Cassidy’s arm was asleep. She had been laying on it funny, and now that she was awake, she was afraid to even open her eyes because she hated that uncomfortable feeling of creepy crawly tingles that would greet her as soon as she took her weight off of it. But the more aware of her conscious self she became, the more she remembered why her arm was asleep.
She opened one eye and then the other and noticed she was staring at familiar carpet, but not the one in her apartment. And this definitely wasn’t her bed. Her arm was no longer her biggest concern as she realized her head was lying on a pillow on Brandon’s lap. She wondered how long he’d been sitting there just letting her sleep.
Slowly, she sat up, wiping her eyes and running her living hand across her mouth to make sure she didn’t have any drool or anything. He still hadn’t said anything, which was weird. When she turned her head, he was looking at her, a small smile on his face, but he didn’t even say good morning.
“Sorry,” Cassidy said, feeling more self-conscious than she ever had before. Her arm was beginning to hurt as blood rushed back into it, but she continued to ignore it. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.” She checked the time and saw she’d been asleep for a long time. It was almost 10:00.
“It’s okay. Can you hold that thought, though?”
“Sure.” Her eyebrows knit together as he stood.
“Don’t go anywhere, okay? Promise?”
“Okay.” He nodded and ran off, and Cassidy’s eyes went immediately to the door. But he had helped her out the night before when he didn’t have to. Having Daunator stuck in her head was horrific, and without Brandon’s help, she might not have been able to get him out. So the least she could do was wait for him to go to the bathroom.
She kind of needed to do that herself.
Taking a deep breath, she checked her IAC and saw that her sister had sent her a message asking when they could meet. That had to be about Christian, she imagined. She needed to tell them what she’d found out about the creatures, too. Thinking of poor Dala brought tears to the corners of her eyes. Popping into the girl’s head to check on her seemed like a good idea, until Cassidy remembered Daunator could get her again if she wasn’t careful. She decided not to do it.
But she had to check on Christian. With a deep breath, she entered his thoughts, praying he wasn’t singing anymore. He wasn’t. He was asleep. She couldn’t remember ever having seen him asleep before. At least he wasn’t injured or any more uncomfortable than he had been the last time she dropped in.
Footsteps had her eyes opening. “Sorry about that,” Brandon said, wiping his damp hands on his jeans like the towel hadn’t quite done its job. “Do you want something for breakfast?”
“No, that’s okay. I should probably go. I have to check in with my sister.”
“Oh, okay.” His face fell, and Cassidy knew he wanted to talk about their relationship. Maybe now was a good time to get it all out on the table so they could work through it. But it might also lead to another argument, and the last thing she needed was more stress.
She stood. “Maybe we can talk later. If you want to.” Cassidy suddenly felt like she was the one who had broken up with him, and it sort of felt good in a way that made her immediately felt guilty.
“Sure. Just... let me know when you’re done with work.”
“’Kay.” He was standing between her and the door. She took a few steps that direction, but he didn’t budge, so she stopped. “Uh... thanks again for your help last night and letting me hang.”
“Yeah. Any time.”
Cassidy took another step and considered levitating him out of the way but then he seemed to realize she couldn’t get out and stepped aside, running his hand along the back of his neck like he did when he had something to say but didn’t know how to word it, a habit his father had as well.
Two steps into the hallway, with her hand still on the closed door, Cassidy considered going back, and an accidental quick snippet of Brandon’s thoughts let her know his hand was on the other side of the door handle. Her feet kept her moving away from him, though. A few moments later, she was in her own apartment and finally felt like she could breathe again.
After a quick shower, Cassidy went about making herself a protein shake she could take with her to meet Cadence and Aaron. She hoped no one else would be there because she had a good feeling she might end up telling them the truth about Christian, even though that wasn’t her intention. The bottom line was, there was no way she was going to blatantly lie about where he was, so if the topic came up, and Cadence asked her to find him using her telepathy, she’d have to tell them the truth or insist they make Heather do it. If the other Hybrid did so, there would be nothing Cassidy could do about that, and then everything would be out in the open—almost everything, anyway. Whether or not she’d let them know she was in on the conspiracy the whole time was another story.
Cassidy was about to walk out the door when a heavy knock jarred her, almost making her spill her protein shake all over her black hoodie. After a calming breath, she went to the door and opened it, already knowing who was on the other side. But Elliott’s expression showed concern of a variety she hadn’t seen since before Sierraville.
“Hey, lil girl. You got a minute?”
“I’m supposed to go meet the bosses in a second, but sure.” Whatever this was, it had to be important for him to seek her out. Waving toward the couch, she offered him a seat and then sat down at the other end.
