Accidental Surrogate

Chapter 319: The Archive 

Cora

That evening, our car rumbles down the road towards the archive, Roger steady at the wheel. Another car with two guards follows behind us, keeping a steady eye out for anything strange. I sigh, already exhausted, even though I got more sleep than Ella or Roger or Sinclair last night. Still it wasn’t exactly a peaceful sleep – and then today, with the sketch artist…

I stare down at a copy of the sketch in my lap, at the face of the man I didn’t realize had been haunting my dreams. To be able to see him put on paper like this – it’s…it’s like staring at the ghost you didn’t know was haunting you. A little shiver passes through me and I neatly fold the page, placing it in the cup holder next to me, not wanting it in my hands anymore.

“You all right?” Roger asks, glancing over at me.

“Yeah,” I say, sighing again, my eyes on the road. “How long until we get there?”

“About two more hours,” he replies evenly, nodding towards the GPS system running on his phone. “We’re lucky that they’re staying open late for us.”

“We’re not lucky,” I murmur, leaning down to tug at the bottom of the jeans that Ella loaned to me which are, predictably, too short. “Sinclair is rich. Anyone will stay open that late in exchange for an insane donation.”

Roger smirks, glancing at me, but doesn’t reply. Because he knows I’m right.

I feel my phone buzz then, tucked under my thigh, and I pull it out, unlocking it and looking at the

new message on my screen.

Hank: It’s okay, I totally understand. I’m glad the baby is okay. Don’t worry about the clinic – I can hold it down for as long as you need. Have fun? Is that the right sentiment for a trip to an obscure shifter archive?

I smile, laughing a little inwardly at his joke. No, fun was not precisely the word I’d choose either, not for this trip. My smile falls, though, when another message pops onto the screen.

I miss

licking my lips awkwardly and tucking the phone back under my leg. I look back to the windshield and realize that Roger is watching

was that?” he asks, smug. I know, instantly, that he already

murmur, turning

it Ella?” he quips, needling me.

turn to send a little glare his way. “It

me know that he knows. I sigh, closing my eyes and letting my head rest

of him seeing patients alone

half dressed into my

Before stuff happened.

Great stuff, even.

and tell

my mind away from it, turning it towards other things. I listen to the steady hum of the car, to the very, very faint sound of Roger breathing next to me. But I don’t reach for my phone. Somehow, I

makes me just….incredibly cruel. I sigh, kind of hating myself right

the soft touch of a hand on my shoulder. I

for an eye,” he says, giving me a warm little smirk. “That’s how you woke me up this morning. With

parked but still running, the windshield

to go in?

my seat, my eyes closed, and take a mental inventory of myself. Body? Stiff, but all right.

left uninvestigated, for the

way. He blinks a little bit, perhaps surprised to see

off the car and unbuckling his seatbelt. “I heard from them,” he says, “but nothing of note. All is well at

over the roof. “But then you won’t have slept

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