Page 194 of Stay Scared

“That wasn’t my question.”

“He attempted to stop the carriage.”

The screen divides, adding a second feed from the loading platform of The Last Ride.

Ash lies beside the track with blood staining one shoulder and the side of his shirt, but then one arm moves toward the railing.

He is alive.

A maintenance radio lies several feet away.

Rook watches me study the screen. “You chose to leave him.”

“I chose not to let him decide for me.”

“He may die because of that.”

“He’s moving.”

“That comforts you?”

“It tells me you’re already lying about the ending.”

Rook steps onto the midway.

I run again.

Owen follows me through the original observation line, switching between old hardwired cameras. Some struggle to turn on their mechanical mounts while others remain fixed on empty corridors until I enter them and Rook arrives behind me.

A doorway opens along the midway.

Cade stands inside it.

He found the route from the loading platform. His shirt is torn near the bandage beneath his arm, fresh blood marking the fabric. His eyes find me first, then Rook.

Cade steps into my path and raises his arms.

Every muscle in him knows what comes next. He wants to catch me, drag me through the door, put his body between mine and the knife, and keep me there.

He is already moving before I speak.

“Don’t touch me.”

Cade freezes with his hands inches from my waist, strain running through his arms hard enough that I can see the muscles trembling beneath torn fabric.

Rook is close enough behind me that Cade could seize me and pull me through the doorway before anyone watching would blame him.

Instead, Cade lowers his hands, steps back, and gives me the floor.

I brush past him close enough that the heat of his chest reaches my shoulder. His body starts to turn with mine on instinct before he stops himself.

Rook sees all of it.

“You were supposed to protect her.”

Cade stays by the doorway, hands empty. “She told me what protection means.”

Rook slows.