by Kasi Blake
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Bay-Lee hurried out the door and down the hallway to the elevator, Nick close behind. Once inside the glass tube, she told the elevator to take them to the first floor. Nick stood off to the side, arms folded over his chest and an impatient look on his face as if he was preparing to explode. “You aren’t coming on my date with me,” she snapped, body trembling.
The elevator finally began to lower them to the library.
“Gavin is totally wrong for you.”
“How would you know?”
“You are going to be Legend someday, but that kid won’t make it to Warrior. I guarantee it. Do you really want to spend your life with a guy who is beneath you?”
“He’s sweet,” she said.
“Sweet?” Nick snorted. “When monsters attack you during your honeymoon, will sweet save your life?”
The elevator stopped and she bolted, wiping sweaty palms on her jeans while walking as fast as she could through the library without running. Her long legs usually kept her well ahead of the pack, but Nick matched her stride, no problem. His legs were longer, muscular. If she didn’t find a way to get rid of him soon, he would start a fight with Gavin over nothing.
The library was empty with only the minimum of lighting. Bay-Lee darted for the door, but she didn’t get far. Nick grabbed her by the wrist. “Are you in love in him?” he asked and she stumbled. An angry edge saturated his voice. “I don’t believe this! How bad does a person’s eyesight have to be to hook up with that loser?”
“Shut up,” she grumbled. “Gavin is not a loser, and you sound like a jealous boyfriend.”
“I am not jealous. I’m just trying to keep you from making a huge mistake and getting hurt. Jealous?” He snorted again. “Why would I be jealous? I have a girlfriend and she is way better than you.”
Bay-Lee suspected he was lying. “Girlfriend, huh? Where have you been keeping her, in your closet?”
“She arrived from England last night. That’s why I was at the club, waiting for her.”
“What’s her name then? It’s not Stephanie, is it? Because I already know about your fake girlfriend from your rock and roll days. Keisha told me.”
Nick’s jaw tightened. He opened his mouth to respond but didn’t get a word out. A giant hairy blur snatched Nick away like a hawk grabbing its prey. They flew through the window. Glass shattered. A grunt of pain burst past Nick’s lips as he hit the ground with a bone-crunching thud. The thing rolled away. It charged like an angry bull, moving into the forest with the speed of a runaway train. In fact, it moved so fast she barely saw it. Big, brown, and hairy, the monster seemed to have huge claws and a snarling mouth filled with extra sharp teeth.
Were there any monsters out there without sharp teeth and claws? If so, she’d love to meet them.
Bay-Lee hurried outside. Before she could check Nick for injuries, he struggled to his feet and gently pushed her away. Cuts covered his face. Blood dripped, seemingly unnoticed by him, onto his shirt. Their wary gazes followed the path the monster had taken. “What was that?” she asked.
“You’ve never seen a border monster before?” He raised a pant leg and pulled a dagger from its sheath, securely tied to his ankle. “They usually don’t cross over. Something major must be wrong for it to be on this side.”
The nearly blind monster banged into trees on its wild rush to get away. “What do we do?”
Nick grinned arrogantly. “I don’t know what you’re going to do, but I’m going to kill that thing. You can go for help or stand around and take pictures. Your choice.”
“You can’t go after it alone.”
“Worried about me?” His expression, part smug and part triumphant made her want to punch him in the nose.
“That thing is huge.”
“Stay here.” He walked backwards, still talking. “If I don’t return, sound the alarm.”
He spun around and ran full-throttle into the forest, disappearing before she had time to take another breath. Bay-Lee glanced over her shoulder at the school. Windows blazed with light. Inside were dozens of hunters ready for a kill, perhaps even itching for one. Her brain told her to go for help, but her heart warned her not to let Nick out of her sight.
Bay-Lee chased him. Legs and arms pumping, she ran as fast as she could. Cutting through the trees, she found him and kept him in eyeshot as she tried to keep up with him. The monster was a few feet ahead, but Nick was catching up fast. In her mind she saw Nick jump, tackling the monster to the ground. They rolled over and over. A fight to the death followed.
But that’s not what happened.
The monster jumped into the infamous hole Gavin had warned her about.
Nick stopped. His gaze swung this way and that, searching for something. Finding a thick vine, he cut one end hanging off a tree and glanced back at her before putting his plan into motion.
Bay-Lee shook her head, afraid for him. “No! Don’t do it. Just let it go.”
He winked. There wasn’t time to stop him. Nick dove head-first into the hole and vanished from sight. The long vine went with him, unraveling from the tree like a garden hose. She watched in horror as it continued to disappear, and she realized it wasn’t connected to anything. He’d cut the wrong vine.
The end came snapping into view. It whipped along the ground, heading for the hole. Bay-Lee ran and leaped in the air. Her body landed in the dirt, inches from the disappearing vine, and she reached for it with desperate hands. Fingers grabbed hold. With Nick’s weight on the other end, it dragged her toward the gaping hole. Like a wide open mouth, the hole waited to devour her.
She flipped over into a sitting position and leaned back in an effort to stop the rushing forward motion. For a moment it continued to drag her through grass and dirt and over broken sticks. She arched her back and pulled hard. Her arms felt like they were being torn out of their sockets. In pain, she gritted her teeth and refused to let go. The vine went slack. She fell backwards on the cool earth.
Bay-Lee bolted upright and stared at the hole with wide, unblinking eyes. Her mind went numb. Nick was gone. What had Gavin said about the hole? It was a bottomless pit where they sometimes threw monsters? Nick could be dead.
And she hadn’t even told him how she felt about him.
Tears filled her eyes, distorting her vision. She was in love with Nick, hopelessly in love. It didn’t matter no one wanted them together, didn’t matter he acted like a jerk more often than not, and didn’t matter if he couldn’t return her feelings. He was her first love. Stupidity had kept her from telling him. Now she’d never know what it was like to kiss him.
A hand shot up and slapped the ground. Another joined it. Nick’s dirty face peered over the edge. There were scrapes on his cheeks and jaw. Bay-Lee crawled to him. Her hands grasped his arms as tight as she could, and she pulled on him. Nick collapsed next to her in the dirt, both of them gasping for breath. Her hand rested on her rising and falling stomach.
“Does this... happen often?”
He turned his head to squint at her. “What? Monsters throwing… hunters… through windows? Hardly ever.”
“Did you get it?”
“Nah. I was too busy… clinging to the side… trying to save my own neck.”
She struggled to sit up. “Should we notify Van? Sound the alarm? What’s the protocol?”
Nick’s lips parted on a reply, but the loud rumbling of an angry monster in the pit drowned out what he was going to say. The hairy beast flew into the air and landed beside them like an out-of-control Jack in the Box, answering the question on the rumored depth of the hole. If it was bottomless, the monster hadn’t fallen all the way. She stared at it, frozen. The beast was too big, too scary to be real. Bay-Lee froze, afraid to move a muscle. The monster lowered its head like a charging rhino. It was going to trample her to death.
Chapter Sixteen
INJURED
