Chapter 201
Clementine:
“You’re not coming?” she asked, watching my face as I shook my head.
“No, I’ll go find Ian and the others and try to bring them here to stay for the night,” I said, and she shrugged.
I heard Jack and Joshua calling from downstairs, asking both of us to come up quickly because they were afraid the Wendigos would get us.
“What am I supposed to tell them?” she asked, and I frowned.
I didn’t understand why she had to worry about me or answer them about where I was.
“You don’t need to worry about it. Just let them know I’m going after Ian,” I told her and she raised an eyebrow.
“Seriously? You wanna do that? Why would you risk your life for someone who’s just a crusader?” she asked, shrugging. Of course she wouldn’t do that, so she was confused why I would.
“It’s not just about one crusader. We’re friends too, Suki,” I said, “I don’t know how you get along with your squadmates, but we are very close.” I hissed as she rolled her eyes.
“Whatever!” she then uttered with a dramatic hard eye roll.
“Make sure you stay close to the latch. I will knock three times and call your name, only then open it,” I told her. She nodded and rolled her eyes at my strict instructions. Sometimes she could be pretty dumb, so I had to.
I watched her close the latch and I stepped back.
“Even she realized it was odd that you were trying so hard to go after your squadmate,” Mint commented.
“I don’t know what to do with my heart, Mint. I know for a fact that I’m not ready to forgive them so quickly. But this pain I feel whenever I’m worried for them is crazy,” I replied with a sigh.
“I understand. Since they are our mates, I feel the same,” she sighed. “Do you think he’s completely over his ex?” she asked.
I slowed down a little.
“Who? Who are you talking about?” I asked, because I knew we didn’t just have one mate, but three.
“I’m talking about Ian. You know Ian was in a relationship when he came to the academy,” she said.
I rubbed my face with my hands.
“I don’t know. I don’t want to think about it. He told me he was over it. I mean, it would be weird for him to go for a kiss if he was still in a relationship. And don’t you remember he said she was cheating on him with his own brother? So I’m guessing they’re over,” I said, confused.
After only a few minutes on the road, I heard the screeches and growls of the Wendigos. Every time they appeared and screamed, I felt a weird tension through my body.
Seeing them kill so many of our crusaders had put me in a place where their voices could ignite anger in me.
Then I watched the things come from both sides of the road, running toward me. At that point I had only one option, go back and hide in the latch for a while. I turned and reached for the latch, knocking on it.
“Suki, open it, come on, quick,” I said, waiting and biting my nails.
“Suki, come on, open the door!” I knocked hard. But maybe they couldn’t hear me. I stopped knocking so I wouldn’t confuse her and used my voice instead.
“Suki, open it!” I shouted, making it clear. Still, she didn’t open.
I could hear the things screeching around, probably searching for me. I grabbed the handle and tried to pry it open. I wasn’t going to let her leave me outside.
There were too many of them, and I was alone. I started opening the latch and managed to get it. As soon as I was about to run downstairs, I felt a shove from below.
“Ah!” I groaned, landing on my butt. Out came Suki with an angry look and her dagger in hand.
“What are you doing? Get out of my way. Those things are closing in on us, they’re looking for us,” I hissed, keeping my voice low.
But she came at me with more anger than I expected.
“No. They’ve already seen you. If you come down there, they’ll know you’re hiding here. You have to go out and lure them away,” she snapped, pushing me back as I tried to rush for the latch again.
“Have you lost your mind? Those things can’t get down there. Come on, let me go!” I protested, feeling her grip on my arm holding me back.
“No,” she grunted, shoving me again.
At this point, I had no idea what else she was willing to do. But as soon as I lunged for the latch again, a piercing pain ripped through my back.
I groaned, almost spitting blood as I coughed. When I turned, I saw her dagger was gone. Because the dagger was in my fucking back. I froze in shock, eyes wide.
“What have you done?” I asked, confused, lost. I couldn’t understand why she had done it.
“You’ll heal, but you’re not allowed here. This is our place. I don’t want you going around telling everyone you found it like some hero. I was the one who convinced you to find a place. You weren’t ready to do it, so why should you go in there?” she hissed, rambling while pushing me back even more.
I landed on my butt again, my back hitting the ground, and the dagger sank deeper. I winced, my hands shaking violently. It was a silver fucking dagger.
“You want to be a hero so badly, Clementine, that you’re ruining everyone else’s chance to be seen as individual crusaders. This is what you get for poking your nose around and trying to be a hero.
“Now fucking die here,” she hissed, standing at my feet, knowing very well I could no longer defend myself.