Page 69 of Lust

35

UNDER THE RUBBLE

QUINN

I’m deposited by the door to the Earthery next to Noémi, who’s wearing an expression of grim determination.

“Quinn, Dade. You're safe. Thank goodness,” she exclaims.

Dade takes off once more, leaving me slightly breathless.

“He’s going to help get the people out,” I explain. “Do you know what happened?”

“Eet wasn’t a, ‘ellquake. Zis was done purposefully. I do not know by ‘oo.”

As the dust begins to settle, the sheer magnitude of the Earthery becomes apparent. I’ve been inside here many times, but I’ve never actually seen it before without its magic. Concrete and rubble cover the floor almost as far as the eye can see.

“I sent Asmodée and Arch in zere,” she says, pointing vaguely. “Zey weel get people out. I cannot bear eet eef someone ees ‘urt.”

“The dust is suffocating in here. We need to get outside. You can still coordinate the injured from there.”

She shakes her head, refusing to move. “I can't abandon my post!”

Dade whooshes past us, guiding Juliette with him. He settles Juliette down beside us, and I embrace her in a tight hug. She startles for a moment, her hair tangled and dust-covered, her dress torn. Despite the disarray, she seems mostly unharmed.

“Juliette, are you alright?” I ask, concerned.

She nods, offering a small smile. “I’m okay, for the most part, thanks to Dade. Do you know what happened?”

Noémi chimes in, “I do not know, but I weel find out oo deed zis and I weel destroy zem.”

Juliette coughs. “Who would try to hurt us all, and how?” Her breathing is labored and her voice is rough as she talks. “A contestant in the games?”

“Everyone in ze games was in this room, and as far as I can tell, the Earthery ‘as fallen down around us in all places.” Noémi's expression shifts from determination to a mixture of anger and resolve. “Anyone doing zis on purpose would put zemselves at risk.”

My heart pounds as Remy appears in the distance, being helped by Candice. I watch as they struggle over the debris. It’s clear he’s hurt by the blood on his face and arms. My impulse is to run to help him, but then I remember what he said about me earlier. I step back into the shadows as they pass.

“Remy, Candice, are you both alright?” Noémi's concerned voice breaks the tension.

Remy lets out a pained groan and clutches his arm, while Candice responds, her tone brisk. “We're okay, just a few scratches.”

“‘Ead outside,” Noémi commands. “I'll ‘ave someone examine you both.” She pulls out her Hell Cell, fingers dancing across the screen in a flurry of urgent taps as Candice and Remy make their way out.

“Where’s Rowena?” Juliette asks suddenly, her voice tinged with panic. I look around, scanning the line of people heading towards the door. I notice blood pouring down some of their faces, but Rowena isn’t in the line.

“Noémi, do you know where Rowena is?” I ask anxiously. Noémi looks at me in a panic. “I don’t know. I zink she was over zere.” She points to a huge pile of rubble. My heart races as I see a hand sticking out from underneath the debris, a foot peeking out as well. I’d recognize those expensive shoes anywhere. They are the only brand Felix wears. “It’s Felix,” I exclaim.

With a determined surge of adrenaline, I throw myself onto the debris, tugging at the massive pile of rocks alongside Noémi and Juliette. “Over here!” My voice cracks as I scream out, the panic in my chest intensifying. Dade swiftly responds, dropping to my side with a thud. He unleashes his strength, muscles flexing as he heaves colossal chunks of concrete, hurling them aside with controlled energy.

Time stretches and warps, each second feeling like an eternity of heart-wrenching struggle. Finally, the rubble shifts, and we uncover Felix. His face is a horrifying mess. One half of it has been crushed by part of the falling ceiling. He’s still and unmoving, but his chest is rising and falling. “He’s alive!” I choke out. I hate the guy, but no one deserves this.

Dade flaps his wings, sending plumes of dust into the air as he fights to pull Felix from the wreckage, but as he pulls, Felix’s arm snags on something. A terrifying sight freezes me in place. Felix's fingers are intertwined with someone else’s.

“Rowena!” I choke out. Juliette jumps over the rubble to my side and the pair of us frantically shift the rubble off Rowena.

Tears stream down Juliette’s face as she screams out Rowena’s name. “Please don’t die!”

A surge of emotions twists my heart as we finally manage to extract Rowena from the rubble. Her face is ashen, and covered with the dust as she is, she almost looks like she’s made of stone. She’s not breathing.

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