Cassidy took a step forward and lowered her voice. “But I promised I would keep her safe.”
“And you have,” Faye assured her. “Here, she’ll be tagged and properly trained. This is her best chance for reentering the world as a Compliant Vampire, one who will never do anything to get herself into a situation where she has to face any of us again.”
Cadence could see her sister trying to convince herself that this was what was best for the child. She put her hand on her arm. “Cass, this is what she needs. You know we can’t keep her.” Tears began to roll down Cassidy’s cheeks. “You’re sixteen, sweetie. You can’t be a…”
“Mother?” Cassidy whispered. “No, I know that. I know. I don’t want to be.” She turned and looked at Bonnie who had two dolls now and was humming quietly to herself. “I just want to make sure… nothing happens to her.”
“She’ll be fine, Cass. Nothing can happen to her without us knowing.”
“That’s not true. There are Independents out there, you know?” Her arms were crossed and she stared Cadence directly in the eye.
Running a hand through her hair, Cadence turned to Faye. “What about staying here? Is that an option?”
“Yeah—could she stay here? What about that nurse? Does she have any kids?”
Cadence stared at Cassidy for a moment, her forehead crinkled. “The nurse?” she questioned.
“That might actually be a good option,” Faye said, nodding. “I never would’ve considered that before. Lena works long hours here. But… let me just go have a little chat with her, see if she’ll consider it. I doubt she’ll be willing to commit to anything tonight.”
“Would you?” Cass asked. Faye nodded, still smiling, and headed for the door.
Cadence followed her with her eyes for a long moment as Cassidy sunk to take a seat on a small child sized padded stool. “The nurse?”
“Yeah. The one who called Faye? She’s a Vampire,” Cassidy replied.
“What?” Cadence couldn’t believe her ears. She’d had no idea. Perhaps it was because she already felt uneasy being in this building with all of the others or being near Bonnie.
Cassidy rolled her eyes. Some things never changed. “She seems like a sweet lady. I think I’d be okay with Bonnie going with her.”
At the sound of her name, Bonnie turned and looked at the two women. “Where’s Mama?” she asked quietly.
“Mama’s with Papa now, remember?” Cadence said so that Cassidy didn’t have to.
Bonnie nodded, not nearly as upset now as she had been before. Cadence wondered if Vampires naturally got over such things more quickly than humans. But then, she remembered Giovani sobbing when she’d ripped Zabrina’s head off, so she wasn’t sure.
A few minutes passed, and Cadence remembered how exhausted she was. If only putting this whole thing off until tomorrow was an option. The IAC was strangely quiet, and she wondered if the rest of the team was talking but excluding her. When she didn’t think she could handle it anymore, the door opened, and Faye walked in, followed by Lena.
Cadence felt it now, now that it had been pointed out to her like a set of fangs glistening in the moonlight.
Lena gasped and covered her mouth with both hands. She hadn’t really been able to see Bonnie out in the foyer. The adult Vampire dropped to her knees near where Bonnie was playing. “Hi there, precious,” she said quietly, Southern sweetness dripping from each word. “How are you?”
“Fine,” Bonnie said, cautiously, eyeing the stranger.
“Well, you sure are a pretty girl. My name is Lena. What’s your name?”
“Bonnie.” She twisted from side to side slightly as she answered.
“Bonnie? What a beautiful name. And what’s this? Is this your dolly?”
The child’s head bobbed up and down as Lena stood up the baby doll and handed it over to her.
“Do you like to play with baby dolls?”
Once again, Bonnie nodded.
“And wear pretty dresses?”
Bonnie looked down at the tattered and frayed dress she was wearing but then looked up and nodded.
“You know what? My friend Ms. Faye here said if you wanna come visit my home, we can take both of these baby dolls. And… she’s got some pretty dresses for you, too. Can you believe that?”
Faye had been rustling in a closet across the room but produced two beautiful little gowns, one in pink and one in a mint green color, that looked like they’d fit Bonnie perfectly. The child’s face lit up.
“You wanna come see?” Lena asked.
“Yeah!” Bonnie exclaimed, shoving both hands into her mouth and sucking her fingers.
“I’ve got lotsa juice, too. Are you hungry? You want another snack?”
Bonnie nodded again, and gathering her babies under one arm, she took Lena’s outstretched hand and followed her to the door. Faye handed over the dresses, along with what looked like some pajamas and underthings, and Lena managed to hold onto them without letting go of the child’s fingers.
The door was open and Bonnie was almost out of it before she turned around and looked longingly at Cassidy. Cadence turned to see her sister standing now, a smile on her face. Only her eyes revealed the heartbreak beneath the surface. “Bye, Bonnie,” she said, taking a few steps forward. “I’ll come and visit you really soon, okay?”
Breaking free of Lena’s hand, Bonnie ran back across the room, and Cassidy dropped to her knees, giving her a tight squeeze, before the child wiggled, indicating she wanted free. Cass let go, and she skipped back to Lena’s outstretched hand. Lena had tears in her eyes. She mouthed a “thank you” at Cassidy and then led the child out of the room.
Faye stayed behind. “As soon as I mentioned it to her, she got emotional. In all this time we’ve been working together, she’d never revealed how badly she and her husband wanted a child.”
“Her husband?” Cadence repeated.
“Yes. His name is Marcos. He’s one of our custodians,” Faye explained.
“Wait—how many Vampires do we have working here?” Cadence asked, unsure as to why she’d never heard of this before.
“Only two,” Faye replied with a shrug “Lena is the receptionist while Marcos does all of the cleaning and most of the maintenance.”
“But how is that safe?” Cadence asked. “There are new Hunters on campus.”
Faye looked slightly offended. “We take all the necessary precautions to make sure the Vampires we employ never leave the appropriate areas of this facility, but I can assure you none of them are dangerous. They are both former Informants who we brought here over the years to protect.”
Cadence nodded, wondering if this was one more thing Aaron had never told her or if she’d just missed it somehow. “I’m sure they’re perfectly safe,” she said, exhaustion not letting her smile as widely as she would’ve otherwise. “I’m just… surprised.”
“That’s okay,” Faye said, her smile certainly forced. “You stick around this business long enough, nothing will surprise you.”
Whether or not she meant to look at Cassidy as she said those words, Cadence raised an eyebrow at her, and Faye looked away.
Cass either didn’t notice or didn’t care.
“Well, thanks again,” Cadence said, heading for the door. “We’ll be back to check on her soon.”
“Certainly,” Faye said, walking them out. “It’s not like we’ve had anything else to do recently.”
“What do you mean?” Cassidy asked as they neared the exit.
With a shrug, Faye said, “We haven’t had any Compliants come in for days—maybe three?”
Cadence paused near the door. “Isn’t that unusual?”
The Guardian nodded. “Highly.”
“Have you mentioned it to Aaron?” Cadence asked, puzzling over the entire situation.
“Yes, of course,” Faye replied, “but he said he wasn’t surprised. I have no idea why.”
“Me neither,” Cadence admitted. “Thank you, Faye,” she said, tugging the door open. “You’ve been most helpful.” This time, she managed a smile. She held the door open for Cassidy and then followed her out into the hallway.
“Why do you think Aaron wasn’t surprised?” Cassidy asked as they wound their way back the way they came.
The answer was there before Cadence even asked him. “They are planning something,” Aaron said, having heard the entire conversation through her IAC. “Whatever it is, they don’t wanna be tagged.”
“And you were going to tell me about this… when?”
“At the meeting we need to be having right now. So get your butts over here.”
Cadence raised an eye at her sister, who looked even more exhausted than she felt. Without another word, she reached over and took her little sister’s hand, proud of her for both fighting hard for what she believed in and discovering the art of letting go.
