Right now, all I can do is try to get this little dragon chicklette breathing again.
“Staying alive, staying alive.”
38
“DONOVAN!”
One minute he’s there, and now I’ve lost him again.
“DONOVAN!”
Shit, shit, shit. My eyes are watering, and my throat burns. I start coughing and can't stop.
“Theo?” A close voice behind me makes me jump.
I whirl around, and my mouth drops open. “Wes?”
Even though everything around me is chaos, a feeling of love and happiness swells in my chest. He said my name.
He. Said. My. Name.
But still, Wes looks like a man standing on the railings of a bridge, looking down into the swirling waters and wondering whether to jump.
“It’s alright, Wes,” I say, keeping my voice low and calm. “Everything’s alright. We’re just going to find Donovan, then we’re going to get out of here, OK?”
Wes’s eyes dart around wildly. “Where is he? Has he gone? Is he gone?”
I make a calming motion with my hands, as it clicks in my brain. It wasn’t Donovan I saw through the smoke, it was Wes.
“He hasn’t left us, Wes, but we are going to find him now. We’ll all be back together in a minute.”
Wes’s hand flaps against his leg, and I can see his rising panic. “I don’t know, I don’t know,” he mutters. “Donovan’s gone. Everyone’s gone. Everyone left me.”
His pain slices through me.
“Come on, let’s go look for him. We’ll be together soon.” I know I’m talking to him as though he’s a child, but Wes seems one tiny strand away from collapsing, mentally and physically.
Two men, beating the shit out of each other, stumble in our direction. “This way, Wes. Can you follow me?”
Wes shakes his head slightly. “No. No, I take you, that’s what I should do. Get you out of here. This is wrong, this is all wrong.” Suddenly, he grasps my arm and starts hauling me across the floor.
Even with all the mayhem going on, I take a second to revel in the joy of Wes actuallytouching me.
He chose to do that.
“Maximus said we should head for the library,” I shout.
It’s so loud, I don’t know if he can hear me. I’m also turned around and have no idea which way the library is.
Wes takes us around the far side of the stage. “We can get through here. Hurry now.” He pushes open a door that leads to a corridor.
Several people are huddled inside. Wes ignores them, decisively leading me who-knows-where, but never releasing his grip.
The noise is muffled now as we stop outside a door.
“Here,” Wes says. “This is right.”
As soon as the doors shut behind us, Wes lets out a sigh. The room is quiet and dimly lit, with just a few low sconces on the wall.
