Henry Rider: Clown Hunter

Chapter Thirty Three

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Chapter Thirty Three

I fell to my knees, eyes open wide as pain exploded in my chest.

"HENRY!" someone yelled, but I'm not sure who.

There was a gruesome crack, and Aesop was thrown to the ground beside me, a trail of blood leaking from the side of his head. Still not fully comprehending what was happening, I turned to see Ethan backing away with a look of terror on his face. Another figure followed him.

One wearing dark blue coveralls, and a grinning rubber mask.

"Henry, no!" Grandpa Teddy shouted, ignoring Ethan as he hobbled frantically toward me. Legion moved to block his path.

"That," he said pointing at Teddy's hand, "belongs to us."

Grandpa Teddy stopped in his tracks, a mixture of fear and rage in his eyes. "Get out of my way, monster, or I'll—"

"Ha."

A single cloud of gray smoke wafted from the mask, and hit my grandpa square in the face. He froze with a stunned look on his face, and then his hand went to his throat. He tried to breathe, but could only cough. Alarm replaced his anger, and he took a step back, eyes widening as his white skin began to turn a dull, ashen gray.

"G...Gr...and...pa," I croaked, feeling my strength seeping out of me. Blood poured down my back. I tried to stand again, but my legs gave out beneath me and I landed face down on the floor.

Grandpa Teddy went down on one knee as well, the blue of his hair and paintmarks already darkening to black. I put my hand over my pocket, feeling the lump my inhaler made inside it. Laughter. Good, pure laughter. It had worked as a cure when Legion had poisoned me. I had to get to Grandpa Teddy...use the inhaler...save him. But as I did my best to drag myself across the council chamber, I realized something else.

I was dying too.

"Thank you," Legion said, plucking the amulet out of my grandpa's hand just as he collapsed to the floor. "And now..."

The masked villain turned toward Ethan.

"No," I whispered, unable to raise my voice higher than that.

Ethan looked toward the door. Nothing stood between him and it.

Run, Ethan! I thought desperately. Escape!

But he didn't. Clenching his fists, he turned toward Legion and planted his feet in grim determination.

"You're not going to run?" Legion asked.

"What would be the point? You'll just keep chasing me, won't you?"

Legion nodded.

"And anyone who's around me is just going to get hurt too."

"Yes."

Ethan glared at him. "Then let's get this over with now, so I can kick your butt and help my friends!"

Even with a knife stuck in it, my heart fluttered when I heard those words. Ethan...he had changed so much from the grumpy, self-centered little jerk I'd met less than a month ago.

"An admirable choice," Legion said, making his way over. "Yet pointless."

He moved faster than Ethan ever could have reacted, ramming his knee into the poor kid's stomach. Ethan's mouth opened like a fish gasping for air, and he fell to his knees with a wheezing groan.