I stepped closer, pulling her against my chest. Jade started to cry as she clung to me, her entire body shaking.
I bent down, pressing my lips to her hair. I inhaled her scent, feeling her sink against me. I let her cry, let her shake.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” I said softly. “You shouldn’t have had to see that.”
“He was an ass…” she whispered. “He was the biggest bully I’d ever known, but he didn’t deserve that. No one deserves that.”
I tightened my hold on her. I kissed her forehead and wiped at her eyes. “I’m sorry.” Because that was all I could say, I couldn’t turn back time and make it right.
“I just stood there,” she said, sounding so broken.
I shook my head. “This is not your fault, Jade. He died at the hands of a hybrid, not yours.”
“But I saved Nora and Ryan. I protected them. Why didn’t I protect him?” More tears broke free, and I wiped at them. I pulled her hair back, kissing her forehead again.
“You can’t think like that, Jade. People die no matter how hard you wish to stop it. This is not on you.”
I held her against me, running my hands over her hair. I allowed a moment of silence to hold her before I knew we would need to break apart. Before, she would pull herself together.
“Ilsa wants you.”
Jade quickly pulled free and wiped at her eyes. “She didn’t see anything, did she?” Her eyes looked wide with fear.
I shook my head. “No, she saw nothing. I had her with Jenny in my office.”
Jade nodded her head, taking slow, deep breaths in. After a few of them, she looked more normal.
“Are you okay?” I asked, still holding her shoulders.
Jade nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be okay.” She reached for the door and opened it. “Now, let’s go. I’m sure you have a lot of work ahead of you.”
Chapter 18 - Jade
I stood frozen in the meeting room. The small space was packed, filled with the elders of the pack, including Lionel, who looked pissed. Everyone was talking at once, and I didn’t know what to think. I looked at Brandon, who stood next to me, looking just as surprised as I was.
“Why are they all here?” Brandon asked as he looked at Kaleb. Kaleb shrugged. “They demanded a meeting tonight rather than doing one tomorrow. They won’t go home until we discuss what happened.”
We looked back at everyone who suddenly fell silent when they noticed we had entered the room.
“We need answers,” an old man said. I recall his name being Joel. He looked between his eyes, narrowing on me. “How long have you had these powers?”
I swallowed, knowing that these questions were coming. But I at least thought I would be able to sleep on it, process my emotions, and go through the day’s events before being questioned.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to jump us like this when we are all exhausted.”
“We should question you while the events of tonight are fresh rather than tomorrow when everything becomes fuzzy.”
“It’s ten at night. I have a kid asleep in the hallway on a bench,” he snapped back.
“Then answer the questions, and you can be on your way,” Lionel said, waving a hand.
I watched Brandon’s hands curl into tight fists, and I looked at Joel. “I’ve never known I had a power. Today was my first time.”
Joel raised an eyebrow at me, but someone next to him spoke up. “And you used fire today?”
I nodded. I didn’t know anything about witches, even though I was part of one. It had been dormant in our family for so long that none of us saw a need to learn anything. Why learn about something you don’t possess?
“Do you know how to use your gift now that you’ve pulled it out?”
