Puppet {ManxMan}

CHAPTER 26

Carina Ledger was not as sweet as he looked. I admit he was cute, his pale blond hair, light skin, and soft brown eyes were appealing and I would guess at first glance that he was a kind and gentle guy, like Arthur was. Not so much. Really the fact he shot four men to death should've been a key pointer that he wasn't all there, but his looks distracted me. Carina was kind of an asshole.

He wouldn't look at any of us, and he hardly acknowledged Cass, who seemed to be trying desperately to have a conversation with him. It was pretty pathetic to watch, he almost reminded me of Rhett, who was currently still trying out his horrible pickup lines. That was straight up inconsiderate considering Dakota was half lucid from pain.

I stopped walking in order to shove Rhett aside and pull Dakota's arm around my neck, glaring at the useless gunman and pulling Dakota along myself. The poor kid was slumping against me, limping, one hand clutching his bleeding side, lips sealed and eyes foggy from pain.

"Thanks," he murmured, and I nodded.

"Where are we going?" I asked Carina, walking a little faster to keep up with him, "Dakota needs medical attention."

"We're almost there," Carina said, and he sounded bored, "Make sure he's not leaving a trail of blood for people to follow us with."

"Excuse me?" my eyes narrowed, "You're worried about being followed when our friend was injured?"

Carina stopped and turned to face me, "It's your fault in the first place," he said to me, "You really expected to be able to walk around with that hair and not get noticed or warrant suspicion?"

Guilt crowded my throat, keeping me from replying, and Carina turned back around.

"Don't listen to him," Dakota mumbled, "I'm fine."

I swallowed the knot in my throat and followed behind Carina as Cass fell back to walk on Dakota's other side, "What's that guy's problem?" I asked, and Cass stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"He's had a hard life."

"All of us have had hard lives," I seethed, "That's no excuse," I glared over at Cass, "Have you slept with him for information too?"

Cass frowned, "No."

Again I was surprised at the reply. I expected him to just sheepishly smile and shrug, but instead he looked serious. I didn't like it when he had that expression, it usually meant something was wrong, so I tightened my grip on Dakota and zoned all my attention onto the back of Carina's head.

We walked for quite a while before we reached wherever Carina had dubbed safe enough to talk to us. Dakota was practically dragging his feet when we got there, his face was white and his eyes were like glass. I was worried I'd have to carry him into the warehouse, but he managed to stay on his feet.

Carina shut the door behind us and flicked a switch so the lights above flickered on, dim and glitching. I helped Dakota over to the first chair I saw and he slumped into it, hissing through his teeth and lifting his hand away from his side to glare at the blood.

"We need bandages and medicine," I said to Carina, who waved his hand out over the large interior of the warehouse.

"Take what you want then," he said.

There were shelves and shelves, aisle and aisles, stacked with medical supplies. It must have been city storage at one point, and there was so much I couldn't help wondering if people even knew it existed.

I pulled out the list Arthur had given me and slapped it against Rhett's chest, "Find all of this and fill your bag."

Rhett took the list and frowned, "But my bag is filled with bullets. Can't you do it?" he smiled, "I'll stay with Dakota."