Page 114 of Wandering in Darkness
“Right, right,” I say as I usher them toward a sliding glass door that leads out to a pool. I slide it open while I keep scanningeverything I can. “We should never have come here. I should never have led you guys into this danger.”
“Cal, we all willingly came here. We decided to come here,” Felix says. “We’re here to save the lives of people who don’t deserve to die, right? It’s not like we came here just for fun.”
“Exactly,” Grayson agrees, beginning to guide me toward the fence when I see someone coming. The dog rushes to him, wagging his tail, appearing excited to see the person who must take care of him before the man yells something at the dog and hits him away with his gun.
Evidently, he’s pissed the dog didn’t eat us.
Felix’s entire body grows rigid as the dog growls at the man who points a gun at the canine. I shoot the gun out of the man’s hand before he can pull the trigger. He howls and falls back, and the dog looks over at us.
“Come here, baby. Come, come,” Felix calls.
Lane hooks him and shoots at some noise in front of us, and I see the men pull back for cover. Rushing forward, I dart across the yard and over to the fence. “They’re waiting for us to open the gate,” I say as I press my gun through a crack between the fence and the gate. It doesn’t allow me much mobility, but when I shoot a man using his car for cover, just nicking his arm is enough to push him back.
I shift to a new target, but an explosion along the road seems to draw everyone’s attention.
“What the fuck was that?” Lane asks.
“Well… Audreyisa demolition expert,” Grayson says. “Maybe… maybe she’s trying to help us get out while protecting herself. Or maybe she’s just blowing up shit for herself.”
“Whatever it is, let’s go,” Lane urges. We hurry to the SUV, moving quickly across the yard before everyone but Antonio scrambles for the side door. When I see Felix hesitate, his eyes longingly looking back at the dog that seems listless, I hesitate.
No, this can’t pay him back for everything he’s done for me by opening up his life and drawing me into it, but it’s something.
I slip away, rushing back into the yard while Grayson is trying to shove people into the SUV or I’m positive he wouldn’t let me go. I grab the dog but he puts the brakes on, making me realize he’s wearing a collar to keep him in Allen’s yard.
“You better not maul me, you got it?” I ask.
“Cal, what the fuck are you doing?” Grayson yells.
The dog grumbles at me while I reach down and quickly pop the collar off. I hear someone behind me as I grab the dog’s regular collar and begin hauling him across the road, and Grayson lifts his gun and shoots at whoever is back there.
I heft the dog up and toss him into the SUV before Grayson slams the door shut and Antonio floors it. Felix’s eyes are in the shape of hearts as he reaches out to the confused dog. “B-Baby!”
“What is that?” Lane asks. “Who are you talking to? You only use that tone when you’re talking to a pet. You better be talking to one of your many pets already in this vehicle.”
“N-Nothing! There’s nothing here at all,” he says as the dog loudly pants, probably confused why his life has suddenly changed, but he does seem quite pleased by Felix’s ecstatic petting. He’s so thrilled, in fact, that his stub of a tail gives the smallest wag.
Copper and Trav aren’t sure what to think about this and Brigs just snorts and kicks in his sleep, having screamed himself to sleep at some point.
Grayson grabs me in a headlock as he crams me into my seat next to Traveler and buckles me in while Antonio gets us out of the area. Antonio is all smiles, thrilled as he flies through the city, even though Grayson is not happy.
“What the fuck was that?” Grayson snaps, voice sharp.
I avoid his eyes as Felix’s delight fills the car. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I mutter.
“You put your lifein dangerfor a dog.”
“No, for Felix. Not for the dog.”
“You… Cal…”
He still has me in this weird hold, so it’s rather hard to look at him, but when I manage to glance up at him, I can tell that he really is upset.
“Hey, it’s okay. I’m sorry,” I say. “I just… they clearly weren’t treating the dog well. You saw how they hit him because he didn’t eat us. Who knows what else they might’ve done to him?”
“I know that… but I still wish you wouldn’t have risked your life. What if the dog had bitten you? What if he had attacked, and then what would you have done?”
“I guess I would’ve gotten slightly mauled before, hopefully, hobbling back with at least three limbs.”
