Page 46 of The Human’s Heart

“Y-yeah. Let’s do this so we can go home.”

Zay asked his grandparents, “We can leave now? Don’t we have to give statements?”

“The BCA has officially taken over the case, so you two can give your statements to one of your aunts or uncles once we have you in a safe location. We’re gonna need Hugo’s clothes before I can clean him up with my magic, though. They’re evidence.”

I glanced at Phia, at the body on the ground. “Wh-what about Phia?”

Sebastian seemed to soften. “We have people coming to take care of her. Our crime scene techs need to collect evidence before we can do anything. They’re the ones who need your clothes, Hugo.”

I blanched at that. They wanted me to strip in the middle of the street?

Before I could panic too badly, Ailin added, “There’s an ambulance at the end of the alley. You can change in there. They have some scrubs you can put on.”

I nodded, and Zay asked, “You ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be, I think.”

He kissed my forehead, then dropped the shield, and before I could even take a breath, Sebastian and Ailin were wrapped around us both, hugging us as if their lives depended on it. Before I could stop myself, I had my face buried against Sebastian’s shoulder, sobbing again.

“Shh. I’ve got you. You’re safe, sweetie. You’re safe.”

A moment later, Ailin whispered somewhere behind me, “We’ve got you, kiddo. We’re gonna keep you safe.”

I nodded, and after a few minutes, I finally calmed down enough to let Zay walk me to the ambulance. I changed out of my bloodied and dirtied clothes, and then some crime scene techs swabbed me for… I didn’t even know what. Maybe I had blood on my skin too?

Then Ailin did some magic, his green energy flowing around me, and when he pulled back, I felt… clean. Like completely and totally clean. I was definitely okay with that.

I grimaced, though, when he had to do the same to himself, Zay, and Sebastian since they’d hugged me and gotten blood on themselves.

It took longer than I wanted, and by the time I was finally inside a car and wrapped up in Zay’s arms, I was shaking and exhausted, and I just wanted to go to sleep.

And the night wasn’t even close to being over yet.

Chapter 14

Zaos

To say I was freaking out would be a massive understatement. I wasn’t sure I’d ever been so terrified in my life. Perhaps when Hugo had been kidnapped a few months ago, but at least then I’d known what was going on. I’d known who our enemy was.

But now? Now, I had no fucking clue, and one of our friends was already dead. Gone. Just… fucking gone.

It could’ve been Hugo. For all I knew, the assassin was a terrible shot and had been aiming for Hugo in the first place.

I knew that wasn’t rational.

The shot that’d killed Phia had been right smack in the very center of her forehead. There was no way she hadn’t been the target.

But still… she’d been standing right next to Hugo. What if the gunman had missed? What if Hugo had unknowingly stepped in front of Phia, blocking her? Would he have been shot just to get a clear view of the real target? Did the gunman even care who he shot as long as somebody died? What if she’d been chosen at random? What if she was shot for some terrible reason, and now that the gunman saw Hugo with her, he’d be next? Or if the gunman thought she gave Hugo information—since she was likely killed to keep her quiet—and now Hugo was on the hit list?

Did the gunman have their sights on my viramore?

That thought sent a cold chill down my spine, and I actually shivered.

“Hey.” Hugo’s soft voice snapped my attention straight to him.

“You okay?”

He patted my chest and snuggled into my side even farther. “I’m fine. Really. I’m not even injured.”