Chapter 293
Dax sounded a bit uncomfortable, like he wasn’t sure what to make of Brandon when he asked, “Who is that guy?”
For some reason, it was hard for me to answer that question, and it didn’t just have to do with the fact that Brandon and I still hadn’t talked about what had happened the night before. Dax and I had been through a traumatic experience together, and while nothing remotely romantic had happened, I felt like I’d been lying to him by not telling him I was taken. But the simple answer was the only one I had to offer at the moment, so I said, “He’s, uh, my boyfriend.”
“Oh.” I wasn’t sure if he was disappointed or just surprised. He didn’t say anything else, and I continued to wait on the bar to reach the one-hundred-percent mark, but it was taking forever.
Eventually, when it got to about eighty-five, a message popped up. “Alarm check complete. Error detected.”
“Dang it,” I mumbled. I had hoped I’d be able to override whatever had happened when Spittle was messing around simply by starting it over, but it hadn’t worked. I knew Emma would’ve known what to do, but she wasn’t here, and I doubted I could get her on the phone even if I had my cell with me, which I didn’t.
“Wait a minute,” Dax said, and I turned to look at him. “You don’t need to restore it. You just need to disable it. If there is no alarm system, it can’t be jammed. Wouldn’t that turn off whatever it’s doing?”
I wanted to congratulate him for being a genius, but I wasn’t sure anything would work at this point, so I tried to keep my joy to myself. “It’s worth a shot.” I clicked back on the alarm interface and tried a few more menu choices before I came to a screen that asked if I wanted to shut the alarm system down completely. I clicked yes, and a box popped up that said, “Passcode required.”
Dax swore beneath his breath again.
Who would know the passcode? Aaron would for certain, but if I could reach him, then I wouldn’t be doing this in the first place. “Faye!” I said, turning to look at Dax again. She had to know it, too. “Run back and see if she can tell you.”
He looked confused, though his head was nodding. “Which one is Faye?”
I was exasperated but didn’t let him see it. I couldn’t blame him for not knowing everyone yet. “The doctor on the couch in the playroom.”
Dax tipped his head to the side. “Can she even talk?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But it might be our only shot.”
Again, he nodded, and then took off, leaving me by myself, which wasn’t exactly how I wanted to be, but at least I would have a chance to see if I could reach anyone else who might know the passcode. Closing my eyes, I felt around with my mind, hoping perhaps there was a trace of Lena left in the office where she’d worked for so long. I knew now that Vampires didn’t simply cease to exist when they died, but I wasn’t able to find her at all. It was probably just as well since she’d likely be a little upset with me for bringing the devil incarnate to her doorstep.
Returning my attention back to the computer in front of me, I contemplated taking a few guesses at what the passcode might be, but realizing I might lock myself out completely, I determined that was not a good idea. A few moments later, I heard Brandon approaching and could tell he’d stopped just on the other side of the glass. I didn’t turn to look at him, though, and he said, “Jamie and Cadence are giving Tara a blood transfusion now.”
His tone was nonchalant, but I could hear something else in it, so I finally turned to see he had his hands shoved down deep in his pockets, and I knew that mood all too well.
He continued. “They still don’t know if it’s going to work, but Cadence seemed to be in a good mood.”
“Oh?” I asked, a little surprised to hear that. I was glad that they were doing what they could for Tara, but why would Cadence be happy now of all times?
“Giddy, maybe,” he explained. “She’s probably exhausted and just doesn’t know it yet.”
“Right.” That did make sense to me. I was on the verge of falling over myself, and if they were still working on Tara, something told me this was going to be a long night.
He started to back toward the exit. “I’m going to go see if Aurora and Meagan have gotten the other Healers over here yet.” I nodded, wondering if Cadence had asked him to do that or if he was just trying to be helpful. I couldn’t blame him for not wanting to be with me at the moment. He may have wondered if something was going on between me and Dax, which seemed so ridiculous that I couldn’t even contemplate it, or else he just didn’t know what to say to me.
“Be careful,” I said as I watched him go, and he said me, too, and then I was left alone again. I tried not to think about Bonnie, but I knew for certain she was gone now. I wondered how I could have been so foolish but still wished she was here in my arms. It was all such a catastrophe, something I’d brought to my team.
I stretched my mind again and realized that Vern was aware that he wasn’t alone anymore. I knew it was Aaron and Elliott who were baring down on him, though I had no idea why I had that information. But it was there just the same. I tried to see if Vern would tell me why this had happened, why they had decided this was the time for an uprising. Did it have to do with Bonnie, the way I had assumed it had, or was it something else?
Voices flooded my mind. Once again, I gathered snippets of conversations, angry frantic voices. I realized the Vampires who had escaped were looking for others like them. The phrases started to come together, and I could understand parts of them. “Child was defeated,” was one of them, as was “unsuccessful attack.” There were some congratulations back and forth about such things as “communications were jammed.”
