Chapter 24
Momma always told him to be careful, but he liked the way the wheels sounded on the bricks of the well. He wasn’t going to fall in. He was going to build a ramp and then jump his car across the top of it, and it would be the most amazing thing ever!
The fingers on my uninjured arm traced the wheel of a small metal toy truck. I was guessing that it hadn’t made it across the top of the well.
I really hoped the boy hadn’t fallen in with it, because I did not want the next thing my fingers touched to be bones.
I traced the wheel again.
At least the boy had been happy.
I was starting to shiver, and I hated it because every twitch sent a spasm of pain through my arm.
I clenched my teeth together, wondering at what point the human jaw would be strong enough to make them crack, and tried desperately not to shake.
There was something big on the wall, scrabbling and growling.
Or I’d finally lost it and was hallucinating.
Did you hallucinate before you died?
I didn’t know.
I hoped I was hallucinating.
Or that it was a squirrel.
I wasn’t as cold anymore.
Maybe my body was shutting down, and I just couldn’t feel it, but I—
Something behind me moved.
Something big.
And warm.
And… soft?
A low rumble came from behind me, sending a vibration through my spine.
I reached out my hand and touched…
Fur.
I felt along the fur in the darkness, wondering if a dog had somehow fallen in with me.
I found a paw.
It was the size of my head.
I whimpered.
The creature rumbled low, soft. A grunt and a… purr?
“Raj?” I whispered through swollen and cracked lips, not believing it.
I had to be hallucinating.
He grunted, then pushed at the back of my head with a leathery nose.
I couldn’t help it—I started to cry. Relief. Pain. Both at once.
He rumbled again, then snuggled closer, resting his huge head on my shoulder, his other massive front paw coming to rest on my hip, and something—a tail—curling around over my thigh.
I woke up again, screaming, as Drew Shao strapped my arm to a rigid split.
Still half-curled around me, Raj growled.
“Oh, shut it, Tony,” came Hart’s voice, although it was tense and worried. “We have to set it before we can move him.”
A soft grunt.
Hart and Agent Shao strapped me into a harness like the ones they were wearing, although I couldn’t really hold myself up. “I’ll go up with him,” Hart said. “Hold him in place.” He looked at Agent Shao. “You can deal with the nine-lived wonder here.”
It took me several minutes to figure out he meant Raj. Because cats have nine lives.
Hart clipped himself in, then drew me back against his chest. “Stay with me, kid,” he said softly into my hair. “I’ve got you.”