I can sense her itching to leave abruptly, even now.
Her powers are begging to implode.
55. The Endless Night
Sapphire
At least half of theprisoners remain on the shower floor.
Unresponsive.
Skin bright red with a faint steam permeating off their bodies.
The sight turns my stomach as I remain holding on to Niklaus’s deadweight as he falls in andout of consciousness, slumping over me. My body aches and quivers as I find it challenging to hold up his upper body. With his skin still wet, I fumble to get a stable grasp on him.
“You’re okay, big guy. I’m not letting you go.”
The room, the halls, the prison is a cathedral of moans and guttural cries for help.
But I force myself to tune out the noise. Niklaus is my only focus right now. The raw, blistering skin on his back causes me to slightly dissociate from the shock of it all.
“Sapphire!” Sophia shouts from the shower entrance. “Follow me. Hurry!”
Sophia is dry and unharmed. She slings Jack’s arm over her shoulder and moves diligently to get him away from the shower area.
“He’s too heavy!” I gasp, widening my stance to get a better hold on him.
Niklaus is easily over two hundred and twenty pounds. And I’m the weakest I’ve ever been in my life. There’s no way I can carry him back to our cages. At least, not without dragging him across the floor and further tearing up his skin.
“You have to! The sentinels will be here any minute to start jabbing the remaining inmates with hot pokers!”
Shit!
I whine, losing my slippery grip on his waist. But looking down at his singed back—the boiled skin, hot to the touch and still making a terrible sizzling sound…
It’s his scream that still bellows in the well of my mind.
That scream was gutting.
That scream won’t quiet in my thoughts.
I look down at his spine again. My eyes watering at the pain he must be in. Why would he do that for me? After everything that was just said? He didn’t have to cover my body with his.
The screams in my mind echo, bouncing off like an orchestra of anguish, an amphitheater terrorizing me from the inside out. I swallow down the doubts that keep creeping forward.
Of course I will carry him the rest of the way.
He just used his body has a human shield for me.
It could have meant my death.
I grunt, turning around and slinging his arms over my shoulders.
“Okay…I’m going to get us back to the cages, Niklaus. I promise. Just hang in there.”
Out of sheer will, I begin my walk across the damp floor. Because of Niklaus’s height, his feet drag across the floor. But I hunch over enough to ensure my back is a stable platform for him to rest against.
“I swear to God, Niklaus, I’m going to get us home. I’ll get us home, and you’ll never have to see my face again. Just please hang in there!”
