Page 42 of Deathless
But I was transfixed, held in place by some kind of grim fascination. I’d seen lots of terrified expressions, my own included. The brain moved the muscles of the face to express fear and terror all in similar ways, whether that was fear of death, torture, or the unknown. And yet, Rori’s fear was unlike anything I’d ever seen before.
She was rapidly losing control of herself to something already inside her. I saw her hands working like she wanted to grab her men for comfort, yet she refused to draw them any closer for their own protection. Even now, consumed by her fear, she was only thinking of them.
“Don’t be fucking idiot heroes and try to save me,” she said. “I’m done for. Go save everyone else.”
“Fuck everyone else,” Torr spat. He reached for her, she backed away, and he only advanced closer. “You’re all that matters in this.”
“You’re not fucking listening!” Rori screamed. She dropped to the ground again like a ragdoll and sprang back up before the guys could get much closer.
This time, Torr and Santos backed away, their eyes meeting Rori’s soulless black ones.
“Are you really surprised, Aurora?” The entity used Rori’s mouth to speak as she went to the porch railing and picked up the gun. “Men never listen.” She slapped the loaded magazine into the grip. “Not when we say ‘no, stop, it hurts’.” With ease and proficiency that could only come from Rori’s muscle memory, she pulled back the slide. “When we’re smarter than them, they ignore us or steal our ideas.”
Her eyes were black as tar now, without a flicker of the real Rori left.
She was really gone.
And the thing animating her body held a loaded gun.
“Hudson,” Devin hissed, tugging at my shirt.
Everyone tensed as Rori lifted the gun in the air, a sinister smile on her face as she pointed the barrel at the sky. “Maybe you’ll listen this time.Run.”
The gun fired and, like the start of a race for our lives, we scattered.
13
DEVIN
The moment she raised that gun, my only instinct was to cover Hudson. I shoved at him, forcing him to start running while I stayed on his heels. Another shot fired and that kicked up our speed, our heads ducking low. The bullet never touched us, but it was close enough that I could smell it in the air.
“We’ve got to get everyone out!” Torr yelled, drawing his own gun which he aimed behind him as he ran.
“No, don’t!” Santos grabbed at his arm, trying to wrestle the gun away.
Torr kept the weapon out of his reach, pushing on Santos’ chest with his free hand. “Stop. It’s not her anymore,” he told the Butcher.
Santos started faltering. He couldn’t stop staring at Rori, who was advancing on us at a leisurely pace like she had all the time in the world.
“She’s still in there,” he protested weakly. “We can’t abandon her like this.”
“Santos, listen to me.” Torr clapped a hand on the other man’s nape, dragging him along to keep him moving. “Wewillget her back. But that thing is going to kill us all if we don’t get out of here right the fuck now.”
Another shot rang out, making Torr and Santos jump as a small dust-cloud erupted at their feet.
“Keep running,” the odd voice called from Rori’s mouth. “Run as far and fast as you can. You can’t escape me.”
Torr looked at me. “Evacuate the frat house, no time to pack anything. Double or triple up on bikes, I don’t care. Just get everyone to leave. We’re taking the main road out.”
“Okay.”
That was all I said before shoving Hudson again, forcing him to take a hard left toward the front door of fighters’ house.
“You get everyone in the common areas. Open up the garage and get the bikes started,” I said. “I’ll go room to room.”
We entered the house together and immediately parted, him yelling at the men lounging around the kitchen and living room while I hoofed it up the stairs.
I didn’t bother knocking, just blasted doors open with my foot or shoulder, screaming at the top of my lungs that we needed to move. Thankfully no one was delaying too much, and the commotion I heard from downstairs indicated that Hudson’s evacuation was working as well.
