“Oh, shit,” Greg breathed. “No, I wasn’t. He was off somewhere. Hazel, what if he’s…”
What if he’s somewhere in this room with us, unconscious… or worse?My thighs smacked against metal chair legs. “Andre,” I yelled, kicking around the floor, hoping and not hoping I’d find his body. “If you can hear us, make a noise. Kick something if you can. Andre, please…”
“Andre! Andre!” Something metal clattered and Greg swore.
A bright shaft of light fell over the room. I squinted into the brightness.What the fuck now?
A shadow moved across the beam of light. “Hazy? Are you in here?”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Quinn?” I choked out, my knees buckling.
“Hazy?” The shadow moved toward me. A warm hand circled my arm. I lurched myself toward him. My foot caught the edge of a metal chair. Without my hands to break the fall I went down hard, sprawling across the ground at Quinn’s feet. A spasm of pain rocked my body.
“Owww,” I moaned, rolling over and curling my legs to my chest.
Quinn pulled me into a sitting position. “Hazy, what have they done to you?”
“I’m fine,” I cried. “Can you see Andre anywhere? Greg’s here too but we can’t find Andre… They made us drink cleaning liquid. He might be…”
I couldn’t make the word pass my lips.
“I’ll look.” Quinn circled the room twice, coughing as he kicked aside the metal chairs and checked under every table and behind every box. “Fuck, it reeks in here. Greg, mate, you need to lay off the beans. Nope, he’s not here. What the hell’s that noise in the walls?”
Relief flooded through me, to be replaced a moment later by fear. If Andre wasn’t here, where was he? Had they done something else to him?
“We have to find him,” I murmured, trying to force myself to my feet again.
“Get back here,” Quinn growled, grabbing my arms. He tugged at the ropes. My hands dropped free. I flexed the fingers, wincing at the red welts where the rope had dug in, while Quinn freed Greg.
“Can you guys walk?” Quinn leaned under my shoulder, practically dragging me toward the door. “We’ve got to get to that meeting. Trey needs our help.”
“I… I think so.” I tried to stand under my own weight, but my knees buckled. Quinn looped my arm over his and half dragged, half carried me out of there.
Halfway up the stairs, I had to stop to throw up again. Greg fell on the landing, his face deathly pale.
“Shit, man, you don’t look good.” Quinn slid his arms under Greg and hoisted him over his shoulder. “Hazel, I’m going to carry him the rest of the way, but I’ll be back for you.”
“It’s fine.” I hauled myself to my feet. “I’ll manage.”
Quinn shot me a desperate look, but he continued up the stairs with Greg. I dragged my wretched body up behind them as fast as I could. We were on the main staircase that led up into the atrium, which meant the classroom we’d been in was deep beneath the school, near the gymnasium.
That explains the horrid smell and the scritching. And that’s why I had that vivid dream about being in the infirmary – because we’re near the god’s prison. His influence is stronger here.
Quinn raced for the open doors that led from the atrium down onto the quad. He had to stop there to set Greg down while he emptied his stomach again. I pitched myself across the quad, trying to ignore the pain shooting up my legs.We’re almost there. We’re so close…
The dining hall doors swung open. Courtney strutted out like a catwalk model, Tillie, Amber, Derek, and John flanking her. “Hazel, Greg, Quinn, so nice of you to join us,” she smirked. The doors swung shut behind her as she descended the steps toward us.
“You poisoned us,” I choked out. I pooled saliva in my mouth and spat at her. I was so weak it landed on the cobbles a foot in front of me. There was blood in it.
“Nonsense, silly. I can’t do anything to harm fellow members of the Eldritch Club. You can’t use that as an excuse for your own tardiness. Unfortunately, you’re too late. We’ve just adjourned the meeting after a very exciting vote.” Courtney twirled a string of blonde extensions around her finger and flashed a villainous smile. “You’re looking at the new president of the Eldritch Club.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
“I’m sorry, Hazy. I should have been faster.” Quinn collapsed on Trey’s couch. For the first time since he’d rescued us, I took a good look at him.
What I saw made my stomach churn.
