Experiment in Terror 09 Dust to Dust(59)

He nodded solemnly. “I know. I just wished it wouldn’t come to this. That’s the problem with you two, I reckon. Death just seems like an obstacle sometimes. You have the false hope that you can get around anything. But Perry, some things you can’t get around. Some things are final. Believe me, you don’t want your poor sister to spend the rest of her days wanting to go back in there and fish you out.”

That gave me a pause. That was the last thing I wanted, for Ada to hunt through the Veil, looking for me, looking for Dex. I knew she’d do it, too. Her bravery surprised me more every day. But I wouldn’t let that be an issue. I would make it out and I would do so with Dex.

“Are you going to stop me?” I asked carefully, aware that the burly ginger could very well prevent me from doing anything.

He smiled. “What I really want is to pick you up and take you out of here. Giant bugs, or Michael, or worse are upstairs and they want to take us with them.”

“So why don’t you?”

He ran a hand through his red hair. “Because I owe you more than that.” He seemed to grin to himself. “And the crazy thing is, I wish I could join you.”

Then his face fell. “I went to Hell once, you know, for someone that was very dear to me. And it worked. I brought his soul back to where it needed to be. I pray you never end up there. But I understand, I really do. There are some people you would do anything for. And I want you to know that for me, at this point in my life, it’s Rose, you and Dex. If I could take your place, Perry, and go in after him, I most certainly would. But that ship has sailed for me.”

There was a thud at the door, making us both flinch. Maximus paled and quickly rose to his feet, running over to the staircase and glancing up it.

“What is it?” I asked, feeling the urgency of the moment running through me. If something was coming for us, how the hell was I going to go into the Veil?

“I don’t know,” Maximus said. “Whatever it is, it doesn’t have hands because that door would open if you just turned the knob. I had only shut it behind me when I came down. You broke it pretty good.” A brief look of admiration came across his freckled face. “But I reckon we don’t have that much time to figure it out.”

I looked to him, suddenly terrified. “How do I get back to here? Last time Ada had to pull me through. Can you?”

He shook his head. “I can’t. I just don’t have the skill anymore. But you can get back, I know you can.” Another thud at the door. He looked over his shoulder and let out a shaky breath of air. “You’re going to have to hurry though. I will stop them from getting to you but I don’t know for how long.”

“No, you get yourself out of here!” I cried out. “Forget about me!”

He crouched down beside me, resting his hand on Dex’s lifeless arm that had already started to stiffen with rigor mortis. It made my stomach turn. “I have to stay here. You can step into the Veil in your physical form and disappear but Dex cannot. His body will be here. I don’t even know if he will be strong enough to endure coming back, he’s lost almost all his blood. But if anything happens to him, here, while you’re in there, he’s not coming back at all. You got that?”

I nodded and took in a deep breath. “I got it.”

“All righty,” he said holding his hands out for me. “Let me help you.”

As carefully as I could, I lifted Dex’s head off of me. Then I put my hands into Maximus’s warm ones and let him pull me up to standing position. He put his hand at my cheek and gave me a sad smile. “Well, little lady,” he said with full-on drawl. “I’ll do the best that I can. But for whatever reason, if I am not here when you get back…we’ll meet again someday. I don’t know when, but someday, some place, I’m sure.”

My heart panged again. He leaned in forward and kissed me lightly on the lips before pulling back. He winked at me. “That was for Dex, too. Now turn around and go.”

“Thank you,” I whispered to him. He squeezed my hand and then made me twirl around so I was facing the blank space on the other side of me.

“Concentrate,” he whispered. “Think about Dex.”

And so I did. I ignored the bangs at the door, the sticky blood at my feet. I closed my eyes and thought of Dex. I thought about his smile, his laugh, the way he could make me melt just by looking at me. I thought about the love he had given me and all the love I had left to give him.

I opened my eyes and let my gaze gloss over, fuzzy and out of focus. And just when the world seemed to be pulling back, I walked forward.