Flashback ( PDFDrive )

“Have you guys figured out a plan for sealing the hive?” she asked.
“Is that what Tam’s doing over there?”
“I think so,” Keefe told her. “But I’ve been newborn hunting for the
last few minutes—and looking for you. So I don’t know if anything’s
changed since Tam dismantled the force field and they pulled the door
off Umber’s body.”
“Body?” Sophie repeated, standing up straight again. “She’s . . .
dead?”
He squirmed a little as he nodded. “It looked like she died pretty
quickly—which I guess makes sense, between the door falling on her
and the newborns trampling on top of it. But . . . yeah. She’s definitely
gone.”
Sophie wrapped her arms around herself, trying to figure out what
to do with that information.
“I know,” Keefe said, scooting closer, letting her lean on him. “I
don’t know what to feel either. I mean . . . after what she did to you—
and what she did today—she deserved it. But . . . it was weird to see
her all crushed like that.”
Sophie squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to picture it. But she
could feel bile rising up her throat anyway.
Time for a quick subject change.
“Think we should go down there and try to get the door back on the
hive?” she asked. “I know Sandor and Ro told us to wait here, but
every second we leave the hive open, more newborns could hatch.”
“Not necessarily.”
“What do you mean?”
He chewed his lip. “I should probably let Fitz be the one to
explain.”