White Rabbit

Chapter 23: All I'll Ever Need

CLATTONIA

"Clattonia?" Katsuro says as he enters the living room as I stand by the front door, pacing, "What're you doing?"

I glance in Katsuro's direction before pausing, my bare feet stopping their trek across the floor and I brush my hands down my black, slim, lacy, bell-sleeved shirt and my stonewashed jean shorts.

"I'm waiting for Jace," I state, "He called me and explained that he has more information on White Rabbit."

"Oh?" Katsuro tilts his head to the side and raises a brow.

"Yeah," I nod and continue my pacing, my hand subconsciously reaching up to grasp at the necklace that Kaden gave me.

"Well, I'll leave you alone then," Katsuro says and grabs a pair of keys out of his pocket, "I have to go training with Juniper, Caliber, and Labyrinth anyway. You should have the place to yourself, I think. The four of us will be in the basement and Indigo is watching Ink paint. Reece and Essence are still out in the town. Valentina, Simon, and Kai went out on a mission to help Ryouichi and Mitsuko, and Lucian is in his room. I don't know what Aeryn's doing, but she probably won't bother you, considering she despises human interaction."

"Okay, thank you," I nod once more and Katsuro gives me a small smile before heading off towards the basement, swinging the keys around on his finger.

Minutes later, as I'm pacing by the front door, it opens to reveal Jace. His eyes find mine instantly and I stop pacing, turning to face him.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting long," Jace says as he lets the front door shut behind him and stands in front of me.

"You didn't," I shake my head before meeting his eyes again, "What do you have to tell me?"

"I was on the restricted floor in White Rabbit because I had to give a flash drive to my dad, and whenever I was down there I saw Aether talking to a redheaded woman and another girl by the name of Minjonet. Aether doesn't even have clearance down there and he was holding a file that was given to him by one of my friends earlier who was forced to give it to him," Jace explains, "I don't know what's going on, but I didn't have a good feeling about it and I decided to come tell you."

"Aether," I scowl, "He's always so full of himself. You said you had a friend in White Rabbit?"

"Well," Jace pauses, "Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Could he possibly help us?" I ask.

"I don't know," Jace rubs the back of his neck nervously, "He doesn't believe that all Supernatural are bad and he certainly doesn't like working for White Rabbit. He believes that it's corrupt, which, it is, but I don't know how willing he'd be to help."

"Hm," I nod and contemplate my next move, "Alright. We can focus on that more later. Did you say that the one girl's name was Minjonet?"

"Yeah," Jace nods, "And something about her didn't seem...human. But I don't know how that would be possible, given that she seemed to be cooperating with Aether and the other workers, well, more like yelling at them with a French accent."

"Believe in your gut," I say, "It's the best thing that you can do. I don't know of any Minjonets, but maybe somebody else will."

"You mean Reece?" Jace raises a brow.

"No," I pause, "He might, but I doubt it. I would bet on somebody who travels a lot."

"The Berndtsson twins and Kai?" Jace asks.

"Mhm," I nod, "It's a possibility. I'll have to ask them when they get back. They're out helping Ryouichi and Mitsuko. Can you see if you can find out any more information on what Aether was doing down on the restricted floor and about the file he had?"

"Yeah. I can ask my friend if he has a copy of the file," Jace says, "If not, I'll have to try and find a way to get information out of Aether."

"Good," My hand goes to fiddle with my necklace once more, "That would be helpful."

Jace's eyes flicker to the necklace that's hanging around my neck and he raises a brow slightly, making my hand freeze in its place.

"That's pretty," Jace nods towards me and I hum in agreement, "It suits you."

"Yeah," I nod, "It does."

"Where did you get it?" Jace asks.

"Somebody who was very dear to me gave it to me a while ago," I say after a short pause.

"Was?" Jace asks before pausing briefly, "Are you talking about Kaden?"

"How did you..." My eyes widen in surprise, "Where did you learn that name?"

"Sorry," Jace rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, "Juniper was talking to me whenever she was showing me around. She was telling me about how she met all of you and I became confused whenever she mentioned Kaden's name. I asked her who he was, but she brushed it off, just saying that he was someone who was important to all of you."

"Oh," I say, hesitating slightly before continuing, "Yeah. Kaden gave it to me a long time ago."

"Look," Jace starts, "I don't know what he was to you or what he was to all of you, and I don't know what happened to him or where he went or if he's even still alive or what all of you went through together, but I know that he was important to you, and if he was important to you, he must've really been something special for you to admire him so much. I can see it in your eyes, that expression filled with pain and sorrow, the kind that only breeds from love lost. And I just want you to know that, only if you want to, you can talk to me about him any time you want to. I'm not going to pry into your life or ask who he was if you don't want me to, if it causes you pain, because I would never want to do that. So, just remember that, if you ever want to, I'll be here for you."

My eyes widen slightly in surprise and it comes as a surprise to me whenever I notice that I've subconsciously starting crying, one tear running down each side of my face, one falling faster than the other before they drop onto the floor. I smile tiredly and wipe the tears from my eyes before going over to Jace and embracing him in a hug, my arms winding around his neck as I press up against him.

"Thank you," I say quietly as he gets over his shock and eventually smiles, wrapping his arms around my waist tightly and holding me even closer in a secure and protective hold.

"You don't have to thank me," Jace says, "Being able to be there for you is all I'll ever need."

My breath hitches in my throat and I grip at the back of his shirt, burying my face in his shoulder.

Your kindness is more than I could ever ask for, thank you, Jace...