Chapter 202

Suki:

I had somehow managed to convince that selfish bitch to find us a safe place, and thankfully she didn’t stick around for the night. I would never have let her stay and act like a hero.

The minute I closed the latch and walked down, I noticed the way Joshua and Jack were looking at me.

“What happened?” I asked, confused.

“Do you ever wonder if that girl outside is the hero in everybody’s life?” Jack asked, his hand pressed against his wounds. I frowned.

“Well, she might be. She didn’t care that there was a fucking Wendigo when she came to save her crusader Ian. She fought like hell alone and even saved me from the Wendigo,” Joshua said. I stood there watching them in disbelief, I didn’t know why they talked about her so much.

“Really? Wow, this one is crazy,” Jack said, and I felt a weird ache in my veins, almost like jealousy. There was no need for them to talk about her in front of me.

“Yeah, or maybe don’t you think she’s trying to trap all the guys? That’s why she’s trying to save them all,” I suggested, and I watched the little smirk on Jack’s face.

“Not everyone is an attention seeker like you, Suki,” Jack said. Those words hit me hard.

“That’s not true, she’s not an attention seeker,” Joshua defended, but I was so upset with Jack I ignored him.

There was only one person I truly cared about in that moment, and that was Jack. If only I could tell him I was willing to go after him to save him and not Joshua, then he’d see how big of a fool he sounded making those comments about me.

“So you do think Clementine is a hero?” I said, folding my arms across my chest. “Isn’t she? You stood on the other side of the road watching me almost get crushed by the Wendigo and buried under the debris. Suki, you didn’t come closer, she fought alone.” That was all Joshua said as Jack started to shake his head.

“You know, when I was with her squadmates, I noticed how they respect her. Now I know why. They truly found a gem, those lucky bastards,” Jack said, shaking his head.

I watched their faces in disbelief. They were already putting me down so much. At that moment I realized it was true, Clementine was everywhere.

She gave everyone the impression that if anyone wanted to be safe, they should come to her. I remembered Matthias and how he trusted her with Jessie.

No one was going to bring up that she failed to save Jessie, they only remembered her accomplishments. That irritated me so much.

There was a knock at the door. It was Clementine, coming back to remind us she existed. I was so fucking annoyed when I heard her voice.

“Suki, open the fucking door!” Joshua hissed at me. I turned and gave him a look of disbelief.

“Why the heck are you so eager to open the door? It’s not like you have a chance with her,” I said, watching Joshua frown.

“I don’t want a chance with her. What the fuck is wrong with you? You know I only love you, but you need to open the door. She’s out there,” he blurted in one breath, giving me a disbelieving look.

“Come on, why are you looking at us? Fucking open the door.” Jack hissed, and that was the part I hated most, the way he defended her.

I gave them a blunt look, letting them know I wasn’t going to open the door. She was going to stand there and get killed.

“I cannot believe you, Suki,” Joshua grunted, and Jack gave me a quizzical look. At that moment I realized, if anything happened to that bitch outside, they’d blame me.

At the same time, Clementine managed to pry the latch open. Before she could get in, I pretended I was the one opening it. But before they could see, I ran upstairs and shoved her back.

“What is going on? What is taking so long?” Joshua yelled from downstairs. The latch had a very narrow opening, and after that there were stairs.

Half the stairs were hidden by a wall, so they couldn’t really see what was happening upstairs or outside.

I stabbed her quickly, and I blamed the two downstairs for it. They had made me so angry by calling her a hero and comparing me to her, that broke me. It pushed me to do something I would never have done otherwise.

Once I stabbed her, I started to turn away, planning to tell them I had opened the door for her. But she had been snatched.

The Wendigos took her. Of course I wouldn’t admit I was the one who got someone killed out of jealousy. Clementine was doing what everyone expected me to do.

As I moved to leave, Clementine crawled and grabbed my leg, trying to hold on. I was going to stop her no matter what.

I saw a Wendigo arriving, so I grabbed Clementine, pulled her up by the arms, and pushed her toward the Wendigo.

I stood at the entrance, ready to run, when something else came at us with brutal speed. A massive wolf exploded into view. It was enormous, two-toned, half black, half white underneath.

It was terrifying. Its claws were huge and its canines were massive, almost jaguar-like. I couldn’t figure out exactly what it was. Its eyes were all white with a single dark dot in each.

The wolf rushed in and scooped Clementine up, holding her so gently it confused me. It laid her on the ground, howled, and the whole place shook. Then it sprang to its feet and charged at me.

I couldn’t move. It slammed into my back, then swung, striking the side of my stomach.

I felt my bones break. Pain exploded through my body and I was thrown to the side. The next thing I knew, I landed at the feet of a Wendigo.