“Eva. Eva.” It was Adam’s voice. He sounded so far away. “Hey. I got you.”
“What happened? What’s happening? I need to get Wendy.” I was still flailing.
He turned me to face him. His face was also covered in blood. I looked down, my heart pounding, and saw a man lying in a pool of blood. When I looked at Adam again the realization of what he’d done sank in. We stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, as chaos continued to ensue around us, wordlessly conveying that there had been no other choice.
“We need to get out of here.” He put his hands on my face so that I couldn’t look away. “We need to get out now.”
“I need to get Stella and Wendy.”
“Stella’s with Dr. Thompson.”
“Wendy.” I whipped my head in the direction of the bench and saw her still lying there, saw the blood running down her bare arm, saw the way her face was turned in an abnormal way, her neck bent. I took a deep breath and let it out in a loud shriek that seemed to quiet everything else, though no one stopped moving. “Wendy,” I yelled.
“The paramedics are right there,” Adam said. “They’ll tend to her.”
I saw the paramedics he was talking about, but I knew they wouldn’t, couldn’t tend to her. There was no way. Her neck. Oh my God, he’d killed her. The priest had killed her.
“I’m not leaving.” I brought my hands up and knocked Adam’s off my shoulders. “I am not leaving.” I started running in Wendy’s direction as fast as I could.
I was just a foot away when I saw, really saw. The blade was on the floor. The blood wasn’t hers. It was the priest’s, who was lying in a pile on the ground right beside the bench. Her eyes were wide open, staring at me, into me, through me. Her neck was so bent there was no way . . . there was no way . . . I fell to the ground, tears filling my eyes. Adam’s arms were around me in a second.
“Wendy,” I said. “She’s dead. My sister’s dead.”
Chapter Forty
Adam
Rage threatened to take over me.
Rage because I hadn’t been able to help Eva, not really anyway. Rage because things had gotten out of control on my watch. Rage because a place that held so much promise was deteriorating before my eyes and I wasn’t sure I could help it. I watched the fire continue to burn and felt it as if it was on me, my own skin burning, my organs and muscles shrinking with it. I wasn’t burning though, not physically, despite the way I felt inside. Eva was sitting just feet away, being questioned by Detective Barry and Riley.
They’d brought in strong outdoor lighting to shine on the entire scene. People were still scattered all over the place. Monks and nuns crying. There was blood everywhere, including my own hands. I’d killed that monk and felt sick about it. I saw him pull a knife on Eva though. I saw him grab her from behind, grab her breast as if he had any right to her body. It was happening all around me and when I saw it happening to her, I didn’t think, I just acted. I took the gun from Officer Toby’s holster and aimed it at the monk’s head. I hadn’t expected the gore, the pieces of flesh and the blood to splatter all over us. I should have, but those were things I’d only read on paper. I’d never experienced blowing a man’s brains out and I definitely didn’t want to experience it again. The mere thought of reliving it made me feel sick, but Eva was safe.
The rest of the nuns had also taken matters into their own hands. It seemed as though Wendy’s outrage sparked outrage within the rest of them. There must have been at least nine stabbings tonight. None of the nuns were hurt, only Wendy, and she paid the ultimate price. I looked at the blood. Even though I knew it would wash away with the rain scheduled to fall in a couple of days, it didn’t matter. Blood had been spilled on our turf. Eva’s sister’s blood was still spilling from the bench she’d been taken from. My eyes found Eva again. She was still crying, still shaking.
“I’ll talk to you later,” I said as I started to walk in her direction.
“I’ll be next door,” Nolan yelled out.
I continued walking. I should have thanked my brother, my friends, everyone who was present for this and would now be traumatized. I didn’t stop walking until I reached Eva. When she looked up at me, she stood and threw her arms around me, sobbing into my neck. I lifted her into my arms and started to walk away from the scene. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t tell her everything was going to be all right because I didn’t know. I held her though. I may not know what tomorrow would bring, but I knew that letting her go wasn’t an option.