“I have one now. Where else am I going to go? I have to go back.”
Anguished glances were exchanged above my head.
Mr. Blackbourne knelt nearby, his fingertips brushed my arm. The gentle touch forced me to look in his direction. His steel eyes focused on mine. “Miss Sorenson,” he said in a quiet voice. “Listen to me. You can’t go back. We can’t keep you safe there.”
“She needs help,” I whispered. There was nothing they could say that would convince me otherwise. Where else would I go? Kota was being brave but he couldn’t take me in. How would any of them explain it to their parents? How could I explain everything to them without a voice?
I turned to Gabriel, looking for help. He bent his head over, pressing his ear to my lips. He spoke for me. “If she’s not there, her mother may call the police to find her. If the police find out what happened, she’ll end up under control of the state.”
Kota frowned. He swung a distressed glance at the others.
“We could...” Dr. Green started. He looked over at Mr. Blackbourne intently. A silent communication using expressions passed over my head faster than I could keep up with.
Mr. Blackbourne shook his head. “No approval. It’s not a shelter.”
“Application?” Dr. Green.
Again Mr. Blackbourne shook his head. “Trial time. We don’t even know if she qualifies.”
“We could keep an eye on her until then. Special circumstances? Expedited? They can’t refuse us.”
“No,” Kota said. “I don’t want her there.”
“What?” I asked. I was having trouble figuring out this conversation. Did I miss something? Maybe I did need to sleep.
They all ignored me and concentrated on Kota.
Kota hooks his arms under my thighs and around my back, lifting me off of the floor and pulling me into his lap. “No, she’s not going there,” he said. He crossed his legs on the ground and drew me in close to him. His arms encircled my waist. His cheek touched my temple as he talked over my head. “She’s right. She has to go back.”
“Fucking hell no!” North shouted louder than the others but each of them expressed equal displeasure, all except Mr. Blackbourne and Dr. Green, who only looked curiously at Kota.
“Sang goes back,” Kota said in a louder voice. “But not alone. We’re going to set security up in her house. We’ll monitor her. We’ll be close by. Anything she needs, we’ll be there for her.” I felt his chest rising as he inhaled. The sound of his voice reverberated through me. “We’re not prepared to take her out of her house right now. She’s right. If her mother calls the police for her, we’re not equipped for it alone.”
“We can handle this,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “We’ve done it before.”
“We aren’t prepared right now, not without asking a favor. Her mother will call the police today if she figures out she’s gone. I’m surprised she hasn’t done so yet. What are the police going to do? They’ll arrest her mom and her dad and they’ll send her and Marie to live in a foster home.”
“We can’t get the police involved,” Mr. Blackbourne said.
Kota nodded. “It’s too volatile. We’ll get her mom treatment. We’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again. We need a better plan than just kidnapping her.”
“It won’t be kidnapping,” Dr. Green said. “You’re underestimating us. If we just call…”
“Not that.” He zeroed in on Mr. Blackbourne. “She is never going to the Academy. I don’t want them knowing any more about her. We’re going to do it without their help.”
My eyes popped open. Dr. Green and Mr. Blackbourne were going to send me to the Academy? How? I didn’t even know it was a possibility.
Why would Kota refuse to let me? And why wouldn’t he let the Academy help? Wasn’t he part of the Academy, too?
The silence in the room suppressed me until I shivered hard against Kota.
“None of you understand what you’re doing,” Mr. Blackbourne said.
“I don’t care,” Gabriel said. “Kota’s right. We need a little more time. I’ll stay with her. Whatever she needs.”
“I’ll do it,” Nathan said.
The others chorused similarly.
Dr. Green nodded. “I will, too. Maybe Kota is right. We need to keep her close. If we involve the Academy, she’ll be too exposed and it is far too soon for her. We need a little time, but I bet we could do it on our own.” His green eyes flickered at me before he turned to Mr. Blackbourne. “And I can’t believe for one second you’d tell us no.”
Mr. Blackbourne shifted on his feet, frowning.
“What’s the matter, Mr. Blackbourne?” North asked. “Don’t think we can keep up with one little girl?”
Mr. Blackbourne adjusted his glasses higher with a forefinger. His eyes closed as he talked. “Fine. If that’s what Kota wants, if it’s what Miss Sorenson wants, if everyone is sure, we’ll do it.” He opened his eyes again and pointed a finger at all of them. “But I want your word you’ll never take advantage of her, given her situation.”
“Who the hell do you think we are?” Victor barked at him. The fire roared to life in his eyes again. “You think we’d ever...”
“I mean it,” Mr. Blackbourne snapped back at him. “If I hear one word from her that you have touched her or so much as looked at her in a way she didn’t want, any complaint, any rumor, I’ll pull you all out of this, and I wouldn’t hesitate to drop you from the Academy.”
The threat hung in the air. Everyone drew quiet under the weight of what he was suggesting.
I couldn’t believe for a moment any of them would hurt me or do anything bad to me. They were my friends. Kota, Gabriel... all of them. I understood Mr. Blackbourne. I knew he was just voicing the warning to make sure he was heard more than he feared any of them doing it. The suggestion was insulting, but the command had been spoken so everyone would think twice over every possible action. No one complained.
Mr. Blackbourne turned back to Kota. “And I’m telling you, Mr. Lee,” he pointed at this face. “If this happens again, we’re calling in the Academy. I won’t allow anything like this to continue. Not with us.”
Kota’s arms squeezed around me, his hands spreading over my stomach and waist as he glared back at Mr. Blackbourne over my head. I didn’t understand what was happening. I didn’t fully understand what was going on, but I did know they were granting my request. In what way they were going to allow it, I wasn’t sure.
“That’s enough for now, I think,” Dr. Green said. He waved a hand in the air. “Let me examine her and we’ll clean her up. We’ll eat and we’ll figure out what our next step is.”
Inner Sanctum
Two hours later, I was wearing the shorts and blouse I had on the day before, clean and fresh
from Nathan’s laundry room. I stood in my parents’ driveway, with Nathan holding my left hand, Luke holding my right hand. North pulled his black Jeep into the drive, bringing Victor, Mr. Blackbourne and Dr. Green. The others were close behind them on foot.
Our orders from Mr. Blackbourne were to check to see if my mother was still sleeping and to stabilize her. If she tried to come after me again, the boys would pull me out of there.
I padded over in my bare feet, my bandages in place. My fingers tingled between the knuckles of both Nathan and Luke. With their palms pressed to mine, it forced back my trembling. I didn’t quite know what to expect. I was bringing them into my world. This was way further than I ever expected them to be. Despite what we’d already been through together, was I ready for this?
We walked in to the garage together. At the steps, I let go of them both so I could open the door.
Once I cracked open the door, I stuck my head in and waited. The house was quiet. I looked back at the guys, stepped inside and out of the way.
My heart refused to dip lower than my throat as Nathan and Luke entered. Both of them scanned the room. Luke had been there before. Nathan did a second and third glance at the near barren family room, with a single, barely touched couch and not much else. Like my bedroom, the house had just enough and not a piece more.
While they both had been inside before, it was strange to me to have them walking in the side door. I felt like at any moment my mother might come around the corner and find them.
I knew if that happened, they were supposed to pull me out of the house. I’d been told repeatedly by all of them what was expected of me. If they couldn’t ensure my safety inside the house, I wouldn’t be allowed to stay.
I led the way through the kitchen and to the hallway on the other side. I stepped quietly in places where I knew the house wouldn’t creak. When I turned to the wall to slide over and peek inside my mom’s room, I smelled Luke’s vanilla scent and felt his warmth. He was so close that his arm warmed mine. When I looked back, Nathan stationed himself at the other end of the hall, closer to the kitchen, standing by and ready to charge in or fetch the others as needed.