I would have to live with that.
I comforted myself only with the knowledge that what had happened had been necessary. He’d fought the evil but the evil had won. He would have hurt my friends over and over again if I’d allowed him to live.
“I liked that vision,” Cole said, fingers tracing gently over my hand.
“Yes.” The single word was no more than a croak, my throat raw.
He lifted my hand, kissed my knuckles. “I almost lost you, Ali. Twice. Your heart stopped. But you came back.”
“Stubborn,” I said.
“And thank God for that.”
We shared a soft smile. “How much butt did we kick?”
His expression turned serious. “Most of Anima escaped, but all of the zombies that were there were killed. We didn’t even have to fight them. They just began to drop, one by one. They stopped moving, and we were able to light them up without any problems.”
Maybe because my spirit poisoned them. I’d tell him about my suspicions—later. Right now, I wanted answers, and I wasn’t sure how long I’d be able to stay conscious. “How did you find me? How did you make it out of my house?” The bomb! How could I have forgotten about my grandmother? I tried to sit up. “Nana is—”
“Fine. She’s fine and with my dad, waiting to see you.” He gently pushed me back to the bed. “Ankh had to sew you up. I don’t want you to tear your stitches. And before you ask about the carnage, you’ll be happy to know my dad and your grandmother went through the rubble and managed to salvage some of your things.”
“Like what?” If I’d lost the photos of my family…if I’d lost the journal…
“I don’t know. I haven’t left your side.”
“Sweet of you.”
“Not really. I was determined to fight you if you decided to die.”
It would have hurt my side to laugh, so I focused on getting the rest of the answers I wanted. “What happened?”
“At your house?”
I nodded.
“Your grandmother had gone to her room. One of the Anima employees tossed in a mini grenade. I dove for cover. When I came to, my dad was there and the suits were gone. We found your grandmother, and she’d been knocked around pretty good, but all of her injuries were treatable. Then, Justin showed up. He told me what was going down, told me where to go.”
Dr. Wright had lied about the bomb—big shocker—and Justin had helped us. Why? That made no sense, not fitting what I knew about him and his co-sleezeworkers. “Did everyone make it out okay?”
His attention dropped to his feet. “No. Haun is…”
Dead. Trembling, I gazed around, needing a moment to collect myself. We were in a plush bedroom. A velvet drape hung over the bed. Pastel flowers had been papered on the walls. A crystal chandelier dripped with thousands of sparkling teardrops.
All this loss we were forced to bear. All this pain and heartache. And there would be more, so much more, because we would continue to hunt and fight. We had to. We had to protect those we loved.
Otherwise everything we’d already done would have been a waste, and we would see no light in the future—only darkness.
I cleared away the emotion clogging my throat. “Where am I?”
“The Ankhs’ house.”
A knock sounded, and Mr. Holland peeked inside the room. “We heard voices and hoped you were awake. We’ve got a roomful of people who want to check on you.”
I reached up to try and smooth my hair into place, but the tangles I encountered made me cringe. There would be no fixing my appearance.
“You look beautiful,” Cole said.
Sure I did. But I appreciated the compliment anyway. Although, he still wore that serious expression, so maybe he really believed it. “Send them in,” I said, trying not to sigh dreamily.
First came Nana.
Cole got up and moved to the only window, and she rushed to me, hugged me while being careful of my middle and fawned over me, generally making me feel better as she settled into Cole’s chair. There were bruises on her forehead, but no other injuries that I could see.
Next Lucas, Derek, Collins, Cruz, Frosty, and Bronx filed into the room.
“Looking good,” Frosty said.
“Little Ali packs a big punch,” Lucas said.
“I’ll fight with you anytime,” Derek said.
“When you get tired of Cole, give me a try,” Collins said, earning a sharp look from Cole.
“Not bad. For a beginner,” Bronx said.
They were the first words he’d ever spoken to me, and they’d been grunted. And yet, I cherished them. Coming from him, that was high praise indeed.
“Thanks, guys,” I replied.
“Oh, the friends you’ve made,” Nana said with a shake of her head.
The boys exited and Mackenzie and Trina entered.
“I hate to say this,” Mackenzie said, looking me over, “but you were kind of awesome out there.”
“Yeah, she was,” Trina said with a grin. “I noticed she used a few of my patented moves.”
“No way. Those were my moves!”
They argued as they left.
Next, Kat burst into the room. “About time I got a turn,” she announced, rushing to my side. She grabbed my hand and held on as tightly as if it was a life raft and she was drowning. “As the best friend, I should have been first. Someone will have to be punished for my misery, but don’t worry, it won’t be you, Ali.”
I was beyond excited to see her, but I glanced at Cole.
“She knows,” he said. “When she couldn’t reach you, she called Frosty and me about a thousand times. She was about to tell the world you’d been abducted when my dad finally gave us permission to read her into the program.”
“And you should have done it a long time ago!” Kat exclaimed. “Like I can’t handle knowledge that there are zombies out there.” She leaned down and, losing her smile, her color, whispered, “I’m not sure I can handle the knowledge that there are zombies out there. When you’re better, we’re talking.”
“Definitely,” I whispered back. Then, louder, “So, you and Frosty are back together now?”
“Yes, we are,” Frosty called from the hallway at the same time Kat said, “After he’s suffered a little more. He’s my whipping boy, you know.”
Does he know about you? I mouthed.
She shook her head no.
I wouldn’t tell him, then. Although, now that I thought about it, he might already know. I bet Mr. Holland and Mr. Ankh had done a background check on her when Frosty first started dating her. But that, too, was a confession for another day.