Page 55 of Insatiable

We’re turning on each other now, the tension getting to us. I sigh again, softer this time. "Sorry, Ro."

"This was never going to be easy. Look at us, sitting here worried about the fate of two men. Men that have treated us like crap in the past."

"Men that we’ll never see again," I say, the truth of it sobering both of us. "I’m glad I slept with Tomas that last time. I needed to put the past behind me."

Rowena squeezes my hand, silent. What is there to say? It’s clear she’s falling for Felix in a big way. I don’t get it, and maybe I never will. Then again, I never understood why I stayed with Tomas for so long, despite all his cheating. My head always knew better, but my heart never quite let go. It still hasn’t.

We stay in bed all day, watching the games. We cheer when Felix finally finds food, holding our breath every time someone we care about appears on screen. The hours pass, but the hunger in my belly doesn’t.

“I’m going downstairs to see if they’ve put out more food for us. I’ll bring back whatever I can fit in my bag.”

Ro barely looks up from the screen. She's too absorbed in watching Felix's every move.

Downstairs, the atrium is far busier than it was this morning. It feels like everyone in the tower is gathered around the big screen, eyes glued to the action. I can barely make out Tate on the screen over their heads. She’s not looking good. Earlier, she was attacked by one of those huge beasts from Hades’ labyrinth. The memory sends a shudder through me, and to my surprise, a pang of sadness for her.

I’m too emotionally drained after watching the games all day to muster up hate anymore. The sharp edges of my resentment toward Tate have worn down to almost nothing. I don’t even think I’d feel bad if Tomas and Tate ended up helping each other in the Earthery. My old jealousy about the two of them possibly hooking up seems ridiculous now that they’re both just trying to survive. I push past the crowds to the canteen, where there are indeed plates of food on the tables. I pick up a plate and empty the pile of sandwiches into a bag. I pick up another sandwich with the intention of eating it when an almighty cheer sounds out around me. I glance up at the screen and drop the sandwich back on the table. It’s not just Tate that’s in a bad way. Quinn is with her and she looks like she’s bleeding out, too.

Fuck! I stare at the screen open mouthed with my heart in my throat. All around me, the cretinous assholes are still stuffing their faces and cheering on the action. I try to make sense of the image before me. It looks like Tate is trying to comfort Quinn. Quinn is whispering in Tate’s ear while Tate nods her head, tears streaming down her face.

The screen goes black then cuts to Anthura standing at the front of the Earthery, the same malignant grin on her face that she’s been giving updates of contestant deaths with all day.

Despite the leader’s best efforts to have these games go on for weeks, the contestants have been dropping like flies, partly dueto the monsters they put in there and the one monster they can’t find — the mysterious murderer.

“There’s been another death!” Anthura trills into the camera. My heart stops. Not Quinn. Anyone but Quinn! Suddenly, a roar erupts from behind me, shaking me out of my stupor. I twist around just in time to see Dade, his massive black wings unfurling as he launches himself off one of the balconies. He’s moving like a storm, straight toward the demons guarding the elevator. They barely have time to react before he takes them down, knocking them aside like they’re nothing.

I shove through the crowd, trying to catch up, but by the time I reach the elevator, Dade’s already gone. Panic rises as I look back at the screen, but I can only see the top of it through the crowd. Then I catch a glimpse of him—Dade, swooping in on Anthura and tossing her aside like a rag doll. The last thing I see before I bolt toward the platform to get back to Ro’s room is Dade’s black wings disappearing into the Earthery.

26

DADE TO THE RESCUE

ROWENA

Ican’t breathe. The moment Juliette steps into my room, her face says it all. She knows. She knows what’s happened. I can see the pain etched into every line on her face, raw and agonizing.

“I’m so sorry, Jules!” The words barely escape my throat as I see her sit on the edge of the bed, her bag slipping from her hand and hitting the floor, spilling a pile of sandwiches everywhere.

“I can’t believe she’s dead!” Juliette sobs, collapsing into me. She rests her head on my shoulder, and it breaks my heart in ways I never imagined. Juliette doesn’t cry—she never cries—but now she’s drowning in her tears, her sobs shaking both of us as I hold her close.

“She?”

“Quinn. I saw her with Tate. There was blood everywhere. Dade went in there.”

My heart clenches, tightening in a way that feels unbearable. “Jules, it’s not Quinn who died. Didn’t you see what happened after Dade went in?”

Juliette wipes her eyes with her hand, smearing the tears across her face before wiping her nose. “No. I came up here asfast as I could. I couldn’t stand all the cheering after Anthura announced the death. If it wasn’t Quinn... who was it?”

My heart clenches in my chest as I struggle to find the words that will shatter her world all over again. How do I tell her that the person she loves is gone forever?

My grip tightens around her hand as I realize I have to say it before Anthura’s face fills the screen again, before she repeats it like it’s some twisted joke.

"It's Tomas," I say, my voice barely audible above Juliette's cries. "He's been murdered."

She’s survived his death once, but now... now there’s no coming back. Not for the already dead. There’s no second afterlife.

Juliette’s eyes widen, her breath catching as the words sink in. “Tomas? My Tomas?” Juliette’s voice cracks. “No!!!!”

I let her wail, holding her close until my shoulder is wet with tears and she runs out of breath. I’ve never seen Juliette like this before and because she’s usually so laid back, her sorrow is all the worse. It’s palpable, heartbreaking. Painful.

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