Emerge by Heather Sunseri

last-ditch effort to show him who held the power.  
    A low but loud growl rumbled from West’s chest, up through his throat and past his lips. I squeezed my eyes tight, not wanting to witness the pain, even though West himself was the one who had subjected me to that same pain.  
    Fleece Jacket removed the Taser, and West fell to his knees. Then Fleece Jacket and Eyeglasses left the way they’d come in.
    ~~~~~
    “Key and Ryder have the virus.” I leaned against a counter next to Dax. He’d been quiet while Caine had doctored the skin below West’s lip with butterfly bandages.
    By the looks on Caine’s and West’s faces now, they weren’t surprised by my declaration. West pressed an ice pack gently to his wound.
    “How can you be sure? Did the test results come back?” Dax asked.  
    I shook my head. “I don’t need the test results. Just look at them.” I gestured toward the iso rooms where the two patients slept. “Key is bleeding from her eyes. Ryder is now running a fever.”
    Dax locked his hands behind his head and took deep breaths in and out.
    I reached up and grabbed one of his arms, brought it down, and let my fingers wrap around his forearm. “Listen to me, Dax.” I squared my shoulders to face only him, attempting to block out Caine and West behind me. “You need to return to quarantine. You shouldn’t be up here at all.”
    He searched my eyes. “What? No.” He shook his head. “You and I need to leave, Cricket. We should all disperse. That’s how we survived the last outbreak. We can survive again.”
    I ignored his pleas. I was only going to hurt him. One way or another, I was key to a treatment for anyone with Bad Sam. My friend—West’s sister—was dying inside New Caelum as we wasted time, and who knew how many others would contract the virus. If anyone had any hope of surviving this…  
    “As soon as we confirm that you and Dylan don’t have Bad Sam, I want you to get far away from Boone Blackston until we know the virus is contained.”
    Dax stared into my eyes, raging with the desire to run away with me. He searched for the truth that was hidden in the ashes, way down deep where I had burned some former version of myself long ago. “Why are you saying this? Why won’t you leave with me?” He glanced uncomfortably over my shoulder at West. “What are you not telling me?” He raised his hands, his fingers hovering near my cheeks. But then he abruptly backed up and dropped his hands, knowing he shouldn’t touch me.
    I looked to Caine for help—help he couldn’t provide—then back to Dax. “I can’t run away with you. I’m needed here. West came to Boone Blackston for a reason. I have to help him.”  
    “Do you love me, Cricket?”
    My heart constricted. I could hardly breathe as I prepared to deliver a fatal blow to our relationship. I loved him. Besides Nina, he was my best friend. In time I may have developed something even deeper for him, but I guessed I had always known that my life’s purpose would drive a wedge between us. And saving him from catching a deadly disease was more important to me than anything else I could do for him right now.
    And then there was West, whose presence behind me was like a raging fire on my back. I glanced down at my feet, unable to meet Dax’s stare.
    “Look at me.” He touched my chin with a gentle finger. “Do you love me?”
    I swallowed hard. “I love you, but…”  
    “No. No buts. You love me. You don’t owe these city people anything.”
    “You’re wrong.” I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I love you, but it’s not enough. I need you to take care of yourself while I help West.”
    Emotion turned his eyes to glass. He leaned in, and knowing I was incapable of contracting Bad Sam, I let him place a gentle kiss on my lips and then pull back.  
    “It’s okay,” he whispered. A sad smile touched his lips, and he turned and left.
    ~~~~~
    When I finally got up the nerve to face West, I was shocked to discover