***
I lay in an armchair, gazing up at the ceiling while pining for Monroe. I’d done all of my chores and was completely up to date on my assignments, which was a pity because I really needed something to distract me right now. The guys were all watching a football game which had been allowed to go on behind closed doors in one of the stadiums. Blake, Saint and Kyan were whooping and cheering as they sank beers until there was a whole pile of bottles stacked on the table. Every time their team scored a touchdown, they went crazy, dog piling on each other and throwing celebratory punches into each other’s sides. I might have found it amusing if they weren’t a bunch of dickwads. And I would have watched if it was the Redwood Rattlesnakes playing, but I was too zoned out tonight to even remember which teams were facing off.
As ten pm ticked around, I wondered if I could sneak off to Saint’s room early to have some alone time. My library hours hadn’t cut it today. Especially as the Unspeakables hadn’t made any progress and were refusing to let me call them by their real names again. Saint had been pulling rank on them this week and they were scared out of their minds. I didn’t see how I was ever going to make an army out of them. Especially after Saint had gotten Blake to string Bait up in a tree in front of them and blindfolded Kyan who’d then beaten him with a stick like he was a pinata which released screams instead of candy. Saint had warned the Unspeakables that they’d end up just like Bait if they didn’t behave. He’d held onto me, making me watch the whole show while my gut churned and I started to really pity Bait. And now my army were quaking in their boots again, I didn’t see how I was ever going to end the Night Keepers’ reign of terror.
I slipped out of my chair, looking to Saint as the others were too engrossed in the game to notice I was up. “I’m gonna have a shower then go to bed. I have a headache.”
He considered that for a moment then nodded and I breathed a sigh of relief as I hurried upstairs, walking into the bathroom and shutting the door behind me.
I showered, trying to scrub away the disquiet in my chest, but it wouldn’t budge. I felt alone today. I missed Jess and Dad with all my heart, wishing I could just slip away into one of my memories and disappear. I knew exactly which one I’d pick. The time Dad had rented a cabin on a beach in Georgia and we’d had a BBQ in the sand every night. We’d stayed there for a whole month; it was the most beautiful place I’d ever been. The water used to come right up to the front door when the tide was in and I used to sit on the porch with Jess and we’d dip our toes into the foamy tide. It was a bay so the waves never got too rough and we’d spend hours building sand castles and surfing during the day.
I missed the sea. The way the air was so fresh you could taste it in the depths of your lungs, the cry of gulls in the morning and the utter peace of waking to the sound of waves lapping outside your door.
I finally left the warmth of the shower behind, wrapping myself in a towel. My phone started ringing and I frowned as I grabbed it from my blazer pocket, surprised when I found an unknown number calling.
I considered not answering but then a terrifying, thrilling, heart-pounding possibility entered my mind and a breath got trapped in my lungs.
I lifted it to my ear and answered it as hope made me unable to move. “Hello?”
“Hey, kiddo,” Dad said heavily and I dropped to my knees on the tiles, his voice wrapping around me like a balm and drawing a heavy sob from my chest.
“Dad?” I choked out, needing him to confirm it just so I knew I wasn’t losing my mind.
“It’s me, baby girl. How are you?”
How am I? How am I?? How could I answer that? I was distraught, lost, abandoned. I’d been waiting for this call for so long and now it was here and I didn’t know what to say.
“Where are you?” I demanded, ignoring his question. “Are you safe? Please tell me they haven’t caught you.” The fear of that thought bound my limbs and made it hard to breathe.
“No one’s caught me. Look Tatum, I need you to listen real closely.”
“Okay,” I whispered, my heart beating a mile a minute.
“I’m so sorry I left you behind, I didn’t know this was going to happen. I had to lay low for a while.”
I nodded though he couldn’t see it, tears streaming down my cheeks as I waited for him to go on and explain everything. I had so many questions, but there was an anxious undercurrent to his voice that I knew all too well. I had to stay quiet and hear what he had to say.
“I don’t want you to be scared, okay? I’ve been working with the Hades Virus for years. You’re immune, Tatty. You hear me? I gave you a vaccine, do you remember the week we lost Jess?” His voice cracked and another sob racked through my chest as I tried to absorb everything at once.
“Yes, I…I think I remember, but how can I be immune? There isn’t a vaccine. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“There was meant to be a vaccine. It was tested, I just didn’t realise it wasn’t ready. I…I’m so sorry. I thought it was ready, Tatum, do you hear me? But Jess…the virus
