Page 73 of Mortal Shift
“I do, and you don’t understand the first thing about it. And the fact you want to discuss it in the street proves that. Now can we please go and see your mother before someone sounds the alarm and lands both of us in trouble?”
I searched his face. “You promise we can talk more about this back at the academy?”
His jaw ticked. “Yes.”
I smiled brightly and turned for the alley’s mouth.
“In that case, let’s go.”
It wasn’t until we’d been walking for another minute or two that I realized what I’d said.Back at the academy.And I’d meant it. I thrust my hands back into my pocket to hide the shiver that ran the length of my spine. Despite everything, some part of me wanted to be back at the academy. How screwed up was that? How screwed up wasI?
But it didn’t matter. None of this mattered. I just needed to get my mom and get out of here, and whatever drama was going on between Cole and his pack and the vampires was not my concern. This wasn’t my world, and I absolutely refused to worry about its problems. I had enough of my own.
We walked the rest of the way in silence, and found ourselves outside a small, innocuous looking building that wasn’t so very different from the others around it, aside from a small brass plaque set into the wall beside the very ordinary door. It was a two-story building, with five windows on the upper floor and four on the lower, and none of them covered in bars. I’d expected… Well, I’d expected her to be as much a prisoner here as I was at Darkveil. And maybe she was: there were no bars on my windows, either.
“What now?” I said to Cole from the side of my mouth. “Do we break in through one of the windows?”
He looked at me like I’d lost it, then walked up to the door and opened it. Oh. Guess it wasn’t locked. As I hurried to catch up with him, I made out the writing on the brass plaque: Medical Center. Looked like it was more than just a psych ward, which explained the lack of locks and bars.
We stepped into a small but well lit reception area, complete with a reception desk. The man seated behind it looked up as we walked in, and then scrambled to his feet.
“Alpha Heir Cole, good evening. I wasn’t expecting you.”
“Evening, Fletcher,” he said with what seemed to be a genuine smile. Huh. Seemed like he was only a dick to some of the pack. “I’ve come to visit our guest.”
The receptionist’s mouth turned down at the corners, and he looked pained. Not afraid, like the others had, but just as if he was unhappy about whatever he was about to say. Anxiety twisted in my gut, a thousand scenarios flooding my mind. “Do you have authorization from your father?”
“No, I don’t.” He leaned on the counter. “I don’t want to get you into any trouble, but I really don’t want to disturb him. We just need to check in on her quickly, and then we’ll be out of here.”
“I’m sorry, you know I’d let you if I could, but the alpha’s orders were very specific. No-one to speaks to the guest or enters her room without his express permission.” His eyes flicked to me. “Did you say…we?”
The question was clear on his face, and Cole didn’t bother to deny it.
“I did. This is my mate. Our guest’s daughter.”
“You said no-one could speak to her, or enter her room, right?” I said, looking from one man to the other. “And that you’d help us if you could?”
“I did…” He looked wary, and Cole looked suspicious. Of the three of us, I was pretty sure I was the only one looking smug. I shrugged.
“Well, that’s easy, then. Take us up to the room, and open the door. We’ll stay in the hallway—not her room—and we won’t say a word to her.”
Cole grinned. “That work for you?” he asked the receptionist, or nurse, or whatever he was.
“I take it from this that your father does not know you’re back in town?” He held up a hand. “Forget it, don’t answer that. I don’t want to know. Come this way, then. But if he asks, I’ll have to tell him everything.”
“I’d never ask you not to,” Cole said.
“This way, then.” He started to lead us away, and I reached over his desk and snagged a pen and notepad. Both men pivoted to stare at me, and Cole raised an eyebrow. “What? He said I couldn’tspeakto her. He didn’t say anything about writing.”
Cole snorted softly and the shifter went a shade paler.
“Relax, Fletcher,” Cole said, clapping him on the shoulder. “We’ll be in and out before anyone knows a thing. My father will never even know we’ve been here.”
“I hope, for all our sakes, that you’re right.”
He led us up a flight of stairs and along a whitewashed corridor. We passed several doors, though if this was the town’s only medical center then it was small—much smaller than I could have imagined would be even remotely useful. I doubted there were enough rooms here to handle even a tenth of the population of a town this size.
…And I suppose that might have mattered if they were humans. Knowing shifters healed quickly and were impervious to most types of illness was one thing. Seeing the consequences of that was another entirely. There were small viewing windows set into each door, but the interiors were dark. It was possible my mom was the only person on this entire floor. I barely suppressed a shiver. She must have been so lonely, shut away up here by herself. No way in hell was I leaving her in this place. I’d play along with Cole’s games until he dropped his guard, and then I was finding some way to get her out.
