Page 205 of Stormbreaker

“On the other side of the rocks,” he assures me. “It’s there.”

“Will I ever see it again?”

He says nothing for a moment and then finally answers, “Probably not.”

It might be the most honest thing he’s said to me in a while.

“Are you okay?” I ask, leaning over him. “You’re bleeding too much. What do we do? You need help.”

“I’m . . . fine,” he says. “I just need a minute.”

“You’re not fine!” I shout. “Did you pack a first aid kit?”

I open the closest bag and start rummaging around inside it.

“Front pocket,” Rook says, and I dig around for it.

I snap it open and find a needle and thread.

Then I stare at Rook.

“Do you have any idea what you’re doing with that?” he asks.

“No,” I say primly. “But you fixed my bear, and now I’m fixing you.”

“Skies, I’m fucked,” he groans.

Then I crawl over and settle on my knees. I pull up his shirt, revealing his soaked bandages. Using a small pair of scissors from the kit, I cut them away to reveal a long gash up his side.

“That asshole,” I say, speaking about Knox. “Shit. I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead.”

“Nah, I’m sure he’s fine. He’s like a cockroach,” Rook says.

I can’t help the snort that bursts out of me. “That’s terrible.”

“But you laughed.”

I shake my head and use some wipes from the kit to clean his wound. He lies still, and this must hurt like hell, yet he doesn’t complain.

“Tell me something about yourself,” I say. “Something no one knows.”

“What?”

“You promised you’re exactly who you said you were. So tell me something, Rook, if that’s even your real name.”

He winces as I finish cleaning the wound, his lips pressing together as he groans.

I shake my head, then unwind the thread and feed it through the needle.

“Sterilize it,” Rook says. “Whiskey.”

I fish out the tiny bottle from the kit and dip the needle in.

“Drink the rest,” I order. “For the pain.”

He offers me a skeptical look, but he lets me tip it into his mouth.

Then I inhale a deep breath and study the gash. It’s a few inches long, and it’s still lightly bleeding.