Bonded (The Olympus Brotherhood #2)

White Lie

Leo?

I pulled back the webbing with worry and a sickening fear, "Leo!"

His entire body was covered in the acid like liquid eating away skin. His body twitched in seizure-like movements. I could see the white of his bone in some place. I reached inside of the pod to get him out not caring about any of the consequences.

"Don't touch him!" Anya yelled. I ignored her, "He's already been infected with her venom!"

"So? Help me get it off him." I wasn't going to leave him. I didn't care if I had to carry Leo out of this hellhole on my back, I wasn't going anywhere without him. There was nothing I could do for Leo at a hundred and fifty feet up. I still had to find the others before our man-eating friend returned. "Anya, clean him up. I'm sending him down."

"He's already dead- "

"DO IT OR WE'LL LEAVE YOU HERE TO ROT!" I snapped. I cut Leo down watching his cocoon fall. We were running out of time and a tough decision needed to be made. There was no way we could save every single person in the pods. At the rate we were going, I wasn't even sure if we would be able to make it to Freya in time.

Leo was right. I jumped headfirst into the situation and now my brothers would pay for it. And Freya... I wasn't sure what had happened or was happening to her.

All I knew was we needed to get out of here. Now. "Alaric!"

"What?!" He yelled.

"Only focus on the newer looking cocoons," I said making my way across the ceiling, passed the lines of other men who had the misfortune of falling into this spider's web.

"But what about- "

"Just listen to me for once. We don't have time to save every single person here. We're only looking for Daniel, Milo, and Anson! We're running out of time and that could spell death for us." I felt cowardly for saying that, but it was the truth. A harsh reality.

If anyone died down here, I would never forgive myself. I ran blindly into a dangerous situation and I dragged my brothers with me. Now they may pay for that faith with their lives.

I found Anson and Alaric got Daniel and Milo. Once we found everyone, we made a way to the side wall and slowly started to shimmy our way down to the ground. None of them look good. Whatever this bitch injected them with was killing them. Anya had laid out our team in a straight line and got the poisonous venom off their faces as best as she could.

"What happened to the other people we got-"

She shook her head no, with sad black almond-shaped eyes, "The venom's already eaten away at them."

"Water?" I asked looking down at Milo to see he was in no better shape than Leo.

"I only have a finite amount, and I just used it all." Gods!

"How are we carrying them out? You take two, I take two?" Alaric said walking past me bending down to pick up Leo only to have his hand burned in the process, "Son of a bitch!"

"So, carrying them covered in this venom is a no-go." I looked over to Anya, "How did you pull them out of the pods without..." my question died as she showed me her pale hands bloody raw with singe marks. I looked into her eyes staring back at mine, not unblinking but slowed; yet the effect is soft and inviting instead of harsh. Perhaps it is her lips that give away her intention, not quite smiling but tilting as if they mean to. "Thank you."

She did the best she could. Anya didn't complain even though I know her hands had to be killing her. "Just get me out of here," she said dropping her hands.