The corridor is empty. I still can’t pin Rhea. Whatever she’s doing to mask herself, it’s working.
Cassian tries the handle. Locked.
“Get back. I’m kicking it open.”
“No need.”
I step through the wall.
Hailey is on the floor in the corner with her head pressed into her knees. Crying. I unlock the door, let the guys in, then grab the blanket off the bed and crouch beside her. Drape it over her shoulders.
“Hey. Are you okay?”
She lifts her head. Eyes wide and red at the corners.
“It’s okay. You can tell us. Where’s Lila?”
The mention of her friend snaps Hailey’s gaze sideways like she’s expecting something to come out from under the bed. Talon scans the room and shakes his head at me. She’s not here.
“Hailey. Did something happen between you two?”
She finally looks at me.
“She went crazy. I know she had her quirks. She never acted like this.”
My stomach drops.
“Like what? What did she do?”
Hailey unwraps her arms from her knees and pulls the blanket aside. There on her side is an angry slash cut straight through her clothes.
“Nathaniel.”
He’s already moving. Drops to her other side, opens his kit, peels the fabric back.
“Not deep,” he says. “You’ll be fine.”
“No. I won’t.” Hailey is sobbing again. “She wanted to hurt me.”
“Why?” I ask. “Tell me what happened.”
She steadies herself. Just enough.
“Everything was fine. Then she just started staring at nothing. Talking to someone who wasn’t there. Saying she’s not weak. That she’ll prove it.” Her voice cracks. “When I tried to help her, her eyes rolled back and she grabbed the knife.”
“What knife?”
“She’s been sleeping with one ever since you freed us. She never wanted to use it. She ust had it to feel safe.”
“Why was the door locked?” Cassian asks.
“She told me to lock it before she left. Said if I didn’t stay here, she’d kill me too.”
Kill me too.
I’m on my feet before the second word lands.
Cassian and Talon move with me. Nathaniel doesn’t.
