Wraith.
“You think you can get a free card down here because you’re teamed up with Mori?” His hands squeeze harder around my throat, making me choke out a weak cry, scrambling to get out of his hold.
Bree and Damian glance at one another like they’re considering helping, but a few other men stand around the bed, eagerness in their eyes as they pray for my demise.
I fold my arms over each other, clasping my hands on both elbows before bringing my forearms down as hard as I can against Wraith’s in an attempt to hit his pressure points to open his hands, but he slacks his arms in time and increases the pressure.
Black dots start to cloud my vision. My lungs are on fire, but I can offer them no breath. The sound of my heart slows, and my muscles begin to go limp.
I don’t want the last thing I see to be Wraith’s hateful stare.
I don’t want to die.
Weariness pulls my eyelids shut, and in the next moment I’m bathed in hot liquid. Is this what death feels like?
My eyes slowly open as air seeps back into my throat.
Sound returns to my ears in the form of Wraith’s shouts of pain. My vision unblurs and I’m met with chaos. Arnold is pulling Wraith off the bed, horror written all over his face. Something’s wrong with Wraith’s arm…it’s bleeding. My eyes widen as sharpness returns to my mind with a deep breath.
Wraith’s arm is snapped backward, his humerus bone protruding offensively from his flesh and spurting blood everywhere.
I blink, the motion seeming more dragged out than usual, as if everything is in slow motion. It’s then that I glance to the edge of the bed and see Cameron taking deep breaths, pupils blown wide, and a metal bar clenched in his hand. His carotid arteries are raised, his jaw slack as his chest heaves.
Cameron stares at me emptily for a moment before dropping the metal bar. It clanks loudly against the cement floor, and the crowd around us flinches.
He looks like he’s about to snap and start killing people. I’ve never seen him appear this mentally checked out. My throat is on fire, but I manage to sit up and slowly stand. I hesitate to take Cameron’s hand, but I firm my resolve and grab it, leading him out of the barracks and somewhere safer from all the hungry eyes of the other cadets. I ignore the sticky sensation of Wraith’s blood drying on my skin.
Sure, everyone just witnessed Cameron break Wraith’s arm with a metal bar, but they also see my weakened state, andpotentially Cameron’s lack of control at the moment. We need to get somewhere private.
I guide us to the library. It’s barely lit in here this early. The scent of old books and the sudden quiet soothe me. I drop Cameron’s hand and sigh. “Are you okay?” I ask as I lean back against a bookshelf.
When he doesn’t respond, I glance up at him, and my heart drops. He palms his forehead like he’s losing it and lets out a feral groan.
“Cam—”
His hands fly to either side of my head and rattle the bookshelf at my back. Shock tears through me and my jaw trembles as he pounds a fist several times mere inches from my head. Books tumble to the floor in troves around us.
“You’re going to get the whole squad killed! You’re so fucking pathetic it makes me sick. It’d be better if I…if I just—” He shouts in my face so loud it makes my entire body stiffen, tears prickle in my eyes.
I knew he was lying yesterday in the infirmary.
I slap him across the face. He freezes and takes a second to look back at me. My fists clench at my sides as I prepare to fight to the death, but his arms tremble as he slowly cages me back in. The ache in his soul is tangible through his hooded eyes and the way his teeth are set into his lower lip.
I unfurl my hands and take a steadying breath as I throw my arms over his shoulders and hold him in a tight embrace. His breath stutters and his body calms, muscles loosening.
“Please stop,” I whisper, eyes shutting tightly as I let his earthy scent warm my senses.
He doesn’t move for a few seconds, as if he’s paralyzed with what he’s doing. Then his hand is pressing against my lower back and a moment later the other wraps behind my neck gently.Cameron doesn’t say anything as we hold each other in the silence of the Under.
“Wake up.”
I sit straight up, eyes wide and panic flooding me. Is Wraith attacking me again? Is the Under collapsing in on itself? After I blink a few times, I realize I’m staring at Cameron’s figure in the dark.
“What time is it?” I whisper, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
“Four. Get dressed,” he murmurs, tossing my clothes at me. I do as he says and follow him as quietly as I can through the Under and into the weapons block.
His hand is wrapped around my wrist the entire way, guiding me effortlessly so I don’t slow him down.I wish I could see that well.Not willing to take the death pills for it, though.
