Chapter 268
Aurora drove us back to campus. I didn’t know when she’d gotten the keys from Elliott, and I didn’t care. Bonnie quivered in my arms the entire time it took to get back, and I tried not to cry right along with her. No one said a word aloud, and I didn’t see the telltale flicker of eye movements that would’ve let me know that the other women in the SUV were talking on their IACs either, though I suppose it was possible. We were all trying to sort out what had just happened. I knew none of them had been affected as profoundly as I had been, but I had a feeling nothing like this had ever happened before.
I had a Vampire child in my arms, and at the moment, she was the only person in the world I cared about. I didn’t have any idea what I was going to do with her, though. It wasn’t as if I could just take her back to Cadence’s apartment with me. At sixteen, I hadn’t even considered being a mother. And she wasn’t exactly a puppy I could put some food and water out for and hope she didn’t mess in the house. She was a living person, and I was responsible for her. I hoped that Cadence and Aaron could at least sort out what we were going to do with her before we got back to KC.
Right after I got in the vehicle, Brandon had sent me a message asking if I was okay. It hadn’t even registered at the time. It took at least half of the trip for me to calm down enough to see that I had several missed messages from him and one from Elliott. Brandon must’ve given up somewhere around Blue Ridge because the last message was from almost twenty minutes after we’d left Butler, and it was just my name with a question mark.
I couldn’t talk to either one of them, not now. Elliott had just said I did a good job, and he was proud of me. I couldn’t say the same. The further away from the scene we traveled, the more I realized I was being slightly irrational, but I needed to get a handle on my emotions, and talking to Brandon wasn’t going to help me do that, not while I was still holding Bonnie.
I glanced up at my sister as we approached Kansas City, and it finally looked like maybe she was talking to someone. At one point, I saw Aurora nod. When we reached headquarters, the gate opened, but Aurora went to the left instead of straight ahead, which would’ve taken us to the main part of campus. Panic flooded my brain and I sat up straight. “Where are we going?” I knew if I had to fight them all to protect Bonnie, I would do it.
She stirred at the sound of my voice but was still lying in my arms as my sister answered, “We are taking Bonnie over to tagging where she’ll be more comfortable.”
The way she phrased it let me know that we would be leaving the child there. “Tagging?” I asked, and this time Bonnie’s head popped up off of my shoulder. “Why?” I asked. What would happen to the child once she was inside the facility.
Cadence had a sloppy grin on her face, like something my mother would pull together when she wasn’t really happy but was talking in front of my friends. “Be pleasant. No reason to alarm her,” she warned me through the IAC.
“I’m alarmed,” I shot back, thinking surely she could tell that by my expression.
Cadence took in a deep breath, like she needed it in order to answer me through her eye computer. “We need to debrief and decide what to do with her for the long term. You can hardly bring a child to the meeting.”
She said child, not Vampire, but I knew what she was thinking. I decided not to try to argue against her logic. She was right, after all. I didn’t even want to go to the meeting, let along take Bonnie into a room full of “bad men.” I tried to relax as we pulled up to what I thought was the back entrance of the tagging station. I hadn’t been here but once before, and I thought we went through a gate on the other side of the building. I let my sister handle things, even though I was at the ready to intervene if there was any threat to Bonnie at all.
When I saw it was a male Guardian at the gate, wearing an all-black uniform that looked a little like something a SWAT team member might wear, I increased my grip on Bonnie, hoping she didn’t look up at that moment. Her forehead was clammy, which I thought was odd for a Vampire. I smoothed her dark hair and hoped it helped her to feel safe.
Aurora rolled down her window and the Guardian stepped closer. “Good evening. How can I help you?”
Leaning across her friend, Cadence said, “Hi. We have a drop-off.”
He must’ve recognized her because his face lit up slightly, but he was confused. “Yes, Ms. Findley. A drop-off?”
My sister seemed to be choosing her words carefully, and I wondered if that was for my benefit. “Yes. We procured a child on the hunt tonight,” she explained. “What do you need to know to let her in?”
I could tell he was talking to someone on his IAC and wondered what the problem was. How did Vampires usually come about checking in to be tagged? I decided I needed this information and would have to figure it out later. What seemed like forever passed by before he said, “Here’s a form I’ll need you to fill out.” I assumed he’d sent it through her IAC, and my sister sat back in her seat slightly as she seemed to be doing as he requested. Bonnie stirred, and I rocked her gently, still praying she didn’t look up and see Gerald, as his name tag read, and flip out.
My sister said, “Age… I don’t know. She looks like she’s about three, but I’m guessing she’s a lot older than that.”
He didn’t seem to care. He shrugged and said, “Just put three plus then,” and I thought this form must be unnecessary and stupid if they could just put misinformation all over it.
I assumed Cadence was done with the form when Gerald nodded and reached inside the booth behind him, and the gate in front of us opened. “Have a pleasant evening,” he called, and I caught his eyes long enough to glare at him. There was nothing remotely pleasant about this evening.
