Lucy was still grumbling, but she came inside. I could hear Elliott in his bedroom, which is in the back of the apartment. He’d bought a big screen TV and a new recliner a few weeks ago and put them back there. He said he hadn’t realized his house would be the place all the cool kids hung out, and he didn’t want to cramp our style. We did spend a lot of time here, and I felt a little bad that he couldn’t even sit in his own living room alone anymore. He had lived here by himself for a long time. Before he died.
“Is that my favorite blonde-haired teenager?” he called as he came down the hallway. “What’s the matter, Lucy Goosey? You not enjoyin’ our glamorous lifestyle?”
She was already giggling before he got close enough to tweak her chin. I was slightly jealous, even though I knew that was stupid. He was my Elliott—not hers. “It’s great,” Lucy said, smiling up at him. “It’s just—Cass’s parents are a lot stricter than mine are. Were. Whatever.”
“Ah, I see. Yes, well, Liz and Eli have plenty of reasons to be strict.” He eyed me suspiciously, and I pursed my lips together, knowing he was right. “Perhaps they don’t want you to do anything reckless.”
“What could I possibly do while I’m here?” Lucy countered, folding her arms. “It’s not like there’s any Vampires here right now, right? And since I didn’t Transform the first time....”
“There’s plenty of trouble to be had around here,” Elliott countered as we all found seats in his living room. He was still standing over by the entrance to the kitchen. “And I guarantee if she had a longer leash, Cass would find them all.”
“All right, I get it,” I said, picking up a throw pillow and reminding it why it had that name as it sailed toward his head. He easily caught it and tossed it at Tara without even looking at her. She wasn’t ready, and it hit her in the face.
“What did I do?”
We all laughed, and Elliott just winked at her as she shook her head at him, unharmed.
Ignoring her question, he stepped over in front of Lucy where she was sitting in the ancient recliner that was probably older than Brandon. “Listen, girly, things are going to be different now. Believe me, I know that can really stink. But you’re here, and you’ll be seventeen soon enough. Trust me, the end of April will be here just like that.” He snapped his fingers. “It seems to me it should be... 1985. We shouldn’t even be in the twenty-first century yet, kid. Time flies. You’ll get it sorted out. Just be nice to the Findleys. They’re good people.”
“I know,” Lucy said with a head bob. She looked remorseful, but I had an idea this wouldn’t be the last time L. Burk and L. Findley squared off.
“Before you know it, you’ll be in your own apartment, your training will be done, and you’ll be out there slayin’ it like these clowns.” He turned and looked at us. “Well, most of them.”
“Hey!” Tara shouted, tossing the pillow back. Elliott ducked and it hit Lucy in the chest. “Sorry.” We all laughed again. “I’m getting there.”
“I wasn’t just talking about you—there’s also your boyfriend with the goofy name.” He winked at Dax and headed into the kitchen. Elliott still thought it was hilarious that a park ranger had the last name Forest.
“Your dad is such a weirdo,” Dax laughed, addressing Brandon.
“You’re telling me. If he’s going to be here, we should probably order some extra pizzas.”
“Elliott!” I shouted, like he was on the other side of the moon again. “Are you going to be here for dinner?”
I heard a cabinet door close and figured he was into his Cheeto stash again. He was back in the doorway a second later, a questioning look on his face. “Am I supposed to feed you guys? All I’ve ever had before was a goldfish, and I fed it too much. Had to flush him.”
“No, we can handle it,” I said, although if I’d been referring to actually cooking, we might’ve been in trouble. Brandon did make a mean mac and cheese though. “We’re about to order pizza.”
“It really stinks that we can’t go to Pizza Triangle anymore,” Tara muttered. Hunters being on lockdown was a problem. The pizza place across the street wasn’t nearly as good.
“Nah, it’s okay,” he said with a shrug. “I think I’m headed out in a bit.”
“Do you have a meeting?” I asked, my ears perking up. “Are you finally going to do something?”
“Don’t take that tone with me, young lady,” he countered. “No. No meeting. And I am not the one caught in quicksand.”
“But he’s your best friend....”
“And he’s your brother-in-law.”
“I’ve known him for... fifteen minutes. You’ve known him for a century.” Both of those were exaggerations.
Elliott just shook his head. He knew I was fishing for information, and he was being careful not to give me too much. “Soon, lil girl. Right now, we’re talking about a pocket in Columbia, a couple hours from here, and then maybe heading down to Houston to help the Texans. Not the football team, although they could use it....”
“Columbia?” I repeated. I had a feeling there was nothing of importance in the college down a few hours away. “Why can’t Texas handle their own business?”
“I think they can. I think....” He abruptly stopped talking and then shrugged again and headed down the hallway.
“You think what?” I shouted after him.
“I think you’re nosy!”
I growled. I wouldn’t be getting any more out of him, and that was a pity because of all of my connections to the inner workings of LIGHTS, he was the one with the loosest tongue.
“What kind of pizza do we want?” Brandon asked, and I knew that was his way of reminding me that I needed to stop harassing his dad.
“Cheese!” Lucy replied enthusiastically, and I giggled, glad to see the cheese pizza fiend was still in her. Whether she knew it or not, she was fitting in just fine. She would probably butt heads with my mother again at least a dozen times before she turned seventeen, especially since we’d all be living on top of each other, but at least she wasn’t in a daze anymore. I was glad to see my friend was still in there, that the Vampires hadn’t managed to take her away, too. No one should ever have to go through what she’d been through, but at least there were signs she’d be making it out just fine.