The adrenaline burst finally catches up to me and I crash hard; I fall into a dead sleep in the car.
I don’t remember my arrival.
I recall seeing Luce coming out of a white Greek style building with a gold dome. He is with another man.
I recall this man and some others gently pulling me out of the car.
I wake up in a small clinic bed in just my underwear underneath the soft bedding. I’m alone in the bare room, my chest and arms have been wrapped but I know the blades are still in there. Bleary eyed I look out the windows and I see green.
I’ve never seen so much grass and trees and living things in my life.
Arkham School wasn’t just one school building—it was like an entire campus swaddled away in a meadow. It must be midday because the campus is flush with people in school uniforms moving from building to building.
I hear some movement to my left and I whip my head around to see Luce slumped in a chair beside me, his gray blazer across his lap and his black dress shoe and cybernetic leg resting on top the sidetable.
“Are you okay ?,” Luce asks. His blue green eyes are impassive as always, but I’m surprised by the lack of venom in his tone.
“You’re the most wanted man in the Sprawl," Luce laughs ringing a small bell on the sidetable.
The bell makes a soft tinny sound and within seconds I hear hurried footsteps coming to my room. The door opens and I see a handsome man in his mid thirties wearing a gray suit looking at me like I’d just come back from the dead. He has a familiar face.
The man approaches me and reaches out his hand.
“Mr. Gray, I’m Hotako Washington,” he says. “Rayne’s brother.”
I stare at him, wondering if I had missed him at the christening all those months ago. I’d never heard anyone mention Rayne had a brother.
“Brother ?,” Is all I manage
“I’m something of a self imposed exile. It is somewhat easy
to disconnect since we don’t have much tech up here,” Hotako explains. “The
family business didn’t match with my personal philosophy and I left years ago. Anyway,
I’m Headmaster here at Arkham and my brother has told me keeping you enrolled here is now my number one priority.”
I stare at him. They wanted me to be a real student here ? I had so much shit to do. Did they expect me to sit on my ass all day ?
“I don’t understand…What does Rayne expect me to do here ?,” I ask.
“Rest. Take study. Heal,” he smiles. “Rayne tells me things are not going well with the cartel relations but once it’s all over you can move forward.”
I noticed he said move forward and not go back.
“Don't you know what happened ?,” I ask him. “To your nephew ? I was so close, I can’t just quit--”
“I know,” Hotako says quietly. “But my brother has specifically asked that you not get involved with that.”
I try not to look disappointed. He was taking this away from me when I was probably the only one who knew enough to find him. Did Rayne suddenly trust Minnow more ? Fuck, since when did I give a fuck about Rayne’s approval ?
“Are we done with the niceties ?,” Luce asks with a wicked. “I want to ask him--”
“Not yet, Mr. Grace ” Hotako tells him before turning to me. “Do you have any more questions Mr. Gray ? Do you need anything ?”
I needed this all to fucking stop.
I just shake my head no.
“Okay,” he says. “We just have to discuss one more thing.”
“What?,” I say.
“What kind of drugs were in your car and who the fuck is in that tank in the trunk of your car ?,” Luce asks.
--------
Later
I find Zacharias Washington.
I patch through my secure network until I find the encrypted Syndicate line.
“Is this Audrina Laurenti ?,” I ask.
“Um, yea--Yes,” a nervous voice comes over the Syndicate. “It’s me, Audrina.”
“I’ve found a way to get into Camp Harmony,” I tell her. “Are you still going to help me ?”
The line is silent.
“Hello ?,”
“Yes,” she says. “Yeah, I’ll do it.”
-------------------------
A/N
What if I had started Maxwell and Haley's story here ?
You: Exactly how much later is the first part of this chapter from the second part of the chapter ?
Me: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.