“It’s Dr. Mandoza,” I tell him.
His eyes close and he lets out a breath, knowing exactly what this woman meant to me.
I step into the bathroom and check her over, praying for a pulse, but I know that I won’t find one. I gently close her eyes as Rylan puts a hand on my shoulder. “Come on,” he says softly. “We still have a job to do.”
I give him a hasty nod and wipe the tears on my sleeve. “Okay,” I say stepping out of the bathroom and rushing down the hallway to the next room. He allows one of the other guys to take the lead and discreetly stays by my side lending me his strength.
We finish the initial sweep and report that there are no remaining vampires just as the other two groups confirm that there are no survivors.
Now comes the hard part; respectfully getting the bodies somewhere safe so their families can say goodbye.
One by one, we step back into the building as more members of the Front Line arrive to give a helping hand.
I bend down before a young boy, maybe five years old and scoop him up into my arms. I carefully walk his broken body down to the area that has been set up for all our dead and do my best not to cry. My heart breaks knowing this was someone’s baby, knowing this poor boy will never grow up and discover the world, never fall in love for the first time, and never experience the absolute wonders life holds.
I lay his body down among the other bodies and wonder if his parents are laying among him or if they are going to return to absolute heart break.
Four hours later, every last body has been laid down, the fires are out, and the clean-up crew has arrived to start putting this place back together.
We climb back on the jet and start our journey back to the Academy and the mood on the plane is indescribable. Every single soul on the plane is shattered. Daniel sits with his arm around me as we both quietly contemplate the day from hell when Rylan walks down the plane and asks to sit with me.
Daniel nods before getting up and finding another seat as Rylan takes his place. He immediately pulls me into his chest and my tears begin to flow with the break down he knew was coming. He allows my tears to soak through his uniform as I cry relentlessly while he holds me as tight as he can, not caring who around us can see.
It’s nearly the middle of the night when the jet finally touches back down and instead of heading to my room, Rylan pulls me along to his place where we silently fall into bed and hold each other until the night claims us.
Chapter 23
It’s been a few days since the attack at Head Office and after a massive memorial service, we’ve all been given instructions to pack our belongings as all the senior students will be moving to one of the community hotels until we’re given our first assignment. Since that’s usually handled at Head Office, it might be a little while before we actually know where our futures will be heading.
It completely sucks, this whole being an adult thing means this is my first year where I won’t be able to spend Christmas break at home with mom and Millie.
Today is moving day and we’ve finally arrived at the hotel and since we’re all over eighteen now, we’re allowed to room with whoever we want so it’s no surprise when Jacinta says she’s going with Trey and Nora begs Daniel until he eventually agrees. I’m also not surprised when Rylan tells me he has his own unit in this community and for now, that is exactly where I’ll be staying. So when he snatched my bag from my hand and replaced it with a key before disappearing out the lobby door, I just went with it.
I walk around the lobby, looking for Jacinta as we’re meeting for lunch when I hear two very familiar voices that makes me stop in my tracks as I just can’t understand why the hell these two voices would have anything to do with each other. Brax and Phillip Cooper? How would they even know each other?
I peek my head around the corner as discreetly as possible and see Phillip looming over Brax even though Brax is nearly twice his size. I’m about to intervene when I hear Brax speak up. “I’ve been getting as much information as I can.”
“Try harder,” Phillip seethes. “We’re running out of time.”
“I’m trying,” he shoots back. “They’re too tight of a group. They don’t like outsiders.”
Who’s too tight of a group? He couldn’t be talking about us, could he?
“I paid you to do a job. I got you in and now I expect you to follow through. I want every little bit of dirt you can find and then I want them destroyed,” he growls before turning on his heel and stalking away.
What the hell? Brax turns back around and I quickly duck out of the way? Who does Phillip want destroyed?
Brax walks on by and I do my best to hide. He doesn’t notice me one bit, which clearly proves that Brax didn’t get Rylan’s real training, any one of my other classmates would have noticed every tiny detail of their surroundings, but not Brax. He’s right, he’s definitely an outsider. Now I just have to work out why he’s trying to get in, and I have a really bad feeling about it.
Once Brax is completely out of the way, I continue my search for Jacinta and find her heading into the hotel restaurant. “Hey,” I call out. “Wait up.” She turns at my voice and smiles as she sees me dashing towards her.
“Good timing,” she says, looping her arm through mine. “How’d things go with Rylan? Are you living with him or did you get your own room?”
“Come on,” I scoff. “You must know the man better than that. I didn’t get even a tiny say in it.”
“So, you’re telling me that you’ve moved in with your boyfriend?” she laughs.
“No, that is not what I’m saying,” I tell her. “I’m just staying there until we get our assignment and then you, me, and the boys can all get a place together like we’ve always talked about.”
“Yeah, right,” she laughs. “Rylan is never going to let you leave and deep down you absolutely love it.”
I can’t help but grin. “Shut up,” I tell her as we order our lunch before I fill her in one the Brax situation.
“What?” she says, her brows furrowing in confusion. “That doesn’t make any sense. Are you sure it was my Dad?”
“Yes, Jacinta,” I say as though she’s gone crazy. “I’ve known the guy since I was five and I peeked around the corner. It was definitely your dad.”
“I just don’t understand it,” she frowns, still somewhat in disbelief. “And I’m sure you think it’s us Brax is trying to get information on.”
“Yeah, I’m positive,” I say, loving how she knows me so well. “Maybe he’s trying to get dirt on us so he can make sure we keep quiet about his affair and Daniel. After all, he wants the leadership.”
“I don’t know, there’s no way he’s going to get leadership. He’s all wrong for it and besides, there is no dirt on us, well, there’s none on me, you’re having a steamy affair with your instructor, but that’s gone public now so nothing can really come from that,” she laughs.
“What about Daniel or Trey?” I ask.
“Nah, they’re squeaky clean,” she says. “I mean Daniel is known to get up to a little mischief here and there, but nothing that could get him in too much trouble.”
“What’s not getting me into trouble?” Daniel asks, suddenly beside us with Trey who each make themselves comfortable at our table.
Jacinta and I launch into our story, filling the boys in on our theory.
“You don’t think he had anything to do with me getting stabbed in that bathroom, do you?” Daniel asks Jacinta.
“No, there’s no way,” she says, still wanting to believe that her father is a good man.
“I mean, it is possible,” I suggest.
“Bianca,” she scolds, absolutely horrified by my comment.
“Just hear me out,” I say, turning to the boys. “He obviously has paid Brax to do something that he hasn’t followed through with yet. Why couldn’t it be that? I mean, it was a member, a trained fighter who got Daniel. Brax admitted that he was there and Phillip desperately wants the whole ‘illegitim
ate child’ thing to go away.”
Jacinta demands, getting angry. “How could you? You’re being ridiculous. There’s no way my father hired Brax to kill Daniel,” she lets out a huff before getting to her feet and storming away.
“Damn it,” Trey murmurs before getting up and going after her, leaving me and Daniel extremely suspicious. “You don’t seem surprised?” I ask him.
“I’m not,” he says. “Well, a little bit about Phillip having anything to do with it but Brax…I don’t know, I just seem uneasy around him and then when I paired with him during training after the attack, his style was familiar.”
“You’ve thought it was him for a while,” I comment. “Why didn’t you say something?”
Daniel shrugs as though it isn’t a big deal when in reality, we both know this is massive. “I didn’t have any proof.”
I pull out my phone and find the video surveillance I stole from the mall and go over it with Daniel, and after taking a closer look, the man in the video could definitely be Brax, but without seeing his face, it’s a bit unfair to jump to conclusions. “Rylan was suspicious of him at first too.”
“Yeah, but that was because he was trying to get in your pants,” he scoffs.
“Well, at least we know why he was so damn persistent,” I laugh as all four meals are placed down before us.
Daniel looks up at me with a wicked grin. “Can’t let all this go to waste.”
“No,” I smile, looking down at all the food before us. “I suppose we can’t.”
Chapter 24
After following the directions Rylan had given me, I stand in front of a door, wondering if I knock or walk straight through. I mean, I’m staying here for the next little while, but it’s not like it’s my place, though Rylan would hate it if I knocked and made him get up for nothing.
I push through the door and gasp as I take it all in. It really isn’t what I was expecting. Definitely not where you’d think a 23-year-old bachelor would be living, or well at least he was a bachelor when he got the place.
Ultra-modern and sleek with even a hint of styling which makes me think he either hired some woman to put it together or there was an ex who did it all for him, but the idea of Rylan styling this place himself just doesn’t seem right.
I walk deeper into his house and find Rylan in the kitchen. He looks up and gives me a warm smile, not bothering to hide the fact that seeing me in his home is somewhat exciting. “Nice place,” I tell him as I continue looking around.
“Glad you like it,” he says. “It’s yours now too.”
“Yeah,” I scoff. “For like a week.”
He looks away from me and begins searching through the cupboards trying to hide a grin. I walk deeper into the kitchen and squish myself between him and the counter. “What’s that smile for?” I ask.
Rylan shakes his head, wraps his hands around my waist and lifts me onto the counter, refusing to answer my question. “What’s going on? You looked devastated when you walked in.”
I let out a deep sigh and lean forward into him, loving how he so easily reads me. “You know how Daniel was attacked at the mall?” He gives me a slow nod, unsure why after nearly three months I’d be bringing it up again. “Well...Daniel and I think Phillip Cooper might be the one behind it and possibly paid Brax to do it. Then we sort of bombarded Jacinta with all our theories and now she’s not talking to me.” I let out a heavy sigh. “I’ve been groveling at her door all afternoon and all I got from her was the finger.”
He shakes his head, trying to figure out where to start with what I just told him. “Jacinta will come around. Whether you’re right or wrong, she’ll forgive you. She’s probably more upset with the possibility that you might be right,” he suggests, giving my hands a squeeze. “But what makes you think Phillip had anything to with it?”
I go over my theory and tell him all about the conversation I overheard. “I don’t know,” he finally says after thinking it over. “It’s not really enough to go by, but don’t get me wrong, something’s off with Brax,” he says. “Transferring and constantly trying to hang out with you guys just seemed a little odd.”
“I know, but I just figured he wanted to make friends.”
“Well, I doubt Phillip is going to admit it, but Brax might be a little easier to persuade,” he suggests with a wicked gleam in his eye. He couldn’t possibly be telling me to beat the information out of him, could he?
I give him a strange, unsure look while narrowing my eyes suspiciously. “You’re not suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, are you?”
“How you interpret that is up to you,” he says.
Damn him. All I want is the okay to go and do it. I mean, Daniel and I probably would have done it anyway, but it would be nice to know I have Rylan’s full support.
“Come on,” he says, lifting me up off the counter and walking me to where I assume is his…our living room. Geez, that’s a strange thought. “There’s something I want to talk to you about.”
He sits down on the couch before putting me down on his lap like I’m some kind of ragdoll, but to tell the truth, I really don’t mind. “What’s up?”
“I need to know your position on the whole leadership thing,” he says.
My eyebrows pull down in confusion. “How do you mean?”
“Bianca, I plan on having you in my life for a very long time, so this decision about me carrying on the leadership is as much yours as it is mine,” he says making my heart swell knowing he’s thinking of our future. “If having me as leader isn’t going to work for you, then I won’t do it. Forget about what’s right or wrong and forget about Brett being sick. I need to know if that was our life together, you’d still be happy?”
“That’s a lot of weight you’re putting on my shoulders, boss man,” I tell him.
“Sorry,” he says. “That wasn’t my intention.”
I adjust myself on his lap so I face him straight on. I sit in silence, thinking it over even though I don’t need to, I already know my answer. Any life with Rylan would make me happy, no matter the circumstances. As long as he was by my side, I would be the happiest woman on earth.
I raise my chin and look him straight in the eye. “A few months ago, you stood in front of The Guard and pieced together our plan of attack before leading us into battle and proving to me that you were born to be a leader. You proved it all over again when you took charge the other day at Head Office, and honestly, seeing you like that has never made me so proud,” I tell him. “The only reason I wouldn’t be happy is if you were doing it for the wrong reasons and you weren’t happy. If you truly want to lead our people, which I know you would be amazing at, then I will be right here by your side.”
Relief clouds his eyes and I realize he’s already made his decision. He’s going to do it, he’ll be the leader I know he is. “Rylan Neill, Leader of The Guard. It has a nice ring to it,” I smile. “Should I call you Mr. President?”
“Don’t you dare start that shit,” he laughs.
I can’t help but watch him, taking in his manly good looks. “You’re really going to do this?”
“Yeah, I am,” he says, sliding his hands around my waist and pulling me closer.
“What do we do now?” I ask as his lips graze across my neck.
He lets out a sigh and pulls back just slightly. “Now, we call Brett.”
----------
Everything happened so fast, from the moment Rylan called Brett until now. Rylan had hardly hung up the phone before Brett was knocking on the door. He came in, had an awkward hello with Rylan, sat down, and waited. The moment the words came out of Rylan’s mouth, Brett was filled with elation. He looked as if a million troubles had been lifted off his shoulder, which I guess, technically they have.
As I said, it all happened so fast. It’s 8 pm the following night and I’m surrounded by the whole Guard. The council members sit upfront as they are just so much more important than everyone else, the whole Front Line, all the students
from the academy’s all over the country, and practically every child and member of The Guard have arrived to hear Brett’s big announcement, even my mother showed up with Ben on her arm and poor Millie dragging behind.
My palms sweat in nervous anticipation. This is a lot of people and Rylan is going to have to get up in front of them all and tell them exactly who he is and exactly what’s going on, and I know for a fact that there will be people out there who will not be happy about this, people like Phillip Cooper, for example. Rylan is just another person in the way of what he wants.
After watching people pour into the community all day, I head down to the field early to make sure I get a good seat and save a few for Daniel, Trey and Jacinta, well, that’s assuming she’s going to want to sit with me, but I can always hope.
I watch as men and women rush around adding more chairs, and from what I can tell, there are only enough chairs for a quarter of the guests who have arrived so far. A stage is built before my eyes while speakers and microphones are set up all over the place.
Daniel sits next to me and I look up as Jacinta walks straight past and sits down on the other side of Daniel, still refusing to talk to me, but how Daniel managed to get in her good graces is a mystery to me. She looks around curiously, like every other person in the place, trying to piece together what could possibly have brought us all here tonight.
People around me whisper their theories as they wait for Brett to make his appearance, and from what I’m hearing, most people are expecting this to be about the Fey or the vampire attack at our Head Office, but I know from having Brett over last night, that we haven’t made any progress with that yet.
Half an hour later, the field is swarming with people and huge spotlights have been set up, shining down on the stage. I look around trying to find Rylan, but there are just too many people. High Council Member Jackson Lewis gets to the stage and I have a strange feeling that he also doesn’t know what’s going on.
Queen and War: Slayer Academy (Book 3) Page 17
