Vaughn looked at Jaz.
Her face was pinched. Her black hoodie and leggings painted her like a thief in the night. If anyone saw her dressed like that, she’d have a lot of explaining to do. “They were when we left them. But they’re with the experts now. All we can do is hope.”
Unwilling to fall into another pit of despair, I forced my mind to focus on one scenario.
They’ll make it.
Wrenching open the cupboard, I pulled out a box of muesli bars. Glancing at Jaz, I asked, “How did you keep them alive for so long? And where?” Ripping the box open, I tossed a bar to V and one to Jaz. They both caught them.
Jasmine smiled in thanks, tucking hers into the satchel of her wheelchair. V, on the other hand, tore off the wrapper with his teeth and devoured it in a few mouthfuls. “Fuck, I haven’t eaten in forever.”
Hadn’t they fed him? My heart hardened. More daggers of hatred grew toward Cut and Bonnie. I wanted to murder them slowly, painfully—to do to them what they’d done to innocent men and women.
Jasmine replied, “It wasn’t just me. I had help.”
“Damn right you did.” V winked. “Me.”
She smiled, a scowl plaiting with genuine amusement. “No, hotshot.” Her eyes met mine again. “Flaw.”
I froze. I was right.
My mind skipped to our conversation. Something about me not judging him, and how he was a good person. “He helped? How?”
Yesterday in the corridor.
They’d huddled together…discussing Jethro.
Jasmine sighed, “I was a freaking mess when Cut shot them. I’d wanted to walk again ever since I lost the ability, but in that second I’d wanted to fly. To soar across the room and tear out his motherfucking heart.”
My hands curled around the box of muesli bars. “I know that feeling.”
“Afterward, Bonnie took me upstairs and tried to calm me down. The rest I’m not entirely sure about, but Flaw was given the task of cleaning up.” She swallowed, eyes turning dark. “He noticed they…weren’t dead.”
“They had drips and shit…medical paraphernalia down there.” Vaughn jumped in. “Who did that?”
“Flaw again. He dropped out of medical school after he discovered diamonds were a lot more lucrative than sewing up flesh. We had the equipment, but he didn’t tell anyone. He moved their bodies, set up what they needed, then came to me the minute I was alone. Everything went according to plan, apart from the mishap of shutting the cell door.”
That was happening all while she came to save me from Daniel.
How had she come up with a plan so fast? And why did Cut listen to her demands as oldest child?
My mind raced. “So…Flaw kept them alive?”
She nodded. “If it hadn’t been for him, they would’ve drained out on the carpet.”
I shook my head. “But there was so much blood. They were unconscious.”
Jaz rolled closer. “He performed a miracle, Nila. I’ll be forever grateful for that. But there’s no guarantee they’ll pull through. The doctors tried to be optimistic when we arrived, but…”
Vaughn picked up where she trailed off. “The docs’ faces, Threads. You could tell they didn’t have much hope.”
The joy of knowing Jethro and Kestrel were rescued punctured, deflating like a hot air balloon, crashing faster toward Earth. “So…they might still…” I couldn’t finish.
Jaz smiled tightly, her eyes glittering with unshed tears. “Let’s focus on the positive. They’re away from Hawksridge with people who know what they’re doing. That’s all we have.”
Terrible silence fell, like a curtain already stealing Jethro and Kes from us.
Vaughn finally muttered, “Why keep them down there? It was a fucking dungeon.”
His train of thought gave me something to focus on.
Jasmine jumped to answer, as if unable to handle the quietness when we couldn’t stop our minds from picking at ‘what if’.
What if they don’t make it?