Page 109 of Broken & Bound

And as they moved, she did, too. Lashing out, the heel of her palm connected with the older officer’s face.

“Get the cuffs on her!” he barked as his nose bled.

I pressed myself against the wall. “Wait! She didn’t do this! She’s just in shock!” I screamed, but my voice was completely swallowed by the chaos.

They threw Kinsley against the wall. Her face slapped hard against the blood smears. She didn’t even wince. She just kept thrashing her head from side to side, as a raw, broken rasp sounded in the air.

Then she whimpered, “I had to do it. I had to.”

The younger cop didn’t waste another moment. He yanked her right arm high behind her back, the joint popping loudly. He hauled her left wrist up to meet it.

This wasn’t happening.

“Be easy with her,” I cried.

The heavy, metallic clink-clink of the steel handcuffs locking into place startled me. The older officer took a ragged breath, pressing his weight down on Kinsley’s shoulder blades to keep her pinned while he rattled off words.

“You are under arrest on suspicion of section eighteen, grievous bodily harm. You do not have to say any—”

“Andy, help,” I choked into the phone.

“I’m here, angel.”

“They arrested her. Call the Kings. It’s awful. Blood. So much blood. She’s dead. I d-d-don-don’t kn-kn—”

“Young lady,” Andy barked into the phone.

His tone instantly grounded the chaos and quieted the noise so I could think again. I took a deep breath. Then another, counting to five each time. I used the grounding techniques I’d picked up along the way.

“I’m here, Sir.”

“Good. Now I want you to focus on my voice. Only mine. You need to remain calm right now. Tell me exactly what you see.”

“Hannah, Sir. She is dead. Isabella is on a stretcher, and Kins…Kinsley is—gone,” I said.

“You are doing beautifully. Now I’m going to need you to be strong. I need to know Isabella’s condition. Is she awake? Is the blood hers or Hannah’s?”

I looked toward the stretcher. They were busy assessing Isabella. Her eyes were closed, her face the color of chalk. My gaze searched her, starting from the top of her head, trying to gather the information he needed. Wound on right side, bleeding moderately.

Blackening eye. Some minor cuts and abrasions on her hands and arms. My eyes trailed lower and locked in on her lower half. The blood was dark, thick, and spreading outward from the center of her lap.

The saturation bloomed across the thighs of her leggings. They weren’t gray any more. My brain stubbornly tried to tell me it was from when Kinsley cut Hannah’s throat.

It was everywhere, so it was possible. The room tilted. My hands shook so hard, the phone slipped from my grasp. I scrambled to pick it back up.

“Oh, God.”

“Victoria, you will answer my questions. Now. Do I need to repeat them?”

“She’s not awake, but she is breathing. The blood it’s not all Hannah’s,” I choked out, a sob tearing through me. I couldn’t look away. “It’s pooling between her…her. Oh God, the babies.”

I clamped a trembling hand over my mouth, my knees buckling. His breathing was harsh on the other end of the phone.

“Okay, angel. You’re doing so good. Emergency personnel, are there right?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Good. I need you to go with Isabella right now. Do not leave her. Text me the hospital. I need to make some phone calls. What are your orders?”