The Acceptance (The GEOs Book 1) by Ramona Finn

Author:Ramona Finn [Finn, Ramona]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-06-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

My body froze, betraying me as the four got to work skinning the creature. The act was barbaric—one that my stomach couldn’t handle. I bent over, my hands on my knees, and dry heaved.

One of the Rejs, the one who had been giving commands as they butchered the animal, approached me. He was taller than the other three and dressed in clothing made from the hair and hide of a beast similar to the one that had attacked me. Their faces were covered from the eyes down in white muslin cloth.

My brain screamed at me to run, but scanning the landscape, I realized that I had nowhere viable to go. Even if I chose a direction randomly, he was close enough to close the distance before I’d made it out of spear range. Whether he caught me or not, I’d be dead.

My eyes jumped over the beast’s body, focusing on the spear sticking out of its ribcage. They’d outrun me, or worse.

Every muscle in my body tensed as the Rej took my wrist in his hand. His broad shoulders and strong arms told me he was probably male, though his face and head were hidden by the soft-looking fabric. He turned my arm, tracing his fingers around the wound where I’d been caught by the beast’s horns. Perhaps he was appraising my hide. Did they wear people skin, too? My mind branched out into several worst-case scenarios. Rejs were one of the most dangerous things one could encounter in the Above. Even Wallace had warned me to stay away from them.

They were outcasts, breaking all of society’s rules and following no man’s law. They ravaged the upper Geos, stealing medicines and food. There were even rumors that they were the reason nobody had survived the Acceptance in the past fifteen competitions.

The Rej moved back toward his companions and called out instructions in words I didn’t understand. They tossed him a pack and he returned, motioning for me to sit.

I thought about running again, double-checking my options, but when I shifted my weight, my leg buckled and I nearly fell to the ground.

The Rej caught me by my uninjured arm and lowered me to the ground gently. He reached into his pack and pulled out a gauze cloth and a small wooden bowl with a lid, along with a flask. He poured the contents of the flask over the wound on my arm and I threw my head back, suppressing a scream as a burning sensation spread up my limb.

The Rej nodded. “It burns, but it’s good,” his deep voice said in a soothing tone “The burn kills the infection. The pain will stop in a minute.” I tried not to flinch as he tended to it. At least it can get by without sutures. I cringed at the thought of trying to sew myself up out here in the middle of nowhere. He opened the wooden bowl, scooping an ample amount of a green salve onto the gauze before wrapping it around my wound.

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