Chapter 23 #2
He had a flashback of yesterday when something similar had occurred.
Rue had punched him then.
He hadn’t brought it up because he’d figured the message had been delivered, that he had no intentions of leaving Ryker behind, even if it meant possibly saving himself. Now, he realized he shouldn’t have placed so much faith in Bowie. Not when it meant risking something like this.
A desperate sound escaped past his lips.
His best friend tore open one of the side doors they’d explored earlier and pushed Rue inside, entering after him. The smell of decaying flesh and blood gusted toward them, a growl near enough now that the hairs on the back of Rue’s neck stood on end.
The last thing he saw was Ryker trying to make it to the door, then his eyes snapping in the direction they’d just come. The gun was lifted and he let off a round, and then Bowie slammed the door shut, separating them.
Again.
“What the fuck?!” Rue tried to shove him away, but Bowie deftly did the lock and then pushed him back. “What the hell are you doing?!”
“There wasn’t any time,” Bowie said.
“Liar!” There’d been plenty of time for them all to make it.
“Do you think that creature wouldn’t be able to break down a flimsy door like this?” Bowie snapped and Rue felt like he’d been doused in ice water.
“You left him out there to be bait?” He swung, clipping the side of Bowie’s chin.
The impact moved him a foot away from the door, and Rue reached for the handle.
Outside, the gunshots had stopped, but he could hear the creature still moving, no doubt giving chase.
If he could sneak up behind it, maybe he’d give Ryker enough time to get away. Maybe—
Bowie’s arm wrapped around his neck, suddenly catching him in a choke hold. It brought them both down to the ground, but he didn’t let up, pressing even harder, effectively cutting off Rue’s air supply.
“I’m sorry.” Bowie didn’t sound very sorry. “But I didn’t go through all of this just to lose you this close to the finish line.”
Rue wanted to demand what he meant by that, wanted to beg him to stop so he could go save Ryker, but then the room spun.
“I’m sorry,” Bowie whispered again as Rue lost consciousness.
* * *
His throat burned.
Rue came to hacking, shifting onto his hands and knees, one palm pressed against his neck. There were tears in his eyes and when he lifted his head, a death stare was already prepared.
Bowie was sitting in a dusty corner, legs drawn up, head down, as if he knew he’d fucked up and that would somehow make it okay.
It didn’t.
Rue didn’t bother wasting words. He shot to his feet and rushed the door, ignoring Bowie’s calls. As soon as he got it open, he froze, the pool of blood just outside causing his chest to constrict painfully.
“Ryker?!” He didn’t care about drawing attention or attracting the creature if it was still out there. All he wanted was to see the Black Hart. His feet pounded down the hall loudly, heart thumping wildly as he searched and ran at the same time.
There was no one in the main room when he glanced inside, so he kept going, making it to the stairs that led back into the lodge and taking them two at a time. He barely processed that Bowie was with him. The two of them would have to deal with what he’d just done later, but Ryker—
Ryker had to be okay.
If he wasn’t.
If the creature had gotten him.
If Bowie was the reason—
The kitchen was empty when Rue burst into it, and there was no one in the dining hall either.
But there was a dead creature that hadn’t been there before.
The same one with only bone where the face should have been.
Rue’s breath hitched and a pathetic sound escaped him. There was more blood, but it was impossible to tell if it was from the creature and Ryker, or just the first.
He kept moving.
And found the Black Hart in the lobby.
Ryker was standing there, slightly out of breath, brow pinched.
Crimson dripped down his right arm, the wound he’d gotten from Hollis having bled through the bandage.
There were two deep claw marks across his left thigh, and he was favoring his other leg, but otherwise he appeared uninjured and intact.
“Ryk—”
“Don’t,” the Black Hart stopped him when he took a step closer. At Rue’s confusion, he lifted his bleeding arm, showing the tiny clear patch pinched between his pointer and thumb.
Rue’s eyes widened. “How—”
“I don’t know,” he interrupted. “I just found it. We still don’t know how long the effects take. I could be dangerous. Keep your distance.”
“You would never hurt me,” Rue argued, only for Ryker to grunt derisively at him.
“Fucking you in your sleep and shoving you out of the way in the halls at school isn’t causing harm?”
“What?” Bowie was there, a few paces behind Rue, of course arriving just in time to overhear that lovely comment. “You’re disgusting!”
“Shut up,” Rue growled. He would have felt guilty when the pained expression flashed across his best friend’s face, but he was still too angry over the fact he’d left Ryker behind and put him in danger.
“He’s—” Bowie pointed at Ryker, but Rue wasn’t finished.
“He’s my boyfriend,” he stated. “And you left him for dead.”
“Don’t hold it against him,” Ryker shocked them both by saying.
He grinned, but was also still slightly out of breath and covered in a sheen a sweat.
He didn’t look well, despite his caviler attitude.
“He was just keeping you safe. Look at you, little brother, collecting us heartless bastards like we’re trading cards. ”
“That isn’t funny.” But it did the trick and eased some of the tension. “At least sit down before you fall over.”
“I’m fine,” Ryker reassured. “It’s getting better.”
“What is?”
“The pain.” He motioned to the claw marks. “I haven’t felt anything from the drug yet.”
“Aren’t you angry, like, all the time?” Bowie remarked, clearly not willing to be as forgiving as Ryker was toward him.
The Black Hart chuckled, not denying it.
“That’s right,” Rue latched onto it. “There’s no way a drug could make you any angrier at me than you’ve been these past three years. Yet you never did anything to really hurt me. You won’t hurt me now. If you were drugged, we’ll—”
A crash came from the lounge and Ryker spun, gun raised.
“Help!” a man’s voice called a second before someone banged against the locked sliding doors. “Help!”
Bowie shot over there and undid the bolt, ignoring both Ryker and Rue who called out to him to stop. No sooner had he gotten the bottom one pulled up, then the doors burst open.
Rhys spilled out, practically stumbling into Bowie in the process.
There was dirt smeared across his cheek and his hair was in disarray for the first time since Rue had known him.
Over his shoulder, Vance could be seen scrambling between the couches, narrowly escaping a creature with a single antler.
The last one. If they could kill it, that would leave only the normal bears to contend with, who, with any luck, were already wandering off now that the fog was dissipating.
Rhys regained his footing, caught Ryker’s eye, and without pausing, turned and shut the door in Vance’s face.
“Rhys! Rhys, you bastard!” Vance pounded on the wood and fought to pull it back open, but Rhys was stronger and held it firmly closed. “You—”
Screams came from the other side of the door, not lasting very long.
As soon as the wet sounds of flesh being chewed could be heard, Rhys bolted away, grabbing onto one of the benches and pulling it forward to block the lounge. Then he straightened and set his hands on his hips, seemingly composing himself, before finally turning to face them.
“Get your mother,” he said to Rue. “We are leaving.”