Broken Aro (The Broken Ones) by Jen Wylie Page B

shore and kick."
    She took a deep breath. That didn't seem hard. They
made it sound so easy.
    The ship lurched and seemed to swing suddenly before
hitting something with a deafening crack. Before the movement could knock her
off her feet, Kei sprang forward and pushed her backward so hard she crashed
into Prince and sent him down as well.
    She came up out of the water sputtering. Blinking
water out of her eyes, she choked. A beam had broken loose collapsed where she
had been standing.
    It pinned Kei to the side of the cell.
    "Kei!" She floundered in the water trying to
get to him. Blood ran from his mouth. His eyes were squeezed closed and teeth
clenched tightly in pain. His hands clawed frantically at the beam across his
chest. The sight tore her breath away. No! This couldn't be happening.
    The men reached him first, their curses loud enough to
be heard over the continued screams of the other captives.
    "Hold on, we should be able to move it,"
Kendric said quickly.
    Kei shook his head. "No. Get out."
    She didn't understand, but the others looked up
suddenly and she followed suit. The beam angled up toward a new hole in the
cell's ceiling.
    "Kei," Avery groaned.
    The Fey shook his head violently. "The waters
coming in too fast," he said, speaking so quickly his words tumbled into
each other. "You'll not get me out in time, and I…I won't be able to open
the door now." He grimaced again. "Go!"
    Kendric stared at him a moment before he rested his
hand gently on the Fey's head. He blinked and scowled suddenly. "Let's go
then."
    She stood in shock as Cain and Bo both hopped up on
the beam and began scurrying up. "Wait…no…" She couldn't breathe,
couldn't move. They were going to leave him?
    Avery took Kei's hand. "Kei, look at me. You get
out of here, you hear me?" His voice cracked. "I'll see you on the
beach. Agreed?"
    "On the beach," Kei repeated quietly.
    Avery squeezed his hand. "I'll be waiting.
Understand?"
    A faint, bloody smile crossed the Fey's lips and he
winced. "Go already."
    Avery paused a moment but Kendric reached out a hand
to help him up onto the beam. Once the young solider had scrambled up, her
brother's friend looked at her and held out his hand. "Let's go, Aro."
    She stared up at him a moment while she tried to get
her mind to work. Ignoring him, she flung herself at Kei, wrapping her arms
around his head and burying her face in his wet hair.
    "Go. I'll make sure she comes." She
recognized Prince's voice. Why was he still down here? He would hate her for
certain now, because she wasn't going...and she really didn't care.
    "Aro…"
    She blinked back tears and leaned back to look at Kei.
"I'll stay with you. I won't leave you. I'll get you out."
    He smiled so very softly it nearly broke her heart. He
took her face in his trembling hands, forcing her to look at him. She looked
into his eyes and saw they had lit with that strange inner light again, though
this time they glowed more of an orange than a yellow. Did the change in
color mean anything? Was he dying?
    "You have to go. I'll try to get out. I promise.
I'll come and find you."
    "Kei…" She choked through her tears as she
frantically shook her head.
    He looked over her shoulder and suddenly reached out.
She turned to see he'd grasped Prince's arm and they were staring at each other
intently. Men. Still fighting .
    "I'll take care of her," Prince said after a
moment, shaking the Fey's hand off.
    She glared at him before turning back to Kei.
    "Go, Aro," he said quietly, his voice
cracking in pain.
    "No."
    He closed his eyes in frustration. "You promised
you'd listen to me."
    She clenched her teeth as tears streaked down her
face. "I…I can't leave you like this," she whispered, leaning forward
to press her cheek against his.
    A faint sad smile crossed his lips as he gently pushed
her back. His fingers brushed her cheek. His eyes were wet, too. He held her
gaze a moment and then looked over her shoulder and nodded.
    Prince grabbed her waist from