Page 59 of Forgotten Monsters
When I’m sure they’re sealed away for good, I run toward Flynn and Cole.
Cole crouches over the blond Fae, in the process of tearing off his red blazer and undershirt.
Strong tremors rock Flynn, and flakes of ice pepper his golden skin. The hollow left a dark line in his stomach where it entered. Cole curls a fist over his friend’s torso and punches the ground next to him.
I kneel and grip Flynn’s arm.
Cole smoothes his blond locks away from his face. “What were you thinking?” Power ripples off of him in rich, drugging waves.
Flynn smiles and grimaces at the same time. “I missed you, too.”
“You should hate me,” Cole growls.
“I do hate you. But I love you more.”
Sobs quake my chest as I curl my hand over the entry wound.
“Hey, Jules.” A painful smile glazes Flynn’s blue lips, and sweat gathers on his forehead.
“Hey.” I bend over him, and rest my forehead on his.
Cole stands up, his expression unreadable, his fists balled at his sides.
Flynn grazes my cheek. “Don’t let him finish me off himself. It’ll weigh on his conscience. Get the scary dude—or your Dad.”
“What the fuck are you saying?” Cole barks.
With a wince, Flynn tries and fails to sit up. “We both know what needs to happen.”
I shake my head. “No.”
Oz inches closer. “Darkwood neutralized all the force fields, including the dome that kept the forty-something hollows in the crater from escaping. He wants whatever’s inside. We’re not safe.”
For a moment, I think Cole will actually kill him for sayingwe.
Lydia shakes. “No one should use magic. We can’t afford to draw them to us. We need time to rebuild the perimeter.”
Forty hollows…
“Stay here and help the others build a new forcefield. I’ll catch Darkwood,” I say, my heart and hands numb.
Cole grips my lower arm. “I won’t let you go alone.”
“Stay with him. I’m immune. You’re not.”
“I don’t care. I’m coming with you.”
He won’t let me go alone. I can see it in his eyes.
Flynn waves us off. “Go. Save the others. I’m past help anyway.”
Lydia kneels on the other side of Flynn and cushions his head with her jacket. “I’ll stay with him until you return. The hollow won’t kill him right away, so there’s no need to rush this. We have time—” She buries her face in her palm.
She meant to say that we have time to say goodbye…before we have to kill him.
Sharp pain cramps my ribs. “There must be something we can do.”
“There isn’t. We’ve tried, but once it’s buried inside a host, there’s absolutely nothing we can do,” Lydia squeaks.
