Chapter 56: Chapter 56

But I had to check on Christian even if the threat of Daunator showing up in my head was terrifying. I could hear Brandon washing his hands and figured I had a second to pop into the other Guardian’s head, just to make sure he was alive. He was—but he was asleep, which was so weird because Guardians sleep so little, but I was glad. It must be so horrible being down there. Sleep might be the only peace possible.

“Sorry about that, Brandon said, wiping his hands on his jeans. “Do you want something for breakfast?”

I was tempted to say yes, to pretend like everything was fine and we hadn’t spent the last few days apart, but I couldn’t do that. We’d have to talk before we could move on, and Cadence needed me. “No, that’s okay. I should probably go. I have to check in with my sister.” I ran my hands through my hair and stood up.

“Oh, okay.” I hated making his face look like that, like I’d just crushed his spirit again. I suddenly felt like I was the one who’d broken up with him, but that hadn’t been the case, and he needed to remember that.

“Maybe we can talk later. If you want to,” I offered, standing up and moving toward the door. I didn’t want another argument, but I also knew I didn’t feel like myself without Brandon in my life. Even if we decided we were better off as friends, we needed to fix this.

He took a few steps forward. “Sure. Just let me know when you’re done with work.”

“’Kay. Uh, thanks again for your help last night and letting me hang.” Whether he realized it or not, he was situated between me and the door, and I couldn’t easily get through.

“Yeah, any time.” He smiled at me, and I knew he meant it. No matter what was going on between us, if I needed help, Brandon would help me. And I would always do the same thing for him.

But he was still standing in my way. I took another step toward the door and thought about how weird it might be if I just used my power to move him, but he caught on then and I moved around him as his hand flew to the back of his neck like it always does when he isn’t sure what to say.

I stepped out into the hallway, but I had trouble taking my hand off the doorknob as I thought about the barriers between us. I accidentally popped into Brandon’s head and knew he hadn’t moved away either, that his hand was on the doorknob, too. He was contemplating coming after me, telling me he was sorry, that he still loved me.

I hadn’t meant to see all of that, so I didn’t stay. As hard as it was, I moved on down the hallway, knowing I had things to do, people to save, all of that important stuff that had wedged its way between us.

Nervous about what Cadence was going to say to me, I answered her IAC message as casually as I could and entered my apartment, heading straight for the bathroom and the shower. I didn’t want to betray Christian’s trust, as odd as it sounded even to me, but he needed help. I decided to try to get Cadence and Aaron to ask Heather. She didn’t have any promises to Christian, but she could do the same thing I could, even if it would take a little more time.

My protein shake tasted a little lumpy, but it would do. I needed to get to the office and get this over with, even though I would be a few minutes early for the time we’d agreed upon. I was about to head to the door when a heavy knock on it jarred me, and I almost spilled strawberry protein mix all over my T-shirt.

That knock was familiar, even though I didn’t hear it as much as I used to. I took a deep breath and opened the door, knowing before it swung open that Elliott was on the other side. He had an expression on his face that made my stomach begin to twist. Something was up. Something not good.

“Hey, lil girl. You got a minute?”

Eventually, he turned his head to look at me and said, “I’m worried about you.”

My eyebrows shot up. That wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. “Me? Why?” I took a drink of my shake but my hands were shaking, and even with my powers, I couldn’t control them, so I sat it down and put my hands underneath my legs, waiting.

“I’ve known you a really long time, since you were in diapers, and I can tell when you’re keepin’ somethin’ to yourself, even better than your sister can, I think.”

Until that moment, I didn’t realize you can actually feel blood draining out of your face, but you can. It feels sort of like when you’re about to pass out. I felt a rush of hot air and the world went a little dizzy. He knew. How he knew, I didn’t know. But he definitely knew.

Still, I couldn’t just blab everything to Elliott, especially not since I’d just decided I wasn’t even going to tell my sister. “What do you mean?”

He ran his tongue over his lips like he’d also felt that blast of hot air and it had dried them out before he asked, “What were you doing yesterday when Daunator got stuck in your head?”

I had known he was in the hallway when I was talking to Brandon, trying to get the monster out, but I didn’t realize until that moment how carefully he’d been paying attention to what I was screaming about. “I was checking on these people.” I tipped my head in the direction of the stacks of paper all over my coffee table but didn’t pull my hand out. I needed to get him off course, make him think he was wrong. “I found one of them. I was just about to go tell Cadence and Aaron—some of these missing people are those creatures Eliza fought. Daunator is keeping them underground and changing them somehow. I don’t know how he’s doing it exactly, but it seems to have something to do with when he bites them.” I had rambled a bit, offering other paths our conversation could meander down, praying he took the bait.

I checked the clock and noted I needed to go if I was going to get to Cadence’s office on time, but just before I started to remind Elliott I had somewhere to be, Cadence sent me a message. “Sorry, Sis. Something’s come up. I’ll need about thirty minutes.” A curse word popped into my head before I told her no problem and waited for Elliott to respond to what I’d just said.

“That’s a breakthrough. But not all of the missing are turned into these creatures?”

He seemed to be following me off the topic he’d come to discuss. I’d go with it. “I know some of them are regular Vampires. A lot of them I still can’t find. I think, once they start to become more monster than person, I can’t reach them anymore. They no longer have their own thoughts or memories.”

“Tragic.” The word seemed weird coming out of his mouth like that, but I agreed with him and didn’t giggle. It wasn’t funny.

“Totally. So, I need to let them know.” He didn’t know that Cadence was busy and had just pushed me off.

“All right. That’s important.” He ran a hand through his curls, making a bunch of them pop up on top of his head for a second before they fell back down, landing in a mess. “I should let you get to it.”

I wanted to feel relief, but he hadn’t gotten up yet. I reached for my protein shake, trying to keep the twitching out of my hand, and took a drink, thinking if I got up, maybe he would, too.

But he didn’t. “There’s just something that doesn’t make any sense to me, and the more I think about it, the more confused I become.”

His voice had a tone to it that reminded me of the “bad cop” on one of those police shows, right before the guy launches into his speech about how they all knew the perp was guilty.

I gulped down air. “Don’t feel bad about that. There’s a whole lotta stuff that doesn’t make sense to me.” I took another drink, set my cup down, and watched him decide what he wanted to say.

Elliott cut to the chase. “You hate Christian, don’tcha?”

Yep, he knew all right. My words came out stilted. “I am not a fan.”

Nodding, Elliott picked up one of my throw pillows and fidgeted with the fringe. “Yeah, I didn’t think so. So... why would you be meeting him at the coffee house?”

How he knew about that, I wasn’t sure. Had he seen me? Had someone else? I hadn’t been prepared for that question, so I had to come up with an excuse—quick. “He, uh, wanted to apologize.”

“For what?”

“For... the portal.”

“To you?” I hadn’t thought this through. “Why not to those of us he trapped in there? He hasn’t said a word of remorse to me or Brandon, I can tell you that much. Just some stupid form letter Aaron made him send.”

I had known that, which made my reason for our meeting sound even more fake. I didn’t know how I could back track out of this. “Yeah, well, he said, uh, he would talk to you later. Maybe. But for now, he just knew I was angry at him and he didn’t want to leave for his trip still having that out there. Between us.” It was as if I’d never put words together in a complete sentence before.

“He told you he was going on vacation before he told Hannah?”

I didn’t know why that would be questionable, so I was cautious. “He mentioned it.”

“And... have you tried to find him since his IAC and cell aren’t working?”

I really didn’t want to lie to him, not if I could help it. “Did they ping his phone? Do you know if he took it with him?”

Elliott wasn’t following my side conversation now. “It’s still here. In his apartment.”

Obviously, I knew that because Christian had told me he wasn’t taking it with him. His green eyes continued to penetrate through my skull. The question was still out there, and he wasn’t going to let me avoid answering it any longer. I tried. “I... haven’t been asked to try to find him.”

“What if I’m asking you right now?”

My breath caught in my throat. He wasn’t exactly asking me—but he wasn’t not asking me, either. He knew, and I should just tell him the truth. But I’d promised Christian, and he and Elliott were not friends, to say the least. He’d be so mad at me if I told Elliott the truth. I don’t know why that bothered me, but it did. “You know, I really should be going. I don’t want to make Cadence wait.”

“Cadence is busy right now. We both know that.” I swore at my sister in the back of my head as Elliott’s stare became even more intense somehow. “Cassidy, why won’t you just tell me what’s going on? What did you see in that jerk’s head that is making you protect him? We’re all aware of where he’s at—more or less. Why are you lying to me? To your sister? To yourself?”

That was a whole slew of accusations, and now my dander was up. I still felt guilty, but I wasn’t going to tell him anything now. “Elliott, I’m not lying to myself.” I was lying to him and everyone else, but not myself—was I? I ran a hand through my still-damp-from the shower hair, and flipped it over my shoulder, not looking at him. “Look, it’s really complicated, okay?”

“It’s really not that complicated. All you have to do is say, ‘Elliott, Christian went to Hungary to find Daunator on his own.’ See? That was easy.”