“Listen, you two wait here. Make sure this hole doesn’t get discovered.” He pointed at me and Theo “us four will search around.”
“You sure?” I asked sceptically “I-“
“Trust me.” His eyes were trained on Theo “if he coughs one more bloody time I might strangle him.”
He gasped indignantly, but all I could note was that he still hadn’t removed his hand from his chest, which he was rubbing in what was clearly meant to be a subtle way.
“Go on, then.” I mumbled “try to be quick.”
I watched them jog up the stairs before turning to my companion- boyfriend? Fuckbuddy?- and asking “it bothering you? Your chest?”
I flinched at another scream.
“Not much.” He smiled but it appeared forced, not reaching his eyes “heartburn.”
“You get heartburn?” I questioned doubtfully.
He shrugged miserably, coughing into his elbow so forcefully he was reduced to crouching down onto the cold stone floor.
I placed a hand between his shoulder blades, feeling the flex of the tight cords of muscle underneath.
“You should have stayed.” I chided him gently.
“I wanted to help.” He croaked.
“Yeah, but now you’re stuck here and I’m stuck babysitting and we’re not helping anyone.”
He cast his eyes away from mine dejectedly. I felt a stab of guilt- I hadn’t meant to make him feel bad about it, but Iwasright, and Iwasfrustrated that I was being useless.
I ran a hand through his hair, only to paused at the scorching heat emanating from his forehead “you didn’t mention having a fever.”
He groaned loudly “do you have to noticeeverything?”
“Jesus Christ, Theo, you can’t-“
Another scream interrupted me.
I sighed loudly, feeling a little like slamming my head against the nearest wall as I slumped down beside him.
We must have been sitting there for an hour before Dean and Alex came running down the steps, followed by other menwho thankfully were relatively unharmed. I gasped when I clocked on to who the bloody form in Dean’s arms was- Stryker, unconscious yet trembling, bleeding, face so beaten and bruised it was unrecognisable,nakedand his body in no better state than his face, shoes discarded someplace, feet torn and bleeding. Horror and dread filled my body. Theo whimpered from beside me.
“Okay, so, good news is we’ve got most of them.” Alex panted “bad news, we got found out. Todd and Nico are holding them off, but we havereallygot to go.
I didn’t need to be told twice.
CHAPTER 31
Matthew
“Heartburn?” I asked flatly, rhetorically, staring at the wall “how can heartburn turn into a chest infection, huh, Theo?”
He didn’t reply. He shook his head miserably and muttered something under his breath as he pushed off the medical bed and to his feet, accepting the antibiotics off Octavia “how’s Stryker?” He asked in a grating voice, avoiding my gaze.
He was in a private room somewhere at the back and I hadn’t heard anything of him since we’d returned.
She flinched “he wouldn’t let anyone touch him. I think Jack’s with him.”
My brow furrowed. We’d gotten back a day ago and Jack had just left on a side quest with two others- I didn’t know any side quest that took so little time. Octavia must have read the confused expression on my face, because she murmured “I think it was nothing. False alarm. Or maybe just something to get him to stop hammering Johnathan about Stryker. I don’t know.”
