Page 58 of Insatiable

“No.”

Dade steps up to me. His sheer presence is overwhelming. “Juliette. I am so very grateful that you are trying to protect me, but in doing so, you are putting yourself in danger. I cannot and will not ask you to do that for me. I will have to face Anthura at some point. It may as well be now, and as Rowena said, I can’t be responsible for Tate dying. It was Quinn’s lat request to me to get Tate to safety. I have to honor that.”

Damn him and damn logic. Why can’t we just all stay here in Dade’s room forever? There’s nothing for me on the outside of it. Not anymore. Still, I move to the side and watch as he shifts the giant dresser to the side.

Anthura slams the door open and glares at Dade, her face almost as red as her outfit.

“Dade Angelis!” she spits. “You are done for now.”

Dade hands his wrists out to her as though he expects her to cuff them. “Do whatever you need to do with me, but take Tate to the hospital wing first. She’s going to die.”

Anthura’s face twists into a grimace, but she glances over at Tate before turning back to Dade.

“Get out,” she hisses. “I’ll have someone come up to deal with her.”

My heart doesn’t stop hammering until a couple of skinny demons come up and take Tate out on a stretcher, leaving me and Rowena alone on Dade’s blood stained bed. It’s silent and suffocating. Ro and I are the only two left.

“Look at all this,” Ro says softly, glancing around the room.

I follow her gaze, and my breath catches in my throat as I take in the drawings covering Dade’s walls. Charcoal sketchesstretch across nearly every inch of space, dark strokes mingling with soft shadows to create a haunting beauty that’s just like him—dark, intense, and yet stunning. Most of the drawings are of Quinn, each one capturing a different side of her. But as I scan the walls, I realize he’s drawn all of us. There’s barely any blank wall left, each square filled with faces frozen in moments of stillness.

My eyes land on a drawing of myself, and I feel a bittersweet smile tug at my lips. He’s made me look so much more beautiful than I really am. It’s like he’s taken something buried deep inside me, something I can’t even see, and brought it to life through his art. I feel exposed, vulnerable, like Dade has seen straight into my soul and translated it onto paper.

I stand and gently take the pin holding the picture next to mine. It’s a sketch of Tomas. His eyes glimmer with that familiar, hopeful spark, and his smile is captured perfectly, as though Dade had seen him in one of those rare, unguarded moments. I wonder what Tomas was doing when Dade caught him like this. Looking at me? Thinking about the past?

“I’m sure Dade won’t mind if you take this,” Ro says, stepping up beside me. Her voice is gentle, understanding.

I’ve cried so much in the last half hour that my tears have dried, leaving me hollow inside. I’ve been through every emotion I can name, from anger to despair to fleeting hope. But now, there’s a sense of calm. I had the goodbye with Tomas that I spent the latter half of my life hoping for. And it was beautiful. I feel like he’s finally set me free.

“I think we should go down to the hospital wing and see if Tate is going to be okay,” I say, folding the picture of Tomas and slipping it into my pocket.

Rowena reaches out, her hand warm as she takes mine. “I think that’s a good idea. I have a feeling Quinn wanted us to talk to her.” She squeezes my hand gently before adding, “Beforethat, we need to find out what’s going to happen to Dade. Quinn would never forgive us if we let Anthura hurt him.”

Rowena’s right, but Quinn will never know. Whatever happens now, Quinn is going to be in another circle and we’re stuck forever in a place where our friends have gone and we can’t eat. I glance down at the Hell Cell in my hand, its once flickering screen now black, as empty and hollow as I feel. The Games are over. There are no more cameras, no more challenges. It’s all over—for us.

There’s no moving on, no next circle. Just this never-ending hunger gnawing at our insides, reminding us that Hell isn’t just a place of fire and brimstone. It’s a place of emptiness, of things you can never have. Food. Freedom. The people you care about. They slip through your fingers like smoke, and no matter how hard you fight, you can never get them back.

I pocket the Hell Cell, swallowing the lump in my throat. “Let’s go,” I say softly, my voice barely holding together. We can’t afford to break down now. We need to see Tate, and we need to protect Dade. For Quinn, even if she’ll never know. Even if it won’t change anything.

As we head toward the door, I cast one last glance at the walls, at the faces that will forever be etched in charcoal—captured, but gone. Just like us.

28

QUINN’S IDEA

TATE

My head spins, and my leg burns like holy hell as I come back from the darkness. It takes a moment for my brain to catch up to my eyes. Juliette is sitting in the seat next to my bed and Rowena is sitting on the end of the bed itself. It’s then I realize I’m in hospital. I’m in the very bed Juliette was in after the poisoning.

“What happened… Quinn!”

“Quinn got through,” Juliette reassures me. “She’s fine. She’s more than fine, probably. You’re the one we have to worry about.”

I give her a small smile and am shocked to see it reciprocated.

I close my eyes and try to picture how I got from the labyrinth to a hospital bed, but everything is fuzzy. I was bitten by a hell hound. Quinn tried to save me, but she was bitten too. I remember both of us laying on the ground waiting for death. I remember being glad that she was with me and that I wouldn’t die alone. I don’t remember anything else.

“How did I get here?” I ask, opening my eyes and looking at Juliette.

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