Page 5 of Ramshackle
“If you can’t calm down, go walk it off,” he adds.
I almost do. I would. But I want to hear what she has to say about it. What else she’s been doing the last six years for GE, and if she plans to change. If there’s even a chance that she’ll see reason to make Raegan’s sacrifice worthwhile, or if she’s well and truly gone.
I drop back to the couch and snag the bottle to drink some more.
Aiden waits another second to make sure I’m not going to start something up again before he finally sits as well. He turns his attention to Vera, who’s now staring at me like she thinks I’m going to attack her.
Which isn’t off the table completely. Only my respect for Aiden—and Dane—keeps me from trying to shake some sense into her.
“What do you have to say to that?” Aiden prompts her when she doesn’t say anything. He’s acting like some fucking counselor trying to get a patient to open up rather than interrogating the enemy. It pisses me off how it contrasts with his efforts to get information from Raegan. But then, he always acts erratically when she’s involved.
Vera looks uncomfortably at Dane and then at her hands. “I don’t know why that happened, but I do know we don’t do that now. Most kids aren’t even taken from their families anymore. Parents are willingly dropping their kids off to get help because they don’t understand what’s happening. The ones we kidnap are just saving the parents the trouble they’d go through when they did realize their child was different. It’s better for everyone.”
Oh, so it’swedon’t do that? And she’s making us sound diseased. That we needhelp.
Fuck, I need to drink more to keep my mouth shut or I’m really going to lose it. I do exactly that, chugging the bottle until I can’t breathe and then a few more gulps after that. I’m going to be completely trashed tonight, but I don’t think I can stay here with her otherwise.
Aiden moves on to the next topic. “You said that Raegan killed you, but you’re still here. Can you explain that?”
“Iwasdead, but they brought me back before it was too late.” Vera shifts in her seat. “Can we, maybe, hold off on the interrogation for a bit? I’m really tired.” She stands, and both Dane and Aiden follow suit.
“Of course,” Aiden answers. “We’ll need to figure out the sleeping arrangement since the other rooms need to be fixed up before anyone can stay in them. Dane, I can get you the supplies tomorrow for whichever room is in the best shape.”
She tilts her head to the side and holds a finger up to her chin. “Where did Raegan sleep? I can just sleep in there.”
“No.” All three of us blurt out in unison.
Her forehead creases in confusion, but Dane is the first to speak up. “You can sleep in my room. It won’t take me more than a day or two to fix up one of the other rooms. I can sleep on the couch for a couple of nights.”
“But…” I know what she’s going to say. That Raegan’s not using it. Or she’s not coming back. And I’ll grab and choke her if she tries to say any of those words in front of me.
Thankfully for her, Aiden intervenes. “Good. That’s settled. I’m sure you understand that while you’re here, we expect that you’ll stay inside and won’t try sneaking out.”
Her face drops with disappointment. “Am I your prisoner, then?”
She should be. If Raegan is GE’s prisoner, then Vera is ours until we get my girl back. Unless GE couldn’t care less about Vera anymore and she’s an empty bargaining chip. I refuse to believe that’s true, though. She’s already brainwashed and has a useful gift at their disposal. It’s only a matter of time before they’ll want her back.
“Of course not,” Aiden counters smoothly. A lie. “But the purpose of you coming back with us was to spend time with your brother, was it not? So, catch up.” He steps around the couch and holds his arm out. “I’ll show you to Dane’s room and the women’s bathroom so you can get settled.”
He leads her to the dorm hallway, and as Dane moves to follow, I grab his arm. “Take my room.”
Dane frowns. “Where are you going to sleep?”
“The couch.” If I even sleep tonight. The best I can hope for is a complete blackout.
He nods and starts to walk away but pauses and looks over his shoulder. “We’ll get her back, Kell.”
“Yeah,” I mutter sarcastically. “We’re doing a bang-up job of that so far.”
“It’s the first night. We’ll figure out a plan in the morning once we’ve gotten some rest.”
I raise an eyebrow at him. “Oh, yeah? With your sister around? You gonna let her go so we can get Raegan back?” His lips flatten, and I bark out a laugh. “That’s what I thought. Go, rest easy now that you’ve got your sister back, Rapunzel.”
He looks ready to say something in return but shakes his head and walks away instead. I don’t care if I’m being an asshole. The solution is easy. Find a way to get in contact with one of them and say we want to trade Vera back for Raegan. It wasn’t a deal I agreed to, anyway.
Even as I tell myself that’s all it would take, my gut tells me it won’t be as simple as that. Gordon got what he wanted, and I doubt he’d be willing to give her up easily.
If we want her back, we’ll have to fight.
