Chapter 348
“We’ve been over this.” Brandon had his arms folded and stared at my sister as intently as I had been. I was so glad he was with me. At least he took me at my word. “Cassidy is certain that Holland is pregnant. So what now?”
“I don’t know.” Cadence scooted back on the couch and hit her head on the wall, absently rubbing it like she hadn’t even noticed as she continued. “I mean, obviously, we need to talk to Aaron and Jamie.” She was shaking her head. I knew what she was thinking. The only way there had ever been a baby Vampire before was when a Vampire was heinous enough to bite a baby and change them. This was a first—but it was the truth nonetheless.
I was ready to go back to my prison cell downstairs now. I’d had enough of my sister’s doubts and wanted to see if I could clean the bad mojo I’d picked up from Holland out of my mind. “Okay.” If she thought I was going with her, she was nuts. “Tell them the name of the town Spittle is hiding out in is Lexington. It’s not far from here. I saw the house. I can identify it.” She didn’t seem to be listening to me, but her head rocked back and forth. I decided I’d save the information I’d gotten about the crocopire for when she asked me about it since I had the notion she might not even remember I’d told her about Spittle. She was probably wondering how in the world she was going to convince Aaron that Holland was pregnant. Not only was he a black and white rule following kinda guy who didn’t just accept anomalies, he was still acting very peculiarly; she might not be able to convince him. But that wasn’t really my problem, not at the moment, anyway.
I got up and headed toward the door, Brandon beside me. I was about to open it when Cadence popped up off the couch and trailed us. “Thanks, Cass. We really appreciate your abilities and your willingness to use them.”
Even though her gratitude sounded rehearsed, I realized she had a lot on her mind and probably couldn’t come up with anything too compelling at the moment. “Sure,” I said, and then I leaned over and gave her a hug. I didn’t envy her having to tell Aaron.
Brandon and I headed over to the elevator, and he interlaced his fingers with mine. “Man, that was nuts. I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like, walking around in Holland’s head and finding that out.”
“It was intense,” I replied as we stepped into the metal box. I appreciated the fact that there was not a doubt in his mind that I knew exactly what I was talking about. I rested my head on his shoulder, glad to have his support in every way possible.
We had just arrived on floor four when my sister said, “What about the shifters?”
“Holland has the power to turn them into whatever she wants,” I replied. “Whatever she thinks will make us frightened or hesitant. So, yeah, it was her.”
“Awesome,” was all my sister said, but I knew she was being sarcastic. I didn’t respond. I figured she had enough on her mind since she was probably headed over to rip the Band-Aid off and talk to Aaron. There was no use in letting it simmer.
“We have an early morning tomorrow, remember?” Brandon said, stopping outside of my apartment door. I knew my mom was listening. She was always right there. So different than how she’d been before.
I was confused by his statement, and before I could think past typical training at 9:00, he continued. “The procedure? Your sister? My dad?”
“Oh, right,” I stammered. Cadence had mentioned it to me earlier in the day through an IAC I’d been so busy I’d ignored. Probably because I was jealous. For a moment, I thought maybe Aaron had returned to his normal demeanor if he was letting Elliott and Cadence go through with using the Transformation serum to increase their powers the way that he and Tara had—though not under the same circumstances. I’d been there when the Guardian Leader had approved it initially, but it had been one more thing pushed back since we returned from Melbourne, so I was under the impression it might not ever happen. Now, it looked like it was, assuming my sister didn’t go over to Aaron’s office and make him so angry he’d change his mind, though I guess technically she didn’t really even need his permission. He’s not the boss of her anymore. But Elliott would need Aaron’s sign off. Hopefully, Aaron would just accept my findings as truth. I doubted it. I was still jealous that it wouldn’t be me in the morning. I had to push those thoughts aside though. My mom was breathing heavily enough on the other side of the door that I realized my time was almost up.
“I’ll be by around 7:45, okay?”
“Yep.” I smiled up at my boyfriend, and he patted me on the back like we were best pals before he wished me goodnight and walked away. I hated that he couldn’t even kiss me because of my mom.
Liz was staring at me when I opened the door. I wasn’t surprised. She wasn’t even trying to hide the fact that she was constantly spying on me anymore. “What?” I asked, not in any mood. I was trying not to channel my inner Lucy.
“Nothing. You were gone a long time. Is everything okay?”
I checked the time on my IAC as I walked past her. “It’s not even nine, Mom. I was working.”
“I didn’t say you weren’t, honey.”
My dad was sitting on the sofa with the remote in his hand, but he stared up at me for a moment, like he wasn’t sure whether or not he should get involved. I knew he’d rather not say anything at all if it meant he’d have to choose sides.
Whirling back to look at my mom, I said, “I have to get up early. You do remember that your other daughter is having a pretty important procedure done in the morning, don’t you?” I didn’t mention that I had forgotten myself.
