The Darkest Knight (Guardians of Camelot #3) - Victoria Sue Page 0,23
dry.
“It was certainly dry when we ran in,” Lance said. Kay shook his head and pushed past Lucan, taking the stairs two at a time. Charles took a step, but Lance clasped his arm. “I don’t think so.”
“Lance,” Mel reproved.
“No,” Lance retorted. “I think he’s done enough, don’t you?” Lance might have been talking to Mel, but he was looking right at Charles. “I think you’d better leave.” Lucan folded his arms, stepping up beside Lance. Charles didn’t look at Tom. It wasn’t fair to bring him into this.
“I have a responsibility—”
Lance scoffed. “If he hadn’t been trying to avoid you, he wouldn’t have been in that tunnel, but what’s worse is that his best friend either just got murdered or taken by the Ursus, and Kay couldn’t stop it. How much do you think he cares about your sense of responsibility right now?”
Not even Mel tried to silence Lance this time. Lance tipped his chin to the door. “We look after our own. You go and find another light or whatever crap you’re spouting as an excuse to let him down.”
Charles met Lance’s furious gray eyes, so angry they were nearly black. What could he say?
Nothing. There wasn’t one thing Lance had said that wasn’t true. He turned without a word and left the room, walking to the door and letting himself out. He started walking and felt the familiar tug. The sense that told him he had to follow something, but he rolled his shoulders and ignored it again. He would go to the shelter and see if Father Joseph needed help. He must be able to do something.
Another almost insistent pull on him nearly made him stumble, and a wave of tiredness washed over him. Almost as if he were being compelled to find somewhere to rest. It made sense, he supposed, as he had been unable to sleep after leaving Kay last night.
And he knew he did sleep. When he’d been looking after Tom, he had shared a room with… Charles stopped walking. It was four guys. He was sure it was, but despite trying his best, he couldn’t recall a single face or remember a name. A prickle of uneasiness danced on his skin, but he shook it off.
He must be more tired than he thought.
Chapter 7
This was his fault. Roxy was dead, and he might as well have pushed the blade in himself. If he hadn’t gone to see her yesterday, the Ursus wouldn’t have been drawn to the tunnel. It had been a trap for him, and Roxy had got caught up in it. He didn’t think it was possible to hate himself much more than he did right then.
And the man. The chauffeur. It had been exactly like what had happened in the park. Kay buried his face in his hands. Was he going mad?
Kay pretended to be asleep when the door opened a few minutes later, but when the bed dipped slightly, he gave up and opened his eyes. He almost closed them a second time when he saw it was Tom. “I just want to check your head,” he said solemnly, and Kay felt the other side dip as someone else sat down.
“Rette mich.”
“Huh?” Mel asked. Kay groaned when he saw it was Mel.
“I believe it means ‘save me,’” Tom added dryly. “Or is it ‘save you’? My German is crap.”
“It means why the hell are you pestering me.”
Tom pouted. “I’m pretty sure it doesn’t. That’s too many words.”
Kay glanced at Mel. “This is your fault. He didn’t develop sarcasm until you arrived.”
Mel sent him a soft look. “I’m so sorry.”
Kay covered his eyes with his hand in embarrassment, but just nodded. “Don’t you all have something better to do?” Kay whispered, frightened if he thought about her anymore, he would cry. Where was she?
“Lucan and Lance are trying to kill each other, and Gawain’s ‘researching,’” Mel said promptly, and Kay could hear the clash of swords from downstairs. “What happened in the tunnel?”
Kay abandoned any attempt at hiding. “It was exactly like the woman.”
“At the park?” Tom clarified. “You mean the driver changed into an Ursus?”
Kay nodded miserably. “I’ve been lying here thinking I’m going mad. I was just handing her to him, and then he changed. I don’t remember anything else. Roxy is one of my best friends. I tried to pick her up in a café of all places over sixteen years ago, and she very gently told me that I was too young.”