"Four of them. All young, around nineteen or twenty."
Ennio says something in Italian to the man in the passenger seat, and then the SUV comes to a stop.
I glance at Ennio and see him draw a gun with a smooth motion. He checks something on it, then opens the door and steps out, the two alphas following.
I squeeze my eyes shut and beg Fate for mercy for Bay and for Ennio’s actions to succeed. But when I see that all three of them are armed, I begin to truly believe they have a real chance of driving the Hansons off.
The warehouse door is thin, and one of the alphas kicks it open with a single brutal strike.
I see then that Ennio fires into the air, almost like a warning for whoever is inside the warehouse, so maybe they really don’t plan on killing the Hansons, and honestly I’m not surprised. Nobody wants to deal with the aftermath of four bodies lying around, just a bleak thought that crosses my mind.
I’m locked inside the car so I don’t hear every sound, but the three men disappear into the warehouse.
"Please, good Fate, work a miracle and save him…"
My heart stops in my chest when I suddenly see the Hansons sprinting out from behind the warehouse, they must have escaped through some back exit. They don’t even look toward the car I’m in and even if they did they wouldn’t see me because of the tinted windows, they jump into the van and screech away… what the hell.
So Ennio didn’t kill them, he just scared them off, but what about Bay?
It hits me that this is the moment when I’m safe, now that the Hansons have driven off, so I can jump out of the car.
On shaking legs I limp toward the warehouse, I pull the broken door open and realize the inside is a huge dark hall filled with all kinds of equipment that blocks the view.
But right when I try to step inside and weave my way through the piles of stuff, I notice one of the alphas standing bythe entrance, and the moment he sees me he grabs me by the collar of my necromancer robe and halts me.
"Get back in the car, kid," he says in a cold voice.
"But I want to…"
"Get back in the car," he repeats, and he gives me a small push in that direction.
Cursing under my breath I go back to the car and… I have no choice but to wait.
Every minute is torture and there must be at least fifteen of them, tears stream down my face because I have no idea what they did to Bay, whether they killed him, whether that’s why the alpha told me to go back.
I sob and shake so hard my whole body trembles, until I finally see Ennio coming out of the building with the two alphas behind him.
And to my shock, right behind them walks… Bay.
He walks slowly with his head lowered, still wearing his slightly torn zombie outfit.
But he’s walking on his own.
I can’t stop myself, I jump out of the car again.
"Bay!" I cry out, rushing toward him like a bullet.
His eyes lift and turn toward me as I run up, but it’s like I’m looking into the eyes of a stranger, empty, unbearably empty.
"No," he says firmly, pushing his hands out in a gesture that stops me in my tracks.
"Don’t touch me."
I freeze.
Ennio gives us a quick look, clearly evaluating the situation in a heartbeat, then he grabs my arm and says,
"Get back in the car," pushing me lightly toward the door.
