Page 150 of Deviant

“Where did Lucy and Lucas go?” I ask, surprised that they aren’t here.

“They left after you did. They looked scared. I don’t think they’ll be coming back,” Abbie explains worriedly.

“Can they do that?”

“No, they cannot,” Henry responds loudly, with a disheartened Lucas and a petrified Lucy trailing behind him.

“Shit! What happened to you two?” Andy asks, voicing what all of us are wondering.

“What else? Mr. Know-It-All thought he and his girl could bail on us to save their own skin. Isn’t that right?” David chastises, crossing his arms over his chest and giving Lucas a snide look.

“I’m sorry, you guys, but we had to try,” Lucas explains, sounding both defeated as he is ashamed.

“Don’t even sweat it. If these assholes thought they could get away with it, they’d flee for the hills, too,” Ruby says in Lucas’s defense. “Or are you all going to honestly say you didn’t think about doing the exact same thing last night?”

I stare around the table and see many guilt-ridden expressions. It really never crossed my mind to leave, and maybe it should have.

“So what happened?” Harper asks. “How far did you get?”

“Only to the gate,” Lucy explains sullenly. “But it was locked, and no matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t get it open. We thought about jumping over it, but when Lucas grabbed the bar, he got such a nasty shock that he flew backward to the ground.”

“We had no option but to turn around and come back,” Lucas explains, discouraged.

“And most fortuitous that you did, Master Mitchell. Count your blessings that the dogs were having their breakfast at the time. Otherwise, I fear you would have been their meal,” Henry scolds.

“It won’t happen again, Henry. Promise,” Lucas says, patting Henry on the back before walking back to his seat.

“Actually, Master Mitchell, no need for you to sit down. I’m here to take the three couples that were chosen to attend the first games, you and Lady Wright included.”

“How the hell does he know Lucas was going to sit down?”Andy mouths silently to all of us.

“That’s just damn creepy,” Harper says, not bothering to keep her commentary to herself.

“Shall we?” Henry says, looking at the six of us before strutting out of the room.

“Might as well, seeing as there is no way to avoid it,” Lucas mumbles, wrapping his arm around Lucy’s shoulders. “See you guys in a bit.”

“Not if you die first,” Big Mike says, giving Lucas a thumbs up.

Asshole.

I squeeze Abbie’s hand before getting up and mouthing a goodbye to Harper and Andy.

“Don’t try to be a hero, E. Just do enough to survive whatever shit they send your way, yeah?” Andy hollers over at Elias.

Elias gives his friend a curt nod and, with his hand on my back, leads me out the door with the others.

“Please, follow me,” Henry instructs, ushering us down the hall.

My chest is so tight that it feels like it’s about to burst. Elias, however, doesn’t seem to be afflicted with a shred of anxiety or nerves. He is the epitome of cool and calm in the face of certain calamity.

We remain silent as Henry opens a door and starts walking down a flight of stairs toward the basement.

“A little cliche, don’t you think, Henry? I mean, taking us down to the basement? Your bosses couldn’t come up with something more creative?” Mackenzie says, sounding bored.

“Shut up, Mackenzie. Some of us are actually not looking forward to this,” Lucas reprimands.

Mackenzie throws her head over her shoulder to look at Lucas and rolls her eyes at him. “Yeah, well, not all of us are cowards.”

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