Page 206 of Stay Scared

The cable snaps tight. Several restraints spring open.

Rook’s waist comes free.

The chest restraint stays locked.

He tears at it. Nothing gives.

I squeeze again, but the restraint stays shut.

Rook looks down at the steel arm jammed beside him, then at the severed length of cable hanging from its torn mounting.

His body gives away the realization.

Ash sees it too. “You cut your own release.”

Rook slams both hands against the restraint while the motor keeps dragging.

“Stop it.”

Ash looks toward the control alcove. The lever is already down.

“I did.”

“Then stop the chair.”

Rook is shouting now. The calm voice and tidy explanations are gone.

He twists hard enough that the cracked beak strikes the headrest.

“STOP IT.”

Ash takes one step toward the platform.

Cade catches his arm. “No.”

Ash looks at him.

Cade is breathing through clenched teeth, blood already soaking through the dressing at his ribs again.

“He cut Salem.”

That is all Cade says.

Ash looks at me. His eyes find the narrow line beneath my shirt, and his mouth hardens.

He stays where he is.

The chair tilts another few inches.

Rook claws at the restraint until his folding knife drops from inside his coat. Cade kicks it across the room.

Rook turns toward me. His beak is cracked enough now that I can see one eye through the split.

“Use the release.”

“I did.”

“Again.”