Consuming Fire

Chapter 58

Hunter woke up after a terrible nightmare. She was walking through the corridors of the death caves, everything empty, the doors flung wide open, freeing the shadows to attack her. As soon as she started running, she could hear a girl screaming. It sounded like Fearne. The faster she ran toward the door to freedom, the louder the screams became until her ears were burning and she tripped on the stone floor, waking up with a start.

She was in a dark room a little bit like a cell, only more furnished. Everything was cream and dark gray. Her blanket was red, the bed relatively soft. There were various clothes hanging in the closet. Was this her room or someone else's?

Then she remembered – she'd already been down to breakfast that morning. The Captain even ran a meeting to explain who the SSS was and that they were going to take the jet back to the cabin to retrieve the bodies of those they'd lost. Something about the FBI was mentioned. She talked to Miss Smart, too. She recounted the events of the past several months in which she woke up in the lab, discovered Eli had lost his memories, barely escaped the Agents, travelled the country with Eli and Joshua, saw a completely different side to him and fell in love. It was all a blur to Hunter. By the time she'd finished trying to eat breakfast, she was tired again. Miss Smart led her to a spare room and she fell asleep again, not feeling the throb of the flesh wounds in her arm and neck and her broken wrist.

No longer wanting to be alone, she decided to find Will. He wasn't there when she woke up in the hospital. Neither was Fearne's body. While she walked around the compound, she tried to get used to the thought that she would never again hear Fearne's voice in her mind. Her thoughts were empty, like a house with no furniture. She couldn't imagine what Will was feeling.

Eventually, Hunter found a girl who said she had seen Will go into Chevie's room. This made Hunter panic. She asked for directions and ran up the stairs to Ward B. Just as she was about to knock, the door opened and Chevie exited his room looking grim.

Forgetting that Chevie was responsible for stealing their only sample of Ravenadium, Hunter said, "have you seen Will?"

Chevie nodded and flicked his finger toward the door. The corner of his lip was cracked and swollen. "He's in my study. We were havin' a drink or thir'ee but I leff 'im alone."

Chevie stumbled against the wall and laughed to himself, making Hunter worry. Will had never had a drop of alcohol in his life.

"Can I see him?"

Chevie nodded. "I'm ... gonna go pack so you ... look arfer him, 'kay?"

"Pack?"

"Oh yeah," he smiled, "everyone hates me now coz I saved my dad an all so ... may as well bugger off."

Coward, though Hunter. She nodded. "Sure."

Chevie slumped into the corridor and Hunter warily entered his study. Inside was a large room filled with the kind of taste you'd expect of a wealthy older man; a pool table, a rich mahogany desk facing a window displaying a view of the afternoon sun. Studded leather armchairs and glass coffee tables. It was the stuff Joshua used to dream about.

And on one of the sofas sat Will with a glass of what had to be scotch in his hand, three empty bottles on the table. His clothes were covered in orange dirt and blood stains and his eyes were peeling shut. It looked like he hadn't slept at all. Hunter remembered the day he walked into the breakfast hall, carried by the guards, a tortured soul with nothing left to live for.

Somehow ... this was worse.

Hunter walked over and sat beside him, the sofa puffing out air. Will started, turned to look at her and nearly dropped his glass.