Cynthia left as quickly as she came in. “Mind the coffee, Dear, it’s hot,” she called back as her heels clicked down the hall.

Bex’s eyebrows were nearly touching as his frown deepened. He had never been to my parents’ home, to my knowledge, and he wasn’t enjoying it at all.

“She warms up,” I said.

“That’s not what I’ve heard,” he grumbled.

“I’m going to hop in the shower. Has Jared called?”

“No,” he said, picking up the remote control, switching on the television. “But he’s on his way.”

I thought about that for a moment, and decided I already knew the answer. They could sense each other, and Bex was the most in-tune out of the three Hybrid siblings.

My morning routine finished without event, including Jared's return home. “I thought you said he was coming,” I said, tightening my robe.

“He is,” Bex said, his eyes stationary on the screen.

“Nina, Love?” Agatha called from the hall.

“Yes?” I said, opening the door. Agatha was holding several bags, and Beth stood behind her, her arms full of bags as well.

“You said you lost everything,” Beth said, brushing past me to the closet. She disappeared into my walk in, hanging the plastic-covered clothing on the nearly-empty iron rods.

I opened the door, watching her pull shoes boxes from one of the large sacks. Once she was finished, she looked at her watch. “Crap! I gotta go.”

“Beth.”

“Yes?” she said, whipping around.

“Thank you.”

She smiled. “Don’t thank me. That was so fun. I think I went a little overboard.”

She waved, and then rushed back the way she came, her legs moving a thousand miles per hour. I shut the closet door behind me, and pulled the first outfit I touched off its hanger. When I walked out into the bedroom, I froze in my tracks.

Jared stood in the center of my room, covered in dirt, blood, and his was face scraped and blotchy.

“Oh my…oh my God!” I yelled, rushing over to him. “What happened?”

Kim walked in behind Jared, untouched. “I told him not to go without me, but he’s faster than I am.”

I touched Jared’s face. “What did you do?”

He grimaced. “The book was in my hand. I had it.”

“Where were you?” I said, helping him pull off his jacket. He was stiff, and cringed with pain.

Kim’s usually stoic expression twisted as she watched me pull his t-shirt up and over his head. “Warwick,” she said. “We got the book, but Donovan was there.”

Six raw, bloody and swollen bullet holes dotted different areas of Jared’s torso, accompanied by a large gash along his shoulder blade.

“Jared!” I screamed.

Bex left without a word.

“Where are you going?” I called after him.

“He’s going to find something to pull the fragments out.”