Page 191 of Deviant

“Thought you two were going to be a no show,” Mackenzie pouts. “I was kind of hoping to see whatThe Scourgewould have done to you if you didn’t show up.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Elias snarls at her.

David, who is usually the one to be eager for the games to start, is oddly mute, having had Mackenzie chop off a bit of his ear in the last challenge.

But it’s not him that either Elias or I are concerned about. It’s the boy who stands at the corner of the entry hall, staring at his feet instead of making eye contact with us.

“Please, follow me,” Henry says before darting off in the direction of the boardroom.

We do as instructed, Elias’s stare fixed on Andy as our friend trails behind Henry with his head still bowed.

“Please sit next to your chosen partners,” Henry announces once we reach the boardroom.

Elias keeps a watchful eye on Andy, inwardly praying that he takes his usual seat, but when Andy sits next to Ruby, my heart falls to the pit of my stomach.

“No!” Elias growls, slapping his hands on the table. “Get up! Get up, Andy. Don’t you dare do what I think you’re about to do.”

But Andy just keeps his head bowed low, incapable of facing Elias.

“I said get up, Andy! That is not your chair! Get up, or I’ll force you to get up!”

It’s when Elias rushes over to his side of the table that Andy slams his fist onto it.

“STOP!” he shouts, freezing Elias to his spot. “Just… stop, E.”

We all stare at Andy as he gets up from his seat and walks over to Elias.

“Let me die like a man for fucks’ sake.”

Elias shakes his head, not wanting to hear anything that Andy has to say.

“Listen to me, E. Listen to me, brother,” Andy pleas, placing his hands on Elias’s shoulders. “I’m going to die either way, why not today?”

“You don’t know that.”

“You never lied to me before, E. Don’t do it now.” Andy offers him a weak smile. “The game is rigged. It’s fucking rigged. There was no way I could have won. Nor would I have wanted to. Not after losing Harper.” He then looks at me with pity in his eyes. “They’re going to take her from you too. That’s what this place does. It takes and takes until there is nothing left. Not even our humanity.”

“Andy, please don’t fucking do this,” Elias begs, his voice strangled with emotion.

“I know it’s going to get shitty here without me,” he tries to joke. “But you’ll get through.”

“Stop cracking jokes, Andy. This is fucking serious. This is your life we’re talking about.”

“I know that. And I should decide when I want to go out.”

Elias continues to shake his head, not wanting to give in to his friend’s desires.

“Did I tell you how she died?” Andy says softly, his brown eyes meeting Elias’s midnight blue for the first time.

“They had her bond to these weird ass wooden planks in a shape of an X. They ordered me to throw five knives at her and aim it at her heart.‘The first one to hit the bullseye wins,’they said,” he scoffs in distaste. “How the hell could they expect me to kill the only woman I ever loved? I just couldn’t do it. So, even blindfolded, I threw the knives everywhere but at her,” he continues to explain, his voice starting to crack. “But then it was Harper’s turn… she waited for me to take her place on the fucked-up X… waited for them to bind my wrists and ankles to it… and then she kissed me and said that she was happy that the last face she saw was mine. And then…” he bows his head as if reliving that day all over again. “She took one of the knives and used it on herself, stabbing her heart with it to ensure the game would come to an end. But the fuckers didn’t release me from their steel cuffs until she was good and dead. Harper knew we wouldn’t surviveThe Scourge,but she couldn’t bear to watch me die. She loved me that much. So now it’s my time, brother. It’s my time to have my seven minutes and see my girl’s face one last time.”

Tears fall down my face as Andy pulls an unconsolable Elias into a hug.

“I love you, brother. Please… let me die with my humanity intact.”

I know the minute Elias has given up challenging Andy when his shoulders slump and he hugs Andy back.

No one in the room dares to say anything when the two part ways, Elias taking a seat next to me and Andy next to Ruby. We all wait for Henry to nod at the cameras, knowing that is the hosts’ cue to send their nefarious texts. No one is surprised whenAndy and Ruby get one. But when neither Elias nor I receive a text, my anxiety shoots to the roof.

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