Page 127 of Stay Scared

His eyes sharpen.

I take the pad from his hand and press it properly against the cut.

Ash’s hand closes around my wrist again and pulls, bringing me closer than I intended, with one knee between his boots and my shoulder almost against his chest.

“At least now you have to look at me without hiding behind the Voice.”

His eyes drop to my mouth and stay there.

“Ash, you’re bleeding on me.”

“I am aware.”

His thumb moves once against the inside of my wrist.

Heat moves low through my body before irritation can set in.

His fingers tighten slightly.

No mask, lighting trick, or altered voice stands between us now. Ash looks at me with blood drying down one side of his face and his hand locked around my pulse like he resents that Rook got to strip anything away from him.

I leave my hand where it is.

Owen clips the utility light back onto his belt. “We need to move. Rook knows the exact location where we stopped.”

Ash releases my wrist only because he has to stand.

I rise first and hold out my hand. He looks at it before taking it. His grip closes hard enough to make the tendons in my hand shift.

I pull.

Ash comes to his feet and ends up directly against me, one hand still around mine while the other catches my waist. He steadies without stepping away immediately.

Cade watches. Owen does too.

Ash knows it and leaves his fingers at my waist another second anyway.

Then he releases me.

The broken mask stays on the floor. Ash looks at it once. His mouth hardens.

He leaves it behind.

We return to the projection passage.

Cade secures the maintenance rope to his vest again. Owen takes the rear position while Ash moves between them.

I lead.

Nobody argues.

The heavy nylon pulls taut behind me with Cade at my back, Ash directly behind him, and Owen anchoring the rear. Every movement reaches me.

Cade’s steps shorten whenever his ribs catch. Ash’s breathing has lost its careful rhythm. Owen takes up slack before anyone stumbles so consistently that I start recognizing his adjustments before the rope tightens.

The next section narrows.

Cade’s chest brushes my back, and his breath reaches the side of my neck. He has no room to move away. The rope draws Ash forward behind him until I hear Ash’s sleeve scrape against Cade’s vest. Owen closes the last gap.