Chapter 328
I closed my eyes and focused in on Holland. She was back in her fortress now, though I couldn’t tell where that was. She was so upset that she didn’t have the full capacity to block me. I could see her lying on a bed, her head buried in her hands, crying out for Perses, cursing my sister’s name, vowing vengeance. The rest of her forces were scattered around the city, some of them hunting for us, some of them searching for innocents to turn. Things could get messy; I tried to see if I could contact any of them, to send them home.
I realized after about fifteen minutes of deep concentration that my sister and Brandon were nearby. I vaguely recalled having waved her away earlier. I felt bad about it, but I hadn’t done it on purpose.
Cadence had a questioning expression on her face, and I realized she wanted an update. “She’s done for the night. I see her lying on a bed covered in red silk, crying. She’s inconsolable, but also outraged.”
“Maybe she’ll learn her lesson,” Cadence mumbled. “Let me know if anything changes.”
She turned to go, but I grabbed ahold of her hand. “Cadence, I know you wanted to keep me safe out there, that that was your biggest priority. But Aaron told you I held my own out there tonight, right?” I was sure he would’ve already had that conversation with her. “And once I’ve completed my training, you’ll let me engage, won’t you?” I’d had a taste of combat now, and I was hooked. I knew I wouldn’t be able to wait long before I needed to get back out there. I’d been concerned that it would be too difficult to kill a creature that seemed to be at least half like me, but once I was face-to-face with them, it was easy for me to see I’m nothing like them at all.
I could see the wheels turning in my sister’s head, like she wanted to shout “no” at me, but instead she said, “Let’s find out what happened to this Heather girl, the one you saw in your vision, and we’ll go from there.”
I didn’t let go of her. “I’m not a child anymore.” I hoped my tone didn’t sound argumentative; I didn’t mean it that way. I was stating a fact. Aaron could see that. Why couldn’t Cadence?
“I know you’re not.” I wasn’t sure I believed her. “I just need some time.”
I nodded at her and closed my eyes, checking on Holland once more as Cadence’s arm slipped from my grip. Once I was satisfied that we were still safe, I turned to face Brandon.
“Hi,” he said. “How’s it going?”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Sorry. I didn’t realize you guys were back. Time flies when you’re in someone else’s head.”
“That’s okay.” He had a crooked smirk on his face. “I’ll wait for you.”
“I know you will.” I stood up and he took both of my hands in his. “You did an amazing job getting them out of there safely.”
“Couldn’t have done it without your help.” He smiled down at me, and then his forehead crinkled up. “You’ve got blood all over the side of your jeans.”
Looking down, I could see he was right. It covered the back of them, too. “It’s not mine. I think it’s Steph’s.” I glanced over his shoulder and saw my sister talking to Paul. Margie was with Grant, but every other patient seemed to be asleep. Beyond the operating room, Elliott, Aaron, Jamie, Cadence, and a few of the Melbourne people were sitting around a table. I couldn’t see who all was with them, but I could tell by the sporadic laughter that Elliott was telling one of his stories. I thought I should probably join them, but I wasn’t quite ready to be sociable yet.
“Listen, Cass, you were incredible tonight. The way you put that Vampire down with just your bare hands was awesome. I know it’s going to be hard for you to wait on your sister, to get her to give you permission. But it’ll come. You just need to try to be patient.”
I nodded. I knew he was right, but that didn’t make it any easier. “I guess I’ve got other things to spend my time on, like tracking Holland and the other Vampires, trying to fix the tracker problem, and figuring out what happened to Heather.”
“Yep. All of those things are really important, too. Tara’s likely going to be part of our team now. She’ll need help figuring out how to control herself. Dax will probably need a pep talk or two since he’s been thrust into the middle of this. I hope they’ll let them stay. And I had an IAC conversation with my dad on the plane I haven’t had a chance to tell you about. Apparently, they’re going to be moving some of the Guardians from the colony in Roatán up to help us.”
That was news to me. It made sense though. I was aware there were thousands of Guardians there, working with Dr. Morrow to find a serum that would help turn them all back to human. It would be great if they could help us out first. “That and my sister and your dad going through the procedure to make them like Aaron and Tara should give us some power Holland’s not expecting.”
“Yep, but she won’t stop. She might be quiet for a while as she runs experiments on the samples they took from Paul, but she’ll be even more relentless about destroying Cadence now that Carter’s gone again.”
He was right. The thought of it was overwhelming. We had to stop her, and I knew I’d be a pivotal part of doing that. I took a deep breath and tried not to think about it all at once. One moment at a time.
“Listen, Cass, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you. I probably should’ve said it before, but when you were up there on that rooftop kickin’ butt and takin’ names, when you were getting us all out of there safely, when I had to leave you with Jamie and drive back to get the rest of the team, I knew I needed to say it, but I didn’t want to spring it on you.”
With my eyebrows raised, I stared at him, not sure what he was getting at. “What is it, Brandon?”
His face turned a slight shade of pink, and he dropped his eyes from mine so that he was staring at our boots. “You don’t have to say anything in return, okay? But… I just want you to know, I love you, Cassidy.” He looked up at me then, still pink, maybe slightly more pink. “That’s all. I just wanted you to know.”
“Oh, okay.” I said, watching his eyes widen and a look of disappointment spread across his face. I’m not sure what got into me that I decided to be so mean in that split second, like it meant nothing. Once I was sure I had him, though, I rolled my eyes and grinned at him. “Brandon, I love you, too. Dummy.”
His discontent morphed into pure bliss as a smile broke out across his face. “You do?”
“Of course I do,” I replied, punching him in the arm “Do you think I would put up with you if I didn’t?” I winked at him and wrapped my arms around his waist.
“No, probably not. Well, good. I’m glad to hear it. Glad we got that out of the way.”
“Me, too,” I giggled.
“Well, I’m gonna kiss you now.”
“Good,” I said, looking up at him and waiting expectantly. He pressed his lips to mine, and for the moment, I wasn’t a Vampire Hunter, a Vampire, a Hybrid, or anything—I was just Cassidy Findley, Brandon Keen’s girlfriend. And of all the things I am, and all the things I am not, that’s the thing I like being best.
