The fearless detective who sacrificed herself so the others had more time to hide.
Lenny, who still clutches my hand tightly.
Reece.
The crying man who broke into a run the second the game began.
And…
And the man with the dead eyes and dispassionate stare.
He still has those dead, impassive eyes, though his face is now coated in blood. So much blood.
Five bodies surround him, all lying in sickly red puddles.
“Robbie?” Lenny whispers, though her voice is too quiet for him to hear.
This man—Robbie—continues to breathe heavily, his apathetic gaze on the dagger in his hand. He must’ve stolen it from one of the POP members. He slowly lifts his gaze, and those deadened eyes land on me first. Then they shift to the side, focusing on Dominic, then Beckett, then Zane.
Finally, they lock in on Lenny, still disguised in the cloak and mask.
The change is instantaneous. Unbridled rage like I’ve never seen before distorts his face, and his eyes flare like the fires from hell itself have somehow portaled into those inky depths. Hebares his teeth and takes a step closer, his dagger raised, rigid tension thrumming through his muscles?—
“It’s me! Robbie, it’s me!”
He hesitates, confusion splaying across his face, one eyebrow arching until it practically disappears in his hairline.
“Lenny?”
“It’s me. Oh god.” Lenny pulls her hand free from mine and stumbles forward. Robbie breaches the short distance between them and pulls her into his arms, resting his cheek on top of her head.
“I thought you were dead,” Robbie whispers, his voice muffled from speaking against the cloak on her head.
Quickly, Lenny explains what happened, and Robbie listens without interruption. He only glances up once when Dom steps forward, extending the second cloak and mask.
Robbie takes it and quickly changes into it.
“Come with me,” Robbie tells Lenny, ignoring the four of us completely. It’s obvious he doesn’t trust us, and who can blame him? Anyone with eyes can see that all of them have been through shit I can’t even begin to comprehend. They’ve learned to rely only on each other.
“But…” Lenny glances helplessly in our direction.
“I think I found an escape,” Robbie continues, this time lowering his voice to a whisper, as if afraid we’ll overhear and try to stop them.
I hesitate, wanting to say something but knowing it’s not my place. I can’t force either of them to stay with us, even if I think it’s idiotic for them to travel on their own. They already had their free will stripped away more times than I care to count.
Dom says what I don’t dare to. “We shouldn’t separate.”
Robbie bares his teeth at Dominic. “We can’t stay with you four. She”—he gestures toward me, his scowl deepening, creating taut lines in his ragged face—“is the poster child forPOP. The precious goddess. Do you really think we’ll remain incognito when we’re standing beside her?”
My heart and stomach sink simultaneously at the revelation that…he’s right. Aria painted a target on my back by declaring me as this ethereal, mythical goddess.
“Okay, you’re right,” I agree. “We’ll head in the opposite direction. Set up some fake leads, tell the members we saw you down there.”
“Thank you,” Lenny whispers, clutching Robbie’s hand like it’s the only thing keeping her tethered to reality.
Robbie doesn’t thank us, but he does give us a curt nod of acknowledgment as he slides the mask into place.
“Wait!” I say, lunging forward before they can take more than a few steps. “Reece Whipers…the man who was with you… Have you seen him?”