Claws in the Dark | ✔

XIX

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They were safe, for now. The woman, who'd introduced herself as Dawn, was kind enough to help them out of harm's way, though it was a bit of an intense rescue. That particular building they were in seemed to be strong enough to hold off on the Clawdens, and it was far better prepared for the attacks than the precinct. Imagine that!

Antonio sat on the floor, rifling through the pages of his test results. It was no mistake they were dealing with strange creatures - almost like werewolves. But where were they coming from?

He sighed, dropping his hands on his laps and the paper made a crushing noise.

"What's the matter?" Landon asked from across the room, still getting patched up by Dawn.

"It's nothing," he answered, frustrated.

Landon deadpanned. "Tony," he started, "you can't lie to me. What is it?"

"We're gonna die," he growled, his brows turning down.

"Just calm down. We're not going to die." Landon pushed himself up to stand, while Dawn moved away, completing his stitches.

"You shouldn't move around too much," she warned. "If you pop those stitches, you're gonna bleed out and die."

"Gee, thanks for the advice, but I'll take my chances." He carefully hobbled over to Antonio and slid down beside him. "Hey," he said, placing one hand over his. "We're going to be fine. We'll make it out of this."

"How?" Antonio turned to him, eyes red, tears threatening to spill. "How are we going to survive this? You've seen how fast those things move, and with your busted leg, there's no doubt you'll be caught and killed in one swoop." He broke, the tears streaming down his face. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to you, Landon."

Landon gripped Antonio's shoulders. "Listen to me," he said in a stern tone. "I am not going to die; not today."

"You don't know that!" Antonio exclaimed.

"Shh, shh," Landon cooed, cradling him, gently stroking his head. He lightly kissed his forehead. "I've been in worst situations, and I'm still here, aren't I?"

"Really?" Dawn asked, annoyed. "Have you seen the town recently? I mean, it can't get any worse than that." She eyed them from across the room, braced up against the wall.

"You're not really helping, you know." Landon shot her a glare.

She put her hands up in surrender and retreated to a room to her left. "I'll go check on my son."

"You do that." He looked back down at Antonio, who had apparently cried himself to sleep. Landon smiled at the peacefully resting man. "I'm not going anywhere," he said. "Not now, not ever. I'll get us out of this." He leaned down and kissed Antonio's cheek, smiling. And it wasn't before long that Landon drifted to sleep as well.