Chapter 38
Join the Club
(Olivia)
Sitting on Mason’s bed, alone, I stare out the window at the Caretaker cop parked outside our house. The Dewalts give it a strange look as they carry their luggage back into their house. One corner of my mouth turns up faintly at the sight of them. It’s the best I can manage, even though I am extremely relieved that they were in Florida visiting their daughter while the Sentinels invaded their house and are not actually dead, rotting in the basement.
My phone buzzes, but I ignore it. No doubt it’s Hayden again. It didn’t take long for him to hear the story Evie spread about what happened to me. Not the truth, of course, but part of our plan to make sure the Sentinels know Mason is gone. Evie told a few of her most gossip hungry friends about a creepy guy with a scar who has been stalking me. We blamed him for the knife attack and made sure everyone knew what he looked like. The school is even going to post pictures of the sketch the police did all around the school.
It’s a good plan, but I refuse to give Robin’s parents any credit. They took Mason away from me, and I will never forgive them for that.
A knock sounds at my door, and I look up expecting Evie, but finding Robin instead. A heavy breath flows out of me. I think this is the first time I have ever been relieved to see Robin. Not that I will admit it, but I turn around eagerly to face her.
“He’s safe?” I ask desperately.
She nods as she sits down on the bed with me. Part of me wants to push her off, but the other part clings to the pity I felt when I realized how badly her parents treat her. I know she’s made mistakes, but she doesn’t deserve to be hated by her own family.
“How much can you tell me?” I ask.
“Not much.” Her eyes stare at the blanket beneath her legs. She bites at her bottom lip as she squeezes her hands together. “All I know is that a Caretaker family met us out in the middle of nowhere late last night and hustled him into their car. They told my parents they’d pass my mom and dad’s contact info onto the next family so whoever has him on his birthday will be able to get in touch with us and set up the meeting.”
I nod, treasuring even this tiny amount of information. At this point, I think I hate the Caretakers just as much as I hate the Sentinels, but I know they’ll protect Mason. From what Robin managed to tell me before they left last night, her parents aren’t even the worst of the Caretakers when it comes to their fanaticism with fulfilling their purpose. They’ll keep him safe.
“Did Mason say anything before… before they took him?” I ask quietly.
Robin’s mouth turns down at the corners. “He said he’d find a way to let you know he’s safe.”
“How?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “I don’t know, but I’ve learned not to doubt him.”
I don’t doubt Mason either, but I don’t know how long it will take him to find a way to contact me. I don’t know how long I can bear waiting. The air in Mason’s bedroom seems thick. It’s almost claustrophobic, but I can’t bring myself to get up and leave it. An irrational part of me fears it will all disappear if I step out of his room, that every reminder I have of him will be stolen away like he was.
“I hate your parents.”
The words slip out of my mouth before I can stop them. I wasn’t planning to say them, but once they are out, I don’t regret them even a little.
Robin snorts. “Join the club.”
“It’s not just about Mason,” I say. “Whatever you’ve done, it isn’t right that they treated you the way they did.”
She shrugs slowly. “I don’t know. Maybe they’re right. I should have been able to live up to their expectations, but I haven’t.”
“They shouldn’t hate you for that.”
“But they do,” she says stiffly.
A strange silence falls over us. It’s not awkward, because we are beyond that, but it isn’t comfortable. It feels charged, like we are both on the edge of doing something drastic, but don’t know where to start. We need each other’s help, I realize. I know what I want. I want to save Mason’s life, hopefully without losing mine if at all possible. To do that, I need to know as much about being an Escort as I can. I need Robin’s help.
But what does she want? And why does she need my help? I stare at her, trying to figure it out, but everything about her is closed down right now. Robin is a Caretaker, and I have already decided that they are a group I should be wary to trust. I have no one else, though. Whatever Robin is after, I have no choice but to hope it is the same thing I want, or at the very least, that it won’t stop me from saving Mason.
“Robin,” I say hesitantly, “how would you like to know the truth?”
“The truth?” she asks. She voices the question, but I can see in her eyes that she knows exactly what I’m talking about. Her feigned ignorance only lasts a second longer before her hands tighten into fists. “You don’t believe them either?”
I shake my head. “If there’s one thing Caretakers are good at, it’s keeping secrets.”
“I knew they were lying when they said they didn’t know what happens to Escorts,” Robin says, “but I don’t know how to prove it. I know they’re lying about other things too, but where do I start trying to find the truth?”
It’s a good question, one I don’t really have the answer to. I can only choose a direction and hope it is the right one. “They said that some Escorts have returned, right?”
Robin nods.
“Then we need to locate one of them and find out what really happened.”
“How?” Robin asks.
Another good question. Another answer I don’t have. “We’ll find a way.”
For a moment, Robin looks skeptical, but then her resolve tightens. She nods, and the beaten down look in her eyes disappears. Robin might be the last person I want to form a secret alliance with, but Mason’s life is worth putting aside petty jealousy and anger. She’s my only way into the secretive world of the Caretakers. Trusting her is still a huge risk, but doing nothing will cost Mason his life.
Robin and I turn when Evie walks into the room. I know she has taken Mason’s leaving hard, but there is no evidence of weakness in her stance as she stops in front of the bed. Her hard eyes dart between the two of us. For a moment, I wonder where my silly, girly, jabbering little sister has gone. It’s a fleeting thought, though, because I have always known that under her prissy exterior is the kind of strength you never have to doubt.
“So, have you two come up with a plan yet, or what?” Evie asks.
“Are you offering to help?” Robin asks skeptically.
I stand up and put my arm around Evie’s shoulder. “Did you ever doubt she would?”
Robin doesn’t look entirely convinced of Evie, but she sighs and shakes her head. “We can start with my grandma. I don’t know if she’ll know where we can find an Escort who returned, but I don’t know who else to turn to. My parents are obviously out.”
“Obviously,” Evie snaps.
Gently, I push Evie back before she starts clawing Robin’s eyes out. “Why are you doing this?” I ask Robin.
“Because I care about Mason,” she says, as if the answer should be obvious.
I shake my head at her. “It’s more than that. If you want us to trust you, I want the real answer.”
Robin pushes herself up from the bed slowly. Every movement is hard and jerky. There is a flame of determination in her eyes that startles me. “The real answer?” Her teeth grind together. “If you had to live every day with two people who despise you, wouldn’t you want to escape? Wouldn’t you do anything to get out from under their hateful eyes? I can’t spend the rest of my life with them.”
“The rest of your life?” Evie snorts. “You’re almost eighteen. You’ll get to move out soon, and then you never have to see them again if you don’t want to.”
Robin’s head starts shaking halfway through Evie’s comm
ent. “I can never leave. It’s my punishment for breaking my covenants to protect Eliana. Among Caretakers, I am a prisoner. Even if I try to run, they’ll find me. Believe me, I’ve tried.”
“What?” I ask slowly. “You’ve run away before?”
“And they drug me back, every time.”
Evie stares at Robin as if seeing her for the first time. “How many times have you run away?”
“At least ten, maybe more. I’ve lost track.”
Pressing my hand to my forehead, I try to understand what she’s telling me. “So, you want Mason to… take you with him?”
Her bottom lip begins to tremble. “It’s the only place they won’t be able to find me.”
“Is that even possible?” I ask.
Robin shrugs. “Probably not, but I have to try.” She wipes away a tear before it can slither down her cheek. “I know you have every reason not to trust me, but I’m begging you to give me a chance.”
Evie and I look over at each other with the same question in our eyes. She could be lying. She’s a Caretaker after all. But if she is, I can’t figure out what benefit she would get out of it. Even if she reported everything to her parents, they want the same thing we do—to see Mason get home safely.
I look away from my sister and turn back to Robin, still unsure. It’s clear from Robin’s expression that she knows we are not convinced. A strange look of resolve mixed with shame settles over her. I watch as her fingers grip the bottom of her t-shirt. She only has to lift it an inch or two before Evie and I both gasp, but she pulls her shirt up to just beneath her bra so we can see the full extent of what living with her parents has cost her. The collection of mottled bruises covering her abdomen is staggering.
“I am well aware that trying to cross into the Aerling world might kill me,” Robin says, “but at this point, it’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
Evie and I don’t need to look at each other. We both nod, accepting Robin’s help and making the decision to trust her. There is still no guarantee that we are making the right choice, but when does life ever guarantee anything?
The three of us sit back down on Mason’s bed. The room is quiet until I speak. “If I’m supposed to be able to take Mason home, it must mean that either I have some kind of power capable of doing that, or something about me is inherently different. We need to find out everything we can about Escorts and how they cross between worlds. Whatever the Caretakers are lying about, we need to be prepared for it.”
“We will be,” Evie says. Her hand slips into mine and squeezes. “We aren’t going to let anything bad happen to Mason, or to you. We’ll figure this out, Olivia.”
We spend the next hour tossing out ideas and brainstorming for even the most outrageous possibilities. I think all three of us could have gone on for hours longer, but a call from Robin’s parents cuts it short. It is an odd experience to hug Robin before she leaves. I am careful not to hurt her, but I am not prepared for the feeling of responsibility I feel toward her when I pull back.
“Thank you,” she says quietly, before turning and walking out to her car.
Evie asks me if I want to talk, but I am too exhausted to do anything but collapse into bed. Night is still hours away, but I can’t keep my eyes open more than twenty seconds after my head touches the pillow. I wake hours later to my phone vibrating under my face.
My first instinct is to push it aside and go back to sleep, but the preview of a text message from a number I don’t recognize flashes on the screen and yanks me up to sitting. I slide my finger across the screen in a panic, an irrational fear that it will disappear before I can read it plaguing me. I bring up the message, holding my breath.
I am safe. I love U, Ollie. We’ll be together soon. I promise.
The End
Check out this Sneak Peek of Book Two in The Aerling Series
Invisible Page 45
