Brandon waited patiently on the other side of the door leading to the rooftop of the new recruits apartment building, listening. It was the same routine as usual. Whenever Cassidy went up there to find some solace so she could eavesdrop on the Vampires, he always waited for her here. Juan Diego had even brought another chair and left it for him, which was quite considerate of the custodian, but Brandon rarely used it. Most of the time, he stood with his ear pressed to the door, waiting to hear if his girlfriend was in any distress or if she needed him. She usually only spent ten or fifteen of her allotted thirty minutes actually in her trance, and then she’d let him know over the IAC she was done. Sometimes, he’d have to go in and get her. He distinctly remembered the time she’d been trapped in Holland’s head, right before they’d gone to Melbourne, and he’d had to shake her fairly violently to get her back. That episode had scared the shit out of him, and it was precisely why he didn’t take a seat. He needed to be just as much in tune with her as she was with the Vampires.
Standing there listening gave him plenty of opportunities to think about all sorts of things, like their mutual friends. He liked Dax and Tara a lot, and Lucy was cool. It was great she was at LIGHTS now, even though the circumstances were horrific. He liked the role he’d been given, now that he was allowed to participate on almost every hunt. He’d proven himself invaluable to the team and an asset in the field, which was great. When his dad had first come back, Brandon had thought maybe he wouldn’t be needed so much, or maybe Elliott would try to keep him from being so active for fear he might get hurt, but his dad was really great about almost everything, which was awesome since he really wasn’t used to having a parent.
He also thought a lot about his mom. The fact that she was getting herself cleaned up was fantastic. He really hoped she’d finally become a doctor, like she’d always wanted to. Sure, she was a little older than most traditional med students, but he knew his mom could do it if she tried to, and he was sure his dad would help her out however she needed. He wasn’t under the impression there was a possibility his parents might get back together or anything. Since they’d never really been a couple, that wasn’t at all likely, but he knew his dad really did care about his mom, which was awesome since he’d been told his whole life that his dad was a loser who didn’t give a damn about anyone but himself. It was too bad his dad wasn’t seeing anyone because he really was a great guy. How Brandon had ended up being a decent person was beyond him considering his upbringing, but he often wondered if his dad’s good genes had played a part.
Checking the time, he noted Cassidy had been in her trance for about twenty minutes. If she didn’t alert him in another ten, he’d go in and pull her out. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to do that. He hated interrupting at all, but he also didn’t want to lose her either, and he wasn’t convinced after that other episode that it wasn’t possible.
Cassidy was an amazing girl, and Brandon was certain that he loved her. He couldn’t picture himself with anyone else, and someday really soon, he wanted to ask her to marry him. He knew his dad probably would tell him to wait until they were both at least considered legal adults, but he also didn’t think that age made that much of a difference now. Still, a promise ring wouldn’t hurt, and he thought it might serve as a reminder to other guys that Cassidy Findley was spoken for. Namely, his second-least favorite American Revolutionary soldier.
At first, Cassidy had just seemed to marvel at the fact that one of the Founding Fathers had joined their team, but then, the more time she spent talking to Alex, the more time she spent talking about him. Sure, he was an older, eccentric man, with a white powdered wig and breeches, but most of the guys around here were about a hundred years old, and Alex didn’t really look much older than Jamie or Elliott. So… despite her insistence that he needn’t worry about anything, it had crossed his mind once or twice that perhaps Cassidy didn’t even realize she was beginning to develop feelings for the gentleman. Brandon tried not to spend too much time worrying about it since it sounded so ridiculous, but it did bother him, and he hoped Alex would either be reassigned or go ahead and make himself human again and die already. It sounded harsh, even in his own brain, and he vowed never to say those words aloud, no matter how agitated he became.
“Brandon, I’m done.”
Cassidy’s voice in his head jarred him back to reality, the one where he was her boyfriend, not some guy who should’ve been pushing up daisies two hundred years ago. “Okay.” He opened the door, and headed in her direction. She was still sitting cross legged in her chair, a sign that the session had been intense, so he rushed his steps and dropped down next to her within a second’s time. “Everything all right?”
She was shaking her head. “No, something is definitely wrong with Holland.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” he asked, puzzled over why she looked concerned that the demonic Vampire they were trying to kill was hurting.
“I don’t think so,” Cassidy said, her forehead still knit together. “I think this could be really awful.”
“Well, unless she’s feeling bad because she’s about to have a whole litter of demonic kittens, I don’t know why that would be.”
Cassidy shook her head again and stood, causing him to come to his feet as well. “I need to talk to Cadence. Now.”
“All right. Let’s go.” He took her hand, which he noticed was damp with perspiration, and they headed toward the door. Normally, she told him everything she’d seen before she relayed it to her sister, but something was different about this vision, and he hoped whatever it was, it wasn’t something they couldn’t handle.
