Lunars of the Caribbean

Seeing Your Reflection (14)

"NO!" Scarlet shrieked. She was holding Wolf before he hit the ground, as several of the soldiers were. They let him down easy to prevent causing him more pain. Once he was laying on the deck, four of the soldier turned away – violence still prominent in their expressions – and they dragged Aimery away to deal with him however they liked.

No one cared enough to stop them.

"No, no no no no no," Scarlet muttered to herself. She took a bandanna off her head and pressed it to Wolf's wound. The precision of the bullet made the wound that much worse. Wolf's face was going ashen, he was unable to move. He choked on his own tongue.

But still managed to say to Scarlet, "Scar ... I- .. I want you to be free. You don't have to stay on the Lone Wolf. You won't need to. Not after this."

Tears welled up in Scarlet's eyes. "You can't talk like that, Wolf. You're going to be fine. You're going to make it and I'm going to stay on your damn ship with you for the rest of eternity and nothing is going to change that!" Cinder could see she was trying to assure herself of the same thing she was telling Wolf. She needed him to be alright, to survive this.

It broke her heart to know that no one she ever knew survived a shot to the heart. No one said it, while all of them knew Wolf's chances were one in a million of making it.

Scarlet gripped Wolf's hand, crying, "You're going to make it, Ze'ev. Just hang on and we'll do the rest."

Cinder had no way of crying, but that couldn't stop her from wanting to. Hearing Thorne's door slam behind him enhanced her negative emotions, fueling her rage. She stormed after him, not caring that he might be hoping for some privacy at the moment.

Throwing the door open, she found Thorne throwing things around his room, as thought in search for something. "What are you doing?" she snarled. "Wolf is dying and you're looking for one of your treasures? What the heck is wrong with you!"

Ignoring her, Thorne continued to toss items over his shoulder until he found a flask of clear liquid. He gripped it tightly, and whispered something under his breath to the flask. He sucked in a sharp breath, then sprinted out of the room a light speed. Cinder followed suit and watched Thorne push and fight through the crowd to get to Wolf.

Cinder was close behind and saw Scarlet in tears, desperately clinging to the idea that Wolf would make it through this. No one knew what Thorne was doing, yet no one dared to stop him.

Wolf's eyes were shut, his body lifeless. He was on the verge of death ... when Thorne poured the contents of the flask down Wolf's throat. The waves stilled, the crew was silent, not one sound echoed through the world as they waited for any sign that Wolf could be alive.

Moments turned to minutes since Wolf shut his eyes, and it appeared as though Thorne's final attempt to save Wolf's life had been too late.

Just before anyone could go on another murder spree, Wolf gasped for air and his eyes shot wide open. Cinder and the others watched in amazement as the flow of blood reversed and the wound closed itself. Wolf placed a tremoring hand over his chest, unable to feel any mark remaining from the gunshot. A faint smile grew on his lips.

Before he could try to stand, Scarlet threw her arms around Wolf's neck and kissed him fiercely. The crew and soldiers cheered in triumph, overjoyed that one of their two captains was alive and recovering from a fatal wound.

Cinder stopped Thorne from exiting without congratulations. "You did it," she smiled. "What was in that flask?"

A false smile concealed his gritting teeth. "Just some magic elixir. Something I found on one of my travels."