Page 90 of (Mostly) Human Resources

Panic was surely the reaction she was looking for, but Nic couldn’t prevent the way his body immediately jerked against the restraints, trying to lunge at Agnes. His wrists and ankles ached, but he strained against the bonds anyway. His heartbeat became frantic as he watched the cultist approach Alexys.

“Leave her alone,” Nic snapped. “I swear to God, I will make this night absolute hell for you if you touch a single hair on her head.”

“And how exactly will you do that?” Agnes flashed a cruel smile at him and laughed. “You’re tied up and useless, remember?”

Nic hated her because it was true.

Nic hated himself because he couldn’t do anything about it.

There were no words that would let him talk their way out of dying that night. No amount of knowledge, and no amount of bargaining. Nic finally acknowledged how hopeless their situation was and let it loose in a wordless groan that ripped past his clenched teeth. Desperation was making his head spin.

Nic jerked and fought against the restraints as Agnes laughed.

Useless. Sofuckinguseless.

Alexys groaned, and Nic looked over in time to watch someone tie ropes around her ankles and wrists. They bound her arms behind her back and left her kneeling on the ground. Only the firm grasp of two captors on either arm kept her from landing face-first in the dirt.

Nic was too late—he was always too late and never enough.

Her beautiful blue eyes blinked open, bleary but looking right at him. They knocked the air from his lungs and would have brought him to his knees had he been standing.

Hetrulycared for her.

Nic was …falling in lovewith her. He’d been a fool not to know until that moment.

And now, because of him, they were both going to die before he’d ever get the chance to tell her.

CHAPTER 48

“Under no circumstances should you make any deals with creatures that show signs of intelligence, entities of unknown origin, or unclassified beings. Should you be offered a deal or bargain, notify your HR team immediately.”

Entity Employee Handbook: Warden Edition

Her head ached. The skull-splitting pain lanced down her neck and drew a hiss through her teeth as she tried to look around.

Alexys was knelt on the ground, her arms tied behind her back, her ankles bound tightly together. Before her was a stone table. The surface was completely smooth and stained nearly black with layers of dried blood that spilled down the sides and onto the dirt floor. On top of the stone slab was Nic.

His glasses were gone, no doubt lost in the scuffle to get them there. His pants were ripped at the knees, the skin raw and bleeding beneath. His once-white shirt was covered in dust and dirt from being dragged through the mine. He looked at her, gray eyes nearly glowing with fear in the lantern light.

Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest. The familiar feeling of panic, her closest companion on this trip, reared its head at theedge of her consciousness. She struggled to breathe, to hold the panic at bay while her mind raced to understand what she was seeing.

All those near-death experiences, all those times they should’ve died but didn’t, and theystillended up here. Death at the hands of a deranged mountain cult. It was all too much. Alexys’s panic mounted as one of the members stepped toward Nic, clutching in her hand an obsidian blade nearly as long as her forearm.

“No!” Alexys cried. “Please don’t, not him, please!” She was desperate. “You only need one, right? Just one sacrifice for your protection spell or whatever you’re doing?”

A younger man looked back at her. A confused scowl twisted his otherwise forgettable features. “You wanna take his place?”

“Yes, please. Take me, instead.” Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Alexys couldn’t look at Nic as she begged, “It’s all my fault, please, let me make this right.”

“Alexys, don’t you dare!” Nic barked, thrashing against his bindings. “She doesn’t mean it, just let her go, she won’t tell anyone about this.” His voice broke as he shouted.

One of the cult members forced a shred of fabric into Nic’s mouth, silencing his protests.

Alexys was grateful for it. She couldn’t let him talk her out of it. She needed the absolution. If anyone deserved to die there that night, it was her. Maybe, in some way, that would make up for Elliot. For everything.

“Please, let him go,” Alexys begged again. “Use me as your sacrifice, and let him go. I won’t fight, I promise.” She choked on her words, nearly blinded by her tears.

Her entire life, she’d tried to honor her dad’s legacy. Alexys was so proud of the work he had done as a Warden, and all she really wanted was to feelcloseto him. Wasn’t that why she joined Entity? Wasn’t that why she had such a chip on her shoulder? Despite it all, in that moment, on her knees begging to be sacrificed, she’d never felt closer to him. She knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that hewould have done the same. He wouldn’t have allowed a coworker to die on his watch. He would have done everything in his power to save them. And that was exactly what Alexys would do. Save Nic, her colleague, herfriend.