His eyes were wide with wonder and consideration. “From the rooftop?”
She nodded. “I thought it would look nice in your apartment or at work. To have a piece of me in the heart of the beast.”
“You already have my whole heart.”
Chapter 31
Reyna entered the cafeteria bleary-eyed the next morning. Beckham had slipped out at some odd early hour. She’d been dead to the world and all she remembered was a kiss on the forehead before he was gone. She grabbed a tray and piled it up with eggs, bacon, and orange juice before finding a place to sit. Drew and Gregory were sitting together in a corner and she headed that direction.
She plopped her tray next to Drew.
“So,” she said in greeting.
Drew widened his eyes. “Hey, Rey.”
“When did this happen?” she asked, pointing her fork between Drew and Gregory.
“It kind of…just happened.”
Gregory arched an eyebrow. “Yeah, it kind of happened when you moved in.”
“That was weeks ago!” Reyna cried. “Why didn’t you tell me before then?”
“I’ve never had a boyfriend before,” Drew said.
“You’ve never really had a girlfriend before either. Doesn’t mean your sister doesn’t get the details!”
“All right. All right. My bad,” Drew said.
“Brian and Laura still locked in their room?” she asked.
“As far as I know. Brian has to come out sometime. We have to leave once the sun goes down.”
Reyna frowned. She’d tried not to think about the mission her brothers were going on. She knew that they were going to check out the site and try to discover if it was really set up like a human feeding camp. They’d been on plenty of missions like this before, but it didn’t make it any easier to see them leave.
“Make sure you and Brian come and say bye before you go.”
“Will do.”
Reyna finished up her breakfast, listening to the adorable banter between Drew and Gregory. Jodie showed up at the tail end as Reyna was returning her tray to the front.
“Reyna!” Jodie cried. She was holding a piece of paper as she jogged over to where Reyna was standing.
“What happened? What’s up?”
“We found something!”
“About June?” she gasped.
Jodie nodded. “An address.”
“Oh my God! Where?”
“Here in the city. It’s not verified, but it looks like she lived here at some point. All we have to do is get them to approve us to go into the city to check.” Jodie’s eyes were lit up. Reyna had never seen her look this excited or happy. Not in the entire time she had known her.
“Then we should go!”
“Meghan is on it.”
Reyna pulled Jodie into a hug. “I’m so happy for you. I hope that you find exactly what you’re looking for.”
“It might be a dead end, but at least it’s a start.”
“Definitely.”
Jodie followed Reyna out into the hallway. “What are your plans for today? I’m so anxious. I don’t think that I could go back to my room.”
“I actually think I’m going to the medical wing.”
Jodie stopped in her tracks. “Why?”
Reyna faced her. “I promised that I’d help out.”
“Why?” she repeated.
Reyna linked arms with Jodie and forced her to start walking again. “Because there’s something wrong with my blood.”
“Duh. You and I are peas in a pod, sister.”
“But I mean…more wrong. Beckham can sense me.”
“Kinky.”
Reyna snorted. “Not like that. I mean he knows where I am from long distances and when I’m awake. He can actually sense me. He’s worried that if he has the ability, Harrington might also have it. He thinks it’s something in my blood, and we’re checking it out.”
“Whoa. That’s freaky.”
“Yeah. It’s fine if Becks has that capability, but I don’t want anyone else to have it. It’d be like having a freaking beacon over my head.”
“True. So, you think you can figure out what’s happening?”
“There’s a doctor here who is looking into it. I thought I’d check on his progress. He said I could come anytime and be his assistant.”
“And you trust him?” Jodie asked skeptically. “I wouldn’t want to step one foot in that medical wing. No matter what Meghan says or does for me.”
“Beckham trusts him. And I trust Beckham.”
“Let’s hope vamp boyfriend knows what he’s doing.”
Reyna nodded. She understood Jodie’s fears. They mirrored her own. She was still having panic attacks and flare-ups of her PTSD from what she’d endured. The thought of donating blood, of working with her blood, of any of that nonsense made her sick. But she couldn’t keep running from her fears. She needed to face them if she wanted to get answers. And answers were what she was after.
Despite Jodie’s reaction to the medical wing, she followed Reyna into the empty med bay. It was so sterile and silent. Only the slow whir of machines and the air-conditioning kicking on broke up the stillness. Reyna headed to Washington’s office. The door was propped open and the room empty. She moved from there to the lab where she had last seen him. Success.