“Cass, this is Brandon,” Aaron was saying, standing up from his spot on Jamie’s desk and taking a step toward us. “Brandon, this is Cassidy.”
“It’s nice to finally meet you in person,” Brandon said, offering me his hand as he closed the gap between us.
“Oh, yeah, you too.” I stared at his hand for a moment like I was checking for weapons before I finally took it and repeated my sister’s question. “Why are you here?”
I swear Brandon was staring at me like he was meeting Selena Gomez or some other celebrity. It seemed to take him a moment to process my question, but after a moment he said, “Oh, uh, well, after I went on the hunt last night, I decided it was time to go through with the Transformation.”
I stopped listening after he said the first sentence. “The what?” I knew my voice was louder and higher in pitch than it should’ve been, but I couldn’t help myself. I no longer cared that Brandon was Elliott’s kid or why he was here or why he was staring at me. “Cadence! You said humans couldn’t go on hunts!”
“That’s true,” my sister replied, taking a step toward me, her hands raised. “Humans are not allowed to go on hunts. Most of the time.” The look she gave Brandon was threatening, like she wanted to remind him she could murder him right there where he stood. “There was a situation, and we needed his assistance. Remember what I told you about how good of a liar he is?”
“Not as good as you, apparently.” I crossed my arms and glared at my sister indignantly. She had taken Brandon on the hunt and wouldn’t even take me, her own flesh and blood.
“All right, Cass.” She put her hand on my shoulder and started talking to me like I was a three-year-old, which made me even angrier. “We needed someone to run interference, and we thought Brandon could do it, so we let him come along. But we never do that. And you’re not old enough to come on a hunt anyway.”
“This is bull… crap.” I was so angry, I actually stomped my foot at my sister, pulling away from her. I needed to take a few deep breaths and calm down, but here I was, spending hours looking for Giovani, which she didn’t even appreciate, and now she’s taking someone else out before me. I have never been so angry at my sister in all my life.
“Wow.” I looked up to see the most disapproving look on Aaron’s face I could possibly ever imagine. “You’re not quite being the sweet little Cassidy we all know and love right now. What has gotten into you?” He sounded more shocked than judgmental, and I realized I needed to calm down. I looked at Jamie who also looked a little stunned at my reaction and knew I was not acting like a grownup in that moment. I breathed in through my nose as Cadence took another step in my direction. I didn’t back away this time.
“Look, Cass, you’re not always going to understand everything I do as the Leader, but sometimes you just have to follow directives and do what I say. I always have a good reason, and most of the time it’s based on information that you don’t have available to you, okay?” Her voice was calm and collected, way different than what I was used to hearing from my sister when we were upset at each other.
Her response actually went a long way toward calming me down. “Fine,” I agreed, shaking my head. I could feel tears forming in my eyes and did everything I could to hold them off. The last thing I needed was for this room full of people to think I was a whiny brat and a cry baby. “I just… really want to be a part of all of this, and it’s hard to wait.” I hoped my explanation was succinct enough, and I thought back to what Aaron had said back in the plane about being patient. But it was so hard.
Cadence wrapped her arms around me, and I relaxed a little bit. “I know. But you will have the rest of your life to be a Vampire Hunter. You’re young. You still have a lot to learn. Give it some time, and you’ll be ready. But not yet.” The same words Aaron had spoken to me, essentially, coming from my own sister.
The room was quiet for a moment before Jamie hopped up and said, “Well, as much fun as this has been….” I gave him an apologetic look, and he flashed me a reassuring smile. “So… Brandon, I’ll see you in a few hours. Let me get some stuff together, and then we’ll be ready to start the process.”
“Okay,” Brandon said, anxiousness showing on his face. “I appreciate it,” he added, offering Jamie his hand.
“No problem,” the doctor assured him, taking it. “Welcome to the team.”
I realized now what it was Brandon had been saying, the last part, the part I hadn’t listened to because I’d been yelling. He was here to Transform. He was old enough to go through the process, and he’d be doing it tonight. As much as I wished it was me, I was also thankful that I’d be there while it was happening and hoped my sister would let me be in the room while Jamie did the procedure. It would be awesome to see it firsthand before I went through it myself.
“Let’s head over to the gym, and we’ll show you around the facilities,” Aaron suggested ushering Cadence toward the door, and I followed along, keeping my head down.
Brandon stepped over and opened the door, and my sister stepped aside, letting me go first. “After you.”
I managed a weak smile and went through, though I had no idea where I was going. I imagined we were headed outside, though, so I went that way, and in a moment, my sister and Aaron were behind me, and Brandon rushed to catch up with me. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Aaron gesture toward a big building across the campus, and I assumed he meant for us to go that way, so I headed toward what looked like a gym.