Chapter 215
Brandon was already at my house Friday when I got home from school. I had packed my bag that morning before I left. It took me a few seconds to tell my mom goodbye, listen to her strict warning to be careful, and we were in the Enclave, heading out of town. I felt like a thousand pound weight had been lifted off my chest.
“How’s your day been?” Brandon asked as he weaved through traffic on the highway. “Did you have a good day?”
“It was fine,” I said, wishing Aaron would let him drive the Aventador, but he still didn’t trust Brandon with that particular type of vehicle for long distances yet. “But I don’t want to talk about it. Do you have any idea what’s going on with Cadence? Why couldn’t she come and get me herself.”
“I’m not exactly sure,” he said, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “But something is up. I know that much.”
“Really?” I asked, turning so that I was facing him more. I was wearing my favorite pair of distressed jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt with a picture of Marceline from Adventure Time on it. Lucy said it was the best subtle announcement she’d ever seen in her life. “Why do you say that?”
“Well, the other day while I was training, Cadence came and asked me to come and get you, right?” I nodded; no surprises yet. “She said she wouldn’t be there to do it herself, and I couldn’t mention it to anyone. At all.”
“Okay,” I said slowly, wondering what that meant.
“Not even Aaron.”
“Wait. What?”
“Yeah, so Aaron and Christian went to Connecticut for a couple of nights. And Aaron said he wants to go to Philadelphia next week to look for Gibbon, but Cadence doesn’t want to go. I’m not sure why. But get this. She’s not even at headquarters right now. She left.”
I stared at him for a really long moment. “When did she leave?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted with a shrug. “But she’s definitely gone.”
“That’s so weird,” I said, leaning back into the seat.
“Yep. And her IAC is totally off, so no one knows where she went.”
“No one?” I repeated.
“No one.”
He was so cute when he was excited, and I wanted to let his exhilaration seep into my pores a little bit, but I found it odd that my sister was gone from headquarters and not even Aaron knew what was going on. I really hoped they were all right. As much as I had been irritated at Aaron when he broke up with Cadence to date Eliza, that was all in the past now. “Hmmm,” was about all I could manage.
“You don’t seem nearly as enthusiastic about this as I am,” Brandon noted, looking at me for longer than a human who was driving would’ve been able to without crashing.
My arm was bumped up against his on the console between us, and I twisted my hand around so that his fingers interlaced with mine. “It’s just not like her to do something like that.”
He took my hand, no questions asked. “I know. That’s why it’s so intriguing. She’s got to be up to something.”
“What if it isn’t good?” I asked.
“What if it is good?”
I didn’t know what to say to that response that didn’t cause us to end up in an endless loop.
“Listen, Cass, I’m sure everything is fine. Just don’t worry about it, okay? You’re literally going to your happy place. Relax.”
He was right. I couldn’t let whatever was going on with my sister bother me. Lord knows she wouldn’t be worried about me if the tables were turned. I took the recommended deep breaths and closed my eyes. Just being in Brandon’s presence made me feel calm. It didn’t hurt that he was making little circles on the back of my hand with his thumb.
“Aurora said she’d train you tomorrow,” he said quietly.
I didn’t open my eyes. “Cool. You coming with?”
“That Amazonian has already kicked my behind five days this week. And I’ve been on two hunts.”
“Is that a yes then?” I asked, only opening one eye and looking at him expectantly.
He was quiet for a second. “Sure,” he finally said. I laughed and closed my eye.
