Chapter 24 #2
“But then we won’t be able to see what’s coming after today.” Aiden sounds frustrated. “I thought we’d be able to use it regularly to maybe survive this damned school.”
This place seems to be the hardest on him, and it’s hard on all of us.
“We snuck in once, we can do it again.” Wilder shrugs and heads down the hall.
“Always the optimist!” Van calls after him, but then he’s moving, just a beat behind. He makes fun of Wilder, but he’s always by his side anyway.
The two of them are the first ones in as the statue and the suit of armor to either side of the doors come to life. The figures clank, moving jerkily, and then suddenly they seem to move more smoothly.
For a second, we just stare in surprise at the suit of armor and the marble statue. Are they supposed to have come alive like that? Or should we be worried?
“Shit,” Van mutters, turning slowly to stare into the face of a suit of armor, just for a second, before it wraps metal arms around him and the two of them crash to the floor.
Oh, hell!
Wilder doesn’t hesitate, ducking under the arms of the marble statute that flies toward him, then kicking out at its chiseled torso.
He gets in a good kick that knocks the headless statue stumbling back.
The statue hits the ground and cracks, lying on the ground without moving.
I almost feel relieved, until I look at Wilder and see his mouth parted in pain as he grips his foot.
Oh yeah, kicking a marble statue…probably not the best idea.
Wilder scrambles to his feet, heading for his friend with a pronounced limp, and my gaze turns to Van. A minute before he seemed to be wrestling with the suit of armor, but instantly I realize things have changed.
Van’s in trouble!
His face is getting red. The metal arms of the animated being have wrapped around him in an iron-tight grip, tightening and tightening, as if they’re trying to squeeze his lungs until they pop.
Panic claws at my throat as my shock turns to true fear.
All of us rush to Van, trying to pry away the metal arms squeezing his chest. Please, please let us be fast enough.
Please don’t let him be hurt because of my stupid plan.
My fingers dig into the metal, trying to drag his death grip away from Van, but I can’t get him off.
Aiden suddenly pushes away. “Get away from him,” he says, drawing his sword.
“Are you sure you know how to use that thing?” Reid demands.
His hair is stuck to his forehead with his sweat from struggling to free Van.
Working together, the three of us keep coming close to peeling an impossibly-strong metal arm free, only to have the other clamp down even harder.
“You aren’t going to help if you stab Van. ”
But this isn’t working either!
“I’m not going to fuck this up,” Aiden says, and there’s an implication in his voice that will bother me later. Like he thinks he always fucks everything else up.
“Do...it…” Van manages through gritted teeth.
Reid and I yank back, even though it kills me inside to let the creature continue hurting Van. Wilder hesitates, looking between Van and Aiden, before finally jumping back too.
Without our grips, both steely arms go around Van.
The blank slit in the metal helmet seems to stare right into my eyes over Van’s shoulder, giving me a look both blank and malevolent, as his grip tightens.
Van gasps, his eyes bulging. There’s a faint cracking sound, and my chest aches.
His ribs are breaking! Moisture burns my eyes as my hands flex and unflex.
I’m a goddess, I should be able to stop this. Shouldn’t I?
Aiden prowls around the suit of armor quickly, his movements agile and smooth, his gaze calculated as he looks for a place to strike.
The suit of armor swivels, dragging Van along, keeping Van as a human shield.
My nerves tighten, but Aiden doesn’t look worried.
His gaze remains steady and focused, like he’s done this a million times before.
At last, Aiden jumps forward, impossibly fast, and slashes the sword across the suit of armor’s calf.
The suit stumbles forward, his grip on Van relaxing just slightly.
He almost immediately begins to recover, but the rest of us attack too, kicking and punching, hoping to hurt it in some way, until the suit is on the ground.
Aiden raises his sword above his head, then sweeps down across the suit’s neck.
The helmet rolls away, and the suit of armor suddenly stills, as if the magic that animated it has faded away.
Aiden bends down and picks up the helmet. But there’s nothing inside of it. So it was just magic making it attack. And yet, that only seems to infuriate Aiden further. He hurls the helmet down the hall, his jaw set and furious, and it rolls down the hall, the metal clanging into the silence.
Van sits with his back against the wall, trying to focus on breathing, one arm protectively braced against his ribs. I kneel, and he does his best to give me a wink.
“I’m fine,” he rasps.
It’s hard to talk around the lump in my throat. “You don’t look fine.” Then I glance at the others. “What do we do? There’s probably a nurse on campus, and we could lie about how he got hurt.”
Wilder slowly shakes his head. “I should be able to heal him.”
His tone isn’t exactly confidence-inspiring.
Wilder kneels next to me. His hands probes gently across Van’s chest, and Van gasps through gritted teeth. His head falls back against the wall, his face a mask of agony. An agony I wish like hell I could take away. Haven’t we been through enough at this school already?
Wilder winces at whatever he feels and draws back a little. “They’re worse than cracked. They’re broken through--I can feel the edges.”
“We should get him to a hospital.” Reid rakes his hands through his hair. “Aiden, give me your cell. We need to call 9-1-1.”
Aiden shakes his head slowly. “Wilder can heal him. We can go on with the mission.”
“We don’t have infinite time here,” Reid hisses at Aiden. As if his brother doesn’t understand, he tries to clarify. “His ribs could poke into his lungs. He could die if Wilder can’t…we can’t take the risk.”
“Wilder’s got it.” Aiden sounds confident.
My gaze flickers to Wilder’s face, which isn’t nearly as confident, but Wilder’s hands roam across Van’s chest now. Gold magic sparks under his fingertips, then seems to sputter out, and my breath catches in my chest.
“You just don’t want to face reality and maybe lose what you want,” Reid accuses him.
“I want to protect Van too,” Aiden says hotly. The twins look like they’re about to come to blows. “Just give Wilder two minutes. Christ. Have a little faith. We’ve seen how our powers can work, and his god’s powers should work the same.”
“He’s never used his magic before!”
“Right here, guys,” Wilder says. He glances up. “Maybe calling 9-1-1 isn’t a bad idea. But either way, you should take this argument somewhere else so I can focus.”
Aiden looks furious, but then he storms down the art gallery hallway.
“Don’t go in there!” Reid calls after him. “We don’t know what other traps could be waiting for us!”
But Aiden doesn’t listen.
“Go with him,” I tell Reid. “I’ll be right there as soon as we know…”
I glance at Wilder, but I don’t want to say it.
Reid looks exasperated, but he stomps off toward the gallery, following Aiden.
Slowly, my focus returns to Van, and my heart clenches. For some reason, I know, I know that if Noah can’t do this, no one else will be able to get here in time.
And the thought makes the world fade. He has to be able to heal him. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost Van.