“Wow. It’s been a quick day.”
“I know, right?” She closes the dryer’s door. “It can be kind of boring sometimes, but there’s usually enough work to make the time pass quickly.”
“So, I guess we just leave the baskets for the others to pick up?” I ask.
“Yeah. We’ve moved them so the next shift should know they’ve to be taken back to the rooms. Worst thing that could happen is they get washed twice, and that’s really nothing.”
She leads the way out of the room.
The kitchen seems busier now, with a few members of staff prepping things on the counters, and Chef Pierre paying close attention to whatever he’s cooking on the oven top.
“We’re out,” Katie sings as we pass. “So long until tomorrow.”
Pierre doesn’t look up. It’s a bit rude, but I guess I don’t really know him.
Maybe Katie’s right that he’s only interested in flirting.
We leave the kitchens and walk along the corridor toward the stairs.
“We’ll be staying on duty in the laundry room this week,” Katie tells me. “Lana doesn’t want you running all over the building when you’re not ready for that, but we’ll get to do the taking stuff back and forth part at some point. It can be kind of fun. Sometimes the Omegas are friendly and want to talk when you bring their stuff back.”
“So, they’re in their rooms usually, then?”
“Well, lately they are, but when the schools running with classes and everything, we might hardly ever see them. Lana’s taking her time to put a regular schedule back in place. The whole thing with Warren Corvina screwed up a lot of stuff. That’s why security’s so tight.”
“Warren Corvina?” I ask, trying to remember what she told me about him before.
I know I’ve heard the name, and it was linked to something awful.
“You haven’t heard about him? Oh, Robin. He’s a monster. He’s a psychiatrist who was abusing Omegas. He was brainwashing them, including his own daughter, so that evil Alphas who think Omegas are their property could use them. It’s so disgusting.”
“He was brainwashing Omegas at the academy?”
I think that’s what she told me about him before.
She nods as we get to the staircase. “I don’t know how many or who they were, but he was herea lotbefore he got put in prison. He was definitely doing that stuff here.”
“But he got caught for it, right?” I ask, as we start walking up the stairs.
“Not exactly,” she says, catching my shocked look and nodding. “Yeah, you heard that right. He got locked up for killing a kid. That was something to do with blackmail, I heard. He was making crazy amounts of money, too, but no one seems to be looking too deeply into that. The brainwashing thing isn’t being taken seriously by the cops or anyone else in general. But a lot of people here know it’s true because of stuff they saw.”
We hit the landing and stop walking.
“That’s a lot,” I admit, still processing half of what she just told me.
“I know, right?” She nods. “Well, we’re lucky he’s locked up. And we’re doubly lucky that Lana’s the one in charge now. She’s not going to let that kind of stuff happen again.”
Katie smiles. “Anyway, don’t go to bed thinking about that, okay? I don’t want to be responsible for any nightmares. You can call me later if you want. Or come and see me. Anytime.”
“Thanks. I think I’ll be okay.”
We say goodnight and she goes upstairs.
I move along the corridor to my suite, hand going into my pocket for the key before I remember I gave it to Falcon.
My heart skips a beat at the thought of finding him inside my suite.
I know Lana won’t like this, but I don’t think she’ll kick me out for it.
