“Since when does BlackAdder have inboards?” demanded Rubio.

“Or the juice to run them?” Jake seconded. “A question everyone’s asking. And why burn the building down? Pure, wanton destruction. Makes no sense!”

“It’s BlackAdder. What d’you expect?”

Jake shifted his load. “One of you go make a count of empty bunks. We’ll be taking in the survivors.”

“I’ll go,” I said.

“Forever?” asked Rubio.

“As long as necessary.” Jake’s eyes narrowed. “You got a problem with that?”

“Just asking.” But when Jake had left, he muttered, “Reduced rations, coming up.”

“And a bigger den,” I added.

That actually cheered him up. “Right! A whole higher level of capacity to look for.”

The Ward filled up fast and we went through the extra bunks in no time, assigning them to the lesser injuries. By dawn, we’d bedded down the rest in sofas and chairs or whatever was left of the floor in the media loft. Jake came through, seeing if everyone had dry clothing, food, and drink. He spotted Rivera, sitting in her nightclothes with two small, frantic girls, trying to get them to lie down on a blanket.

“Maybe this’ll help.” He passed her a ceramic jug. “Just came down from the roof.”

“Thanks.” As she took it, a warm, milky smell wafted around us.

Jake leaned in beside me as I sliced bread and cheese to pass out to anyone who was well enough to have an appetite. “Can’t find their mom,” he murmured, watching as the girls sipped at the jug. “Their dad’s out searching the ashes.”

I could only nod. The kids were so little, so shell-shocked. Their quiet weeping broke my heart. “Any further news?”

“Definitely a provisioning run,” he confirmed. “Caught Ladysmith mostly sleeping, and just . . . overwhelmed them.”

“Why didn’t they ask first, if they were hungry?”

Jake shrugged. I knew he disliked making gross generalizations, but what could you say about such obvious and oblivious malice?

Rivera said it for him. “Adders don’t ask, they take. Hope they took some damage, too.”

“Oh, they did.” Jake’s square shoulders slumped. “Max says it was a war zone for a while. Then the whole place blew up in flames and everyone—Smith and Adder—took a dive for the water. By then, some Tommys had showed up, shooting from the opposite roof, so a few more Adders never made it to their boats. But plenty still breathing. The Smiths lost everything they had.”

“Good thing Maxine lets her folks arm up.” Rivera’s hair veiled her face in shadow as she leaned over the girls. “Gave ’em a chance, at least.”

One we wouldn’t have had, her tone implied.

Jake’s blue gaze was troubled. “And they’ve brought them all with them.”