Chapter 364
Cadence sounded concerned as she explained what she needed my help with.“Look, Jamie and I think that maybe it’s Holland making Aaron act this way. We need your help. We are going to go talk to him, and we want you to block her long enough for us to convince him that she’s in his head. Can you do that?”
The thought had been on the periphery of my thinking ever since I saw how gunked up Aaron’s mind was. It made sense—though I had no idea how Holland could do such a thing. Of course, I was willing to do whatever I could to help out. That didn’t prevent me from messing with my sister. “Gee, Sis, I don’t know,” I teased. “I’m kinda tired.” I didn’t give her enough time to contemplate whether or not I was serious. “Yes, of course. Go. Let me know when to start.” I had a ton of questions I wanted to ask about how she and Jamie had come to this conclusion, but those would have to be discussed another time. Hopefully, I could invoke a shield around Aaron the same way I had around the Anderson House and block whatever Holland was doing that way.
“Thanks,” Cadence replied. “Let us get over there first so we can actually see if we can tell when his disposition changes.”
“All right. Just say when.” I had no way of knowing where my sister currently was since I had no visuals, but I imagined if she was talking to Jamie, she was probably in his office. Though Martin had healed Meagan once she’d gotten downstairs, if I was Meag, the second I got back to campus, I would’ve headed to Jamie—just to make sure. And I could see my sister going by to check on her friend—despite the fact that she was supposed to be coming to talk to me. For a moment, I felt like Rapunzel, trapped in a tower, dependent upon others to come and visit her at their whim.
It didn’t take long for my sister to get where she was going, and a few moments later, she said, “Okay, Cass. Now would be good.”
“Let the blocking commence.” I tried my best to sound confident, hopeful that this would work and that my sister would find the answer she’d been desperately searching for. I couldn’t even begin to think of what it would be like if it were Brandon who had been acting so strangely for this long, and I knew my sister was just about to unravel herself trying to figure it out.
Putting up a shield around Aaron was actually a lot harder than I had imagined it would be. Holland was either aware of what I was doing and was fighting back, or she’d set things up pretty good when she’d put whatever this was in place. It seemed like any direct attempt I made at shielding Aaron was nearly impossible, like he really had been cursed. So I shifted tactics, stepping back to what I’d done earlier, and made my shield broader so that the Guardian Leader would still be under it, but it didn’t appear as if I was actually trying to interfere with whatever Holland had done to Aaron specifically.
I didn’t know if it was working or not as my sister had turned off her IAC connection to me. I figured she didn’t want me to witness whatever she was doing on the other side. So I waited for her to tell me to stop, doing my best to keep my concentration. It wasn’t easy; I was tired, and the first shield had taken a lot out of me. What I wouldn’t give for an endless supply of mental energy.
At least ten or fifteen minutes went by. I didn’t flicker my eyes to the clock in my IAC because I didn’t want to stall out at all. Eventually, my sister said, “Cass, can you slowly unblock her?”
I wasn’t sure what constituted slow, but I replied, “I’ll try.” With another deep breath, I envisioned my shield slowly becoming less dense, more transparent, until it was practically see-through, and then it disappeared.
I sat there forever wondering if my trick had worked, but my sister didn’t come back on to tell me anything for the longest time. When she did, it was just a blip about not being able to come see me after all, and she’d catch up with me in the morning.
Sagging back into my pillows, I went over everything in my mind. Why not at least tell me if Aaron was back to normal? I had no idea why my sister hadn’t at least popped in to clear that up, but it wouldn’t have been the first time someone forgot I existed when I was no longer of importance to them.
I had just about dozed off when a message came through. It wasn’t from Cadence, though. It was from Jamie. “Hey, Cass, if you’re still up, I just wanted to let you know you’re amazing. I’m sure Cadence already told you it worked. Aaron’s back to normal. And we’ve got a lot of work to do. I don’t know how we ever did this without you. You’re a rock star.”
This—this is why I love Jamie. This and the fact that he’s saved my life and everyone else’s a bazillion times. The fact that my sister hadn’t actually told me anything didn’t seem important anymore because Jamie appreciated me. At least someone did. “Thanks, Jamie,” I sent back. “Whatever comes next, I’m ready.”
“I know you are. Get some sleep, kiddo.”
I didn’t say more, just did as he instructed and headed off to dreamland, though it did occur to me before I completely lost consciousness, if I was working at full capacity now, it sure would be nice to have some extra juice in the tanks. I wondered if Jamie liked me enough to help me make that happen. Or if I did it myself, would he ever forgive me?
