Page 22 of Insanium
He chuckled. “What, don’t trust me to guard your privacy? After last night, I’m pretty sure there are no secrets left between us.”
“Making me come and watching me sleep is one thing; observing me pee is another. There’s romantic, and then there’s just creepy, Mr. Sinclair.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll stand guard outside. The gallant knight at his post.” He laughed, raising his hands in surrender.
“Keep the dragons at bay,” I said, heading into the bathroom with a playful roll of my eyes. His laughter followed me, a sound that made the morning seem just a bit brighter. After a quick refresher, I re-emerged, shooting him a cheeky grin. “Your turn. Four minutes—tick tock.”
“Geez, with you on timing, who needs the Game Makers?”
“Just keeping us on our toes. Don’t want you slacking on me now,” I shot back, my tone light but firm.
He disappeared into the bathroom, and I paced the room, eyes scanning every corner and shadow to make sure nothing and no one got the drop on us. When Hael reappeared, his hair was neatly finger-combed, and a hint of mouthwash wafted offhis breath. “Look at you, all fresh and minty,” I teased, giving him a cursory inspection. “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be. Let’s do this.”
As we merged into the main hallway, we regrouped with Jerome and Maya, who were already waiting for everyone else and looking nicely refreshed. Kristy and her roommate, who was casually munching on a strip of bacon, joined us shortly after. I raised an eyebrow at the sight, unable to resist commenting.
“Did you not read the description?”
He shrugged and kept chewing. “Tastes fine to me,” he mumbled through a mouthful.
I exchanged a glance with Hael. “To each their own, I guess.”
Jerome stared at the guy slack-jawed, shaking his head slightly. “You know that’s human meat, right?” He shifted his attention to Janice. “That dude you were in hysterics about? Pretty sure that’s your guy in his mouth.”
“What?” She looked at the guy, her eyes widening in horror just like his were.
“You’re lying,” he retorted, the accusation coming out garbled as he began to gag.
“You didn’t read the place card or find the spelling off?” Maya questioned. “I wasn’t going near that food.”
“Ah, shit.” The guy turned and ran back into his room, presumably for the toilet. He didn’t make it but a few steps before he was throwing up the contents of the platter.
If he dropped dead, it would be natural selection at its best.
“That’s so sick—no pun intended.”
“Kenzie.”
I turned at the sound of Aisha’s voice and moved away from the vomiting boy, snagging Hael’s pinky with mine to bring him along.
“What’s up with him? No, never mind that. What were you two doing?“ she asked, her gaze flicking between me and Hael.“I waited for you to come get me and was starting to think you’d found a way out without me.”
“Aisha.” I placed a hand over my heart. “How dare you suggest I’d ever leave you behind! I’d knock this whole house down before that ever came to pass.”
She chuckled, the tension in her shoulders easing slightly. “I’m sorry, I know you would. But you’d also try and make it to the end on your own if you thought it would get me out of here sooner.”
That was true. “Did you get any rest?”
“Yeah, a bit. Enough to keep going, at least. How about you two? You look …” Aisha’s voice trailed off as she gave Hael and me a more critical once-over. “Oh. I see,” she finally added, her grin telling.
“We simply spent some of our night strategizing … intensely.”
“Intensely, right. I’ll bet,” she replied with a laugh.
I shrugged nonchalantly. “We’re still wholly focused onJudicium. Just added a bit of personal teamwork.”
“Sounds like a strategic advantage to me,” Raphael chimed in good-naturedly.
