Chapter 163
“Right,” Brandon remarked, turning his attention back to the ceiling. After a few moments of silence, he said, “Remind me who Jack is again.”
“Oh, good grief!” I pulled the pillow out from under my head and playfully swatted him with it. I thought he at least knew that much. I was a little shocked he let me get away with that, considering he could’ve torn the pillow away from me, but he had his eyebrows raised as I shoved it back under my head. “He was my sister’s ex-boyfriend.”
“That’s right,” Brandon replied. He was studying my face again, which made me uncomfortable, so I lay back down, finding familiarity in the ceiling again. “Well, I don’t think we should ask to go right now. Let’s just focus on getting into the meeting, okay?”
His plan made sense, and I agreed we’d need to take this one step at a time. Prove we could be loyal soldiers at the meeting, then talk her into letting us go to Philly “All right.” I could no longer fight the yawn that enveloped me, and I covered my mouth with my hand. After it passed, I thought of something else he’d missed out on. “They said Christian isn’t due back until Monday, so you won’t be able to get your IAC until then.”
“I figured I’d have to wait on him,” Brandon nodded. He was quiet for a moment again, and I imagined he was wondering what it would be like to have a computer chip embedded into his eye. It really didn’t sound fun. “You met him?”
It took me a second to realize he was talking about Christian since he had been so quiet for so long. “Yes,” I replied. I’d met him at Jack’s funeral but the first time I’d been around him much was here. “At… the last time I was here.”
“At my dad’s funeral?”
“Yes.” The word stuck in my throat. His dad had had a funeral. I was at it.
“It’s okay. I know he died. And I know there was a funeral.” He sounded a lot calmer about it than I felt, and for good reason. He hadn’t been here.
“I know. I just didn’t want to say anything that might upset you.” Or me. I didn’t want to say anything that would upset me. I began to yawn again when he said something his dad would say and it turned into a giggle in my throat.
“In my delicate condition?”
Once I’d regained my composure, a solemness settled on me again. “Sorry. I’ve had a lot of people die lately, and people never know what to say to me either.” I hoped he understood what I was trying to say in my exhausted state.
“Well, that sucks,” he muttered. I didn’t know what to say to that, so I said nothing. He was right. It absolutely sucked. Big time. A few moments later, he asked, “What kind of a guy is he? Christian—I mean.”
I didn’t know how to answer that. I imagined if some dude I’d never met was going to be chopping around on my eyeball, I’d like to know that, too, and I wouldn’t want to hear he was creepy. So, I went a different route. “I don’t know. He’s weird,” I finally admitted. “I mean—I think he’s really good at his job, just seems kind of… out of place, maybe?” He would definitely be fine with the operation, but Brandon might think he was a weirdo, too.
He was mulling that over, I was sure of it. Satisfied with at least part of my response, he said, “I guess I’m glad he’s good at his job, at least.”
“Yeah, he does all of the IACs, so he’s good at it.” Another yawn took over, and I readjusted my pillow. It had been a very long day, and I was not going to be able to stay awake much longer, no matter how much I wanted to stay up and talk to Brandon.
“You seem pretty tired.”
My eyes flickered open to see he was also on his side now, and even though the bars to the bed were between us, I could look straight into his eyes. He looked concerned, protective, like he felt the same way about me as I did him, like we’d known each other for more than a day. “I am,” I said quietly. He continued to stare at me, and in a moment of uncomfortableness, I muttered, “I guess I’m more of a morning person.”
He chuckled quietly. “That might need to change.”
That had me smiling, but I was too sleepy to laugh. “I guess so,” I admitted as my eyelids closed. As much as I tried to open them again, they refused.
Brandon’s voice cut through the darkness. Gentle and soothing. “I’m really surprised your sister let you stay in here with me.”
I thought it was a question at first, though I wasn’t exactly sure. Without opening my eyes, I tried to explain. “She didn’t want to, but I’d told you I’d be here when you woke up. So, Aaron said I could stay.”
“I always liked that guy,” Brandon mumbled.
That had my eye popping open for a split second before they shut on their own again. “I didn’t, but I guess he’s not so bad.” He and I had our own set of secrets now, and it turned out he really had been on my side about a few things he didn’t have to be. Maybe there was more to the break up story I needed to hear from his perspective. Maybe I had been wrong about him all along. Maybe I was exhausted and nothing really mattered right now.
“He loves your sister. That’s for sure. He won’t let anything happen to her.”
“I hope you’re right,” I whispered. I knew that was an attempt to make me less worried about Gibbon tearing my sister’s arms off and beating her to death with them. I had to raise the white flag. There was no way I was going to be able to stay awake a moment later. I hoped my dreams wouldn’t contain any Vampires, though I wouldn’t mind so much if they contained a Guardian or two. One in particular. “Good night, Brandon. See you in the morning.”
“Good night, Cassidy.” His words were soft, almost as soft as the gentle touch of his fingertips as he reached over and brushed a few loose strands of hair away from my face. I wasn’t sure if I was smiling on the outside or not, but my heart was happy, and for the first time in a while, I felt completely safe, as if my Guardian protector was back where he belonged.
