Henry Rider: Clown Hunter

Chapter Thirty

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Chapter Thirty

For the first time in my life, I prayed that I would die.

As the Hunter, death was like my cranky coworker. He was there on every mission, and he didn't particularly care whose soul he walked away with — the maiam's, or mine. I didn't want to die, but I'd accepted the risks the day McGus first handed Splatsy to me. The way she'd felt in my twelve year old hand...the power that I had sensed inside her...nothing in the world had ever mattered more to me than claiming that power as my own.

But as the dimensions whirled around me, carrying me and my unwelcome brain-guest back to Mauldibamm, suddenly the only thing in the world I wanted was to drop dead. A heart attack would have been lovely, or a fast-acting incurable disease. Or maybe Legion could miscalculate with Escher Cube, warp us onto the New Jersey Turnpike, and we'd get creamed by a semi-truck. I didn't care how it happened, I didn't care how much it hurt, all that mattered was that Legion never get its hands on Ethan.

But the horrible reality of my situation refused to be ignored. Legion was on its way to Ethan right now. There was nothing I could do to stop it. And the worst part was that I was the one doing Legion's dirty work. I tried not to imagine the look in Ethan's eyes when I betrayed him like this.

The last row of cubes snapped into place, and McGus' training room materialized around me. Aesop was absentmindedly kicking a mannequin's head onto the pile, while Jade and Ethan scrubbed halfheartedly at the wall. I immediately tried to scream a warning to them. Maybe if I caught Legion by surprise, it wouldn't be able to stop me.

No luck. My mouth stayed silent, but my eyes locked onto Ethan. Without a word, I crossed the room toward him. My heart began to beat harder, but I wasn't sure if that was because of my fear or Legion's excitement. Legion was practically burning with glee. Revenge was within its grasp. All it had to do was reach out and take it. So I did. I raised my hand, fingers itching with the need to wrap themselves around Ethan's thick brown hair, and...

"Not even gonna say hello, girl?"

I froze, my hand a mere inch from Ethan's head, and turned to see McGus watching me from his metal chair. His eyes, as sharp and keen as ever, seemed to pierce straight through me. For a second, I felt a twinge of hope that he actually could see Legion inside of me somehow. If anyone could stop the psycho in my skull, it was him. Even Legion felt a twinge of concern when it saw the look McGus was giving me.

"Thirty minutes to kill one maiam?" the old Green said without standing up. "You're getting sloppy."

"Sorry," Legion said. Hearing him speak with my voice would have sent shivers down my spine if I'd been able to move at all. "I rushed in without thinking and was caught off guard."

McGus raised his eyebrows in surprise. When was the last time I'd apologized to him so willingly? Maybe that would be what tipped him off. But even if he figured out that something was wrong, would he immediately jump to the conclusion that I was being possessed by an evil interdimensional Brainkenstein monster?

"Uh, hey there, Henry," Ethan said in confusion. He'd finally turned around to see my hand hovering half an inch from his face. "You, uh, feeling okay?"

"Yes," I said, my calm voice the exact opposite of the panicked screams that were echoing in my head.

ETHAN, RUN! THAT'S NOT ME! IT ISN'T ME!

I threw myself against Legion as hard as I could, but it was like being crammed in a phone booth with Ichabod — absolutely no room to move, and so hopelessly outmuscled that I couldn't even squirm.