Chapter 303
Around 3:00, Dax’s stomach started to growl. “Do you know if there’s a vending machine or anything around here?”
“I don’t know,” I said, thinking I hadn’t noticed one on the tour of this building I’d done at the beginning of my training. “You could go ask Christian.”
“Is he the tech guy?” Dax asked, making a face. “I think I’ll just look around.” I snickered and watched him walk to the door. He stopped short of the exit and asked, “Do you want anything?”
“No thanks,” I answered quickly. “I’m not hungry.” I’d had my fill of doughnuts and sandwiches for a while, I thought.
“Drink?”
“Uh, yeah. A Dr.. Pepper would be great if you see one.”
He smiled and gave me a little nod before disappearing down the hall.
Once he was gone, I was sort of glad to have the room to myself for a bit. But as soon as Dax was out the door, I started thinking about Mina again, and Bonnie, and Heather—the other girl like me. I wondered who it was that had sent the signal that disrupted the IACs and what I could do about it. My mind was preoccupied with so many questions, I almost didn’t hear him come back in.
“So, I know you said you weren’t hungry.” He dropped back into the chair he’d been sitting in all day. “But I saw this and thought you needed it.” He handed me a Three Musketeers bar and a Dr. Pepper.
I couldn’t help but be curious as I took the two treats. “Three Musketeers?” I asked, turning the silver wrapped candy over in my hands. “Why is that?”
“Because… it’s just like us,” he said, the smile broadening. “Me and you and Tara. Three musketeers. All for one…”
“And one for all,” I finished. I thought about the movie with Chris O’Donnell and Oliver Platt in it. I hadn’t seen that movie in ages, and I’d never read the book. I bet Dax had read the whole thing, though. He seemed like the kinda guy who would read adventure stories. “Thank you.” It seemed like a compliment to be part of a little group of friends again. I thought, if Tara made it through, she’d have to stay here because of the second dose of Transformation serum. Maybe I could convince Aaron to keep Dax, too. He had some skills.
“Sure,” Dax replied with a little shrug, like it wasn’t a big deal to proclaim we were all best friends forever.
I ripped into the candy bar, realizing I was hungry again after all. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had one of these, and it tasted better than I remembered. “Do you want some?” I asked, offering him a little piece.
“No, it’s okay. I ate Hostess cupcakes in the room where I found the snack machine.” He took a sip of his water and set it on the floor. “I couldn’t help it. I didn’t realize how hungry I was.”
Maybe I should’ve thought to ask someone to bring us something to eat. I was surprised that no one had come to check on us in the last few hours, but Elliott and Aurora both said that they had lots of assignments. Jamie had been up once in that time frame, but he was completely wiped out. He said the last time he worked on Tara he didn’t think there was anything else to do, so when he woke up again, maybe it would be for good. We would see, though.
Dax’s voice was so quiet, I didn’t realize he was talking at first. “Cassidy, do you think she’s ever going to wake up?”
We’d talked about so many things over the last twelve hours or so, I couldn’t keep track. But we hadn’t spent a whole lot of time talking about what might happen if Tara never opened her eyes again. Now, I was beginning to wonder myself. I wasn’t there when Aaron died and came back to life, but I didn’t think it had taken this long. I took a deep breath, wiped my hands off, and said, “Well, honestly, I don’t know. But I think she might. I think… if she were going to die, she would’ve done it by now.” I was trying to be optimistic, I glanced over my shoulder at the sleeping doctor and thought if anyone could fix her, it was him. “And Jamie will be able to fix any damage eventually. It’s just taking several sessions since Tara was in such horrible shape when he got to her.” I assumed he’d do more once she was awake, but I had no idea how all of this worked. I was trying to be positive.
Dax nodded his head, but I could see the hope sliding out of his blue eyes. He leaned back in his chair. “All of this is so hard to believe. A few weeks ago, I was dreaming about hunting deer, and now, here I am hunting something much more deadly, although in fairness, it seems like I’m the one being hunted.”
As much as we’d talked about everything that had led up to where we were now, neither of us had spent a lot of time talking about how we felt about it, especially not him. “I know it’s hard to take in.” I turned around to face him, hoping he could see the sincerity in my eyes. “But believe me, you will get used to it. And you will learn to love it, even in the tough times like this.” I realized I meant what I was saying, that I’d found myself again. I felt completely free from the weight of Mina’s thoughts, trying to convince me that I was something less than a Hunter. “This is not a typical day in the life of a teenage Vampire Hunter,” I reminded him once more.
“Gosh, I hope not,” he said, shaking his head. Then he asked me what I thought might’ve been the personal question from earlier. “So did you always want to do this?”
“As soon as I found out about it, I knew there was nothing else I wanted to be,” I nodded. “Until….” I didn’t want to finish that sentence.
“Until what?”
I figured he had an idea about what I was going to say at this point. “Until my recent identity crisis.” He chuckled. “Luckily for me, I’m used to that. It’s been a rough couple of days, but I’m pretty sure we’re on the right path to fixing it.”
“I sure hope so,” Dax replied. “Or else, there’s gonna be a Dax shaped hole in the wrought iron fence on the road out of here.”
I giggled, imagining him making a run for it. I realized in all of our talking, I hadn’t told him how impressed I’d been with him. “Dax, I don’t blame you for wanting to run away under the circumstances, but you’ve already shown how valuable you are. Man, are you ever good under pressure.”
“Yeah?” He was looking at me, but he didn’t seem convinced. “I mean, I couldn’t even protect Tara last night.”
I hadn’t realized that had been bothering him. “Against Bonnie? Are you kidding? You saw what she did to Aaron, and he’s ten times faster and stronger than the rest of us.” His eyes widened, like he still wasn’t sure how that could be, but I pressed on. “Dax, you’re amazing.” I put one hand on each of his shoulders for emphasis, and we were face to face now, very close. I was looking directly into his eyes as I reminded him of the one truth about him I knew was certain. “You were meant to be here.”
I thought I saw some emotion in his eyes other than the hope I expected and the blossoming friendship, like maybe he was starting to feel a little more for me, when I realized we weren’t alone. There was just a flash by the door, and in an instant, I knew what had happened and felt like I was in the middle of a stereotypical sitcom moment.
