His hand went to the doorknob—ready to break the lock and burst inside. As if anything could be more suspicious. But as he wiggled the handle, the handle moved freely. Their eyes met with mirror images of concern.
It wasn’t supposed to be open. No one from Elle would be careless enough to leave it unlocked.
Beckham moved forward into the room, and before Reyna could follow, a sharp hiss escaped Beckham. “Reyna, don’t.”
But she forced herself to follow him. She wouldn’t abandon Beckham. No matter how he wanted to protect her.
She stepped inside. Her hand flew to her mouth. A strangled gasp escaped her lips. Her stomach rose to her throat, and she gagged.
“No,” she moaned.
A dozen bodies were scattered around the room. Blank eyes, mouths twisted into the beginning of a scream, blood everywhere. Discarded. It was the only way to describe the bodies, no, people. Whoever had done this hadn’t cared about the mass murder. They’d drained their blood or broken their necks and simply discarded them like used tissues. Trash.
Her stomach rolled again at the imagery. Of all the dead Elle members. All of the people she hadn’t been able to save.
“Breathe.”
“Oh my God. Drew,” she gasped. “What if it’s Drew? Or Laura?”
“I didn’t see them, but I will check for you.” Beckham blocked her view, but even he wasn’t big enough to cover it all. Or to scrub it from her memory. “Keep breathing, Little One. In through your nose and out through your mouth.”
“How could someone do this?”
Beckham didn’t respond. He rubbed her back as she retreated into herself at the sight of the carnage. Her stomach twisted and no amount of careful breathing could change it. She turned away from Beckham and vomited up everything in her stomach. She coughed until tears rolled down her cheeks. Her eyes stung, her heart ached, and she was burning up. She threw up again and again until she had nothing left.
This was the world she lived in.
Vampires massacred a dozen innocent people for shits andgiggles.
Or worse, just to send a message.
“We should get you out of here. Why don’t you wait in the hallway? Let me know if anyone approaches. I’ll check for your brother and comb through to see if anything was left behind.”
“Becks,” she whispered. Her red-rimmed eyes stared up at him in horror. Such senseless murder.
“I know. We’ll stop him.”
Reyna nodded and then teetered out of the room. She felt like a coward for leaving him in there alone, for not being able to face it. But the day that she was okay with what was in that room was the day she lost her humanity.
She leaned her back against the wall in the hallway and waited. A minute later a crackle sounded in the empty hall. Reyna nearly jumped out of her skin before grabbing for the two-way radio in her jacket pocket. She fumbled it out with shaky hands and pressed the button.
“Reyna, here. What’s up?”
“Reyna!” Meghan’s muffled voice shouted into the speaker. “Reyna, is that you?”
“Yes, Meghan. What’s going on? Everything okay?”
“No. You need to get here now! Ooph!”
Reyna’s eyes widened as she stared down at the speaker, willing it to say more. But the line was filled with static.
“Meghan? Are you okay? Tell me what happened.” No response. “Meghan? Tye? Anyone? Answer me.”
Panic set in.
Beckham appeared in the hallway, yanking the door closed behind him. “We need to leave. Now.”
“Meghan and Tye are in trouble.”
