Chapter 17 - Brandon
I sat at my desk, and Ilsa sat across from me. She had some crayons to color in her coloring book, and she looked comfortable. I wasn’t planning on staying here long, as I only had a few papers to read over and sign.
“What are you coloring?” I asked, glancing away from my papers.
“A butterfly,” she said, her eyes not leaving the page. I watched her for a moment. Every day, I saw more and more of her in me. Yet, I saw so much of Jade in her as well.
I looked at her book. “It’s pretty.”
She smiled. “You can hang it up when I’m done.”
I smiled at her. Then the alarm sounded. I stiffened and felt my stomach sink. Ilsa quickly covered her ears and frowned at me. “It’s loud.”
I pulled myself up, and my office door opened. Jenny, one of the workers, looked at me with wide eyes. “Brandon, a hybrid is in town.”
Shit. Shit. Shit!
“A what?” Ilsa looked at me with wide eyes, and I turned to her.
“Don’t worry,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm. “Jenny is going to stay in here with you while I go check it out.”
I turned to Jenny. “Stay with her.”
I hurried past Jenny, taking off down the hallway. I shoved the doors to get outside and found everyone was running everywhere. A screeching sound filled the air, and my head snapped toward the noise. I took off down the road and made a sharp left turn.
I skittered to a halt as I took in the sight. The hybrid stood over a massacre. There was blood everywhere, painting the road red.
In front of it stood Jade. She had her hands up, and flames flowed out of her fingertips. My mouth dropped, not believing what I was seeing. My heart stopped beating seeing her so close to the monster that could so easily kill her.
The hybrid tried to move from her fire, but Jade moved with it, forcing it to take a step back. After a few, it finally turned and ran for it.
I wanted to run to Jade and pull her tightly into my arms. I wanted to inhale her scent and check her over for any wounds, but I didn’t have a long window before the hybrid would get away, and we needed it.
I shifted, taking off after the hybrid. I got a few blocks when I spotted Kaleb in his wolf form, tracking him down as well. The hybrid was just a few feet in front of us before it took a sharp right, heading straight for the woods.
I ran faster, not wanting him to get away. I had questions. How the hell did he get into our town so quickly? Who had he gotten past?
The hybrid ran faster, and I could tell we were nearing the border. Kaleb and I both came to a stop and lost the hybrid.
I shifted back into my human form. I punched the tree next to me, yelling out as I did. I hated this. Hated not being able to keep everyone safe. My worst fear was coming true, and I hadn’t been able to stop it.
Kaleb shifted, sighing heavily next to me. I turned to him, seeing Jade and the fire. “Your sister. Since when did she have magic?”
Kaleb looked at me, confused. “What are you talking about?”
I licked my lips. “She has magic, Kaleb. I just wanted her to use fire to protect herself. Since when?”
Kaleb looked stunned at me. He shook his head. “That… that’s not right.”
“I saw it.”
“Magic has been dormant in our family for generations. It goes down with the woman, but the last person to use magic was our great-great-grandma, and she hardly had any. I love my sister, but she’s weak. We were always told only the strongest get it.”
I ran a hand over my face and started to pace. I knew what I saw, and Jade had magic. I had no idea how long she’s had it, but she did.
“How do you think it got in?” Kaleb asked, his eyes searching the woods.
“I have no idea, but we’re doubling security. This cannot happen again. It shouldn’t have happened the first time.”
I can only imagine what was waiting for us back in town. I didn’t like how easily it got it, and how far it got. There were going to be injured people, dead people.
“I want a report by tonight,” I said.
We headed back into town, and I found it exactly how I expected. There were already police officers and body bags present at several locations. My eyes paused on the place where the hybrid had been standing when I found it. The body bag that lay there now.
Asher and Westley walked up to us, looking tired. “Looks like it took down two people on the west side and worked its way down.”
“What was it looking for?” Kaleb asked. “It’s odd for a lone one to come out like this.”
“It’s testing our structure and strength,” I said simply. They have likely noticed the change and know that their plan won’t be as easy as they thought. So, they were testing to see what we’d done.
“How many dead?”
“Five,” Westley said. “The two guys at the border and three within the space. We have a handful of people who were injured.”
I nodded, running a hand over my face. I needed to make a statement. People were going to have questions. But at least now they wouldn’t be able to just ignore my warning.
I looked past the guys toward where Jenny stood at the stairs of my office holding Ilsa. I felt my stomach drop, knowing how close the hybrid had gotten to her. We were just sitting in comfort a block from a blood massacre.
I walked past the guys toward Jenny and Ilsa. Ilsa looked confused and scared. She looked ready to cry, and I wanted to pull her into my arms and hold her tight.
She had tears in her eyes. “I want my mommy.”
It stopped me in my tracks, and I felt like someone had dumped water on me. Of course, she wanted her mother because I was still a stranger to her. I wasn’t her father, but just a random man her mother was friends with.
Kaleb walked up, pulling Ilsa into his arms. She started to cry, and he rubbed circles in her back. “I know,” he whispered, but his eyes were on me. “We will find your mom in a moment.”
Which begged the question. Where was Jade?
I went looking for her and was told she was in the infirmary.
Normally, a building that housed only a few patients at a time was bustling with activity.
I could hear crying as I walked down the hallway, and people seemed unsure of what to do with themselves.
I scanned the hallway and the rooms looking for Jade.
I was passing the supplies room when I spotted Jade. She had her arms full of supplies as she came running out. Her eyes widened when she spotted me. “Brandon…”
“Jade? What are you doing?”
“I’m helping,” she said, turning and hurrying down the hallway I had just come. I hurried after her. “There are a lot of people who are hurt.”
“I know that,” I said, hot on her tail.
She entered a room where a nurse stood, wrapping a man’s arm. She handed the lady the supplies, but looked so empty inside.
It worried me seeing how her eyes had glazed over, looking empty. Her hands shook as she set everything down.
“Thank you, Jade,” the lady said. Her eyes were looking at me, though. I could see the nurse looked worried, but it wasn’t about her patient. She glanced at Jade before looking back at me.
“Jade, they have it under control here.”
Jade shook her head. “No, I’m helping.” Jade couldn’t look at me as she said this, stepping past me back into the hallway.
I hurried after her, hooking her arm and tugging her into a closet. I shut the door and turned to her, not letting her get free. Jade stood frozen, her eyes staring at my shirt rather than my eyes.
“Jade, what’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong.”
“Then why can’t you look at me?” I reached out, cupping her chin. I pulled her chin up, and her eyes looked at me. They filled with tears, and I could see the fear that sat there.
My shoulders sank as I looked at her. “What’s wrong?”
Her lower lip quivered. “I watched…”
I didn’t understand what she meant by that until it clicked. The body in front of the hybrid. It was covered now, but I saw what was underneath. A body that was completely ripped apart.
“Jade…” I stepped closer, and a few tears broke free. They trailed down her cheeks.
“I watched. It ripped Nick apart like a stuffed doll. It ripped his throat out, and I watched as he gasped for air. I listened as he screamed in pain, and there was nothing I could do.”
I could only imagine what she saw, and it wasn’t a pretty sight. It was bloody and messy.
I stepped closer, pulling her against my chest. Jade started to cry as she clung to me, her entire body shaking.
I bent down, pressing my lips to her hair. I inhaled her scent, feeling her sink against me. I let her cry, let her shake.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” I said softly. “You shouldn’t have had to see that.”
“He was an ass…” she whispered. “He was the biggest bully I’d ever known, but he didn’t deserve that. No one deserves that.”
I tightened my hold on her. I kissed her forehead and wiped at her eyes. “I’m sorry.” Because that was all I could say, I couldn’t turn back time and make it right.
“I just stood there,” she said, sounding so broken.
I shook my head. “This is not your fault, Jade. He died at the hands of a hybrid, not yours.”
“But I saved Nora and Ryan. I protected them. Why didn’t I protect him?” More tears broke free, and I wiped at them. I pulled her hair back, kissing her forehead again.
“You can’t think like that, Jade. People die no matter how hard you wish to stop it. This is not on you.”
I held her against me, running my hands over her hair. I allowed a moment of silence to hold her before I knew we would need to break apart. Before, she would pull herself together.
“Ilsa wants you.”
Jade quickly pulled free and wiped at her eyes. “She didn’t see anything, did she?” Her eyes looked wide with fear.
I shook my head. “No, she saw nothing. I had her with Jenny in my office.”
Jade nodded her head, taking slow, deep breaths in. After a few of them, she looked more normal.
“Are you okay?” I asked, still holding her shoulders.
Jade nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be okay.” She reached for the door and opened it. “Now, let’s go. I’m sure you have a lot of work ahead of you.”