The Spirit Guardians Book 3: Fated

Chapter 4

Irene marched down the sleek tile hallway of Building H with a stiff clipboard in her hand. She hummed quietly to herself as she flipped the pages, her eyes thoroughly scanning the papers in front of her.

"Ah, Miss Ellis, where are you off to?" the receptionist in her building asked as Irene passed by the elevator.

"Building C. Military. Some new information just came in," she responded as the elevator doors opened.

Irene waited impatiently for the elevator to make its descent. As she exited the building, she shielded her eyes from the bright light of the sun and headed left to the military headquarters. She stepped inside the large building ten minutes later with ease, approaching the front desk.

"May I help you?" a burly man asked, looking up from his laptop.

"I'm from Information. We just got a full packet of information on a few more human-borns this morning," she said, unclipping the sheets from her clipboard. The stack thudded against the counter as she slapped it down.

The man slowly reached forward to look over the sheets of information.

"It's our request that you send out a few patrols immediately," Irene stated.

The man raised an eyebrow. "And how do I now know you haven't just typed these reports up yourself? Aren't you the one who returned from living in hiding?"

"With all due respect, sir, I've been in this profession for two years now and have not had an ounce of doubt from anyone, including Lynch. I'm the manager of my branch these days, which I achieved through hard work. Please fill our requests as soon as possible, or else you can answer to Lynch," she said firmly before spinning around and exiting the building.

Irene sighed and traced her fingers over the empty clipboard. Even if it had been nearly three years since she'd returned, she was hardly respected by anyone outside her own office. All that she had told that man was true to her word. She had not made any contact with those she had previously lived with, and slowly, she climbed the ranks. Lynch had not said a word to her since.

Good. I want him silent, she thought. His unannounced meetings with her had always been frightening, but since she had entered the work force herself, he rarely looked her way. There had only been one or two instances they had briefly crossed paths, and so he stopped to congratulate her and express how proud he was that she had finally found a place among all of them.

It was hard to tell if Lynch truly trusted her. Though he had gone silent, Irene doubted his suspicions were truly gone. But Irene had done what he had asked. She'd gotten a job, hushed up, and not asked for anything. The search for Elijah had been called off shortly after the patrols had been sent.

Irene's stomach clenched as she thought of her son. He would be three years old now, and probably quite a troublemaker. It hurt her more than anything else to not be with him, but he was in a better place with Cassie and the others. Of course, she never shared these thoughts with anyone else. She did not feign the sadness she felt at not having him physically present, but she certainly would never tell Miguel or her parents that she was glad, deep down, that he was away from them.

Maybe one day, I'll see him again, Irene thought hopefully. But even when that day came, he would no longer recognize or perhaps even come to know her as his mother. Irene's decision to not encourage pursuit meant that she was giving up her son in all aspects. She was okay with that if it meant keeping him safe and out of this war.

Irene's head began to pulse as these thoughts went through her head. She winced, holding a hand up to her throbbing forehead. She did little to hide the stress these days. Work kept her busy and out of the house, but it was not enough to satisfy her completely.