the knife into her upper stomach, my hand nearly losing grip on the knife from all of the blood on me. Both my hands and my arms were covered in it. When I breathed, I could taste it in my mouth. My hair was wet with it.
Who knew stabbing someone dozens of times would be so bloody?
Chapter Thirty – Jacob
Archer and I were on our way back to the house. He’d gotten more clothes, along with a few other things he needed. His house was cleaned up, but I didn’t blame him for wanting to keep living at the Fitzpatrick’s house. He’d get to stay close to Jaz and get away from the house where his mother died.
I was never close with my mother, obviously, but I could imagine how much it hurt to lose someone you loved. If I lost Jaz, I think I’d go crazy.
Pulling up to the house, I saw a car lingered near the gate. Vaughn stood, arguing with the security guard, Frank. When I stopped before the closed gate, I rolled down my window, wondering just what the fresh hell all of this was about.
Vaughn was busy threatening Frank: “If you do not open that gate for me right now, I will break through that glass and—”
I interrupted what was sure to be a colorful threat, “Vaughn, what’s going on? Why are you here?”
He whirled on me. “Something’s not right. Her friend, Bobbi—” I knew a little about Bobbi. Jaz had spoken of her on a few occasions, but I did not know of any connections until he went on, “Has an older sister named Alice. Alice Wilde, who is now a walking zombie because of something that happened three years ago. Her mother ran away and left her father—”
Alice Wilde. Shit. I remembered what happened to that girl perfectly, even though years had passed. Star child, well-loved by everyone; she and Celeste got into it. She beat Celeste up for supposedly going after her man, and then… and then, if I had to guess, Ollie’s twins got to her.
“Frank!” I shouted his name. “Open the fucking gates!” Out of nowhere, my heart beat too fast. Surely this was all a coincidence, surely this didn’t mean that Bobbi was the one skulking around in the shadows, killing people?
I was back in my car the next moment, flying through the gates before it opened all the way. Vaughn hurried back to his waiting car, following me up. The driveway was too long, obscenely long, and I barely put the car in park before leaping out and running to the front door.
Archer asked, “What’s going on? I don’t—”
I didn’t say anything, busting through the door and shouting, “Jaz!” As it turned out, I didn’t have to look too far. After running through the front vestibule, I found Jaz standing in the kitchen, holding onto a bloody knife.
Fuck. She was covered in blood, and when I said covered, I meant it looked like she showered in it. Her eyes were alert, instantly spotting me, and I saw her grip on the knife tighten, as if she was going to try to stab me with it.
I knew I didn’t have the whole picture of what happened here, but I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I needed to calm her down and get that knife out of her hand, then I could see what had taken place in this house.
“Jaz,” I spoke quietly, ignoring Archer, who’d come into the house behind me. When he saw Jaz and all the blood on her, he froze. “Give me the knife.” I didn’t want to use any takedowns on her, but I recognized the crazed glint in her eyes. She’d lost it, and she needed help coming back to herself.
She looked at me, but I couldn’t tell if she saw me or just a face. She stood still, her body breathing hard but not trembling. Judging from the blood on her face, she wasn’t crying, either. It hardly looked like she was there, in her body, in her own head.
I stepped closer, saying again, “Jaz, give me the knife. I’m here now. You don’t need it.”
Vaughn entered the house, moving to stand beside Archer. Both of them watched her, though I couldn’t take my eyes off her to see what their reaction was.
Extending a hand, my heart hammered in my chest. In a situation like this, you never knew how someone would react. I loved Jaz, but even I knew she wasn’t