Chapter 516
“I was able to jump into some of the missing people’s heads to see them being turned. I figured out that there were five or six Vampires primarily responsible for turning them, or turning others who went on to turn a bunch on their own, and Mila’s team has been hunting them down and destroying them. But Mila doesn’t know I’ve been helping.” I added that part quickly, hoping that neither of them was communicating with Hannah or Aurora via IAC while I was talking. The idea that I could get in trouble for all of this wasn’t out of my mind.
“Why doesn’t she know?” Cadence asked.
“I ended up helping Eliza out, and she just never told them I was working with her.” I could’ve told them, I realized, but Eliza was easy enough to blame in this situation, and she owed me enough that I didn’t mind putting it on her. I couldn’t tell my sister about Christian yet. It seemed like they were going to act without me having to mention his plan, and if that was the case, maybe I could keep my promise to him and still get him help.
I continued to explain Eliza’s cockamamie story. “She’s been calling me Gimu—which stands for ‘guy I made up.’” They both raised an eyebrow, and I realized that sounded even odder without knowing about Christian’s role in this. “Or ‘girl I made up,’ I guess.” There was a huge lump in my throat, something that happened when I lie—or stretch the truth—or cover up for my sworn enemies who are trapped in a hole in the ground.
“So anyway, I helped her the best I could, but when I saw those things, I had to let you know about them. I knew if I went to Hannah, she’d say the same thing she’s been saying for two weeks: ‘Just wait until they get back.’” My Hannah voice sounded a little too ethereal, but they got the point. “I hope you guys had a nice honeymoon, but I’m afraid while you were gone, Daunator’s been growing his army. And these things showed up....” I didn’t know what else to say. So I stopped talking.
It didn’t take Aaron but two seconds to confirm what I’d been thinking for almost two weeks. “Right. They should’ve called us.”
I hadn’t been holding my breath, but the exhale I let out was so long, it seemed like maybe I had been. It was good to know I was right, even if it didn’t change the situation.
Cadence agreed with him, but she had moved on. “I wonder if these creatures and the missing are somehow related.”
“I don’t know,” I admitted, not that it hadn’t crossed my mind, but I couldn’t see how. “Some of them are dressed really weird. Besides, how could his minion Vampires turn a person into whatever those things are?” From what I could tell, Daunator’s worker-Vampires were just regular ol’ Vampires. They died easily enough.
“Yeah, I don’t know, but it seems like an awful big coincidence that hundreds of people are missing and hundreds of creatures showed up at the same time.” Cadence looked at Aaron, and he was obviously trying to piece it all together as well. I hoped they’d have some missing information that I didn’t have and could work out the puzzle because I wasn’t there yet. But I agreed. They had to be linked.
The newlyweds exchanged another set of glances and I tried not to let my relief that they were here and able to help with this situation show on my face. My sister turned back to me. “You need to come with us to the office. We’re having a meeting, and you seem to know more about what’s going on than anyone else, including Hannah.”
I was sure my eyes probably just doubled in size at the mention of Hannah’s name. But I couldn’t bail out now. “Okay.”
Reading my expression, my sister asked, “What is it?”
“Nothing.” That wasn’t going to work. “Only, I hope Hannah doesn’t get upset that I was helping Eliza out behind her back. And I hope Mila doesn’t get mat at Eliza that she didn’t reveal her source. I think... I think Eliza might be getting help from someone else, too, like an Independent or something. But I don’t know. I think that’s where the ‘guy’ part of Gimu originated.” The more I talked the deeper I dug myself in. Of course, I knew who Eliza had gotten her initial information from, and it wasn’t an Independent.
Aaron was on to me. “I thought you said it might be ‘girl’.”
“It might be.” I nodded way too enthusiastically. “Eliza’s... weird. I don’t always get what she’s talking about.” Again, I was diverting blame to her, and it made me feel bad. I really didn’t want to get her in trouble, even if she had been less than nice to my sister. She’d been willing to listen to me when hardly anyone else would.
Cadence seemed to accept that, at least for now. I got the impression she knew there was something I was holding back, and I knew Aaron was aware. You can’t get anything past him. Cadence gestured toward the door. “Okay, well, come on. Let’s head back to the office. And for now, we’ll leave Brandon out of this. Sorry, but there’s no reason for him to be involved.”
She didn’t know. I hadn’t had a chance to say anything and wasn’t sure what I’d have said even if I had. I felt a knife blade rip through my heart. Now wasn’t the time, though. “That’s fine.”
My sister cocked her head to the side and took me in like she was afraid I was getting sick. “Cass? Is everything else okay?”
No. Nothing else is okay. Nothing is okay. “Sure. Everything else is fine.” Not now. I’d tell her later. Alone.
Again, she didn’t believe me, but she didn’t press it, and I was glad. I did want to talk to her about what had happened with Brandon, but right now, I just wanted to focus on work. How was I going to get through a meeting without telling them Christian’s secret? And what would Hannah and Aurora say when they found out I’d been helping Eliza? There was no way that Aaron wouldn’t tell them because they’d have to explain the dream to everyone....
They were headed toward the door, and I followed, lost in my own head. I got the feeling they were both talking to other people on the IAC as we walked along, and I wished I had someone to confide in, someone to calm me down, but there was no one for me to turn to, no one who knew my secret and would make me feel better anyway. Heather wouldn’t be able to do that. I followed them like a stray puppy, hoping I’d figure out a way to keep my behind out of trouble. I didn’t know how that was possible, though. As soon as they found out what Christian had done, we’d both be in trouble, and I was the only one here to pay the reaper.
