Search and Rescue

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Arei's head hit hard against the tin walls of the empty loading dock. He lifted his fist and hit the wall several times, each time echoing loudly around the small group.

Jos gave April's trembling shoulder a reassuring squeeze. She sent Russo a nod as she stepped past her toward the angry giant of a man. She waited as Russo guided the frightened girl out before closing the distance between her and Arei. She gently stroked his back. "We are nowhere near through… there are still several other locations…" His head turned to face her, still leaning against the cool metal. The irritation written across his handsome face caused her to rethink her words. She stroked his soft beard. "We'll find them…"

Arei pushed away from the flimsy wall. He ran his hand through his hair with an exasperated huff of displeasure. "It's taking too long. Each day we waste could very well be a life lost." He narrowed his eyes toward the makeshift door. "And those two are only slowing us down."

Jos nodded as she wrapped her arms around his chest and pressed her head to his chest. "I know, but we'll need them once we do find the traffickers."

Arei blew out the last of his frustrations as he gently ran a hand over her hair. "I know… I'm sorry for losing my composure just now, kitten… it's just…"

Jos nodded as she pressed her fingertips against his lips. "I know…" She lifted onto tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips. "We can do this. Chery and Scylla are out searching as well."

Arei smiled, sadness still lingering around the corners of his lips. "You're right. Maybe it would be best to go ahead and meet up with them for now."

Jos forced a smile back as she released her hold on him and stepped back, taking his hand instead. "Then let's not waste any time."

April's worried eyes moved between Jos and Arei as they emerged from the flimsy building. The two of them interacted with one another in a way that only people who'd been together for many, many years could. Her brows furrowed. She didn't know the whole story, but she was sure they hadn't been together all that long. She stammered across her words as she asked. "What now?"

"We are going to meet up with Chery and Scylla to see if they had any better luck… or at least some better leads…" Jos gave Arei's hand a light squeeze as she sent him a smile. He was already on the phone.

Arei hung up the phone as he stepped onto the boat last. "Chery and Scylla slit up earlier, but Chery is fine with meeting. We have to go to her though while she waits for Scylla to return. We'll meet them at Lorenzo Quinn's Building Bridges. It's on the other side of the island." He typed the location into the boat's GPS system, and within a few minutes the run-down docks were vanishing behind them.

Jos and April both stared in stunned intrigue. "Well… that's… different…" Jos muttered as she stared up at the massive sets of hands linked over a central canal as they passed by. April nodded in agreement, her mouth open in awe.

Chery met them at the slip as they pulled in. "Took you long enough." She shouted to Arei as he helped Jos out.

He chuckled as he sent her a wave. "Not all my passengers can handle Bertha's speed, and with everything going on, I didn't have another day to spend cleaning out wolf vomit…" He sent April an accusing glare.

April's eyes widened. "I was doing great until he threw up first!" She pointed an accusing finger at Russo who had already become green around the gills.

Arei shook his head. "I hold fast to the belief things would go much faster if the two of you stay at the hotel until we find a useful lead…" Just as April's pouty lips began to tremble, he added. "You're here aren't you?"

Jos slapped his arm before holding her hand out for April. "Yes, she is. So, be nice."

Chery busted out laughing. "Pussy whipped much?"

He glared at her. "Look who's talking. Jokes aside, have you found anything?"

Chery's smile fell. "No… not a thing. I figured as secluded as part of this island is it would have been a sure shot… but no… not a single thing." She led them to a small café set up for tourists. Grabbing a stack of tourist pamphlets and a menu she made her way over to a corner table. She flipped one over and pointed to a small map on the back. "Scylla is checking out some of the smaller islands north of here though she really wants us all to go back to this one port on the mainland. She said it's made up of huge factories. It's the complete opposite of what we've been investigating so far, so it may be worth a shot." She slid her phone across the table to him.

Arei searched the images she had pulled up in her browser. "It would be highly populated both day and night. It would be hard to move about unseen." He dismissed the location as he slid her phone back toward her.

Chery stopped his hand. "Or would it be too heavily populated for anyone to notice extra movement?" Her gaze moved to Russo. "Do you know if the DeMarco's own any of these factories?"

Russo studied the map for a moment before shrugging. "They own much of the land in these parts, I would think the family would have a certain level of authority among the businesses."

Chery's eyes narrowed. "Do you think you could get us into one of them?"

Russo seemed a bit caught off guard. "I…"

April spoke up. "Drake would know… would be able to… right?" She swallowed hard as she pulled her phone out of her back pocket with one hand and reached across the table for Chery's phone with the other. "I'll call him now."

Jos sent Arei a smirk. "See, super handy."

He huffed out a grunt. "Not as handy as Ry would be. We wouldn't be searching aimlessly if he were here."

***

Ry through his phone across the dark beach. He glared up at the shrouded sky cursing the gods as he did.

"It will do us no good if you lose the thing." Artemis fussed as she stomped over to retrieve it.

Ry flung his arms up toward the heavens. "What good is the damn thing if we can't get enough sunlight to charge it!" He stomped over to her and snatched it away. "It's been a fucking week, Artie!"

Artemis's gaze moved down to a red stain spreading across his dirty white shirt. "You're bleeding again…"

Ry's attention moved to the ache in his side. His lips curled over his teeth in a snarl. "Damn monsters… Someone needs to have open season on this island." He tossed the phone back to the sand and tugged his shirt over his head to get a better look at the gash left by a herd of beasts they'd run into on the other side of the island.

Artemis cleared her throat and glanced away, her cheeks reddening.

Ry watched her through veiled lashes as he fumbled with his wounds. He struggled to suppress a smirk as he muttered. "You know, it would go a lot faster and probably heal better if you'd give me a hand."

She risked a glance at his bare chest and low-riding pants. She cleared her throat as she averted her gaze again. "Can't you just step into the waters and heal it like the others?"

He grunted as he squeezed the jagged edges together causing more blood to seep out. "Nope… It took us too long to get away and find water."

Her eyes moved back to him like a magnet. "Couldn't you simply get into the water now seeing as it has been reinjured?"

He shook his head. "Not unless you're willing to cut it open more with a blade."

Her brows shot up. "Would it heal then?"

He arched a brow. "Yeah… I'm not letting you stab me in the gut…" He nodded toward the shack. "There's a first aid kit in my bag. Clean it out and pop in a few stitches, and it will be as good as healed."

"No… it will be a shotty treatment in a run-down shack. You'll probably get more infection in there." She muttered.

He bent to retrieve his phone with a grunt of pain. He made his way to the shack and paused, clutching his side. "Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Are you going to let me bleed out on this gods forsaken beach or are you going to help me out?"

She swallowed hard. She'd been doing her absolute best not to get too close over the past week as painful memories warred with some of the better ones. All the regret and longing she'd felt since kicking him out of her life were coming back in painful waves, but she couldn't… wouldn't let him know.

Ry shrugged as he turned. "Bleed out it is. Just promise me you'll leave a marker on the door. Here lies my ex whom I never loved enough." He murmured as he walked inside.

She stormed forward. "I had my reasons and you know it!"

His lips twisted in a satisfied smirk as he paused and braced himself for the impact. "Sure you did… We all have our priorities after all." Fists slammed into his back.

"That's not fair! I had Father honor our love in the stars for crying out loud!" Angry tears threatened to fall. "Your safety was my priority."

He shrugged still not facing her. "Guess that's also changed and seized to be."

Her hands fell to her sides as her forehead rested against the center of his back, exhaustion taking over. "I'm here aren't I?" She muttered.

"You are…" He turned around slowly clasping her hands as they raised to push him away as he'd predicted. "But why?" He searched her eyes. "Why did you come, Artie? Now we're both stuck here… and will likely die here."

She shook her head. "We will not. How could you think that, how could you give up so easily."

He sent her a sad smile. "Look at the sky. Nyx's veil has shrouded this island for over a week. Monsters roam in droves on land and by water. We have no way of contacting the outside world and-"

Her eyes widened. "Your father! How did you contact each other before modern technology."

Ry shrugged. "Usually he would teleport to where we were. If we really needed him in a pinch we would send dolphins or use a special shell… but none of us… except maybe Triton, still has the shells." He pointed to the waters. "And those monsters in there would rip a dolphin to shreds before it could even reach the island."

"What about Jos?"

"There would have to be a boat to activate her curse… and trust me, you don't want to try going up against her Kraken form. She has no control over it whatsoever."

She rubbed her chin. "Hermes? He's bound to still deliver messages and supplies to Calypso and the other women."

Ry nodded. "Possibly but who knows how often." He arched a brow as he slid one of her hands down his torso. "Have you forgotten already? Or are you just going to ignore it… let me deal with it on my own."

Her cheeks were hot. The only thing she could focus on was the heat of his velvety skin over the hard muscle underneath until her fingers were dragged through a gooey substance. She quickly jerked her hand back finding blood coating her fingers. Her eyes widened as they moved to the gash on his side. "Oh! Yes!"

She cleared her throat once more. "I… I will do my best with what we have, but there isn't much… and there's still no guarantee stitching it up won't make it worse…"

He caught her hand and held her gaze. "It will be fine. I'll take a dip in the waters once the bleeding is slowed. I don't want to risk going out with a gaping, bleeding wound and attracting more creatures."

She nodded in understanding. She settled beside him with the first aid kit and retrieved a bottle of alcohol. She uncapped it with trembling hands before poring the clear liquid onto his wound.

Ry growled as he slapped the ground hard. "Fuck, that stings." Just as he was about the give the ground another slap, he paused. "Wait… that's it…"

She furrowed her brows. "I'm no doctor, but I'm sure one little stream of this stuff isn't enough to disinfect a wound like that."

He shook his head, his focus on the ground. "No, not the first aid… the ground… a way to contact one of the gods so we can get the hell out of here!"