We’re jerked and shoved to the ground, a rock jamming into my knee. Jane looks fuzzy-eyed, like the hit to the head messed with her, but we’re hoisted back up on our feet and shoved front and center.
“That was clever,” she says, stepping over Jude to get to the bottom step. She stares at Jane. “The way you escaped last year. I didn’t realize you were even aware of my plans. To be honest, I thought you were too self-absorbed to notice. Too focused on your own goals.” She shrugs. “Lesson learned. Never take your eyes off the Ramsey girls.”
She turns her attention to me, eyes narrowed. “You on the other hand…not so clever, but you’re nothing more than a traitorous whore. What did you give Rowe to lead you out of the Fort? I found his body mangled and half consumed on the sparring room floor. Did you use him, too? Like the other men that cross you path?”
“You’re delusional, Chloe.” I glance at my sister. “That’s something you need to fix in your next batch of vaccines. The increased likelihood of delusions of grandeur.”
“It’s the infection,” Jane replies, in that know-it-all-voice she can’t help. I shake my head for her to shut up but she keep
s talking anyway. “It sparks the aggression and need to conquer. Not by spreading the virus but by forcing those around her into submission. Although it’s basically a mental illness, I do find it fascinating.”
Chloe walks down the steps, quick and feline. She approaches Jane with speed so fast she appears a blur. She grabs Jane by the neck and says, “See? That’s why I can’t kill you. You’re too smart. So smart. I’m going to need that brain.”
She places a sweet kiss on my sister’s forehead and turns to me. Without hesitation, she hauls off and slaps my face with a crack that rattles my teeth and splits my lip. My ears ring and I nearly lose my balance, my weak ankle buckling under the pressure, but Chloe grabs the front of my shirt and jerks me forward. “You on the other hand? Not so smart. I told you not to hurt my brother.”
I spit blood on the ground. “I’ve done a lot of crappy things over the last two years, Chloe, but I’ve never hurt your brother. He left me, you know. Not the other way around.”
She glances to her left, and like they have a hive mind, the Hybrids part and toss Wyatt in our direction. He’s bound already, hands and feet, and lands with a thud on the ground. His knuckles are busted—bloody and scraped from fighting. His eye is bruised again, just below where Avi already popped him once tonight.
“Cole is a fool, but he’s learned the error of his ways. He’s been reformed, or at least he’s in the process.”
“So civilized,” I say.
“At least he’s loyal,” she replies, eyes flicking to Wyatt, who has managed to get on his knees. “This one? He still can’t figure out whose side he’s on, other than his own.” She walks over to him and places a finger under his chin. “So predictable, or at least that’s how he seems. He’s not, though. Every move has a distinct motive. A clear mission.”
“Cole is the one that sold you out,” I tell her.
“But Wyatt is the good boy. The perfect soldier. He follows directions with extreme precision.” She glances at me and smiles before leaning over and placing a slow kiss on Wyatt’s lips. He struggles with his binds, twisting away. Two guns press in his back and she clutches him by the chin, holding him still.
“Thank you for the hard work,” she says to him. “But your services are no longer needed.” She rests her boot in his chest and kicks him over. A Hybrid comes behind her and slams the butt of a gun against the back of his head. The crack is sickening and I can’t stop the cry as he crumbles to the ground in a heap.
“Put them with the rest of the prisoners,” she says, walking off without another look back. “And shoot him.”
I lunge toward Wyatt but I’m picked up from behind and hauled away from his body. Hybrids do the same to Jane although she isn’t resisting. I fight, twisting against the Hybrid, kicking and pulling with all my might. The burly solider wraps his arms around me and I buck against him.
“Don’t do it! Don’t you dare!” I shout at Chloe’s retreating form. “If you hurt him, you’ll pay for it with your life. A slow and painful death, Chloe.”
She disappears into her vehicle without reacting while I’m dragged down the gravel driveway, heels digging in. My ankle throbs, probably actually broken now, but it doesn’t stop me from fighting. I bend and clamp my teeth down on the Hybrid’s wrist, tearing into the flesh.
The Hybrid throws me to the ground and stands over me, gun drawn. He wipes his bloody hand on his pants and narrows his eyes. “Just because she won’t let me kill you doesn’t mean I can’t hurt you, little girl.”
The tone of his voice shakes me to the core and Jane shouts, “Alexandra. Stop. You’re only making it worse.”
I steal a look at my sister and see the fear on her face. I don’t want to give up. I can’t give in but there’s nothing I can do. He yanks me back on my feet.
Not far down the drive we come upon several black vans. They open the back doors of one and toss Jane inside, she lands hard on the metal floor. I expect the same but they shut the doors with a slam and yank me toward a different van.
We’ve just reached the doors when a single shot cracks the night into two.
My heart stops and I stumble, clamping my teeth to keep from screaming. I don’t dare look back and see what she’s done to the man that I love.
Another Hybrid opens the doors and I’m shoved forward. I have no fight left and sprawl into the hard floor. Jude left for dead. Green injured and unable to fight. The others will be transported back to whatever headquarters Chloe has set up. Jane will be a servant toward whatever biological warfare they want to create. God knows where Erwin and Paul are, but if she hasn’t caught them yet, it won’t be long.
And Wyatt. I swallow back the tears and pain.
The Hybrids have won the war without an actual battle.
I feel the chains clamped to my wrists and numbly I go where I’m directed. There are bench seats on each side and I’m tethered to a chain on the floor. Tight manacles are on each wrist. I settle into one, only realizing I’m not alone as the door slams shut. A tiny sliver of light seeps through the crack under the doors revealing a pair of unfamiliar scuffed, black boots. He’s not one of my friends, which makes me happy and sad at the same time.