Brandon’s eyes widened. “Why do you say that?”
“Because… I hissed at Shane yesterday in training, and I almost lost my shit on Christian last night.”
A cocky smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. “Well, in fairness, they’re both a couple of douchebags.”
Smiling in return, she said, “Nevertheless, I probably shouldn’t try to kill them. I might just be able to.”
“Of course you can. You’re a Hunter. You could crush my skull right now.”
She rolled her eyes, knowing she’d have to overpower him in order to do that—if she wanted to. Which she didn’t. Anymore. “I’m being serious.”
“I know. I’m sorry. It does sound like something we need to deal with, but I know it’s not something you can’t handle, Cass. You didn’t kill either one of them, even if they deserved it.”
His words did make her feel slightly better. “True. Maybe… if it doesn’t get any stronger, I’ll be able to fight it off.”
“Have you mentioned this to anyone else?”
She shook her head. “No, the only person I’d really trust is Jamie, and he’s been a little busy.”
“Right. Well, maybe you should tell your sister.”
Knowing that would be pointless but not wanting to talk about it anymore, Cassidy nodded. “Good idea.” She took a deep breath and pressed her lips together momentarily before saying, “I’m sorry I didn’t just talk to you about this.”
“Me, too,” he admitted pulling her close so that his arms were wrapped around her. The feel of his hands pulling on the ends of her hair was comforting, and Cassidy brought her arms up to encircle his neck. “Does this mean you still want to be my girlfriend?” His voice was just a whisper, his lips only an inch or so from hers.
“Yes, please,” Cassidy replied in a breathless murmur.
Brandon brought his lips down and devoured her, lifting her up off of the ground so that only her tippy toes could touch. Though she couldn’t help but giggle with glee, Cassidy returned his kiss, relieved to be back where she belonged.
“Cassidy!”
Dax’s frantic voice brought her crashing back down to the ground as they both turned to face the new Guardian.
“She’s flatlining!”
Cass caught Brandon’s eyes before sprinting back down the hall toward Tara’s room, though she had no idea what she was going to do. Brandon banged on Christian’s office door, yelling for him to come help and then followed her down the hallway.
The haunting buzz of the monitor, though it was turned down so that it was barely audible, filled her ears and her soul all at the same time. A new set of tears sprang free as she crossed the room and grabbed Tara’s cold hand.
Cassidy leaned down and pressed her ear to her friend’s chest and heard nothing. No breath hit her ear. She looked up to catch Dax’s eyes and saw her tears reflected there. They held each other’s gaze for a long moment, neither of them willing to believe she was really gone.
Christian’s methodical footsteps broke Cassidy away from Dax’s stare. He strode past Brandon to the heart monitor and turned the volume complete off. Using his forearm, he gently shoved Cassidy aside and did the same thing she’d just done before abruptly standing and saying, “Yeah, she appears to be dead.”
Fighting the urge to let her fangs out, Cassidy said, “But she could still recover, right? Just like Aaron?”
With a shrug, Christian said, “It’s hard to say.”
Flabbergasted, Cassidy turned her attention to Jamie who looked as if he was struggling to open his eyes and having little luck. With no other ideas about what to do, she returned her attention to Tara and adjusted her sheets.
“What do we do?” Dax asked, stepping up to the other side of the bed.
“I don’t know,” Cassidy admitted looking from him to Brandon who was a few steps closer.
“I say, give it a couple of hours,” Christian said, heading back toward the doorway. “If she’s not awake by then, chances are, she’s gone.” His expression was one of forced empathy, and then he disappeared out the door.
Shaking her head in disbelief, Cassidy was about to say something to Dax, though she didn’t know exactly what, when Elliott came rushing in. How she’d missed the sound of his loud footsteps, she wasn’t sure.
“Like a cat,” he said, as if reading her mind. Switching subjects, he continued, “Here’s the deal. Aaron’s super busy right now. Cadence is on her way. Should be here in five. Jamie’s IAC is flickering around like he wants to wake up, but he can’t, so give it a few minutes, try not to panic, we’ll see what happens. Nobody knows better than I do that being dead can be temporary.”
Cassidy nodded, but Dax asked, “What does that mean?” He looked around at the other faces in the room. “Have you been dead before, too?”
“Man, kid, you gotta lotta history to catch up on.”
“Elliott was dead for eight months,” Cassidy said quietly.
Dax opened his mouth but thought better of it and closed it, only shaking his head in response, which caused Elliott to chuckle.
“Cass, have a seat. Give it some time. We’ll see what happens. That Tara’s a fighter. She’s lasted this long, right?” Elliott urged.
Knowing he was right about that last item for sure, Cassidy nodded. Looking around the room, she spied another chair, and nodding at it, she caught Brandon’s eye. “Wanna join us?”
“Don’t mind if I do,” Elliott said, winking at her.
Cassidy shook her head in annoyance but was grateful that both of them pulled up chairs near hers and Dax’s. Waiting to see whether or not her friend was actually dead couldn’t possibly be any fun, but having Elliott in the room would at least be distracting, and having Brandon’s hand to hold was comforting—to her, anyway. Dax’s expression was one of both sadness over Tara’s situation and disappointment, and for that, Cassidy felt at least partially responsible. But then, at the rate her offenses were adding up, she’d be spending the rest of eternity in purgatory.
