Stefan Granger rushed to the edge of the railing as his brother fell and then watched as Derrick and Corin struggled. He pulled his pistol and took aim at his brother, but he stopped himself from squeezing the trigger. First, because he hadn’t really intended to kill his brother, although he supposed that ship had already sailed. Second, he stayed his hand because they were outside and the sound of a gunshot coming from a condemned property could draw a lot of unwanted attention. He cursed himself for removing the suppressor for cleaning.
In the end, he decided that saving Corin and Tia wasn’t worth taking the risk. Derrick was dying, drowning in his own blood. If his brother took one or both of the ladies with him, then so be it.
But Granger watched with fascination as Corin—the girl who refused to die—staved off all of his brother’s attacks and returned them with a feral ferocity. She was a virile and tenacious specimen. He hoped to get to know her better on a personal level once they reached the Island, if she survived this encounter.
Those hopes were dashed when the cinder blocks went over the edge. And then again when Tia soon followed.
His brother’s pointless struggling for life didn’t surprise him. The older Gladstone had always displayed a stubbornness of thought and action.
But Corin’s desire to survive was nothing short of awe inspiring. Even in the face of what was certainly overwhelming pain, she tried to cut through her chains. And then, upon failing, she spat words of contempt and chopped off her own appendage, dropping the spinning blade down with force and allowing gravity to do the rest.
Derrick Gladstone’s life ended with a wheezing gurgle and a splash. Granger felt it a fitting end for his piece-of-shit brother. He imagined Derrick being dragged to the depths, just like his father before him.
And then he turned his attention to Corin, who had passed out and was sliding toward the edge of the waterfall.
Without another thought, Granger leaped over the railing and clamped one hand onto a nozzle and the other onto Corin. He heaved the small woman up and over the railing, dropping her beside Sonnequa.
Then he climbed out of the waterfall and examined the bloody stump where Corin’s foot had once been. He wrapped a tourniquet around her shin using his left-push dagger and a piece of her dress. Then, turning to Sonnequa, he said, “Go down where I keep the tools and bring back a hand torch. We need to cauterize her wound to keep her from bleeding out.”