Chapter 80
Dr. Sanderson was true to his word and actually gave me a ride home from school. If you want to impress your friends and influence people, try getting a ride home in a Lamborghini. That’ll do the trick every time. Even over the roar of the engine, I could hear the crowd’s exclamation of how cool the car was, and the driver, and thusly, me, the passenger.
“You buckled in tight?” Elliott asked as the car shot out of the parking lot. I’d never been in a car like this before, and while part of me wanted to hold on for dear life, the rest of me wanted to enjoy it.
“I am,” I replied. “Why? We’re just going home, aren’t we?”
Elliott began to laugh, and unlike his normal jovial chuckle, this one sounded slightly more sinister. I turned my head to look at him, and he raised and lowered his shaggy eyebrows at me several times as the car began to pick up speed. He wasn’t headed for my house; he was headed for the interstate.
“Where the crap are we going?” I asked, grabbing that bar above the window and bracing with my other hand against the dashboard. I’d abandoned my backpack, which had been on my lap but was now sliding to the floor.
“We are going for a little drive,” Elliott replied as he merged across three lanes. I couldn’t see the speedometer, but as the car accelerated, I assumed we were approaching a hundred miles per hour already. “Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you. And I’m not kidnapping you, either.”
Normally, I would’ve been terrified, but I could see how expertly he wove between the cars, and there weren’t too many this time of day in this part of the country. We were flying, and it was exhilarating, watching the countryside pass by out my window so quickly, everything was a blur. Thoughts of what it might be like to run away, to join Elliott’s team and disappear from my former life filled my head. He’d said someday I could be like my sister. What if today was that day?
After a few minutes, he slowed the car down and took the next exit, looping around to head back to Shenandoah, back to reality. I tried not to be too disappointed. Even at a normal speed, the car was still amazing. I let go of my grip on the dashboard but kept my hand on the one above the window.
“You okay?” he asked, a small, smug smile on his face. “I didn’t scare you too much, did I?”
“No,” I replied. “It was fun. Do you always drive like that?”
“Most of the time, yeah. Makes the drive from KC a lot quicker.”
“So… is this your car?” I asked, wondering how much he must make to be able to afford it. “Or is it, like, a company car?” Eliza had posted as much on her social media status, the one Emma had found back when she could remember things.
“It belongs to the team,” Elliott replied. “We have them stationed all over, but this one is from headquarters. I drove up this time. Sometimes I fly. Just depends. Sometimes, I take a bike. I usually don’t drive this sucker because it’s so cramped.” He was so tall and broad, I could see what he meant.
Thinking of headquarters, I replied, “Sounds like a pretty cool place.” I wondered if he’d let me go fishing for information.
“It is. I’m sure you’ll see it someday soon, in a year or two, when you’re allowed to know stuff.”
“You know, I’ve done a pretty good job of hanging on to what I know now. I haven’t told anyone any of the stuff you and Hannah took out of their brains. Maybe I could go visit my sister and check everything out.”
“Uh, no,” he said with little hesitation. “You’re not supposed to know half of what you know. If you came to LIGHTS, you wouldn’t be able to pretend that you don’t know what we do.”
“Which is hunt vampires, right?”
He looked at me out of the side of his eye and took the exit back to town, saying nothing.
“I guess the thing you wanted me to see on the news was Cabo, wasn’t it? That’s a vampire, isn’t it? Are you sure Cadence isn’t going to have to go down there?”
“Boy, you ask a lot of questions for a lil girl,” he muttered, but I could tell I wasn’t annoying him, not yet anyhow. “I’m pretty sure it’s something we might be interested in, but I don’t know that you’re sister will be headed that way. I’m not sure what the plan is yet.”
“But there is a plan, right? And who makes those plans? Is Aaron in charge of that or someone else? Is there, like, a local guy down there who decides?”
He turned the corner and we were now only two streets over from my house. I knew I’d have to zip it soon because even if Dad wasn’t home from work yet, Mom would be home. She’d likely send me upstairs to interrogate Elliott about Cadence. I’m sure she was just as worried about my sister’s non-relationship with Aaron as I was. I also wondered if she knew about Cabo.
“I honestly can’t tell you any of that right now,” Elliott replied, taking the last corner. “But I can tell you not to worry about any of it.” He pulled the car to a stop in front of the house and turned it off, shifting slightly to face me. “Cass, I’m glad you’ve been able to keep all of this from your friends. Those two are good girls, and one day they’ll be able to know all of this stuff, too, but I need you to keep it all to yourself for a while longer, okay? We have a lot going on, important stuff, stuff I can’t tell you about, but you’ll find out eventually.”
I nodded, but I was still frustrated. I wanted to know everything. Just going for a short ride with him, flying down the highway, had made me realizing everything I was missing out on. My sister had already gone to Paris. Who knows how many times she’d sped off in this very car? It just didn’t seem fair that they’d already let her in, and I had to wait. Sometimes being the youngest really stank.
“How is Cadence anyway?” I asked. “When I talk to her, she tries to tell me everything is fine, but I can tell that she’s still upset. Is it all Aaron, or is there something else?” I decided not to mention to him she’d said something about going elsewhere.
He seemed hesitant to talk to me about this topic at all, more so than the others, but I waited patiently, his scent of leather and aftershave pervading the small space, reminding me of safety and that feeling you get when you return home after a long trip. “Listen, Cass, your sister is struggling with a few things right now. She is still very upset about Aaron, as you can imagine she would be. The girl fell hard for him, and the stuff that happened between them wasn’t good on either side. She’ll figure it out eventually, but it’s been rough. There are a few other things going on, things I can’t talk about, and then there’s the fact that she’s still adjusting to this new life. You can imagine it isn’t easy. I don’t manipulate her mind the way I do other people’s, and while Hannah made Jack’s passing a little easier on her at first so she could concentrate on her job, it’s still very difficult for Cadence. She’ll get through it, though. We all just need to give her some time and space.”
