Page 78 of House of Kallan
She nodded. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. I should have trusted that Tatum had this under control.”
Nine ran back into the crowd, once more surrounding herself with fire; but this time, I thought it was to protect herself from either a misguided attack or something oncoming. She stopped at the side of a kid, someone younger and smaller.
Taking a breath, I looked at Kormak. “You’re okay? I got it all?” I knew I had, but I needed to hear it from him.
He looked at me, amused. “Yes. You got it all.”
Laughter that sounded slightly hysterical escaped. We helped each other up. “I’m going to see if anyone else is hurt.”
“I’m going to try to stay away from the fucking kids. I cannot bring myself to hurt them, but fuck if their attacks aren’t just as deadly as the programmed hybrids’.”
I nodded as he turned back into the mess.
As I headed behind the counterattack by the Voses and our friends, I found another Vos injured. Thankfully, this one wasn’t a fatal wound, but he was moving slowly. Another vined hybrid landed at his feet. He looked up, confused, until I stopped at his side and began the transfer.
This one didn’t take long, but it was enough time for me toreflect that these kids were running on fear alone. That was their entire motivation. Were they expendable to Silence? Or were they hoping to get them back?
A part of me wanted to reach out to the rest of our help parties and tell them not to hurt the kids if they could help it. I mean, it was instinct not to, but still. I felt like Ineededto say this out loud. Or, you know, via text.
Not that anyone would even see the text. Who was going to check their phone right now?
“Thanks,” the Vos said.
I nodded and moved further down where another was just slammed in the chest by something with wicked magic. He convulsed.
Rushing over, I fell to the ground and looked up, waiting for another body to appear. It did. I wasn’t sure if that first Vos was watching, or if it was something else at this point. There was no time to question.
Reaching for both of them, I flinched when I felt the magic dig into me. Not that it mattered. Virtues were pretty immune to shit as long as we had another body to transfer to. And I was surrounded by bodies right now.
When he was up, I turned to head back down the line. Most of my time here was going to be spent just like this. Archangels weren’t fighters. Not really. We were healers.
I didn’t know what made me look. Maybe I heard someone say something. It could have been anything at all. I didn’t know. But I pulled out my phone as I hunkered down in a corner. Sure enough, there was another notification.
DIVISION OF SILENCE ATTACKING THE HAREM PROJECT.
My gut twisted as I clicked on it. There was a long list of locations but the one I was scrolling for… my blood turned cold.
“No,” I whispered and shoved my phone back into my pocket. “Tyrus!” I yelled. “I need you.”
He didn’t respond and for a single second, I thought maybehe was hurt. But an explosion rocked the ground and rubble flew through the air. I realized that, more likely, he just couldn’t hear me.
Making a split decision, I turned and ran for my car.Please be okay,I begged the universe for the people I was leaving behind. But I didn’t have a choice. Not right now. There were more than 100 children and close to fifty helpless pregnant women at risk right now. Their only defense was the magic woven into the building and those monsters on staff.
Also, our human spouses were there. And our children.
I ran faster. I didn’t have a choice.
Tatum
Haven looked like a war zone.The surrounding structures were rubble. There was a haze in the air of dust from the debris. As I crouched behind an upturned car, I heard the telltale sign of a missile falling.
I had a very strange, out-of-body experience, that made me feel as if I wasn’t in my own reality. Were they really bombing a building with children inside? This just wasn’t real. People didn’t do this!
But I watched in horror as the bomb made impact and detonated at the top corner of the building. Right where the third-floor orphan wing was.
Tears filled my eyes, even as I dove for cover and covered my ears. The sound was so loud, I screamed. I could see the light through my eyelids and feel the vibration through my entire body. The whole thing lasted maybe forty-five seconds.
