Page 40 of Ramshackle
“Thank you, Cassandra.”
She stands and offers me a comforting smile. “I’ll be back tomorrow, but call me if anything happens. I’ll make sure to stay nearby until she’s healed up.”
I nod, putting a pin in the request I’ll ask of her later once Raegan’s finished healing from the worst of it, and wait for her to leave before looking back at the rest of the room. “Kellan, come with me to get the supplies. Then you and I have another errand to run.”
He joins me on the brief trip to the medical wing. We could have brought Raegan to this area for care, but the beds here are only separated by curtains for short-term care. I prefer having her in the privacy and comfort of one of the quarantine rooms, where it’s also more heavily defensible should anyone find us here.
Not that I’m expecting they will, but I’d rather be ready for that possibility.
They arenevergetting her back again.
And even if they try, I’ll make sure she’ll never be lost to us.
We deliver the supplies, doing everything Cassandra instructed until she seems settled and Dane is liberally applying the aloe to her back. Jackson’s now perched on top of thebackrest of the sofa chair, his boots planted on the arms, as he watches Raegan like a hawk in his nest.
“Kellan and I are going to check on Vera and Old Red. We’ll have to figure out a rotation between watching Vera and Raegan and sleep, but I can bring some clothes here from the firehouse for each of us.” We’ll have to figure out what we’re doing with Vera now that we have Raegan back. It would be easier to bring her to the bunker and lock her next door, but there’s too much technology here for her to access. We have to keep her at Old Red. Which means splitting us up into two groups.
I don’t like it.
“I don’t know if there was a tracker in that collar or if it was here long enough for them to have caught the signal, but in case they try to portal in and take her again, make sure you’re ready. We’ll hopefully be back within the hour to come up with our game plan moving forward.”
Jackson nods, his eyes still zeroed in on her. “If they come, I’m ready.”
If they do show up, it’s up to Jackson to keep both Raegan and Dane safe. I’m not sure I trust that Jack will protect Dane as well as Raegan, but I need Kellan with me at Old Red if we need to move Vera. It’s a risk, but I don’t plan on being gone long.
“Good. Let’s go, Kell.”
Chapter twelve
Kellan
Old Red is trashed.
The sofa and pillows have been gutted and the dining room table and chairs are broken. All the plates and dishware are shattered on the counter and ground throughout the kitchen and even to the living room, like they were purposefully thrown. The food is either out and spoiled or torn apart in the pantry, so we’re walking on a combination of ceramic, glass, and food crumbs.
The dorm rooms have beds flipped over and drawers left open, but there wasn’t much to begin with other than clothes, which were left strewn on every available surface.
I scowl as we take in the mess and damage. It feels like Ijustcleaned this place, too.
We don’t bother checking the locker room for Vera. Clearly, she escaped, and now GE knows about this place. “Are we ever going to have one place we live where we don’t have to pack up and leave months later?” I growl.
This is thethirdtime we’ve been forced to leave our temporary home in the last six months.
“The Tower is our home. Once GE is taken care of, we can go back there,” Aiden replies while tossing things aside in his search for something.
Of course, he would say that. Aiden helped design the Loft into exactly what he wanted. It has high views of the city, custom space for each of us, and it was the most secure location until Vera came back. But there are only four bedrooms. If we’re going to convince Raegan to stay, she can’t feel like she doesn’t have her own space.
Old Red is more relaxed, and it has room to expand our living space.
Tossing a piece of dresser into the mess of Dane’s room, I scoff. “Itwasour home. But not hers. She will always see that as ours. But this place…we all shared it together. I think she liked it here.”
Aiden pushes more of Dane’s dresser aside. Someone had smashed it to pieces to get to the locked drawer on the bottom, but Dane had his laptop with him. That drawer should have been empty.
“We don’t even know if Raegan will want to live with us after this. I can’t plan for anything until she wakes up,” he says distractedly, and I frown.
“And you would let her go without a fight?”
Aiden stops. His eyes close as he huffs out a breath, then he turns his face to mine. “No.”
