Page 22 of Remnants
Fabian:Reid is gone.
Cursing, I check my phone and see the same message. “I’m going back.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“Make sure Evie knows we’ll be gone again, but we’ll be sending Fabian here.”
Cibrina nods. “I’ll meet you at the car.”
I pop my head into each of the rooms with one of us in it on my way to Reid’s room at the end. Silas swears everything has been quiet since Cassandra returned from healing the others and is now asleep herself. Jack and Kellan have no news to report, which leaves me with the final room.
Fabian is sitting in the spare chair of the room, his feet up on the bed while he sucks Jell-O from his overturned spoon. He glances at the door when Cibrina and I walk in, then slowly drags his feet down to drop onto the floor. “Oh. Hey.”
If it were anyone else to casually say that after losing a valuable resource on their watch, I might lose my temper. But this is Fabian, and expecting anything other than sloth-like relaxation and his compulsive need to constantly be eating something is a waste of energy. I follow his spoon back to the cup that he continues to eat, even after our arrival.
Again, nothing to lose my head over.
He follows my stare and lifts the cup. “What? This? He said I could have it. I wouldn’t have taken it from him without his permission.”
Patience,I remind myself like a mantra.
“Fabian,” Cibrina says, her tone professional as always. “What happened?”
“He left.”
My eye twitches involuntarily.
“Yes, you mentioned that.” I’m grateful that Cibrina decided to come with me. I’m already riding the razor’s edge of my temper since all of this began, starting with the sight of Gordon on my camera, and it hasn’t had a chance to come down since. I doubt it will until at least Raegan and Dane wake up to tell me for themselves that they’re okay. “Can you go back to when he woke up? At what time, and then what happened?” she continues, guiding him through the information we need.
Fabian scrapes the bottom of the plastic cup and sucks his spoon clean. He sets it on the tray that hangs over the bed, swapping it out for a wrapped chocolate chip cookie. “Sure. It wasn’t too long ago, maybe an hour, when he woke up. I wasn’t expecting him up so soon after Sondra healed him, so it startled me a bit, y’know?”
Plastic crinkles while he talks until he finally pulls the cookie free. “He was startled too, I think, because he started freaking out about where he was. I told him it was the hospital, but he didn’t seem to believe me. I told him we really were, and I asked him if he was hungry. I asked if I could have his meal and snacks if he wasn’t, and he said to have at it. So, I did. Then he disappeared.”
Silence.
Or, as close to that as we can get while he chews his cookie.
I draw a long, deep breath, fixing my tie and tugging the wrinkles from my suit jacket to give myself more time to calm down. “Did he happen to mention where he was going?”
Fabian shakes his head. “No, I’m telling you. He just vanished without a word.” He pauses, then angles his head in thought. “Didhe think we were on one of the GE islands?”
That’s a very good possibility. Although he knows Fabian, and Fabian wasn’t concerned about them being there. Then again, Fabianneverseems concerned about anything. So, that may not have meant as much.
“I don’t think any of us know what’s going on in his mind,” I muse tiredly. Months, he’s been with us, and none of us knew that he was the son of the head of GE. He’s Raegan’s half-brother. It explains his interest in her. Did he really think he’d been captured, or is there another reason he left? Does he think he’s not safe with us anymore, either, now that we know the truth? Or did he go after Tinsley on his own? “Since he’s gone and likely not coming back to this room, head back to the Guild to help Evie with its protections.”
“Yes, sir,” he says with a nod, rising and leaving the room to do as I asked without delay. At least in following instructions he can move faster.
Sighing, I turn to Cibrina. “We’ll have to get him discharged somehow without him here for a final doctor’s approval. As far as they’re aware, he’s still injured and in bed.” I look up and frown at the camera in the corner. “And there’s footage of him teleporting that needs to be removed.”
Fucking hospitals.
Reasons again to avoid them at all costs when it comes to gifted.
“I’ll take care of it. Go visit Raegan, and I’ll let you know when it’s done.”
“Cibrina…”
She smiles with soft understanding. “It’s my pleasure, as always,Aiden.”
