Creators(43)

Except that it wasn’t. It was Henry. He sat on the ground huddled with an injured Stephanie. Her arm was in a sling and several shallow cuts marked her forehead. Seeing me, Henry jumped up and pulled me into his arms. “You’re awake. I tried to get to the infirmary, but everything was so damn crazy.”

“You should have seen him. He was so brave.” Stephanie beamed. “Practically took out one of the chosen ones on his own.”

Henry actually blushed, and for a moment, I felt the need to look away. He reached down and helped Stephanie off the ground. “She’s exaggerating. When I woke up yesterday morning, I went to apologize to Stephanie for…you know.”

I nodded. I did know, but that seemed like another lifetime ago.

“I got to her room and Eric was there. That’s when the attack happened. We didn’t make it down the stairs before we were ambushed,” he said.

“Eric?” I asked, wondering what he had been doing in Stephanie’s room.

“He came to apologize,” she said quietly. I raised an eyebrow. Eric was a lot of things but apologetic was never one of them. “He saved my life.”

“When he saw what was happening, he pulled that damn bottle of shine from his pocket and lit the blasted thing on fire. Threw it right at the bastards. Then everything just went nuts. Fighting and running,” Henry said.

“Somehow, I lost the two of them,” Stephanie continued. “I fell behind. One of the chosen ones cornered me. I had no gun, no way out. Then there was Eric. He threw himself in front of me. Took on one of those things by himself. It didn’t take… He…gave me enough time to get away,” she added.

Stephanie took a shaky breath and reached for my hand. “I’m sorry. I know he was your friend.”

I pulled my hand from hers and took a step back. My throat felt painfully dry. I shook my head. “I…” My voice trailed off. I wanted to discredit everything they had told me. To demand that what they were saying was impossible, but the truth was, in this world, it was entirely possible. Even probable.

“Is his body here?” I asked, my voice cracking. He would have wanted to be buried. I remembered how important it was to him to bury McNair.

“I buried him this morning,” Henry said. “I tried to wait for you, Tess. I swear it. But I didn’t know how long it would be before we would have to move out, and I knew—”

I threw my arms around Henry’s neck. “No, you did well. It’s what he would have wanted. Thank you,” I whispered into his ear. I detangled myself from Henry and looked at Stephanie. “I’m glad you’re all right.”

She nodded. “Glad you’re safe too. I really am sorry about your friend.”

“He died doing what he wanted to do—protecting naturals. You two probably had more in common than either of you thought,” I offered with a pained smile. I took a deep breath. “Who else?”

I watched as Henry and Robert exchanged a look. “Who else?” I demanded.

“Sharon,” said a voice from behind me.

I turned around to see Lockwood. His face was caked in dirt. Long dried tear streaks marked his face. I slowly shook my head. “Impossible.” Because losing Sharon just couldn’t happen. People like Eric, soldiers, could die in wars.

But not people like Sharon.

Lockwood’s face crumpled. “We lost her.”

I continued to shake my head as an odd sort of lightness overtook my body. It was like I was outside of myself watching some horrific story unfold. I didn’t want to see the ending to this narrative. Robert reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder, and I flinched. I didn’t want anyone to touch me. I didn’t want anyone to bring me back to my body. I didn’t want to feel the things it was feeling.

“You’re lying,” I said.

Lockwood began to sob into his hands, falling to his knees on the ground. I tore myself from Robert’s grasp. I crouched down next to Lockwood and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him as hard as I could. “Show me her body!”

“There is no body,” Henry said softly from behind me.

I froze. I couldn’t breathe. I closed my eyes and counted to ten. “Tell me how,” I commanded.

“She was taking her children to shelter. One of the bombs got her. Killed one of the boys and her. There was nothing left,” he answered.

A wild sob broke free from my lips. I pressed my fist over my mouth to keep another one from getting free. Robert offered his hand to help me up, but I smacked it away. I closed my eyes again, willing my body to return to its unconscious state.

I had lost another mother.