Elliott tried not to let Cassidy’s concerns sound trivial to him. The fact of the matter was, he wasn’t used to working with someone who could infiltrate the enemies’ minds. For all he knew, Vampires had been saying the same thing for thousands of years, and none of the good guys ever knew it until now. “I’m sure it will be a priority as soon as your sister returns, Cass. But there really isn’t too much we can do right now.”As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he turned his head to look at her. “You cannot possibly be thinking about going over there on your own, are you?”“No.” Her answer came quickly, too quickly, and he could sense that the thought had at least crossed her mind. If she’d gone any further than that, like actually booking a ticket or packing her suitcase, he wouldn’t be too horribly surprised, unfortunately. Cassidy wasn’t exactly known for taking no for an answ

“Cassidy, I’m serious. Believe me, you’ll be glad to hear it. But I won’t tell you at all if I can’t trust you, and even though I know you hate me more than you hate Daunator himself, I’m serious. I want your help. I need your help. But I’ll manage without it.”It occurred to her that she could just jump into his head and find out whatever it was without promising anything, but she didn’t do that. Instead, she repeated her question. “What is it?”He hesitated again, his eyes shifting up and down a few times, before he finally said, “I think I want to go after him.”“Great!” Cassidy said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “You’ll help me convince the others?”Before she even finished the statement, he was already shaking his head. “No, I mean, alone. I think I want to go after him by myself.”The shock of it took a moment to sink

Eliza’s partner moved first, drawing his Glock and clicking the after-market safety off as quietly as possible. It seemed to have no effect on the couple. The woman giggled again, and the other form, certainly a tall man, though Eliza couldn’t see his face because it was turned away from them, let out a low moan. If this was anything other than a Vampire attack or a murder in progress, she and Sergio were going to have a lot of explaining to do for intruding. In fairness, if they really wanted privacy, maybe they could’ve found some place other than a public alley.Eliza also took out her weapon, readied it, and then followed along behind Sergio, giving him enough space so that, if it was a Vampire and it charged him, she could be the next line of defense. A stirring sensation in her stomach heightened as she drew closer, and it became clearer that one of these two was undead.The Vampire sensed them, too. Only it wasn’t the man, as Eliza had su

Something was wrong with Cassidy. Sure, she was sitting on the couch next to Brandon, watching a movie with their friends, like it was just a normal Thursday evening, but he could tell by the absent look in her eyes she was really somewhere else.Asking what was on her mind hadn’t gotten him anywhere. She’d just said she was fine, that she was wrapped up in the movie. But he could tell her eyes weren’t quite focused on the TV. He wished he had her ability to read minds for just a few minutes so he could access whatever was going on in her brain.She hadn’t been quite herself for the last few weeks, not since Alex had died. Sure, he could also say it was because he had been gone for four days, sucked up inside of a portal. But the real change in her character hadn’t happened until after she read the message from Alex. Brandon should’ve read it before he gave it to her, but he hadn’t, trusting that whatever the ex-Patriot had to

Cassidy shot out of the building like it was on fire, searching for fresh air before her lungs exploded. Once she was outside, she took a few gulps and tried to slow her raging pulse. She knew her temper had a way of getting the best of her. It had been that way ever since she Transformed, but since the second round of serum, the symptoms had been even worse. She’d been trying to ignore it for months, but in this sort of a situation, there wasn’t much she could do except to try to get away before she said something she’d regret—or turned into The Incredible Hulk and ripped someone a new one.Which reminded her of Christian. “Where are you? Are you busy?”“I am in the lab, finishing up a few things. Why? What’s up? You thirsty for blood?”She actually laughed, hoping he didn’t hear through the IAC because she didn’t want to give him any credit for being funny. “You wanna