"I swear, if I'm dying tonight because of you, I'm gonna haunt your ass so hard, Harrington!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah! I'm gonna go full Poltergeist and shit!"
"Then bring it, Graveswood."
"Challenge accepted."
***
In which after years of suppressing their...
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Chapter One-Hundred-And-Fourteen: Hiding From The Russians
(The Bite, Pt. 2)
***
When Rowan stepped foot out from the elevator and onto the loading dock after spending God knows how many days underground, she almost exploded from relief at feeling fresh air on her face. It didn't matter it held the tinge of heat from summer, it was fresh air and Rowan gulped it down greedily.
God, did air always taste this sweet? Rowan wondered. A thrill went through when, as she inhaled the air, she tasted a faint charge on it, metallic and citrusy. The harbinger of a storm to come. Rowan didn't know how much she missed sensing a storm to come underground until now.
But as much as Rowan would like to inhale the fresh air, Rowan knew she couldn't. Not when the Russians would be looking for them and Steve's car out of the picture—and Valerie's, too, if the Russians took her keys as well They had to find another way to get the hell out of here, and fast.
Dustin and Erica seemed to be of the same thought, as they began marching toward the gates as behind them, Robin, Valerie and Steve rejoiced in the fresh air.
"Oh! Oh my God, that tastes so good! Ah! Steve, Val, Ro, can you taste the air?" Robin asked.
"I taste it! I taste it!" Steve exclaimed excitedly, like a golden retriever hyped up on too much sugar.
Rowan looked over her shoulder to see Valerie sticking her tongue out, before she grinned and flung her arms up and spun around as she yelled, "I can taste! It tastes so incredible!"
Robin skipped over to Valerie and grabbed her hand, twirling her around as both girls cackled. Rowan felt her hand being grabbed as she was spun around, Steve's eyes soft and deliriously giddy.
"Whoa, Steve, no! We have to go. Steve, stop!" Rowan demanded.
"Come on, Rowan! Just a little twirl?" Steve pleaded, and goddamn it, saying no to a high Steve would be like kicking a puppy.
"Okay, fine," she grumbled and in a second she was spinning, Steve twirling her around. And despite the situation, Rowan found herself laughing, bubbling up her throat and pouring out of her.
"I love your laugh, Rowan," Steve said, smiling. "It's so freaking pretty. Your laugh is so, so pretty."
That funny feeling squirmed in her, as Rowan looked at Steve, her heart doing something weird as she looked at him. "Steve—"
Suddenly, a yell came and Rowan turned, her eyes widening at seeing the black-uniformed Russians running at them and yelling.
"Fuck!" she hissed.
"Shit! Come on! Come on!" Dustin yelled as he and Erica grabbed Robin and Valerie and began running in the opposite direction, Rowan doing the same as she held Steve's hand in a death-grip and bolted away from the Russians.
