Page 120 of Iridian

Of course, he didn’t.

Unfortunately, there was no way that we could just keep driving this SUV on our own and go somewhere, hide from the world right now, so when Taland got out and held his hand out for me, I took it. Let him guide me outside. Fergus came out, too. So did the other three soldiers who’d driven behind us.

“What the…” My voice trailed off when I looked at the street to find that the other seven I had specifically told tostand backat the mansion until I sent someone from Headquarters to pick them up wererunningtogether in pairs, coming right behind us.

“I don’t think they like to be apart from you,” Taland said.

“That’sinsane!” They’d run all the way here? “Fuck!” Now I felt bad…

“You couldn’t have stopped them if you’d tried,” Taland said. “Come on. Let’s get going.”

He took his hand in mine again and led us to the main doors of the building, where none other than Ashley Cameron waited for us with a huge smile on her face.

There were barely any guards around the front yard of the cross-shaped building. Very unusual, but things had changed. It was best to keep that in mind. Nothing was the same anymore—and neither was I. So when Ashley led us inside while her hands shook and her cheeks almost melted off her face, I didn’t mind. When every person I knew in the building, and new ones I’d never seen before, stopped what they were doing and moved back toward the walls and watched me with their eyes wide and mouths open, I didn’t mind. I reminded myself that this need to hide my eyes, to look at the floor so nobody saw them, would pass. I’d get used to it. And maybe, if I could figure outwhythey had turned white, when I had the time and the will to go through the memory of every soldier to better understand the man that Titus was—maybe I could undo it. Maybe I could get my own eyes back.

Until then…

Cameron led us straight to the elevator which only took you up to the director’s office. Taland’s brothers must have made it their own now. She said nothing when she stepped aside to let us into the car, but even though the space was big, it still didn’t fit all of the guards. Six remained outside—the same ones who’drun all the way here, and I’d been too distracted by my fear and panic to notice.

Stay here, boys. Keep watch,I thought.

Yes, Mistress,they said and turned their backs to the elevator, formed a line in front of it before the doors had slid closed.

Cameron had already backed away with an alarmed look on her face, but she’d be just fine.

“You’re nervous,” Taland said, kissing my hand as we climbed up to the top floor. “Don’t be.”

“I just want to get this over with,” I said. “I want to know what to expect. And I want to go see Cassie.”

“And we will. Soon.” He turned, grabbed my chin and pulled me closer, kissed my lips. “Everything will soon fall into place.”

It was like he gave me the world, put it right in the palms of my hands.

The doors of the elevator slid open. The office of the IDD director was in front of us, with all three Tivoux brothers and the Mergenbachs and a woman I hadn’t seen before but Taland had told me about—Violet Asher, Bluefire, one of the elder members of Selem. She was well over sixty, and it was easy enough to recognize her based on the description he’d given me when we were in the safe house on the mountain:long wavy hair that touches her hips and wraps around her shoulders like a silver blanket, not like normal hair does. He’d been absolutely right—it looked like a piece of fabric instead.

They were all close to the screens that were mounted on either side of the room right off the entrance, and the long tables in front of them.

When they saw us, they all stopped. They all came forward and they were all smiling.

“Your shift starts at eight—or didn’t you get the memo?” Radock said, tapping the watch on his wrist.

“Give them a break, won’t you?” Aurelia said, nudging him playfully on the shoulder. “Welcome, Tal, Rora. We’ve been waiting for you.” And they clapped.

They actually clapped, and none of them looked even remotely disturbed by the white of my eyes or the sight of the soldiers behind me.

Of course, they didn’t—they’d been ready to knock Taland out just to get him to keep them around, and they’d succeeded in a way. The soldiers were still here, even though I wish they were free instead.

But I kept that in mind as we walked deeper into the room to the main table opposite the elevator doors where the Director probably sat. The walls around it were completely made of glass and they showed the city surrounding Headquarters like they were 4K images instead of the real world.

The others came closer, shook our hands and patted our shoulders, all smiles and good moods and sparkles in their eyes.

It didn’t exactly surprise me, and it didn’t surprise Taland, either, but he said, “So, we’re just going to pretend that you didn’t want to knock me out and keep me sedated for…how long, exactly? Until you figured out how to take the soldiers from me?”

He said it all with a cheerful voice and a smile on his face, but what did surprise me was that none of the others even flinched.

“Pretend? Absolutely not!” said Radock.

“We wouldn’t have kept yousedated, kid,” Zachary said with a wide grin. “Notallthe time.”

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