Jodie trotted out of the kitchen with her mouth full of a second sandwich. “The iiii ta da fer.”
Reyna’s eyebrows rose. “What?”
Jodie chewed and swallowed. Then she repeated, “This is to die for.”
“PB&J, baby,” Meghan said.
“Peanut butter,” she groaned. “I missed peanut butter.” She took another huge bite.
“Let’s get out of here. I think a tour can wait for tomorrow when you’re both fed, rested, and have begun to acclimate.” Meghan was already storming out of the cafeteria.
Reyna and Jodie shared a look. It said everything that neither of them could speak aloud. They weren’t going to acclimate. Not now…maybe not ever.
Still, they followed Meghan. They took an elevator up two levels and exited onto a floor labeledResidence.
“We only have so much space for housing right now. That’s the main room where the girls bunk, but the outer walls are all private or shared rooms. Hard to come by.” Meghan grinned devilishly. “But this one is yours.”
Reyna twisted the knob and pushed the door open. She gaped at her surroundings when she entered. “Wow.”
“Cushy,” Jodie said. “Enough room in here for two. Don’t you think?”
“Up to Reyna,” Meghan said. “I’ve got extra space if you want to crash with me until we find something else.”
She could hear Meghan and Jodie making arrangements, but she was lost taking in this room. The bed was enormous and high off the ground with a white comforter. Photographs lined the walls. In his apartment, the photos had all been Beckham’s; now she was amazed to find her own images staring back at her in frames and on canvas. Black-and-white photographs straight from the websitePerspectivethat she had used to showcase her art. Visage had worried that it was an Elle sympathizer website. Turned out they were right.
She walked in a hazy dream to the closet and laughed. None of the silky doll outfits awaited her. Just practical jeans, fit T-shirts, and a whole rack of Converse to choose from. There was also an olive-green military-issue jacket, two ball caps, and her backpack. She pulled open the first drawer and grinned from ear to ear. Lace bras and silk thongs and satin matching sets and corsets and lingerie galore. Drawer after drawer after drawer.
“He did this,” she said, shutting the drawer with reddening cheeks.
“Yeah. He set this room up for you before we even began to work on your extraction.”
“Thanks, Meghan,” Reyna said softly, facing her at the door. “For everything.”
“Of course. I’ll just…” She gestured down the hallway. “If you need anything, take the elevator down two floors and someone will find me.”
Reyna nodded and listened for the click of the door closing behind her. The rest of the day caught up with her in a rush, and she sank into the pillow-top mattress. Adrenaline wore off, and exhaustion hit her. Without warning, tears sprang to her eyes. She was free. She was finally free. She couldn’t believe it.
And yet, Beckham wasn’t here. After everything she’d gone through, she’d thought he would be here waiting for her. Her eyes moved around the room that had been created for her. She saw it for what it was—a slice of a once-wonderful life. Beckham had done this for her. He’d wanted it to feel like home when he brought her here. Which meant that he’d always intended for her to show up.
But if that was the case, then where was he?
Chapter Eleven
The next three days passed in a blur. Reyna slept off and on the entire time, only waking up long enough to eat. Even then, sometimes she couldn’t be bothered. She could hear her brothers come in and out of her room with Meghan and occasionally Tye on their heels. She knew they were worried about her sleeping so much. She knew that she should get up and act like a human again, but she had never been more exhausted.
On the fourth day, Meghan went about checking Reyna’s vitals. “We’re going to have to dose you with vampire saliva.”
“What?” Reyna asked groggily.
“Or we could have someone bite you if you prefer.”
“No!”
“I didn’t give you the saliva after I drew your blood, and I took a lot of blood from you at Visage. Harrington was takingmorethan the recommended amount each time, Reyna. Then he was giving you extra-large doses of his saliva to make up for the blood he was taking. You didn’t get any this time. The first time inweeks,” Meghan said with a weighted frown. “I thought you were tired and that I should let you rest. I should have known better. Your body is trying to make up for the loss of blood, and I suspect it’s going through withdrawal.”
“I’m not an addict,” Reyna countered.
“I didn’t accuse you of anything. You just went through a traumatic experience. Sleeping is perfectly normal, but I’d prefer to check you out before I let you live the rest of your life in that bed.”
