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“Yeah, I’m good. I was just tossing out the trash,” I say, then scratch the back of my neck. “What’s on your mind, son?”

“My sister Karissa hasn't returned from her shift yet, and normally she and Brent are back by now. I'm worried something might have happened.” He shuffles on his feet, dragging a hand through his hair. Huh, I hadn’t even noticed they’d hadn’t returned.

“I wasn't aware Karissa had a brother. What's your name, son?”

“Xander, sir,” he says, frowning. “I’m worried because they usually don’t take this long.”

I think for a moment. Huh. Come to think of it, the kid’s right. I stride past him into the room and let out a wolf whistle. All heads turn toward me, and a few people gasp. I assume it’s due to my bloody face, but I don’t give a fuck what they think right now.

“Listen up, people,” I say, taking my position back on the marble table. “We’re missing Karissa and Brent. They haven't returned from their patrol, so change of plans.” I look pointedly around the room. “We’re moving out tonight. Prepare yourselves.” Everyone scurries back around, and Xander walks up to me, eyes wide in surprise.

I put a hand on his shoulder, and he flinches when he sees the smear of blood I leave there. “We’ll find them, then ambush the Cove and take whatever else we want. Anyone who stands in our way dies tonight. If you can’t handle that, you need to make a decision now, son.” I look him deeply in the eyes, letting him know in no uncertain terms that there is only one decision to make.

“Yes, sir,” he says, taking a breath, then walking back to the far side of the room. He picks up a paring knife and a screwdriver and slips them into his pocket.

“Listen up, everyone!” I shout to get everyone's attention. “Walk outside and smear a stripe of Jackson's blood on your face. I want to know who my people are when we attack.” For a moment, I think they are not going to listen. I see a few faces cringe at the order, but they don't disobey; they do as they are told. I can’t help but smile. It’s so fucking good to be king.

24

BRENT

The hallway is dark when I open my eyes. My head is throbbing. I reach up and gently rub my scalp, wincing at the pain. I feel something sticky and wet, along with a sting of pain. I try to see if there is blood on my hand, but my vision is blurry. Squinting and blinking repeatedly, my vision begins to clear, and my hand slowly comes into focus. Moonlight streams through the window, revealing that the wet substance on my hand is thick and dark red. I reach up again and gently run my finger over the wound, trying to gauge its size, and wince again from the pain. What happened? Where am I?

As I look around, my eyes land on a woman lying on the floor across from me. I squint and blink a few more times, my vision going in and out. I stand up and hold myself up against the wall. A wave of dizziness takes over, and I nearly fall. After a moment, I drop back to the floor and crawl closer to get a better look at the woman. My mind feels fuzzy, and I’m unsure whether what I’m seeing is real. I close my eyes to steady myself. Several seconds pass, and memories of earlier begin to return. Karissa. I remember who she is. My patrol partner.

“Karissa, wake up,” I whisper, shaking her shoulder, but she doesn't wake up.

Looking around the empty hallway, I don’t see anyone. I can hear people whispering and footsteps in the distance, but I don't know where or who they’re coming from. I go silent, desperately trying to pinpoint where the sound is coming from. My ears start to ring, and a sharp pain throbs in my head again. I lose the sound of the footsteps. Quickly, I stand again, holding the wall and stumbling for a moment. I then rush to the stairwell, following the sound and trying to listen again. This time, the whispers and footsteps are clearer— “Go quickly before they see us, get inside,” says a man’s voice I don’t recognize.

Quickly, I climb the stairs, not caring if my vision is fading in and out or if my ears are ringing nonstop. With every step, I’m closer to the voices and footsteps. I need to know who did this to us. As I step onto the 11th floor, I turn into the hallway facing the medical center. There’s a figure, but I can't tell who it is without them turning around.

“Hey,” I shout. The figure stops and faces me. His face is familiar, but I can’t quite place who he is; my vision is blurry. I blink a few times, and my vision clears. It's Theo. No. That's not right, something is telling me it's not him. Maybe the way he is standing. Then it hits me—it’s Theo’s twin brother, Tyler. I stand silently, staring at him. He sees me too, because he stops moving, locking eyes with mine in a tense stare. Neither of us moves a muscle. Tyler’s gaze falters when someone steps out and grabs his arm, pulling him inside the medical center.

I take off running to catch him, but by the time I make it to the medical center’s doors, they are closed. I almost fall over. I’m so dizzy, and my vision keeps going in and out. I reach toward the door, but I’m too late. I can hear things sliding against the floor and being slammed against it. Still dizzy and out of breath, I fall backward, landing on my back and nearly knocking the breath out of me. I stare at the ceiling, taking slow breaths until I’m able to sit upright again. My mind is racing. Karissa’s body flashes in my memory, and I slowly get up, trying not to make myself dizzy again. I rush toward the stairwell and race back down. Karissa is gone—nowhere to be found.

I look around and realize the blood staining the carpet where I was lying a moment ago is also gone. I glance up and see that I’m on the wrong floor. Frantically, I race down one more flight of stairs. Then I see Karissa—she’s not moving. My first thought is that she’s dead. Without thinking, I run and drop down beside her, beginning CPR. The instant I press my weight down on her torso, she screams in pain, and her eyes fly open, fear evident. She sucks in a deep breath and shoves me off.

“What are you doing? Get off me. Are you trying to kill me?” Karissa shouts.

“I thought you were dead.” I answer, confused about everything right now.

“Well, I am alive, but now I feel like I am going to puke,” she says, grabbing her head and then lying back down on the floor. “Ugh, my head is killing me. What happened? Where are we?”

“I'm not sure, but I think we were ambushed. I saw Tyler go into the medical center upstairs. I tried to catch him, but I wasn't quick enough.”

“Are you sure? They haven't opened that door in weeks.”

“I know what I saw… or at least I think so.” I rub the back of my neck.

“Let's go. We need to tell Logan.”

“Can you remember anything?” I ask, my memory hazy.

“I don't know. I remember walking and talking with you. That's all I remember.”

“We checked everywhere. Where could they have come from?” I ask, scanning the area. Karissa remains silent as I follow her gaze and notice she looks at a closet we didn’t check, then past it. A second later, she takes off running toward the stairwell and stops, turning to face me.

“What are you doing?” I ask. She doesn’t answer. Instead, she begins walking, and I realize she’s retracing our steps. Then she stops halfway.