Page 109 of Sawyer

I know it’s bad when he drops the flashlight and curses.

“Where are Sin and Rumor?” I ask, feeling cold. Too cold.

“Slinking through the forest to see if they can reroute the wolves.” He sets the flashlight on my pack, aiming it at me. “Do you have your elixir?” he asks, though he knows I didn’t take it, and neither did Rumor. He pats my body down, looking for it before I can answer him.

“It’s bad, isn’t it?” My teeth chatter. “Venom from what?”

He finds the elixir and pops the top off. “Drink.” I don’t think he means to bark at me as he tips the elixir into my mouth.

Sweet, syrupy healing magic flares hot through my system, burning a path as it attempts to heal the damage of the creature that took a chunk out of my thumb.

“Do you want me to be honest?”

“Don’t lie to me, Superman.” I tip my head back and rest it against the wall, ignoring the bugs that crawl dangerously close to my hair.

“The scent is of a nightcrawler, a venomous spider that I have only encountered once, and that was only so I could detect its scent,” he tells me, making my heart rate skyrocket and my arm throb. “I don’t know if the elixir will be enough. You need a healer, Sawyer.”

I lick my lips and close my eyes, focusing on my breath. “There’s no one,” I whisper to him, trying to disguise the fear in my voice.

“We’ll time this. I need you to tell me how the elixir makes you feel. We have six in total,” he says, already working through this. “We need to go back.”

I put my hand on his arm. “Bryn, we can’t go back. We have to keep going forward. Not only that, but the bridge is also out, and no one will come to our aid if you call reinforcements.” My mouth is so damn dry, I lick my lips again. “The facility. I bet they have healing elixirs. We go, and we get what we can there.”

“Sawyer, your life is worth more to me than anyone else’s life.”

“And I’d give my life to free the innocent.”

He sighs and hangs his head. “We’re at an impasse.”

Sin and Rumor walk in, and they quicken their step to crouch beside me. Rumor takes one sniff and mutters, “Nightcrawler.”

“Fuck.” Sin pats himself down. “I have four elixirs.”

“How…” Bryn pauses. “Know what? Don’t answer that.”

“Stole them,” Sin answers anyway.

“The wolves?” Bryn prompts, not wanting to know about Sin’s kleptomania.

“Led us to the facility,” Rumor answers. “They ran when they heard the whistle, but they never gave us up.”

“I don’t think they could smell Sawyer,” Sin muses, and there’s something in his voice that he’s hiding.

“What is it?” I say through clenched teeth.

“One handler yelled, ‘Gamma loose.’” Sin looks at me before muttering, “They took off barking.”

“They were hunting the escaped gammas,” Rumor says, solidifying Sin’s words. “Not us.”

“They couldn’t scent me,” I repeat, and even more horror washes through me.

I’m living a nightmare.

No, I need to change this, I need to feel and exist. “Bryn.” I reach for him, dragging him close to me.

“Guys, give us a minute.” My superman turns his entire focus on me. Brushing the hair off my face, he cups my cheek. “What is it, Sawyer?”

“I need you.” I try to drag his lips to mine, but he holds back, pity on his face. His sigh gusts across my senses with his chocolate mint scent. “I don’t want your pity, I just want to feel you.”

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