Hunted (House of Night #5)(39)

I say "somehow" because I was busy screaming in pain and I wasn't really paying close attention to the logistics of what was actually going on.

Next thing I knew Heath had dropped lightly to the tunnel floor and Erik handed me back to him.

"I'm going to run ahead and find Darius. You keep following the main tunnel. Don't take any of the turnoffs. Stay where it's best lit and I'll come back to you with Darius."

"Who is Darius?" Heath said, but he was speaking to empty air. Erik had already sprinted away.

"He's lots faster than I thought he was," I tried to say, but a weak jumble of words was all that whispered from my mouth. And I noticed the lantern that I was sure had gone out right before I'd climbed up into the basement was lit again. "That's weird" was what I meant to say. Instead, I barely heard myself mumble something that sounded like "Thhhhat's weeeer" over the pounding of my heart in my ears.

"Shhh," Heath soothed as he started out as quickly as he could without jiggling me so badly that he made me scream again. "You stay with me, Zo. Don't close your eyes. Keep watching me. Keep with me." Heath kept talking and talking, which was really annoying because my chest hurt really bad and all I wanted to do was close my eyes and go to sleep.

"Gotta rest," I murmured.

&ldqu_ }nd I&rsooto;No! There's no resting! Hey, let's pretend like we're in that Titanic movie you used to watch over and over again. You know, the one with Leonardo DiStupio."

"DiCaprio," I whispered, irritated at the fact that after all these years Heath was still jealous that when I was a kid I'd had a crush on Leonardo. Or as I liked to think of him, "my boyfriend Leo."

"What ever," he said. "Remember how you said if you'd been Rose you would really never have let him go? Okay, well, let's do a little reenactment. I'm the g*y-looking DiCaprio and you're Rose. You have to keep your eyes open and on my face, or you'll have let me go and I'll turn into a huge g*y Popsicle."

"Dork," I managed.

Heath grinned. "Just never let me go, Rose. Okay?"

Okay, it was a stupid reenactment, but I'll admit that he hooked me. It had driven me crazy since the first time I'd seen the movie (and bawled my eyes out--and I do mean one of those shoulder-heaving, ugly snot cries). Stupid Rose says she'll never let him go, but then she does. And why couldn't she have scooted over and let Leo/Jack get on that floating board thing with her? There was plenty of room. So while my foggy mind circled round and round that heart-wrenching scene from one of my favorite movies, Heath held me tight in his arms and ran.

He'd just followed a gentle curve in the tunnel when Erik found us. Darius was at his shoulder. Heath came to a stop and it was then that I realized how hard he was breathing. Huh. I wondered abstractly if I should be embarrassed that I was heavy.

Darius took one look at me and started barking commands at Erik.

"I'm taking her to Stevie Rae's room. I'll get there well ahead of you, but I'll need this human to join me there, so show him where to go. Then you get the Twins and Damien. Wake up Aphrodite. We may need her, too." Darius turned to Heath. "I will take Zoey."

Heath hesitated. I could tell he didn't want to let me go. Darius's stony look softened. "Do not fear. I am a Son of Erebus and I give you my oath that I will always protect her."

Reluctantly Heath transferred me to Darius's strong arms. The warrior looked grimly down at me. "I'm going to move fast. Remember to trust me."

I nodded weakly, and even though I knew what was coming next, I was still amazed as Darius took off, moving with a speed that blurred the walls of the tunnel and made my head spin. Once before I'd experienced Darius's amazing ability to practically teleport from one place to another, and it wasn't any less breathtaking the second time.

It seemed only seconds had passed when Darius came to an abrupt halt in front of the blanketed entrance to Stevie Rae's room. He shoved inside. Stevie Rae was sitting up, rubbing her eyes and peering blurrily at us. Then her mouth opened in utter shock and she bounded off the bed.

"Zoey! What happened?" "Raven Mocker," Darius said. "Clear those things off that table."

Stevie Rae knocked the stuff off the table that sat by nketa!ditthe end of her bed. I wanted to protest that she really shouldn't make such a mess. I mean, I was sure she'd broken a glass or two and sent a whole bunch of DVDs flying across the room, but not only was my voice not working right, but I was really busy trying not to pass out from the terrible pain that was slicing through the top part of my body as Darius placed me on the table.

"What can we do? What can we do?" Stevie Rae repeated the question. I thought she looked like a little lost girl and I noticed that she was crying, too.

"Take her hand. Talk to her. Keep her conscious," Darius said. And then he turned away and started throwing stuff out of the first aid kit.

"Zoey, can you hear me?" I could feel that Stevie Rae had hold of my hand, but just barely.

It took what felt like a superhuman effort, but I whispered, "Yeah."

Stevie Rae clutched my hand harder. "You're gonna be okay. 'Kay? Nothin' can happen to you, 'cause I don't know what I'd do--" Her voice caught on a sob, and then she said, "You can't die 'cause you've always believed the best of me, so I've tried to be what you believe I am. Without you, well, I'm afraid the good in me will die, too, and I'll give in to the darkness. Plus, there are so many things I still need to tell you. Important things."