. They had both been
close to Kei.

They wandered the beach together, everyone else off
doing other things. "How long will we stay here do you think? On the beach
I mean," she asked suddenly.

He shrugged. "I don't know. Not much longer, I
don't think it's very safe. Of course, now that everyone is here..." His
voice trailed off and he looked away, his gaze going to the sea.

"I miss him," she said.

His face became sad and he nodded. "I do, too."
He grimaced. "I thought he would make it. He was always so strong."

"They wouldn't let me stay and help him,"
she said quietly. "I would have. In the ship."

Avery looked over at her and she turned away.

Avery didn't comment, but changed the subject. "So
was Prince much of a problem?"

She chuckled and shook her head. "No. Other than
being an arrogant ass at times, and having way too many manners. He's not that
bad." She grimaced slightly. "I wouldn't be here if not for him. He
got me to the beach, found shelter and water and food."

"He took care of you."

She nodded. "He did."

"Huh." He shook his head. "Though
truthfully, I'm not too surprised. When you were sick on the ship he certainly
was worried about you."

His tone sounded questioning and she cursed mentally. "He
thinks I'm a child, that's why. It's really frustrating."

Avery laughed and punched her in the arm. "You're
the youngest. You know all of us would have done the same thing."

She mumbled a few curses under her breath.

He laughed again. "I know. Being the youngest
isn't easy. I was there not too long ago."

She rolled her eyes as she continued to walk along the
beach, kicking at debris, stooping occasionally to look at something. She
looked up suddenly as Avery urgently whispered her name and cursed.

"What is it?"

"Something moving at the end of the beach."
He stepped closer to her and pointed out a shadow moving by the far rocks.

She squinted, trying to see what had caught his
attention. "Slaver you think?"

He shook his head. "I don't know."

"Should we run? Tell the others?" Her voice
rose slightly as panic started to flutter within her. Had they been found
already? She didn't want to be in chains again. She took a step backward, ready
to bolt and hide, but Avery grabbed her arm.

"Wait." He went up on his toes for a moment,
a hand above his light blue eyes, blocking the sun. "I think..."

The shadow moved off the rocks onto the beach,
becoming a person. She waited, her body tense. Would more people appear? One
certainly wouldn't be a problem. Even without weapons there were enough of them
here to handle a lone person.

But as he drew a little closer she gasped. She knew
that shock of hair, those strange, dark clothes. "Kei!"

She tore her arm from Avery's hand and sprinted down
the beach, stumbling through the sand in her haste to get to him. She saw Kei
smile before she pounced on him, dumping him down onto the sand.

"Ow."

She sat up, unwrapping her arms from him as she
blushed. "Sorry." She couldn't keep a smile from her face though. "You're
alive!"

He grimaced as he sat up, brushing hair from his eyes
with one hand, the other going to his ribs. "Well, I was."

"Gah! I'm sorry!"

Kei chuckled and looked back at her, his smile
softening. "I'm fine. You?"

She nodded quickly, holding her hands in her lap and
trying to keep from bouncing up and down like a fool girl. She couldn't keep
the grin from her face no matter how hard she tried. Joy and relief at finding
him alive coursed through her.

She looked him over, seeing him for the first time in
sunlight. A blush crept up her cheeks as she did. He turned out to be handsomer
than she'd imagined with the sunlight in his hair and him smiling at her. A
flush spread across his face as well as they continued to stare at each other
silently. She looked away quickly, suddenly embarrassed.

He looked past her and grinned. "Hey, Avery."

"You're late."

Kei laughed quietly and stood. She scrambled to her
feet, a hand almost going out to him when he stumbled. She bit her lip
slightly. He obviously wasn't fine.

"Aro's been worried about you," Avery
commented, punching her in the arm.

She scowled at him.

Kei looked back at her, a frown crossing his face, his
brows drawing together in worry. "I'm sorry."

She fought another blush and shrugged a shoulder as
she ducked her head. She looked up quickly at him and grinned. "But you're
here now."

He reached over, moving some of her hair aside. She
froze, until she realized he was looking at the cut on her forehead. His
eyebrows went up. "Prince?"

She didn't quite follow, until she remembered the
purple paste covering the cut. She nodded.

He frowned again. "You said you weren't hurt."

She rolled her eyes and pushed his hand away. "It's
not that bad."

His boyish face turned stern. "What else?"

She sighed and held out her hands, still roughly
bandaged. "Just some skin scraped off. They aren't serious or anything
either." His jaw clenched and she let out a deep breath. He was going be
worse than her brothers. "Prince is way worse off. He kept me from hitting
the rocks. His back is cut up really bad."

Kei looked over at Avery who gave him a shrug in
response. She poked a finger gently at his ribs, getting his attention again,
and put her hands on her hips. "You aren't fine either, are you?"

A half smile played across his lips. "A few
broken ribs." He ruffled her hair. "Don't worry, Aro. I heal really
fast."

"Hmph. What took you so long?"

Kei looked off to the side, his brows drawing down.

"Kei?"

"When he goes into the fury," Avery said quietly.
"Sometimes it takes him a while to calm down again."

"Oh." The fury. When a Fey's eyes turned red
and they went wild, and got stronger. That explained how he got out of the
ship.

"Chains?"

She stared at him in confusion until she figured out
he meant hers were gone. The way he talked would certainly take some getting
used to. He'd been right when he'd told her he wasn't good with people. Since
the wreck he seemed to have gotten even worse. Had he cracked his head on the
ship?

He cocked his head to the side, waiting for an answer.

"Oh, I picked the locks," she said quickly,
her hand going to her pocket for her makeshift tools. Then she remembered she
hadn't put them back last night and cursed under her breath. "I can do
yours, but my stuff is back at the cave."

He nodded, smiling slightly. "You come across
anyone else?"

"You're the last one," Avery answered. He
glanced at her. "Kendric didn't make it. But everyone else is here."

Kei sucked in a shocked breath and whirled back to
face her. "Aro..."

She didn't look at him, couldn't. She didn't want to
think about Kendric. Not when she had just been so happy to discover Kei alive.

"Aro," he persisted, reaching out a hand to
her.

She stepped away and clenched her teeth a moment. "I'm
fine. Don't worry about it." She kept her eyes to the sea, not wanting to
see the look on his face. She hated pity.

She stared at the dark spot on the horizon for a few
moments before her mind recognized what she saw. "Wither me," she
choked out.

She pointed and the boys turned to look at the ship
off in the distance.

"We need to move," Avery said, his voice
firm but quiet.

She cursed and shot him an annoyed look. As if she
didn't know that. She wasn't a total fool. She followed the boys with a
grimace, glancing back to sea again and again as they made their way to the
others.

She was getting tired of having bad days.

Chapter 13

Into the Deep Dark
Woods

The men conversed quickly in quiet whisperings after
their return and Avery told them about the ship. Kei was greeted warmly by Bo
and Cain, stared at by the two new men, and glared at by Prince. As far as she
was concerned, everything had returned to normal.

She removed Kei's chains while the others talked,
sneaking glances at him while she did. She caught him a number of times
watching Prince, a thoughtful look on his face.

Eventually curiosity got the best of her. "What
are you thinking?"

"What?" He looked back at her and blinked in
confusion.

She smirked and jerked her head in Prince's direction.

"Ah. Hmm. Yes."

She raised her eyebrows. "Is that so?"

His face screwed up in frustration. "Sorry.
I'm...not used to talking."

She rested a hand on his and squeezed lightly. "It's
fine. Just think about what you want to say first. I don't mind." She
smiled again to encourage him.

He let out a deep breath of air and sat a moment. "Well,
I was surprised he took care of you. I honestly didn't know if he would."

She sighed. "He did. And he did a very good job
of it. Truly, he's not so bad. I wish everyone could see that."

"He's..." Kei saw her face and stopped,
shaking his head. "I just don't think we'll ever get along. We're too
different."

"We need to all work together," she insisted
quietly. "Will you try? Just try not to fight at least? You don't have to
be friends."

He watched her for a moment before nodding. He
motioned to the two new men. "Am I supposed to do the same with them? I
don't like them."

She raised her eyebrows and her mouth twisted into a
wry smile at his blunt words. "I don't think any of us do. But they
haven't done anything. So..."

Kei sighed. "Try to get along."

"Exactly."

By the time she got the last of his chains off it had
started to get dark. The men continued with their quiet conversation. What
could they possibly be discussing so earnestly? She could have listened in, but
it wasn't like she could help. She sat beside Kei off to the side, partly
hidden by flickering shadows from their very small fire. She grimaced as she
stared at it, they didn't want to risk being seen. At least the cave hid enough
they could have a small one. Still, it was going to be cold. Just thinking
about it made her shiver.

Kei shifted slightly, moving closer to her. She smiled
over at him but didn't say anything.

Avery came over to join them a short while later. "Are
you cold, Aro?"

She nodded slightly. "Just a little."

He frowned. "We'll be able to have a bigger fire
tomorrow night."

"We're moving then?"

He nodded. "First thing in the morning. We're
taking watches tonight, just in case. Tomorrow we'll follow the stream into the
woods a goodly way and set up another camp."

"We aren't going to keep moving?"

"We haven't come to any decision on that yet. The
sea provides a good amount of food. We won't be so lucky in the woods. Water
will be a problem, too. We've nothing to carry extra in. Cain is going to try
to make up some water skins from some of the leather we salvaged. We'll see if
that works." He smiled at her. "Don't worry. We'll get it all sorted
out."

She bit her lip and nodded, wishing silently that
they'd stop treating her like a child.

Avery turned to Kei. "You have the last watch. I'll
be getting you up."

Kei nodded.

Avery looked back and forth between them a few times,
his head cocked slightly to the side as if trying to figure something out. Had
he found out that she was actually a girl? He didn't say anything however, just
gave a brief smile. "Get some sleep, you two. We've a busy day tomorrow."

As she settled herself next to the fire she noticed
Prince watching her and guilt stabbed her heart, forcing her to look away.
After everything he had done, she had abandoned him without a second thought
when Kei had returned. Yet there he sat, not even with his customary frown, but
just simply watching her quietly.