“It’s testing our structure and strength,” I said simply. They have likely noticed the change and know that their plan won’t be as easy as they thought. So, they were testing to see what we’d done.
“How many dead?”
“Five,” Westley said. “The two guys at the border and three within the space. We have a handful of people who were injured.”
I nodded, running a hand over my face. I needed to make a statement. People were going to have questions. But at least now they wouldn’t be able to just ignore my warning.
I looked past the guys toward where Jenny stood at the stairs of my office holding Ilsa. I felt my stomach drop, knowing how close the hybrid had gotten to her. We were just sitting in comfort a block from a blood massacre.
I walked past the guys toward Jenny and Ilsa. Ilsa looked confused and scared. She looked ready to cry, and I wanted to pull her into my arms and hold her tight.
She had tears in her eyes. “I want my mommy.”
It stopped me in my tracks, and I felt like someone had dumped water on me. Of course, she wanted her mother because I was still a stranger to her. I wasn’t her father, but just a random man her mother was friends with.
Kaleb walked up, pulling Ilsa into his arms. She started to cry, and he rubbed circles in her back. “I know,” he whispered, but his eyes were on me. “We will find your mom in a moment.”
Which begged the question. Where was Jade?
I went looking for her and was told she was in the infirmary. Normally, a building that housed only a few patients at a time was bustling with activity. I could hear crying as I walked down the hallway, and people seemed unsure of what to do with themselves. I scanned the hallway and the rooms looking for Jade.
I was passing the supplies room when I spotted Jade. She had her arms full of supplies as she came running out. Her eyes widened when she spotted me. “Brandon…”
“Jade? What are you doing?”
“I’m helping,” she said, turning and hurrying down the hallway I had just come. I hurried after her. “There are a lot of people who are hurt.”
“I know that,” I said, hot on her tail.
She entered a room where a nurse stood, wrapping a man’s arm. She handed the lady the supplies, but looked so empty inside.
It worried me seeing how her eyes had glazed over, looking empty. Her hands shook as she set everything down.
“Thank you, Jade,” the lady said. Her eyes were looking at me, though. I could see the nurse looked worried, but it wasn’t about her patient. She glanced at Jade before looking back at me.
“Jade, they have it under control here.”
Jade shook her head. “No, I’m helping.” Jade couldn’t look at me as she said this, stepping past me back into the hallway.
I hurried after her, hooking her arm and tugging her into a closet. I shut the door and turned to her, not letting her get free. Jade stood frozen, her eyes staring at my shirt rather than my eyes.
“Jade, what’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong.”
“Then why can’t you look at me?” I reached out, cupping her chin. I pulled her chin up, and her eyes looked at me. They filled with tears, and I could see the fear that sat there.
My shoulders sank as I looked at her. “What’s wrong?”
Her lower lip quivered. “I watched…”
I didn’t understand what she meant by that until it clicked. The body in front of the hybrid. It was covered now, but I saw what was underneath. A body that was completely ripped apart.
“Jade…” I stepped closer, and a few tears broke free. They trailed down her cheeks.
“I watched. It ripped Nick apart like a stuffed doll. It ripped his throat out, and I watched as he gasped for air. I listened as he screamed in pain, and there was nothing I could do.”
I could only imagine what she saw, and it wasn’t a pretty sight. It was bloody and messy.
