Chapter 53: Taking Chances.
Ethan turned around immediately, ready to find out who the hell had the audacity to accuse him of something he had absolutely nothing to do with, only for his eyes to land on the last person he wanted to see.
Drey.
For a brief moment, Ethan simply stared at him, taking in the bandages wrapped around his body and the exhaustion still visible in his face, instantly whatever confusion he had been feeling instantly disappeared beneath a surge of anger.
"You?" Ethan finally snapped, his disbelief quickly turning into outrage. "You actually have the audacity to slander me right now? Is this the thank-you I’m supposed to get after I literally saved your life? Instead of saying thank you, you show up here accusing me and blaming me for my friend’s condition? How the hell does that even make sense?"
He barely finished speaking before Drey had already closed the distance between them in several long strides.
Ethan’s eyes widened when Drey suddenly grabbed his wrist, his fingers closing around it with enough strength to make Ethan wince.
"What did you do to me?"
Ethan stared at him in astonishment.
"What?"
"What did you do to me, Ethan?"
Drey’s voice was low and dangerously serious, his eyes fixed on Ethan with an intensity that made it clear he wasn’t joking.
Ethan immediately tried to pry Drey’s hand away, but despite the fact that Drey was visibly injured and still had bandages wrapped around several parts of his body, his grip remained firm enough that Ethan couldn’t even loosen his fingers.
"Let go of me!" Ethan demanded, struggling harder.
Nothing.
He pulled again, only for Drey to hold him even more firmly, leaving Ethan panting with frustration.
What the hell was this?
How was an injured Sentinel still this damn strong?
Ethan looked at Drey’s expression and realized that he wasn’t getting anywhere by trying to overpower him, so he resorted to the one weapon he knew he could always rely on.
His mouth.
"You bastard, let go of me right now!"
"Tell me what you did to me." Drey demanded, his voice low and serious. "Your saving me, it was another one of your little schemes, wasn’t it?"
Ethan stared at him in astonishment. "What the hell are you talking about? I didn’t do shit to you!"
"You guided me."
The words immediately silenced Ethan.
Drey’s grip remained tight around his wrist as his expression hardened. "You guided me, and ever since then, I haven’t been able to be guided by anyone else. Do you have any idea what that means?"
Ethan stared at him, genuinely confused.
"What are you talking about?"
"You know exactly what I’m talking about."
"No, I fucking don’t! Cause what do you mean by what did I do to you?" Ethan snapped. "You’ve been acting like a lunatic. Not like that’s anything new, but apparently it must have gotten worse."
Drey’s eyes narrowed.
"You want to know why I’m here?"
"I’d actually prefer if you let go of me first."
"You guided me during my rampage."
Ethan’s expression changed slightly.
Of course he knew that. He was the one who had nearly died inside Drey’s mental sea trying to drag him back from the corruption.
"But what does that have to do with—"
"After I recovered, I went on the rift mission."
Drey cut him off, his voice growing colder with every word. "When I became corrupted again, Leon tried to guide me."
Ethan’s expression slowly stiffened.
"Nothing happened."
Drey continued.
"His guidance failed. He tried again still, nothing." Drey’s grip tightened around his wrist. "Other Guides were brought in to test their compatibility with me, but none of them could guide me either."
Ethan’s mouth parted. "They all failed?"
"Yes." The answer landed heavily.
Drey stared directly into his eyes. "So tell me how that is normal, Ethan."
Ethan had no immediate answer.
"Because this has never happened to me before. Not once. I have been guided by different Guides before, and none of them ever had a problem stabilizing me. Yet suddenly, after you guided me, no one else can."
Ethan was at a loss for words.
He genuinely couldn’t tell whether Drey was bluffing, exaggerating or simply trying to find someone to blame, but if what he was saying was true, then something was seriously wrong.
Something Ethan didn’t understand.
Drey’s expression darkened even further. "And you want to know why I blame you for your friend’s condition?"
His gaze shifted toward Rin’s ward.
Ethan followed his eyes, his expression immediately becoming tense.
"Because of what happened with me, every Guide who attempted to guide me had to use their spiritual energy trying to force a connection that simply wouldn’t work."
Drey’s voice remained cold.
"They exhausted themselves trying to figure out why they couldn’t guide me."
Ethan’s face slowly changed.
"And while that was happening, there weren’t enough compatible Guides left to deal with the other corrupted Sentinels." His eyes returned to Rin. "That is why your friend is lying in there."
Ethan stared at him for several seconds before his anger returned.
"This lunatic." His jaw clenched. "Then that’s your fault, not mine."
Drey’s eyebrows drew together.
"What?"
"You’re the one who couldn’t be guided!"
Ethan pulled against his grip again, his frustration boiling over. "I didn’t ask you to become impossible to guide. I didn’t even know that would happen! I was trying to save your damn life!"
Drey didn’t release him. "You still haven’t explained what you did."
"I didn’t do anything!"
"Then why can no one guide me anymore?"
"I don’t fucking know!"
The corridor suddenly felt far too narrow.
Ethan could feel the pressure building inside his chest as the argument continued, but more than anything, he was painfully aware of where they were.
He wasn’t supposed to be here.
The academy had explicitly warned students to stay away from the infirmary because of the dangerous corrupted Sentinels being treated inside.
If someone caught him here, he would have even more trouble than he already had.
And, more importantly, Rin was still lying inside that ward.
Arguing with Drey wasn’t going to save him.
Ethan glared at Drey.
"Let me go."
"No."
"Drey."
"I want an answer."
"And I want my friend to live!"
That finally made Ethan’s voice crack with frustration.
He glanced toward the ward again.
"I didn’t come here to argue with you. I came because Rin is in there, and I’m going to try to help him."
Drey’s expression remained unmoved.
"You’re not going anywhere until you tell me what you did."
Ethan almost laughed from sheer disbelief. Was this guy seriously doing this right now?
"Are you fucking serious?"
Drey didn’t respond.
He simply continued holding him.
Ethan’s patience finally snapped.
Fine.
If Drey wasn’t going to have any courtesy, then Ethan wasn’t going to bother showing him any either.
His gaze dropped briefly toward the bandage wrapped around Drey’s arm.
An idea immediately came to him.
It was a terrible idea but also probably the only one he had.
"Sorry in advance."
Drey frowned.
"What—"
Ethan drove his fist straight into the injured arm.
Drey’s expression immediately twisted.
A sharp wince escaped him as his grip loosened instinctively.
That was all Ethan needed. He yanked his wrist free and immediately darted toward the ward.
"Ethan!"
Ethan ignored him.
He reached the door, pushed it open, slipped inside and immediately locked it behind himself.
Only then did he turn around.
Drey was standing outside, staring through the glass with a death glare that made Ethan’s stomach twist.
Ethan swallowed.
"Yeah, yeah. Hate me later."
He turned away from the door.
The moment he stepped farther into the ward, however, the atmosphere changed completely.
A suffocating pressure immediately settled over him.
Ethan’s breathing became heavier as he felt the corrupted energy hanging thickly in the air, almost as if the entire room had been filled with invisible smoke.
His eyes quickly landed on Rin.
His friend was lying on the hospital bed, his face pale and twisted with pain despite being unconscious. Sweat coated his forehead while his breathing came out unevenly, his body occasionally twitching beneath the sheets as the corruption continued to ravage him.
Ethan’s chest tightened.
"Rin..."
He hurried toward the bed.
He could see faint traces of corrupted energy moving beneath Rin’s skin, spreading like dark veins before fading again, and the sight alone made Ethan’s heart pound.
He had seen corruption before. He had also seen what it had done to Drey.
But seeing it consume Rin was different.
This was his best friend.
The only person in this world Ethan genuinely trusted.
He couldn’t just stand there and watch.
Ethan slowly extended his hand toward Rin. I zzf there was even the slightest chance that he could guide him, then he had to try.
His fingertips were only inches away from Rin’s skin when—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A sudden commotion erupted outside the ward.
Ethan immediately froze.
His hand instinctively retracted.
Voices echoed through the corridor, growing louder with every passing second.
Ethan’s heart began pounding violently against his ribs.
Then he heard a voice he recognized.
"Why is the door locked?"
Ethan’s entire body went rigid as another voice followed, sounding confused.
"Who’s inside?"