Page 47 of The Human’s Heart

“Maybe not physically.”

He gave a dip of his head in acknowledgment, perhaps agreement. “Well, let’s just concentrate on that right now, okay? We’re both okay. We’re safe. We’re together.”

I wasn’t sure I’d call riding in a car safe exactly, but considering who was in the car with us, I supposed we were.

I sucked in a deep breath, then decided I needed more Hugo smell and buried my nose in his hair as I breathed deeply and nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry, I’m having… a hard time…”

He patted my chest again. “It’s alright, love. We’re all shaken up. Let’s just…” He trailed off and hugged me tighter, so I tightened my hold on him too, watching the streets pass by.

My grandparents were in the front seats with Grandpa driving—probably so Granddad could keep an eye out and blast anything that even looked at us funny—and I knew they were just as freaked out about the situation as I was. But Hugo was right. We were alright. We were together.

We were as safe as we could be.

And in about two minutes, we’d be a thousand percent safe in our wards with no way for anyone bad to get to us.

Now, if only I could convince Hugo to stay inside the wards forever and ever and ever.

I held him tightly the rest of the way, and as soon as we passed through the wards, I was pretty sure everyone in the car, even Hugo, breathed a sigh of relief.

I kept holding onto him as we got out and walked into the house. Usually, he was so independent that he’d push me off playfully and say he could walk himself. But he was leaning on me, actually accepting the help, and as much as I appreciated that he was letting me help, it was making me worried.

He must’ve been feeling… all kinds of things right now, and I hated that he’d been there when someone did that to poor Phia.

Hugo and I sat on the couch, cuddled up in the corner, and Granddad and Grandpa took the loveseat, both of them staring at us for a long time.

After about five minutes, I was surprised it was Grandpa who broke first. I’d expected Granddad to freak out on us and start demanding answers.

Grandpa’s voice was quiet and calm as he asked, “Hugo? Do you think you’re up to telling us what happened?”

Hugo swallowed hard before sitting up a little to face them, but he stayed squished right against me. “Um… yeah. I… uh, I was cleaning up at the bar and saw Phia standing outside the window. I thought it was weird, but when she waved me out, I figured it was important. So I went to meet her out there, but when I got there, she was kinda running around the side of the building. I followed her to the, uh, to the alley where…”

He trailed off and swallowed hard again. “She was crying, so I asked her what was wrong and if Key was okay. She said he was fine but that she only liked him as a friend—that she wasn’t in love with him. I thought she was trying to get me to break up with him for her or something, but she wasn’t.”

He swallowed hard and a tear leaked from his eye. He wiped it away absently, but more came as he continued to speak. “She… she said something about being tired of pretending and that they made her do it even though she didn’t want to. She didn’t say who they were, but she started to say, um, I think that maybe she was saying she isn’t—wasn’t—who we think she is—was. But she, um… well… it happened before she could finish.”

I pulled Hugo back into my arms as my grandparents absorbed the information. Eventually, Grandpa said, “Thank you for telling us, Hugo.”

Hugo nodded.

Granddad cleared his throat and asked, “You said she was crying, right?”

Hugo nodded again.

“Did she look sad or scared? Or both? Could you tell what her mood was?”

Hugo thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. “She looked mostly sad, but she kept glancing around like she was afraid someone else would hear her, so I guess she was scared too.”

Granddad nodded. “So she knew they were after her, but she probably didn’t expect to be assassinated.”

Hugo flinched at the word, and Grandpa tapped Granddad’s knee before he stood and pulled him to his feet. To us, Grandpa said, “We’re going to check in with the others and figure out where Kian is. You two stay right here and relax.”

“You’re bringing Key here, right?” I asked, knowing Hugo also wanted to see my brother.

Grandpa nodded. “Yes. He needs his family.” I nodded, and he hesitated, then asked, “Do you want something to eat?”

Hugo shook his head, so I did too.

Grandpa sighed. “Alright. I’ll bring you both some water at least.”