Chapter 389
My mom was shaking her head when I came into the living room to see what it was they wanted to talk to me about, and I could see tears in her eyes. “This is all just a game to you, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Paul has five Guardians trapped in cells beneath the floor of an insane asylum, and a mad scientist is trying to turn them back into humans so he can destroy them. My job is to interfere with Holland so she can’t send any messages to the Vampires she’s left behind in Melbourne, so no, that’s not a game. That’s five people who might die if I don’t do my job.” I knew Margie wasn’t even there yet, I had a feeling she was a few hours out, but my parents didn’t know that.
“Fine,” my mom said. “We’ll make it quick. You’re grounded. For a month. You don’t see Brandon outside of work, or your other friends, not even Lucy. Do you understand?”
Sarcastic me wanted to point out that I couldn’t see Lucy at work because she doesn’t work here yet, but I just nodded at them. They could say what they wanted; they couldn’t keep Brandon out of my head.
“And no IAC with any of them either,” my father added. My eyes enlarged. “That will have to be the honor system, of course, but we’ve spoken to Elliott, and he agrees that he will monitor it on his end.”
I almost laughed, but I kept it in my throat. There was no way anyone could monitor that. “Whatever,” I said, turning to head toward my bedroom.
“Cassidy Elizabeth!” my mom shouted, and when I turned back, she was on her feet. “We’re serious. Say you won’t use that thing to contact your friends!”
“Mom, I have to contact them. We work together!” I tried to keep my voice even, but it still came out a screech.
“You can talk to them about work only.”
“Fine!” I shouted, knowing there was nothing she could do anyway. I walked into my room and slammed the door without touching it, finding a spot on my bed with a growl.
I could hear them. My dad thought they’d been too harsh; my mom thought they hadn’t been harsh enough.
“Hey, I can only talk to you about work, so how are you feeling about the hunt tonight?” I asked Brandon, sarcasm dripping from my voice.
“Oh, are you out of your trance now?” he replied. “I tried to get you a few times earlier, but you didn’t answer. I figured you were doing a different kind of hunting.”
“Yeah, I was. I need to get back to Paul soon. I think he’s going back inside the asylum in a bit, and I said I’d try to keep Holland out.” I checked in on Paul. Margie still wasn’t there, and they weren’t moving yet.
“Can’t you multitask now that you can make things float and jump in and out of people’s minds on a whim?”
I laughed. “Yeah, I can. But I should probably give that everything I’ve got, at least until the attack is over. Not that it’s started yet.”
“I hear you’re not going with me tonight. Kinda bummed about that. Think your sister did that on purpose?”
“No, she didn’t. She wanted me with Aurora because she’s the only Hunter leading an attack.” That rationale didn’t quite make sense to me. “But I’m pretty sure I’ll be going with you. I talked to Aaron.”
“Cool. Even if it keeps me out of the hunt, at least I’ll get to see you. Sounds like you’re going to be in prison for a while.”
I knew he was joking around, but it seemed too close to the truth to be funny. “Your dad agreed to monitoring whether or not we’re talking to each other?”
“Not exactly. Your mom called the house phone, which was hilarious, because Dad was like, ‘I hear a ringing, and I have no idea where it’s coming from. Do you hear that?’ and I didn’t know either. He finally realized what it was after it rang, like, twelve times. Anyway, I heard his side of the conversation, and she asked him to do his best to keep us from talking about non-work related activities, and he said he’d try. But as soon as he hung up, he said, ‘Don’t talk to Cass except for about work,’ and I asked, ‘How are you going to monitor that exactly?’ and he shrugged and said he was going to the gym. So... I think we’re okay.”
“Man!” I exclaimed, shaking my head. “I am not used to having the lame parents! My parents used to be cool and lax, and we could get away with anything.” I was so jealous that Brandon’s dad let him do whatever he wanted.
“I know. But your parents are used to a human world where bad things can happen to their kids if they aren’t careful.”
“My dad grew up here,” I reminded him.
“True. Maybe it’s just your mom, then. Listen, Cass, I know it’s frustrating, but once you’re older and on your own, you’ll see they were just doing it to try to protect you. Because they love you.”
He was right, and I could rationally see that, but it didn’t make me like it any more. “I think I should try to rest a little bit before I have to help in Melbourne.” I felt like my battery was fully charged, but I didn’t want to talk about work anymore, and there wasn’t really anything else to say at the moment.
“All right. Take a nap. I’ll see you in a few hours.”
“See you,” I said before clicking off. A nap sounded good not because I needed the rest but because I needed to not think about reality for a while. I left my IAC on so that Paul wouldn’t have any trouble at all accessing me and so that if Aaron tried to push me awake, he’d be able to. Something told me I’d be aware of what was going on even if I did doze off.
I turned on some music so I wouldn’t have to hear my parents chatting in the living room and closed my eyes. The last time I’d gone to sleep, I’d awoken to a whole new world. This time, the changes wouldn’t be so drastic, but I knew I’d feel different when I opened my eyes again because I’d become even more of a weapon than I had been before. Daunator might still have a level or two on me, but Holland was going down, and I couldn’t wait for the moment when she realized she had no way of stopping me.
