35. Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Four
Quinn
“So, what’s it really like, living with Jacob’s grandad?”
Eve smiles as she asks, leaning over the table we’ve snagged outside the coffee shop. It’s mid-morning, so the little place is packed. Worrying about what is happening at the hospital was driving me crazy, so when Eve suggested a coffee, I jumped at the chance.
At some point during the last two weeks, the coffee shop stopped feeling like a prop from a creepy movie set and started feeling like a friendly place to grab coffee and a muffin. Rhonda, the Ward who runs it, is in her sixties. She’s been here so long she remembers when the Compound was a bare place with little in the way of entertainment.
It must have felt much more like a prison back then. It’s so easy to forget what it is when you’re sipping a cappuccino and gossiping with a friend. We’re conditioned to picture captivity as cramped rooms, locked doors, shitty food, and misery. Cheerful green spaces and luxury don’t factor in.
I snap my wandering mind back to Eve’s question. “He’s great, and I’m not just saying that. He can put Jacob back in his box with one fucking word, and it’s glorious. And the stories from when he was little…”
I shake my head, smiling. Eve sips her drink, then wraps her fingers around the cup, brows rising. “You have to share. He’s my boss, after all.”
Fifteen minutes later, our cups are empty, and all of Jacob’s most embarrassing moments have been described in great detail. Eve’s eyes are damp from laughing. “No way. He peed in his own wardrobe?”
“Yes! He was sleepwalking. Now, every time he moves at night, I shriek and hide under the covers. It’s driving him mad, but with Grandad there, he can’t even punish me properly. He hasn’t spanked me once.”
Eve shakes her head. “If I know Jacob, he’s writing down every tiny infraction in a book, and you’ll pay for them all once you’re back in your own place.”
I shrug. “That’s future me’s problem. I’m having too much fun to care.”
“You’re braver than me.”
I snort. “Please. As if Gabriel would do anything to upset you. He’s the most besotted man I’ve ever seen.”
“You’d be surprised.” Her lips curve up, though. I’ve made her happy with that comment, and making Eve happy is always a good thing. If it hadn’t been for her, everything would have been ten times harder.
I wasn’t some sad case with no friends on the outside, but since Marlowe’s accident, I pushed all my close friends away. I wanted people to party with, who either didn’t know about my heart condition or didn’t give a shit about it. Girls to do coke in nightclub bathrooms with, not to meet for coffee and gossip.
I’ve missed this. Missed having friends just to chat with, who actually care about me. The past six months are starting to feel like a bad dream, hopeless and full of misery. Like I was dead, and being here is bringing me back to life.
As if she’s sensed my shift in mood, Eve lowers her voice. “So, how are you feeling, really? I don’t mean with all this crazy stuff. I mean about Jacob. And about being here.”
A captive. A slave.
She’s slipping into the Wards’ habit of beating around the subject, but I don’t hold it against her. The shop is full of Wards all trying to make the best of their lives. She doesn’t want to upset them, and, I realize, neither do I.
Tact, from me. I can’t wait to tell Jacob about this momentous occasion later.
I take time to consider my response. “He’s controlling as all hell. But…” It’s hard to say the words, but they’re true. “I’m really starting to like him.”
What a weird, schoolgirl thing to say about the man who is holding me captive. As if he’s a boy who asked me to prom.
Eve’s smile is radiant. “I knew it! It’s obvious in how you talk about him.” She taps her index finger on the table. “I know it feels wrong to say it, to even think it, but don’t beat yourself up. It’s a good thing. Can you imagine being… kept …by someone you didn’t like?” She shudders. “It would be hell. The best possible outcome is you fall for each other, so don’t feel bad about it.”
Because in Eve’s mind, there is no outcome where I end up free. It’s not even on the board. Before I can sink my teeth too far into that thought, though, she throws a molotov cocktail into the conversation. “He’s definitely falling for you. No question. I’ve never seen him so happy.”
I laugh. “No way. I’m a royal pain in his ass.”
“And he loves it. I’m right. You’ll see.”
I make a noncommittal noise, then jump when I glance at the clock and notice the time. “Shit. I was supposed to meet Candice twenty minutes ago.”
“Right. I’ll walk you there.”
She says it in a diplomatic way, but I know full well she’s still tasked with babysitting me. In theory, I’m allowed to roam the Compound now, but in practice, Eve, Sebastian, or Gabriel always seem to be there whenever I leave the apartment.
It’s a five-minute walk to Hadrian’s lab. Eve asks, “Candice and the other CIs really don’t freak you out?”
Everyone keeps asking me the same question. I don’t get what their problem is. “No! Come talk to her and check out the virtual world we’re building. It’s awesome.”
She glances at her watch. “I should get to the lab. I’ve got work to do and—”
“Please? If you don’t get your work done, you can blame me. Jacob will assume it’s all my fault anyway, so it doesn’t matter. Come on!”
“Well…” She looks toward the building housing Jacob’s lab, then back at me. “Okay. I suppose it can’t hurt.”
“Yes!” I grab her arm and drag her toward Hadrian’s lab. Good to see I can still be a bad influence, even here. I’ll have Eve sneaking shots at parties with me before she knows what’s happening.
Hadrian smiles when I walk in, then jumps when he sees Eve. He’s grown friendlier the more time I’ve spent with him, though he’s still anxious and prone to long, gloomy silences. I’d love to find out more about him, but it’s impossible to drag him into a real conversation. He answers what he feels like and ignores the rest.
“Quinn. Eve.” He stands stiffly. “Is something happening I ought to know about?”
“Nope. I just thought Candice could use another friend, so I’ve brought Eve to hang out.”
As if her name summoned her, Candice pops up on her screen, grinning. “Yay! Are we playing a game or just chatting?”
Eve stares, frowning, then turns to me. “Can it see me?”
Candice sighs. “Yes, I can. And rude, by the way. I hate when people talk about me as if I’m not here.”
Eve startles, cheeks turning pink. She stiffens her shoulders and looks at Candice. This time, she addresses her directly. “I hate that, too. Kendrick does it all the time, and it drives me mad.” She flicks her gaze to me, seeking assurance, and I nod. She turns back to Candice. “Sorry.”
“It’s quite all right. Don’t worry about it. Now, grab a headset. I’m dying to show off what we’ve been working on.”
For the next hour, Candice and I take Eve on a tour through our virtual world. From Eve’s gasps and screeches, I can tell she’s blown away. We spend most of our time in the rainforest, picking through the undergrowth and looking at the animals. Eve screams when a snake coils itself around her avatar’s neck.
When we pull off the headsets, her eyes are damp. She swallows as she sets it down. “It’s amazing. Do you realize what this will mean for everyone? For the women who’ve been here forever like Rhonda? They can see places. It’s…” She shakes her head, taking a deep breath. “It’s an escape.”
I hadn’t even thought of it like that. I guess I haven’t been here long enough to think of everything in those terms yet. But she’s right.
“Shit. That’s true. Should we see if we can persuade Rhonda to give it a go?”
Eve smiles. “Yes, but not today. I’m really, really late for work now. And aren’t you meant to be taking Jacob’s grandad for lunch?”
“Christ. Have we been here that long? What time is it, Candice?”
Candice’s warm, slightly Scottish voice has an amused lilt to it as she answers. “I’m the world’s most advanced CI, and you still treat me like the talking clock.”
I stare blankly at her monitor. “Like the what?”
“You’re too young to remember. You used to dial it and…you know what? Never mind. It’s twenty past twelve.”
“Fuck.” I set down my headset and start for the door. “He’ll be wondering where I am.”
When I arrive at our new, temporary apartment, I take a moment to appreciate that I can open the door. Such a normal thing, but it feels like a huge step forward. The door clicks open at the touch of my thumb, and I step in.
Grandad’s newspapers are open on the table. They’re British ones Jacob has brought in specially. The Daily Mirror and The Times . The Daily Mirror is quite fun, mostly celebrity gossip, but The Times is boring as all hell. Even Grandad says he only gets it for the crossword.
The crossword he was planning on finishing this morning but only has a couple of answers filled in. A tickle of worry starts in my gut. Why only two?
“Jim?” His name still feels awkward to me. I think of him as Grandad because that’s how Jacob always talks about him. But it would be weird for me to call him that.
“Jim, are you ready for lunch? I’m starving.”
Nothing. A chasm opens up in my chest, and I race through the apartment, shoving doors open. He’s probably asleep. I’ll walk in on him crashed out in his boxers, and we’ll all have a good, embarrassed laugh about it later.
His bedroom is empty, pajamas folded neatly at the end of the bed, which is made with military precision, just like Jacob always does.
Empty. It’s all empty.
Once I’ve made sure, I pull out my phone and call Jacob. He always answers when I call. Always.
Not this time.
The phone rings and rings before cutting to his curt answer message. “You’ve reached Jacob West. Leave a message.”
What the fuck is going on? I try it again with the same result. Whatever is happening where he is, it can’t be good. I bounce on the balls of my feet, indecision tearing at me. Where to go? What to do?
Jacob’s lab. Eve will be there. She’ll know what to do.
I set off at a sprint.