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Chapter Nine
It didn’t take too long before someone wanted an explanation, one Jo wasn’t willing to give. So the questions went directly to Zane. It wasn’t a surprise at all that it was her dear brother asking the questions.
“So… Zane… are you related to Kian O’Braonian?” Cadon asked once they were about twenty-five miles outside of the Denver city limits, and they’d pulled over so Elliott could drive, something he almost always insisted on. Jo and Zane were sitting in the way back now, Brandon and Cass in the middle, and her brother had to swivel almost completely around in a semi-circle from the front passenger seat to direct his question to the Guardian in the back row.
“I am,” Zane said, a questioning lilt to his voice. “He was my grandfather.”
“Interesting,” Cadon said, and Elliott looked away from the road long enough to give his so-ca
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Stanstead was a quaint little town near the Quebec-Vermont border, just the sort of place one might expect to see on a 1950s television program, even though technically the town didn’t come into existence until two others were merged in 1995. Still, as the SUV rolled along nice suburban streets, lined with green hedges and white fences, it was easy to forget they were in the middle of a war.Not here, however. Not in Canada. Jo pushed her hair back behind her ear, trying to concentrate on anything other than seeing her dad for the first time in years, including remembering how ugly it had gotten between the US and Canada when the northern neighbor declared Vampires unwelcome within the borders. Many Americans had called them racist, said it was another Holocaust all over again. Jo remembered her dad sending as many LIGHTS members as he could find from other parts of the world that weren’t either in crisis like they were in the US or under a s
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Jo’s heart was beating out of her chest as she stepped past her grandmother and walked toward her father. He didn’t move, only stood there with his hands on his hips, his head dipped slightly, as if he were searching for words or struggling with emotions. He looked thinner than he had the last time she saw him, maybe even a little gaunt in the face, like instead of eating once or twice a week like he usually did, he wasn’t eating at all. Had she done that to him? Or was it the weight of everything else?About two feet in front of him, she stopped, his eyes locking on to hers as she fought to put a sentence together. When her lips parted, she only got the first syllable of “Hello” out before his strong arms were around her, pulling her close and holding her tight like he had when she was a little girl with a scraped knee or a bad dream. Jo stood still, a petrified tree, for a few moments before the surprise wore off enough fo
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Grandpa Eli’s study was always well organized and neat. Jo could remember seeing him sitting in here reading when she was younger, after he’d retired, and they’d moved to escape the chaos in the US. She couldn’t imagine he used it for much of anything these days since his memory had gotten so bad. When she followed her dad into the room, it was evident Aaron had done some unnecessary straightening and that all of his own belongings on the desk were in precisely the spot he wanted them in. Jo almost laughed--some things never changed--but enough things did change that it wasn’t funny anymore, and she felt silly for evening forgetting for a second how the world was all messed up now.Her dad didn’t go around the desk and sit in the plush swivel chair on the other side. Instead, he took a seat on the small leather sofa her grandpa had over by the window. Grandpa Eli had said the room needed more seating so he could have v
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Her grandparents’ dining room became a makeshift board room. Jo sat in the corner, between Zane and Brandon, trying to be inconspicuous. After the conversation she’d had with her father, Jo had washed her face and built back the part of her wall he’d managed to bring crumbling down. But now, as more and more LIGHTS team members made their way into the room for the meeting, the last thing she wanted was to appear weak. So she found her resting bitch face and kept her mouth shut, something she hoped she’d be able to do no matter how long this lasted or what topics they touched on.Some of the people who joined them were familiar; others she knew she’d never met before while a few were legendary. Her dad knew she wanted to lay low, so the few times people asked which one was his daughter, he’d gestured in her direction but hadn’t insisted she get up and come over, which Jo was happy about. She did her best to act as
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Jo listened to the plan, but her mind kept wandering. Any time someone asked her dad a question, she tuned out, trusting if it was important, he’d let her know later. Basically, a little over half of the people present would be going to Moscow to track down Holland while the others would be undergoing another mission, to find some chick that used to be on the team, someone her Aunt Cassidy had ties to. The old timers wanted to see if this woman could come help with the other mission. She figured her dad knew what he was doing, even if it made more sense to Jo to just send all of these people in to get Holland and not worry about this Heather person, but she wasn’t going to tell the man how to do his job.After about twenty minutes of Aaron giving them all of the information they would need to hook up with the right people in Moscow and hopefully jump on Holland’s tail, Cassidy interrupted. “I’m sorry. Tell me again why I can
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The sound of conversation and laughter poured out of the house so loudly, Jo thought the neighbors might call the cops if someone didn’t make the loudmouths tone it down a little bit--especially Elliott whose laughter was noisy enough to wake the undead.She took a sip of her beer and set the bottle back by her boot. The sky here was even more polluted by light than it was in the city since most of Denver was desolate now. Hardly any of the stars were bright enough to compete, but those that did made her wonder for a split second if it was possible her dad was right, and her mom was stuck between them somewhere. She dismissed the idea and took another swig of the alcohol, wishing it would do something--anything—for her.The door behind her creaked open, causing her head to whip around. Relief washed over her when she saw it was Zane--not her dad. Or Cadon. Or Scott. Zane had two bottles of Bud in his hand. “Mind if I j
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Zane spoke politely to her dad as the two passed each other, and then Aaron sat down in his spot next to her. “You doing okay?” he asked, and Jo nodded, still trying to figure out what she was going to say. While it was a huge compliment to be asked to lead the mission, Jo knew she wasn’t really the right person for the job. Even if she was the most strategically minded--which she was pretty sure she wasn’t--and even if she was the best shot--which she was pretty sure she was--she wasn’t a leader, not like her dad was. Not like her mom had been. He was disillusioned as to her abilities because she reminded him so much of his wife.“I’m okay,” Jo finally said. “Just… not used to dealing with so many people.”“Yeah? You never really did like parties much. Even when you were little, you’d try to go hide somewhere, off in your room if we were at home, or in a qui
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Flying on small planes was nothing new to Jo, but this one was even tinier than the ones she remembered traveling on when she was younger, and she doubted she’d have much of a chance to speak to Cassidy without everyone else hearing while they were in such cramped quarters.The plane seated four besides the pilot and the co-pilot. She climbed in next to Zane with Brandon and Cassidy behind them, and hooked her seatbelt. It would be a long flight with several fuel stops, but Jo decided not to drink too much since there was no bathroom on board, and she doubted they’d be stopping frequently enough to accommodate too much water in any one bladder. She couldn’t help but wonder if her brother was on a nicer plane, one with a restroom, maybe even seats that reclined. No one else was complaining, so Jo didn’t either, but the seat was uncomfortable, and she had no idea how the guys were managing to squeeze their longer legs in behind the
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