“Yeah, well, I didn’t have to cry like a little wussy baby either.” Brandon folded his arms.
“Yes, three tears makes you a little wussy baby.” Cassidy rolled her eyes and slipped her arms around his waist. Her head came to just beneath his chin, and holding her in that position had become a bit of a security blanket for him. The past few weeks had been a whirlwind with his dad coming back from the dead and Cassidy moving to headquarters. Most of it was good, but when episodes like this newest one with his mom, which had also evolved to involve his dad, occurred, part of him wanted to disappear. Not that he regretted his decision to leave Pryor and come to KC before he’d even finished high school, but sometimes the third option of running away from the circus seemed to make the most sense.
A few minutes into holding Cassidy, all of the anger and frustration he’d felt before began to melt away. He stroked her long brown hair with his free hand and remembered what it was about her that had drawn him to her from the initial moment he’d ever laid eyes on her picture the first time he’d showed up here on a whim, trying to find his dad. There was just something about her that calmed him, that felt like home.
“You feel better, don’t you?” she finally asked, shifting her head only slightly so that she was looking up at him.
“How did you know?”
“Your heartbeat slowed down, and you’re not breathing as hard,” she replied, taking a step back but not letting go of him.
“Can you hear my blood or something?” he teased, narrowing his eyes at her. Sometimes she didn’t appreciate his Vampire jokes, but he thought he could get away with one right now.
Cassidy shrugged and a sly grin spread across her luscious lips. “Maybe.”
Brandon leaned down and kissed her, thinking at least his parents hadn’t spoiled everything. He was just beginning to go back to Plan A when his dad’s bedroom door opened, and they both took a huge stride backward away from each other.
“Sorry,” Elliott muttered, grabbing his jacket off of the back of the chair where he had left it. “If it’s any consolation, I didn’t see anything.” He didn’t look at either one of them but headed straight for the door.
“Where are you going?” Cassidy called, her face more than a little pink from the embarrassment of being walked in on, even if Elliott did insist he hadn’t seen anything.
“Nowhere important,” he replied, finally looking up to meet her eyes. “See you guys at the meeting in a bit?”
Cassidy nodded, and he closed the door behind him.
“How much you wanna bet it involves alcohol?” Brandon asked, sinking down onto the couch. “Guess I drive both of my parents to drink.”
With a loud exhale, Cassidy dropped down next to him. “That’s not true. He might be going to the bar, but he’s not an alcoholic. And I’m sure seeing your mom for the first time in all of these years, and finding out she’s not anything like he remembers her, has to be tough on him.”
Brandon hadn’t really thought much about that, but he assumed she was right. “Yeah, I should probably apologize.”
“Maybe,” she shrugged. “I’m sure he feels bad, too. That’s the first argument you guys have had, isn’t it?”
Brandon nodded. They’d had some disagreements about sports, but nothing serious.
“All kids fight with their parents. Even Cadence still argues with my mom sometimes, and she’s a grown-up. I’m sure when my parents move into their apartment in a couple of weeks, it’ll be back to normal bickering. That’s just what families do.”
“Then I guess I should be happy to finally have a normal family,” Brandon mumbled, running his hands through is hair again. He’d let it grow out a little more than he usually did because he realized Cassidy liked it longer, like his dad’s, but the temptation to cut every curl from his head surfaced as he thought back to how infuriated he’d been to know his dad had gone down and stirred the hornet’s nest. He’d tried to talk him out of going in the first place, but he said he had to see her for himself. Now, there was no putting that Band-Aid back on the gaping wound, and even if they did manage to do so, it would continue to fester. He knew his mother well enough to be able to predict her reaction.
“You do have a family,” Cassidy said, pulling on his sleeve and tugging his mind back to the present. “All of us are your family now. You don’t have to worry about Amanda Keen anymore. Here, you’re safe. From all of it. From everything.”
He looked into her eyes and wanted to believe every word, but somewhere deep down inside, he’d always be that nervous kid afraid of what might happen the next time he heard the clank of glass on glass coming from the kitchen. His mother might not be able to physically hurt him anymore, but the scars were still there, fresh beneath the surface, ready to ooze the second the bandages were disturbed, as was made obvious tonight.
“Do you think we should head over to the conference room?” he asked, checking the time. He didn’t want to be late. Now that he had completed his training and was a full-fledged member of the team, he liked to be attentive. He still hadn’t killed a Vampire since the one at the train station, but he was hopeful tonight was the night.
Cassidy’s face paled a bit. “I guess so,” she said, dropping her eyes to the floor.
“Are you nervous?” he asked scooting around to face her. “What’s the matter?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted with a shrug. “There was just something about the way that old woman said that word—it was eerie.”
Brandon brushed long strands of brown hair back over her shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll be fine, sweetheart. You’re just going to observe—and to try to make contact if needed.”
She nodded. She’d done it a couple of times since they’d encountered Gibbon. She was very good at feeling the enemy out before anyone else even knew where they were, and the Vampires never seemed to know she was present. So far, she hadn’t had to climb into any of their thoughts to find them the way she had Gibbon, until last night when she’d reached out to the old lady at the RV park, the one they’d be descending upon shortly.
“You know, maybe if you knew definitively what it is that can kill you, you wouldn’t be so nervous going into hunts,” he offered.
“It’s not that,” Cassidy replied, sitting up a little straighter. “I mean, I would like to know, but I’m not afraid I’m going to die. I know your dad and my sister won’t let anything happen to me.”
“Thanks,” he mumbled, narrowing his eyes at her playfully.
“Or you,” she replied, punching him in the arm. “I’ll be assigned to your dad, I’m sure,” she clarified, “and Cadence has already traded me spots once when death came knocking.”
“I know what you were saying,” Brandon replied, glad to see her feisty again.
“I just get nervous jumping into their heads because I never know what I’m going to find there.”
He nodded in understanding. She’d mentioned seeing some pretty dark stuff in Gibbon’s memories. “I’m sure the more you do it, the easier it will become.”
“Maybe,” Cassidy nodded. “Maybe… that’s what I’m afraid of.”
