Hide(70)

Of course he didn’t belong with these people.

“Oh, shoot me then, you filthy little animal. It doesn’t matter. They’ll figure out you’ve escaped, and they’ll get more. Probably from Rulon. He’s always good for it. There’s doubtless a dud daughter or two he won’t mind shipping to us.” She glances at LeGrand, her smile coy.

LeGrand raises the rifle in one smooth movement. “I’ll kill you.”

“Once I’m dead, who knows who they’ll pick to replace you? You’re signing death warrants.”

“We’re not doing anything,” Ava spits. “Don’t turn this on us!”

“Aren’t you? You’re choosing to leave, knowing that someone else will have to take your place. Your whole generation is so selfish, it disgusts me. This was the most noble thing you could possibly have done with your lives, and instead you’re going to turn your backs and run, leaving someone else to die in your place.”

Ava lets go of the handgun and lifts her hands in the air, incredulous. “Do you even hear yourself? You’re batshit. Completely fucking batshit.”

“Watch your tongue,” Linda snaps. “I will not tolerate such language in my home.”

“Oh my god. If you love your legacy so much, sacrifice yourself.”

Linda scoffs. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you! All of us, gone. Then no one would be in charge. My grandparents sacrificed so we wouldn’t have to! We earned our success. We earned our lives. We earned this world, and I’ll be damned if I let you take it from us.”

“Come on.” Ava stands and gestures to Mack and LeGrand. This is pointless. She half feels like she’s back on Facebook, arguing with her pervy grandpa. Maybe she is losing her mind, after all. Pain delirium has set in. “Let’s go. We’re done here.”

“My father will send someone?” LeGrand asks, his voice soft.

“Oh, yes,” Linda replies. “He’s good for at least one replacement. He mentioned her when we spoke about you. Alma? Almera? Something like that.”

LeGrand swings the rifle, the butt catching the side of Linda’s temple. Her head snaps to the side, skin broken and blood finally ruining her hair.

Linda gasps in pain, blinking, still alive. Still conscious. It’s the first and only time LeGrand has struck anyone. It feels like someone else did it. He can see evidence of it, feel his heart racing, but he didn’t choose to hit her. It was automatic.

“How do you know it works?” Ava demands.

“What do you mean?” Linda groans, closing her eyes and shaking her head.

“I mean, how do you know it’s this deal with a devil that keeps you all successful and shit? You’re white. You’re well-off. Pretty sure people like you have been gliding through life for generations. No mystical protections needed.”

“Don’t pretend like I’ve had an easy life! You have no idea what I’ve had to do, to face, to decide in order to take care of my family, my people, my heritage.”

Ava laughs. “We read your journal. We know exactly what you’ve done. God. I can’t. I can’t talk with her anymore. Come on.” Ava stands and holds a hand out to Mack.

“What happens if the monster isn’t fed?” Mack asks. “Will it get out?”

“It will be fed, no matter what. I already told you. Besides, the gate keeps it bound.”

“Will you promise that LeGrand’s sister isn’t touched?”

“Mack,” Ava warns.

Linda looks up at this, eyes narrowing shrewdly. “In exchange for?”

“We go back in,” Mack says. “That buys you a day, and then you only need one more person.” Mack has finally figured out why it felt wrong to leave the park. They weren’t running away. They were hiding, just in a different place. Mack would hide, and someone would die in her place, just like before. Just like Maddie. And this time she knows it.

Never again.

“Mack!” Ava grabs Mack’s shoulder, but Mack doesn’t stand, doesn’t move, doesn’t look away from Linda.

“Two more,” Linda corrects. “It won’t eat her.” She jerks her chin toward Ava, her tone indicating she thinks that’s an insulting thing to say. Lowly Ava, not good enough to be devoured by a monster.

“Okay,” Mack says. “Two more. But not Almera. She’s safe forever.”

“Stop.” Ava tugs on Mack’s arm, trying to get her up, trying to move her. “Stop.”

Linda is fixed on Mack, a shark on the scent of blood. She can turn this around. She’s still going to win. Of course she is. It’s her divine right to win. “I can guarantee that. But only if I’m alive.”

“You swear?” LeGrand asks. “I go in, and Almera stays safe. Really safe. You take her away from my father and put her in a good house. A place where they’ll take care of her.”

“I swear on the lives of my grandparents. On their sacrifice. I will see to it that your sister is safe and cared for, for the rest of her life.”

“You can’t be serious!” Ava lets go of Mack’s arm and paces, but the pain is too much. It’s all too much. She can’t catch her breath as her vision tunnels, and she leans heavily against the wall. “No. No.”