Page 21 of To Keep A Wolf
Tripp.
His matter-of-factness cuts through the haze of hallucination. It’s my first clue that this might be real.
Pushing Levi away, I lean back so I can look at them both.
They look down at me, faces full of concern. Levi’s expression is softer, though still full of intensity. Tripp, however, is a splash of cold water as he curls his lip and scans my body.
“You look like shit,” he announces. “Again. What the fuck, Mac? You can’t stay out of trouble, can you?”
It’s real.
I sob again, wincing at the pain the movement brings.
“Whoa, kidding,” Tripp says.
Another scream sounds, and Levi tries to soothe me, but Tripp is all business.
“This is not a cuddle sesh, bro.”
“Grey didn’t tell us the fucking bullet was laced with poison,” Levi hisses.
“For real?” Tripp leans in to look at my shoulder then swears.
“I’m going to kill Jadick,” Levi says.
“Later,” Tripp says. “We stick to the plan until she’s safe.”
“We need to get her the fuck out of here,” Levi says, lifting me into his arms. “Now.”
“You don’t have to fucking tell me,” Tripp mutters.
He starts for my bedroom door, but it bursts open before I can tell them how crazy this is. That they’re here at all. That they think they can just walk out the front entrance like Jadick won’t kill them on sight.
Grey stands in the open doorway, chest heaving with labored breaths. Otherwise, he’s in one piece. “You have two minutes to get down the back staircase and out the staff exit through the kitchen,” he says. “After that, I have to try to kill you again.”
“Try being the operative word,” Tripp says.
Grey doesn’t bother to respond. He’s already gone.
“We have to move quickly,” Levi says, looking down at me. “It’s going to hurt.”
Somewhere in the house, something crashes. Furniture maybe. And glass.
I cling to Levi, not caring whether my grip is too tight or my helplessness is too humiliating. “Go,” I gasp. “As fast as you have to. Just don’t stop.”
He nods and looks at Tripp. “Lead the way, Janitor Tripp.”
Tripp’s out the door like a shot.
He knows the way, thanks to his bathroom duties, and he moves like a shadow. Like he and Levi trained to do for so long after defecting from Crigger’s authority years ago. Even with me in his arms, Levi glides softly from shadow to shadow. His footsteps make no sound as he and Tripp make their way down the back stairs and through the staff halls.
No one stops us.
I have no idea how that’s possible.
This place is like a prison. But today—tonight?—in this unreadable gray light, Levi and Tripp are ghosts.
And now, so am I.
