Page 44 of Shattered Love

Four sets of eyes fell on me. A stocky woman in the middle of the group raised her brows at me, never lowering her gun. “Is that what you told the men and women you killed?”

Alright, so they weren’t in the mood for forgiveness. That was okay. The blood spilled inside those walls would haunt me forever.

“Do you even know what you’re protecting?” I asked, taking several steps forward until I stood in the middle of the two opposing forces.

“Lessy,” Aiden warned at my back, but I ignored him.

For too long, I viewed them all as the enemy. But they were people like us. Not all of them were vicious like Vex.

The guards looked to each other cautiously and I knew I had them. No, they didn’t know what they were protecting. Which meant Sasha’s plan could work.

She had been the only one to realize that not every guard would be making it on those trains, if any of them. What was the purpose of corralling a group of people into a camp if someone wasn’t going to keep them here until the meteor hit?

“What are you talking about?” The woman said, clearly the leader of their small unit.

I took another step forward, ignoring the warning bells ringing in my head. I had never spoken to the guards. But now, Sasha’s words played on a loop in my head. Play to their humanity. In a sea of monsters, there will always be someone on your side.

When she spoke those words, my mind jumped to the blonde woman who had lost her life, trying to save ours. She had been on our side. I could only hope these four guards would feel the same.

“The world is ending,” I began.

Their eyes widened instantly before slanting. “You’re lying.”

Sasha had also anticipated this. Pulling the files Warner and I had stolen from the bag on my back, the papers that were the catalyst for the past few months, I held them out toward the woman.

“My father, Antonio Accardi, was a scientist. He discovered a meteorite that was going to wipe out nearly all of Earth at the end of the year.”

Unbelieving frowns met me, but I continued to hold out the papers. Taking the last few steps, I was finally in front of the woman. Up close, I realized she was older, probably around my mom’s age.

“Do you have children?” I whispered.

Her eyes were perfect circles and she gave me one singular nod. Her gun was mere inches from my face, but I didn’t flinch under the threat.

Pushing the papers into her hands, I murmured for only her to hear, “My father lost his life to protect us. He was killed because he didn’t want to keep this a secret. I need you to believe me, not for you, not for me, but for your kids. Who deserve a chance to survive.”

The woman blinked slowly and then she took the papers from my hand. When she lowered the gun pointed my way, an audible sigh of relief left me.

Her eyes scanned the paper quickly, the color in her face fading until she was white as a ghost. Shuffling through the stack of papers, the other three guards leaned over her shoulders. In a few minutes, the papers were back in my hands.

“What do you want us to do?” The woman asked, her voice shaky.

I recognized the fear in her voice, the same fear that had coursed through me when I learned the news. There was no easy way to hear that the life you led was going to end soon. But maybe now it didn’t have to.

“I need you to gather everyone inside the camp. It’s time we tell the world the truth.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Murphy

Istepped inside the camp, Warner and Sasha trailing behind me, as well as a handful of guards leading us. I had used every ounce of persuasion I had to convince the guards of what was happening around them. And I wasn’t surprised when I didn’t even need to show them the files detailing the information, I had a way of charming the people around me.

“You’re a genius, has anyone ever told you that?” I murmured to Sasha.

She had been the one to suggest splitting up. If we had walked up to the gate seven strong, they never would have given us the opportunity to speak. But when the numbers were evened out, when the guards assumed they had a chance, it was a different story.

“Not enough lately,” Sasha responded, and I chuckled.

My chest was light as we strolled into the camp, something I never thought would be possible. I hadn’t experienced the horror inside these walls the others had. But even just the thought of what had happened to Alessia had my blood boiling.

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