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“Time to move!” Huck grabbed Grant’s hands so he could get him out of the way.
“What the fuck is that?” Cary demanded, stumbling back a step and running into Finn, who was trying to use him as a human shield.
“Baus!” Janice shouted with a triumphant cackle. “Yes, he’s coming! He’s coming into our world!” She grinned wildly over at Grant. “He’s coming for you.”
“No fuckin’ way!” Grant had to lean against Huck to stand, but he held his head up high and glared with every ounce of defiance he could muster. “I beat him once, and I’ll happily beat him again!”
“You mean you ran away successfully once,” Janice corrected cooly. “Good luck escaping a second time.”
The steps crumbled like a house of cards, and standing in the destruction was Baus, a gigantic figure of red smoke and glowing eyes. Judging by Finn and Cary’s panicked shouts, everyone could see him. Baus didn’t seem to care, though the door to the morgue swung shut with a loud bang, and he held out a big hand toward Grant.
Baus spoke, but Grant couldn’t understand him.
Vindis? Vindy-something?
Goddamn Latin!
“He’s asking you if you see that there is no chance of winning here!” Janice bared her teeth. “Go ahead and submit, Grant. Submit before your new fucking god!”
“Run,” Huck said immediately. “Go, get out of here.” He pushed Grant away. “I can try to hold him off—”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Grant grabbed Huck’s arm and refused to let go. “No way!”
“If Baus is really bound here like the rest of us, then he won’t be able to follow you out of the hotel!” Huck insisted. “Just go!”
“I’m not fucking leaving you!”
“Yes, you are.” Huck smiled sadly. “I’m already dead, remember?”
“I don’t care!” Grant spat, his emotions bubbling up and bursting out. “I love you!” He was too caught up in the surge of adrenaline to even realize what he’d said. “I’m not fucking going anywhere!”
Huck’s eyes nearly popped out of his head, and he stammered, “N-no, you can’t say that, and just—”
Grant kissed him, hard and fast. “I will say whatever I want. Shut up and let me be brave, goddammit. I’m not gonna Rick this up, okay?”
“You’d better fucking not,” Huck whispered, his eyes filling with tears.
“I got this.” Grant took a deep breath and turned to face Baus. “Hey! Asshole! You want my body? You’re gonna have to fucking fight me for it.”
“And me,” Huck said, reaching to take Grant’s hand and give it a big squeeze.
“And fuckin’ us too!” Cary shouted as he dragged a somewhat panicking Finn with him over to stand on the other side of Grant. “You’re not gettin’ a single hair on his fuckin’ head as long as we’re still standing!”
“Oh, and you absolutely cannot forget about us,” Precipitation cooed as he and Rebecca melted through the wall to join them. He held up his skirts as he marched over to stand with them, pausing to wink at a clearly stunned Finn and Cary.
Rebecca stood tall on her one heel, sweeping her fur around herself as she declared, “No one is touching Huck or his little boyfriend while we’re here.”
Janice was not impressed, and she rolled her eyes.
Baus hadn’t moved, still standing in the wreckage of the stairs. It was hard to read the expression of a being made of smoke, but he tilted his head as if he was confused and asked Janice something in Latin.
Janice shook her head, replied firmly in the same language, and then she snorted at Grant and the others. “Baus is wondering if you’re all sacrifices for him. I’ve told him that none of you are worthy… but Grant.” She sneered. “Worthy or not, you’re still a warm body with the right kind of soul, and that’s good enough.”
“I can’t wait for him to fucking try.” Grant clenched his teeth, every muscle primed and tensed, his heart pounding, and then—
There was a loud crash from somewhere else in the hotel, powerful enough to make the floor quake and the lights flicker.
“What the fuck now?” Grant groaned.
