Elliott laughed. He actually laughed at me. I could feel rage boiling up inside of me. This is not at all what I was expecting from him. He asked, “Then why would we go running over to him?”
Infuriated, I spat out, “Because it’s our job! How are we supposed to keep people safe from this monster if we’re all the way over here, and he’s in the forests of Hungary building his army?” His remark was meant to be funny—but it wasn’t. it was stupid. He was stupid. They were all stupid.
A blast from Hannah’s calming emotional winds hit me, but they didn’t help too much. She was probably just trying to spare the furniture. “All right, Cass,” she said in her soothing clinical voice. “Give me your notes, and I’ll look them over.” She beckoned for my stack of paper with her hand. Part of me wanted to throw them at her; yet another part wanted to say “never mind, take my stuff” and tear out of the room. I didn’t do either of those things. I scooted the papers toward Jamie who handed them down to the current Guardian Leader.
This conversation was over, and I had failed. I was still upset. The meeting went on around me, but I wasn’t tuned in. I had no idea what they were talking about until I heard Jamie say the rest of the Roatan Guardians should wait until Aaron got back to be changed back into humans. We might need them. I muttered, “They should wait longer than that. We haven’t even begun the final battle yet.”
Everyone turned and looked at me, but no one said anything about my comment. I was just an insolent child not worth the time or effort it might take to chastise or acknowledge.
They continued to talk. I glared at Elliott. He wouldn’t look at me. They were talking about a bunch of people getting their second dose of Transformation serum so I asked who was on the list, hoping Heather was one of them. She was, which was a good thing because we would need her, but I didn’t care about any of the others, even though there were a lot of people from out of town who’d be in for the procedure over the next few days, including my cousin Paul. It might be nice to see him again. None of the people were from the area where Daunator was working. I didn’t know if that was because they couldn’t be spared at the moment or if it was because we weren’t taking this seriously, but it seemed like Mila and her team could definitely use the extra boost to their powers. I didn’t bother to mention it because no one really cared what I though, clearly.
I realized a few minutes later that everyone was leaving. The meeting was over. I felt like such a loser that I couldn’t convince these people that they needed to be worried about what Daunator was doing. How were they not seeing what I was seeing? It occurred to me that if I went over there myself, they’d have to let my sister know. They’d have to follow me. But the risk would be huge. I’d probably end up having to move back in with my parents when I got back, and I don’t know that I was willing to give up my freedom.
I was willing to cause a little bit of a commotion now, though. Elliott wasn’t quite out of his chair by the time I reached him. I gave his sleeve a sharp yank. “Hey!”
He didn’t turn his head to look at me, only stepped around the chair, pushing it in with his boot as he headed toward the door. “What is it, lil girl?”
Like he didn’t know. Everyone else was out of the room now. Not that it really mattered. I was going to say my piece whether they were or weren’t. “Why didn’t you have my back?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“Oh, that.” I followed him to the door. “What did you want me to say? ‘Grab your munitions and follow me’?” He raised his fist in the air like he was Braveheart or something.
I didn’t really have a response to his snide remark. That’s not exactly what I was thinking. But I did expect him to say something more supportive than what he did say. I shrugged. “Maybe.”
We were outside now, and despite the fact that it was the middle of September, it was muggy. The scent of cigarette smoke hit me from behind, and I realized Christian was over by the side of the building, loitering, lighting up. For some stupid reason he thinks none of us know he smokes. I was distracted, though. Elliott was trying to explain his thinking to me, and I needed to listen if I was going to find a way to move past his unsupportive behavior.
“I’m sorry, Cass. But I agreed with what they said. Ain’t no use barrelin’ in without our bosses just for the sake of maybe.”
That was irritating. “But the evidence was right there!” There was no maybe about it! “Besides that, I have heard what’s going on in these fresh bloodsuckers’ minds. Daunator is building an army to destroy the world!” I was being overly dramatic in an attempt to emphasize my point, but it wasn’t working on him anyway. He just rolled his eyes at me.
“I’m sure it will be a priority as soon as your sister returns, Cass. But there really isn’t much we can do right now.”
I stared at him, trying to come up with a response, something to make him see how wrong he was, but nothing was coming to me. I should’ve realized it was pointless to argue with him. He wasn’t in charge anyway, and Hannah and Aurora wouldn’t be persuaded to do anything just because Elliott suggested it—especially not Aurora.
His expression changed as he took me in. His head cocked to the side, he asked, “You cannot possibly be thinking about going over there on your own, are you?”
My eyes widened. I had thought of that earlier, but I wasn’t at the moment. “No!” I shouted at him, outraged that he’d dare think I might do such a thing, despite the fact that he had every reason in the world to be suspicious of the fact that I might do such a thing.