Chapter 81
By the time Cassidy settled down and others were able to release her, Elliott was breathing pretty hard and had sweat dotting his forehead. “Man. I ain’t as young as I used to be. This shit is gettin’ old.” The others were not exactly calm, but they were not as worked up as he was.
“I’m sorry,” Heather said, shaking her head. “It’s just not workin’ as fast as I’d hoped it would. I can keep tryin’. I just really wish… I could do somethin’ to reach her quicker.”
“I wish my dad was here,” Scott muttered. “He might be able to do something to help.”
The thought that Jamie, the most powerful Healer the world had ever known, might be able to do something different to help Cassidy had occurred to Jo more than once, but he was currently a hostage being held by the US government, and even though the entire nation of Australia, led by his sister, Margie, and their military, was on their way to try to break him and the other LIGHTS teams members being held hostage free, but it was still a long way off. For now, the only thing they could do to help Cassidy was what they were doing. And moving forward against Holland without her was a risk Jo wasn’t willing to take, not even with Heather on their side.
“Thanks for your help, Jo,” Brandon said.
“Sure thing. I didn’t do much, though.”
“It just helps that you’re here.” Elliott clapped her on the shoulder, and Jo managed to give him a smile. They thanked Cadon, Scott, and Zane as well and then the party broke up, all of them heading out the door except for Brandon and Heather.
Once they were in the hallway, Elliott muttered. “They say I can’t die again. But… this. Is. Killing. Me.”
Jo rested her hand on his arm, wishing there was something she could say or do to help the situation, but as it stood, she was just as helpless as everyone else.
“Jo, we need to talk. Do you have a minute?” Scott was standing behind her, a few feet down the hallway, closer to the main living area of the large house.
All Jo really wanted to do was go back to sleep, but that was the problem with working with all of these Guardians who never needed to sleep. “Of course,” she said, dragging herself in his direction. As soon as she got over to him, she asked, “What’s going on?”
He gave her a half smile but then took off walking to a more secluded part of the house. Jo followed because he clearly wanted her to. Before she followed him around the corner, she turned and glanced at Zane who shrugged and gave her a sympathetic look. It wouldn’t be polite to ask her more recent ex-boyfriend, whom she currently happened to be sleeping with, to accompany her to discuss something private with her less recent ex, so Jo didn’t bother to ask the question, just followed Scott and hoped that whatever he wanted to talk about, it wasn’t personal.
She followed him into one of the smaller rooms that was either an office or a library, she couldn’t quite tell, though the fact that there was a much larger library elsewhere in the house made her think that this room with a desk and walls lined with bookshelves was probably a more private space where Adrian had done whatever work he used to do before he became a Vampire. Scott leaned against the desk, his arms folded, and Jo closed the door before stepping over to him.
He took a few deep breaths, and Jo held hers, waiting for him to say whatever it was he was struggling to get out. Plenty of potentially awkward conversation starters came to mind. She prayed it was none of those.
When Scott finally did speak, his voice was so quiet, she almost didn’t understand him. “I think I need to go back to the States.”
Startled, it took Jo a moment to process what he’d said. “You… do?” she asked. “Oh. Okay. Uh… why is that?” It wasn’t like Scott to give up on a mission before it was finished, so she knew he had to have a good reason.
He cleared his voice again before he said, “I spoke to my mom a little while ago. She’s with Aunt Margie, in Georgie. Their forces are moving closer and closer to the capital all the time, but… they don’t think there’s any chance President Crimson is actually going to let the hostages be rescued. They think they will kill them before that can happen.”
Jo froze for a moment, not sure how to respond to that. This wasn’t a new concern. In fact, the team had discussed the possibility of this happening before. They just hoped it wouldn’t come to this. With the Australian Army invading the southern United States, it only made sense that the president would do what he could to appease the enemy and release the prisoners. But Crimson Crotch was too full of himself for anything like that.
“Fine, Scott,” she said, weighing all of the important missions she had in front of her in her mind. “If you’re going to try to save your dad, we’ll go with you.”
Scott’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?”
“Of course. Jamie has saved almost all of us at one time or another. Hell, I would’ve never been born if it wasn’t for your dad. Getting Holland is important, but saving your dad is more important. We’ll leave Lucas’s guys here to keep an eye on her, let her think the heat’s off for a while, and we’ll go on a rescue mission.” She knew this was exactly what her dad would’ve wanted her to do, so she didn’t hesitate to make the decision.
Before she knew what was happening, Scott threw his arms around her and hugged her tight. It was the first time she’d been in his arms for a long time, and it felt different. It was more like hugging her brother than an ex. But she could tell how much he meant it when he said, “Thank you, Jo.”
“You’re welcome, Scott,” she said, and she meant it. Now she just had to convince their cooperating Vampires that this was a good idea.
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