Chapter 61
Chapter Sixty-One
Jordan
Anna’s face is twisted into a snarl as fierce as a feral dog when I step into the Safe House after work.
“What… Are you okay?” I say, brow furrowing.
“I knew letting her in here was a fucking mistake,” she hisses, eyes blazing as she steps towards me.
“Who?”
“Who do you think? Emilia!”
I sigh, closing the door behind me. “Anna, seriously. If you gave her a chance, you’d see that—”
“I’d see she brought three of her random fucking friends here.”
“She just…” I trail off, her words sinking beneath my skin. I blink at her. “What?”
She just widens her eyes, shaking her head and jabs a finger at the drawing room. Unease creeps up my spine as my gaze trails from her to the doorway, reluctant and wary. I take a slow step forward and lean to peer inside. My gut twists.
Anna’s telling the truth.
Emilia’s friends, Heidi and Sam, are perched on the sofa, tense and hunched over whilst another blonde lies, curled beside them, unmoving. Emilia and Bridget sit on the edge of the coffee table facing the trio, all of them murmuring in whispered voices.
“What the hell is going on?” The brutal tone rips out of me before I can rein it in.
Heidi jumps, Sam glancing wide eyed over his shoulder, but Bridget just smirks. I move towards them in quick strides.
Emilia rises instantly, stepping forward to meet me. “Jordan, please—”
“Emilia, this isn’t somewhere—”
“Kayla stabbed an Enforcer,” Bridget announces.
“Kayla?” I exclaim.
Bridget tilts her head towards the blonde on the sofa.
My gaze snaps to her, and all the breath bursts from my lungs.
Her eyes are closed, face pale as a ghost, and she’s trembling, knees drawn up to her chest. If possible, she looks worse than she did when she was released from Killmoor.
The deep cut on her cheek is still swollen and angry, as though it hasn’t even begun to heal.
“Is she okay?” I ask.
Emilia scoffs. “No.” She glances at her friends. “I didn’t know where to take them. Heidi and Sam were with me when it happened.”
“You made the right call.”
Emilia’s head jerks back to me, surprise flashing across her face. “I did?”
“Yeah.”
“We’ve been telling Heidi and Sam about the Resistance,” Bridget says before shrugging. “I like them.”
“You like everyone,” I retort.
“That’s a lie. There are plenty of people I dislike. Anna, any Enforcers, Germain, sometimes my husband—”
“We won’t tell anyone,” Sam says, voice hoarse. “If anything, we’d like to do the opposite.”
“Let’s take this one step at a time, yeah?” I mutter, reaching up and running a hand over my head. Zac is going to lose his shit when he finishes work.
“Hey, come on. Kayla can stay in my room,” Bridget says softly. “Will you help me take her up there?”
Sam nods, and Heidi gently nudges their friend.
Kayla’s eyes shoot open, but there’s no surprise there.
No alarm, no recognition of being somewhere new.
There’s nothing but a hollow stare and the occasional blink to prove she’s alive.
Sam pulls her upright, and Bridget takes the other side, steadying her before nodding for Heidi to head back through the kitchen and upstairs.
Emilia catches my eyes, a hollow kind of defeat within them, before she follows, shoving Anna as she pushes through the doorway.
Anna glowers at me.
I sigh. “We’re not monsters, Anna. Isn’t protecting people from the State exactly what we’re fighting for?”
“This house isn’t big enough for this,” she says quietly. “That’s not spite. It’s fact.”
She’s not wrong. When we chose it, it was only supposed to be for the three of us, plus Kieran after Anna wore us down. Quiet and forgettable; a place the State wouldn’t look twice at. Then Claudia was thrust into my life. Then Bridget. Then Emilia.
And the more people who come here, the more likely we’ll be noticed. The higher the risk that an Enforcer will wonder why so many people head towards the forgotten end of the city on their cameras.
It’s dangerous.
But I already know what Claudia will say when she walks through our door after work: that we help who we can. Always. If someone needs saving, we save them—no argument.
She’s every inch of good that’s left of me. And if she believes that, then I have to believe it, too.
I walk past Anna and head up the stairs. Emilia and Heidi are standing in Bridget’s doorway, peering inside.
“We need to head back,” Emilia says softly.
“What?” Heidi splutters. “We can’t leave her!”
“The Enforcers are going to be hunting her,” she replies.
“So?”
“So, it’s nearly been an hour. They’ll be searching for anyone who isn’t around. Anyone who could be hiding her,” Emilia says.
“Kayla has no choice but to stay here,” Bridget says from inside her room.
“But—”
“They’re right.” It’s Sam who cuts Heidi off. “We need to go back. Make it look like everything is normal.”
“Go,” Emilia says softly, reaching out and hugging Heidi to her chest. “I’ll be close behind.”
“Mils—”
“There’s no time, Heid. Kayla will be fine here,” Emilia interrupts, her tone laced with urgency.
Heidi finally nods, and Sam guides her past me before they disappear down the stairs. Bridget follows almost immediately, her brows lifting when she catches sight of me in the corridor. She says nothing, just slips past and vanishes.
I step forward until I’m standing just behind Emilia, peering into Bridget’s bedroom. Kayla is curled in on herself on the mattress, knees still tucked tight, breathing in small, steady spurts.
Footsteps approach behind me. “She has nightmares,” Emilia murmurs, eyes still on Kayla. “Ever since she got back from prison.” She swallows. “You’ll have to watch her.” She turns to look at me, her gaze glassy.
“I have to head back too, Emilia,” I say softly.
“Oh. Of course,” she murmurs.
“I’ll watch her,” Anna says from behind me.
Emilia’s eyes widen, gaze snapping over my shoulder. “You will?”
Anna lifts one shoulder in a weak shrug. “She didn’t do anything to offend me.”
Emilia scoffs. “And I did?”
“Maybe.” Anna smirks, crossing her arms. Her eyes trail to me. “I’ll tell Claudia to hurry back to the Married Sector if she comes here after work. Same with Zac.”
“Thank you,” I say quietly as Emilia nods.
And then the two of us are descending the stairs, heading through the kitchen and out the front door. We walk fast, side by side but silent, our minds reeling as we each brace for whatever comes next.
Ready to face the consequences.