Boundaries

Grant: lucky

{Grant}

I dragged Sasha down to the detention rooms, wanting her out of my sight, so I didn't try to kill her. She glared but didn't say anything. She wouldn't be able to until Conor's blood worked its way through her system. I had gotten uncomfortably used to Conor's ability to order me around. She looked around the detention room and then turned to bore holes into me with her red eyes.

"I hope they execute you," I told her. "I hope they burn your labs and hunt down your assistants and never look at your work again. I can't believe what you did to me. What you did to Tish. You're a monster like I hope I never am."

With that, I turned on my heel and raced back upstairs.

Victor had called another doctor friend, and the two of them had sealed off Gayle's room, trying to staunch the bleeding and get the bullet. I watched from the window for a while, hoping that she would be all right. She had stepped in to help us, and we were all mostly fine.

"Any word?" my father asked, walking up and standing beside me.

"No," I replied. "How's Tish?"

"Asleep," he said. "Conor is looking after her. How are you?"

"My shoulder hurts," I admitted. "But I'm free from that contraption."

"Go shower, change, I'll keep watch," Peter advised. "See if you can convince Conor to do the same. He looks rough."

"I'll get him some lunch," I agreed and headed down the hall.

The hunters I passed took in my appearance and gave me a wide berth. I knew that Sasha wasn't anyone's fault but her own, but she had been here all this time. No one had guessed or suspected.

The water ran down red for quite a while; I showered with my clothes and then peeled them off, looking at my shoulder. There was a light scar that ran from my shoulder up as far as I could see on my neck, but it had healed up fine.

I put on clean clothes and grabbed another shirt for Conor before heading back. Being clean made me feel calmer, but still without the answers I wanted. I wanted to know how my mother managed to hide, managed to contain the bloodlust. Or maybe, she took it out on me, and that satisfied her.

I went to the cafeteria and made several plates, not sure if Tish or Ralph would want something. No one spoke to me, even though I was clean and as normal looking as I ever was. I was glad. I didn't want to get into any conversations with them either.

Ralph looked up with suspicion in his eyes that softened as I came in. Conor and Tish were on the bed, Conor stroking her hair as she slept in his lap. I had never seen Tish look so vulnerable as she did, nestled against Conor. I set down the tray of burgers and fries and handed Conor a new shirt.

"Thank you," he said quietly. "How is Gayle?"

"Not sure," I replied. "And Tish?"

He looked down at the woman in his lap and sighed. "With the collar, the silver and drugs, I don't know. I'm going to let her sleep, and then we'll see if she can shift and heal her hand. Depends how much silver Sasha gave her." He sighed. "Is Sasha somewhere I can't get to her?"

"Yes," I replied.

"Will the hunters do something or will we have this conversation again next month?" Ralph questioned.

"She tried to kill Gayle, so hopefully the hunters will do something," I reasoned. "I don't know, Ralph."

"We're going home as soon as Tish is well enough to travel," Ralph told me. "All four of us. And we're not coming back to this place."