Page 100 of Bound By Fury

Faculty are discussing the logistics of a memorial for Fiona so that the student body can give her one last wolf howl.

Fiona is dead.

After last night, Malachi has been acting even weirder than usual. I don’t think we made eye contact at all before he stalked out of his room after telling me to stay put, that he’d be back with a cup of coffee and a chai. I wait three whole minutes before I yank a hoodie from his closet, pull on my dirty pants, and head down the hall until I see a door with a familiar name on it.

I bang on it like I’m the cops, blinded by the crushing feeling in my chest.

Fiona is dead.

“Lucas!” I scream. “Open the door!”

In my panic I forgot that he was supposed to be spending the night at that guest cabin, but when I place my ear against the door, I hear groggy groaning and the faintest shuffle of sheets.

The side of my hand grows warm and red as I continue to slam it against the door. Some random boy with a buzz cut and ruddy cheeks sticks his head out of a room down the hall. “Hey,” he says. “So… what the fuck?”

I flip him the bird.

The rustling coming from the room increases, but I’m feeling impatient, so I decide to change tactics.

“Lucas, the doctor said I’m only five weeks along, so I can still get an abortion, but only if you—” The door swings open.

“Hey,” he says, yanking my arm and dragging me into his room.

“Ahh!” I yelp, crumpling from the pain.

He grabs my face, his eyes wide.

“Harper?” He pulls me to him, pressing me against his bare chest, his little cousin’s name scrawled across his ribs. “What happened to you?”

I can’t tell if I’m relieved that he doesn’t seem to still be mad at me or if I’m hurt that Malachi was the one who had to save me last night, because even though I really wanted to walk back alone, a part of me wishes I’d spent the night in Lucas’s bed instead. In his arms—because at least with him, my mind wouldn’t have been racing all night. I wouldn’t have been plagued with dreams of vicious ghosts with razor-sharp teeth and crosses like daggers against my throat.

If I hadn’t fucked everything up, I wouldn’t have ever been in the maze to begin with.

I wave away his question. “We need to talk.”

He pulls me away from his chest and peers down at me. “What about?” Then, “Is that Kai’s hoodie?” Something molten churns behind his eyes, his cheeks burning red.

“I—what? Listen, that’s not… we didn’t… it’s not…”

“What do you want, Harper?” His voice has run cold.

Embarrassment clogs my throat. “It’s about Fiona.”

“What are you talking about?” he asks, patting his pajama pants like he’s looking for his phone. “What’s going on? What happened?”

It dawns on me that he doesn’t know. “Fiona is dead,” I say, eyes closed, words muffled against my finger where I gnaw on my thumbnail. I’d been so emotional, I hadn’t stopped to consider whether Lucas knew yet. And now I’m the one breaking the news to him like this. “I’m so sorry.”

“What?” He stumbles back, his hand clutching his chest.

“She’s dead. They found her body in the woods. Someone said they think she was attacked by an animal.”

“I—” He runs his hands through his hair, turning away and muttering something beneath his breath. “That’s—”

“What? What is it? What happened to her?”

“I don’t know what happened to her! I thought she ran away!”

Heat burns the tips of my ears. Confusion and hurt—grief—they’re written all over his face.