Chapter 309
Once Cadence and Elliott were gone, the four of us were thrust back into silence. I could see how hard Jamie was fighting to wake up and thought it must be so odd to be lying there fully conscious but unable to do anything. At least he knew his sister was safe.
“So… how long has she been…?” Cale finally asked, looking at me, though I think anyone could’ve answered.
“Not long,” I told him. “Just a few minutes before you guys came in.”
“Okay. Well, there’s no point in me standing here and watching her. I mean... you guys can. She’s your friend. I get that. But….” He looked around again and then walked across the room. I had no idea what he might be doing, but it was obvious he didn’t want to have anything to do with this situation, so he may as well go do something else if he could.
“Who is that guy?” Dax whispered, and I got the impression he was tired of being in the dark about everything.
“Dr. Cale Ryan,” I said, still whispering. I wished Dax had his IAC, but I didn’t think Cale would mind me telling Dax who he was. “He’s from Reno.”
“Oh.”
“He’s a Healer. They brought him in to help with the wounded last night,” Brandon continued.
“Oh.” Dax seemed to be at a loss for words. I thought maybe we should all be quiet again, but after a few minutes he asked, “So your dad died?”
Brandon glanced at me and then back at Dax, like he thought maybe I should tell the story. But he answered. “Yeah, in June. We aren’t really supposed to talk about it.”
Dax raised an eyebrow. “Okay. But he’s a Guardian. I thought they told me only a Hunter could kill Guardians.”
“It was an ambush by a group of Rogue Hunters,” I explained. Jamie stirred a little bit, and I wondered if he would object to me telling Dax everything. I felt like Dax deserved to know after what he’d seen.
“That’s crazy,” Dax said. “Does that happen very often?”
“No,” I assured him. “The only other Guardian I know of that has been killed by a Rogue was my grandfather.”
My new friend looked at me sympathetically for a second before he asked, “Why Elliott?” Dax asked. “He seems like a nice guy and all. But does he have some sort of power, too, like Aaron? Or Jamie?”
“Just the power of lying,” Brandon said. “He runs interference, tells everyone that witnesses a hunt they didn’t see what they think they saw. But that’s not why.”
“It was supposed to be the whole team, everyone who was there. Aaron, Jamie, Christian, Meagan, Hannah. And my sister,” I said. I felt like I had been there in a way, I’d heard the story so many times and studied the video. It had been easier to watch after Elliott came back, but it was still difficult to see him get shot, to see his IAC go blank, to see from Meagan’s perspective as she tried to run and hide.
“That’s terrible,” Dax said, shaking his head. “But you can’t tell me how he came back?”
“It’s okay. Tell him,” Jamie whispered. He was starting to come around now, and I could see little flickers on my IAC.
Dax turned and looked at the Healer for a second and then back to me. He looked appreciative. “Okay. But you can’t tell anyone,” I said. “It’s a huge secret. Only a few people know about it.”
“Okay. I promise,” Dax said.
Brandon and I told him all about the Blue Moon Portal and how my sister had snuck Elliott’s ashes away behind Aaron’s back. We left out that Cale was involved, since he was in the room and listening, and we figured he didn’t want to be associated with it after what he’d said earlier. Dax could piece that together for himself if he wanted to. When we were done, Dax looked overwhelmed, though not as much as he had the day before when we were in the middle of the situation with Bonnie.
Once the story was over and there was nothing else to say, we fell into silence, but my stomach was still alerting me that something odd was happening. I thought about pushing my thoughts toward Australia, to see if I could find out what was happening over there. But I was afraid to put myself in a position where I was so tuned into Melbourne I didn’t know what was happening here. So I sat and waited with the others, praying Tara would come back to us soon.
I almost missed it when there was stirring on the bed in front of me. I thought maybe it was Jamie at first, but when I looked up, Tara was moving. I could hardly believe what I was seeing. “Cale! She’s waking up!” I shouted as I flew up to check her pulse.
He was there in half a second, though he looked astonished, like he hadn’t been expecting this at all. “She’s alive?” He turned the monitor on, and sure enough, there was a faint beeping sound and the line was no longer flat.
The doctor checked her over, and I stepped out of the way, happy tears forming in my eyes. I noticed Jamie’s eyes were open and rushed over to see if I could help him sit up, but he wasn’t quite ready for that, so I waited and sent a message to my sister to let her know Tara was back. She said she’d be there as soon as she could, and I listened as the beeping on the monitor continued to strengthen.
Her heart rate was almost normal when Jamie reached out for my hand, and I helped him sit up. He wasn’t at a hundred percent yet, though, and I kept my arm around him.
Cadence walked in, and I was shocked to see that Aaron was with her. I avoided eye contact with either of them since I had no idea what the Guardian Leader knew and what he didn’t know.
