Page 60 of Insatiable

Ignoring him, I hobble to the door of the hospital wing. It doesn’t take long for him to catch up with me. He grips my shoulder and spins me around. “I said you need to stay in bed.”

“Not today, Satan!” I mutter, then lift my fist and sock him right in the face. My knuckles scream in as much agony as my leg, but he tumbles to the ground, anyway. I allow myself a victorious grin, then hobble as fast as I can out of the Hospital wing.

The atrium is empty, though there are the remnants of what looks to have been a party. The huge screen at the far end of the canteen shows five faces. The winners of this Inferno Games. With relief, I see Quinn’s face. She did make it. She’s now down in the next circle. I wrack my brains to remember what the next circle is. I’d look it up on my portal, but they were taken from us when we entered the Earthery.

Avarice, I think. Not that it matters. Unless I can get Juliette and Rowena on board, and save Dade from the Demons that run this level, everything I do will be in vain. I make slow progress across the atrium and call for the platform. At Juliette’s level, I step off and knock at her door. There’s no answer, so I head up a few more levels to Dade’s room. The door has been left open. I didn’t expect Dade to be here, but I hoped Juliette and Rowena might be.

“Juliette? Rowena?” I call quietly into the room. I can’t run the risk of being seen by anyone. I might not be in trouble like Dade is, but I escaped the labyrinth. I can’t see Anthura reacting well to that. I creep into the room, peering into the dark in the hope that I’m wrong and they are sleeping on the bed. They aren’t, but something on the floor catches my eye. It’s Dade’s portal. It must have fallen off the nightstand when he moved it to block the back door. Picking it up, I type in Juliette’s name and press call.

“Dade?” Her voice is muffled, groggy, like she’s just woken up. Which she probably has.

“It’s me, Tate. I went to find you in his room and stumbled onto his portal instead.”

She doesn’t respond immediately. Then I hear her speaking to someone—probably Rowena. “It’s Tate. She’s in Dade’s room.”

I swallow hard.

“We’re in Ro’s room. What’s going on?” Juliette asks, her voice filled with unease.

“I know what Quinn wanted me to do, but I can’t do it without you... and I can’t do it without Dade.”

There’s a long pause, silence so thick I can hear my heart pounding. Then Juliette’s voice comes back, heavy and low. “Well, you’re fresh out of luck. Dade is dead.”

The words hangin the air, deafening, as my mind stumbles over them. Dade? Dead? That can’t be right. My chest tightens as I try to make sense of it, but I can’t. Quinn had told me how to save them, but I need Dade to do it. I need him.

But he’s gone.

I don’t know how to respond; the phone slipping slightly in my hand. “Come down to Ro’s room,” Juliette sighs, as if trying to steady me. “Room Twenty-Four.”

I hang up, my fingers trembling. A lump forms in my throat, growing thicker with every breath. I barely knew Dade, but he saved my life. And now, he’s dead. Gone. Just like that. The last piece of hope Quinn had given me, the thing I was clinging to after he pulled me from the labyrinth, has shattered.

29

ANGEL IN DISGUISE

JULIETTE

Iopen the door and wait for Tate. When the platform descends to our floor with her on, I see that she’s a mess. Dried blood coats her clothes and her leg is crisscrossed with stitches. She winces as she steps off the platform.

“Should you be out of the hospital?” I say, looking her up and down? Even her blonde silvery hair is tinged with red.

“Probably not, but I wanted to leave. I knocked a doctor out to get to you.” She sighs. Her pale face looks even paler in the blue light of night. She stumbles forward and I catch her. I wrap my arm around her, holding up her weight as we step into Ro’s room. She leans into me, resting her head on my shoulder.

“You can sleep here, but it’s going to be a squeeze. You’ll need a shower to wash all that blood off you, too.”

She nods as I guide her into the bathroom and turn on the shower. “Are you going to be alright?”

She nods again, but I don’t believe her. She looks half dead. I leave to grab her some pajamas of Ro’s. When I get back, I find her sitting in the base of the shower, letting the water cascade over her. She’s still fully clothed with the dress she was wearingin the labyrinth. It’s clear that she doesn’t have the strength to wash herself.

“Can I help you?” I sigh, placing both a towel and the pajamas on the vanity.

She barely raises her head, but I’ll take that as a yes. She doesn’t have the strength to stand, let alone clean herself. I help her out of her dress and underwear. And grab a sponge to wash the blood from her body. She clings to me limply as I run the sponge over her perfect skin. “Tomas would have loved watching this,” I joke, to take away some of the tension I’m feeling. It’s weird how that thought is comforting rather than painful. She doesn’t even respond. I finish by washing her hair. By the time I pull her out of the shower, we’re both soaked to the skin, but at least she’s clean now. I towel dry her hair then work my way down her body, wiping away the rivulets of water. When I get to her mauled leg, I’m as gentle as I can be, but her breath still quickens. I stand to face her. Her expression is unreadable, but she looks exhausted. I hand her the pajamas then turn to leave. I’m going to have to find a fresh dry pair of pajamas for myself.

“Juliette?”

I turn to face her.

“Thank you.” She closes the distance between us, wrapping her arms around my neck and burying her face against my shoulder. I hold her tight, feeling the warmth of her body against me. Just two days ago, this would have seemed unthinkable, but so much has changed in the last forty-eight hours. I try to push aside the fact that she’s naked, focusing instead on offering her the comfort she needs right now. Her breath is warm against my neck as she clings to me, her body trembling slightly. I rub her back in slow, soothing circles, trying to calm her.

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