Read Online Broken Blood by Heather Hildenbrand - Free Book Online Page B

that cell had sucked. Being stuck inside my own mind with a man whose dark thoughts had become so twisted he thought killing innocent people was the highest form of justice—that was so much worse.
    The images pressed in around me; awake, asleep, it didn’t matter. The moment I let my guard down, they flooded in.
    “She can’t be allowed to get away with this,” Mr. Sandefur said in my memory—only it wasn’t my memory. His voice was full of anguish as he stood before another man.
    “You know Steppe is twisting this, right?” The second man stepped forward, out of the shadows cast by the closed blinds in the small office and I gasped. Professor Hugo, one of my teachers from Wood Point, stood before Logan’s dad. His face flashed with fierce determination I’d only ever seen him aim at me—in the form of distaste. “He’s manipulating you, man. You’re one of the last loyal to him and he’ll do anything to keep it that way.”
    “You saw the video,” Mr. Sandefur said. “Tara was there. She has turned my son against me. She ordered him to fight us and he did it. What will she do next? I don’t have anyone left to lose.” His voice broke and he hid his face in his hands.
    Professor Hugo reached out, but the door opened and they both jerked back. Uncle Astor stood in the small slant of light showing through from the hall. He was breathing heavily and his eyes blazed as he pinned Mr. Sandefur with a look.
    “She is not to be touched,” Astor said. “She is family.”
    Mr. Sandefur shoved Professor Hugo out of the way. “She turned my family against me,” he roared. “Logan won’t speak to me. He refuses to see me.”
    “That,” Professor Hugo said, “is your own doing. You voted with Steppe. Your boy saw it as a betrayal. You will leave that girl alone. Don’t make an enemy of us too.”
    “Don’t tell me what to do,” Mr. Sandefur roared. He whirled and the gleaming weapon was drawn so fast, I almost missed where it slid into Professor Hugo’s ribs. Soft and easy, with the quietest of sounds. The metal must’ve been razor sharp.
    Professor Hugo’s eyes widened and he went limp, falling in a crumbled heap only after Mr. Sandefur pulled the knife free and shoved his friend aside. Mr. Sandefur hesitated. His hands trembled as he turned to face Astor.
    But Astor was gone.
    The memory shifted into another scene, almost like a fast-forward on a recording. Mr. Sandefur standing outside the door to my room. His shoulders were hunched and his expression was one of contrasting sadness to the wild anger he’d worn a moment ago. His cheeks, his skin, his jaw—all of it sagged under the weight of the guilt he carried. His steps were slow but full of purpose. He paused and retrieved his ID card, holding it ready to swipe over the automatic reader that controlled the lock.
    Abruptly, his hand went rigid and his arm fell heavily against him. He hit the wall, leaning hard, and slid to the floor. I heard myself cry out but it felt foreign, like someone else picking up the noise through a wall. I was so solidly wrapped in the memory it felt as if I were there.
    When Astor looked up from where he stood over Mr. Sandefur, it seemed as if our eyes met. We stared back at each other for a long moment before he looked away—down at the stake buried in Mr. Sandefur’s back. “No one must hurt her. That was our deal,” Astor said in a wispy voice.
    “I never said I’d be the one to protect her.” The deep bass rumbled from my chest—only it wasn’t my chest. Disoriented, the memory abruptly faded and I tumbled back into the reality of my room.
    Night fell and I struggled to hold back any more memories. I’d seen enough already. Steppe had been there and done nothing to stop it. I didn’t want to feel or think or know anything else he had to offer.
    But keeping Steppe out of my head space wasn’t easy. And it zapped my strength. Now I understood what had killed Chris. It wasn’t Olivia taking his health.