FallOut (BOOK 2)

-12-

"What happened with the mayor?" I asked the others.

"She's dead," Jayda tells us. "I'm not sure for how long. Jason and Salim were the ones who found out."

"We found her body half-buried behind the mansion," Jason tells her. "She was dismembered but from what I could tell, she's been dead for a few days."

"Damian killed her, and took her form," Jayda states in a chillingly calm voice, despite our shock.

"How the hell does he keep coming back?" Joey asks.

"Azazel," Jayda shrugs. "Even though he wants me to end the bloodlines, but I have the feeling that he's keeping Damian on a leash for some reason."

Jason and Salim exchange a look. I don't blame them. There's been a drastic change in Jayda since the horde attack. Her eyes have hardened and they seem lifeless. If she caught on to my thoughts, she made no indication of it. Not that she never did, out of respect for the people around her.

"It hasn't been effective," Salim pipes in with a wry chuckle. "Jayda has defeated him at every turn."

"There were these sigils..." Jayda murmurs. "I couldn't think straight. I couldn't hear anyone's thoughts, or feel their emotions...so I didn't know about the mayor until my boys came in to tell me. If they affected me that badly, then I'm not sure how it messed with anyone else. They pulled out the stops to cover up her murder."

"Shit," Hunter swore. "They're damn near tactical."

"Garrett and Damian are trained soildiers, underneath it all," Clare sighs.

"So what's our next move?" Mai wonders.

"Can the town recover from this?" Salim asks next.

"It'll be a slow process," Daniel sighs. "We're going to leave a team out here to help in the recovery process and take on any residual threats. In the meantime, I think it's best that we handle the asylum the same way we handled the temple. My team and I can sweep the perimeter. The asylum, the woods, and the mines. Blackwood is after the bloodlines, so they head inside with the people in this room."

"Sounds good," Jason murmurs.

"With your connection, do you remember where Blackwood's bones are?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I do," He nods, tapping his temple.

"Where is he now?" I ask him next.

"I think the fight wore him out," Jason mused. "I felt him help me at the mayor's house, but I don't sense him now."

"How are you feeling, Jase?" Nick asks him.

"I'm fine," he assures him. "I can do this."

"And you?" Nick turns to me, motioning to my arm.

"I'm alright," I assure him. "We should use my prototype just in case. It proved effective when we breached the asylum before."

"I still haven't figured out why CENTCOM is here," Joey sighs. "Did you run into any of them?"

"No," Hunter shook his head. "Maybe they weren't supposed to. It could have been a recon and retrieval mission. Maybe it was a warning."