Tears sprung to Cassidy’s eyes as she admitted to herself for the first time just how devastated she was not to be with Brandon anymore. Talk to Christian about it was the last thing she thought would make her feel better. Maybe it did.... Then again, maybe it only made her feel worse.“Yeah, well, you can compare those two things, but until someone has actually done it, you have no idea.”Cassidy had no idea what Christian was talking about. “What do you mean?” She was lost. Until someone had actually done what?“Nothing. Never mind. It doesn’t matter. Don’t tell them where I am. Lie to them. Tell them you’re in my head, and I’m relaxing on the beach, all right? Just do it Cassidy.”She didn’t know what else to say, so she agreed. “Fine. I’ll check on you later.”“Don’t bother. I’m fine.”

Brandon had been staring at the TV for so long, he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d moved. His dad came in not long after he’d left, muttered something about Christian’s shenanigans, and disappeared into his room. It had been a while since that happened, but Brandon had lost all track of time recently. Ever since he broke up with Cassidy, his days and nights ran together. He hardly did anything. His friends invited him over, but he always declined. Sitting on the couch staring at the TV or his phone and trying not to feel anything at all was eating away at his life, but it was all he ever felt like doing.A loud banging on his door tore him out of his daze. He glanced down the hall to see if his dad was coming but realized, whoever it was, they probably couldn’t hurt him. It wasn’t like Daunator had just shown up or anything. He got to his feet and pulled the door open, shocked when Cassidy came flying inside, her hair as wild as h

Cassidy’s arm was asleep. She had been laying on it funny, and now that she was awake, she was afraid to even open her eyes because she hated that uncomfortable feeling of creepy crawly tingles that would greet her as soon as she took her weight off of it. But the more aware of her conscious self she became, the more she remembered why her arm was asleep.She opened one eye and then the other and noticed she was staring at familiar carpet, but not the one in her apartment. And this definitely wasn’t her bed. Her arm was no longer her biggest concern as she realized her head was lying on a pillow on Brandon’s lap. She wondered how long he’d been sitting there just letting her sleep.Slowly, she sat up, wiping her eyes and running her living hand across her mouth to make sure she didn’t have any drool or anything. He still hadn’t said anything, which was weird. When she turned her head, he was looking at her, a small smile on his face,

Sitting behind her desk in the office she shared with Aaron, Cadence had been discussing some of the new weapons her dad was working on with her husband when she’d gotten a strange call from one of the Guardians at the front gate, the barrier visitors came to on the rare occasion they had any. An older “gentleman” was asking to see her--alone, without Aaron. He claimed to be a Hunter, but he didn’t have any identification, no IAC, and he wanted to talk to Cadence by herself, saying he had valuable information about, “her enemy.”Aaron hadn’t wanted to let her speak with him, even though he admitted he had no idea who it might be, but Cadence postponed her appointment with Cassidy to go downstairs and meet the man. He was sitting on a bench near the chapel, the one where they’d had Elliott’s funeral. Dressed similarly to the way Cowboy Sam had been the first time Cadence had met him, in dusty brown pants, a faded denim shir

Aaron slowed down slightly, and she took his hand. “Where did you learn to block like that? I was impressed. Maybe you could play for the Cowboys after all.”He chuckled, and a tinge of red started to creep up his neck. “There are other sports a person can play that require the ability to block, you know? Not just your blessed American football.”She couldn’t help but laugh at his choice of words. “Like what? Soccer? Rugby? Did you play lacrosse?”“I used to play a little bit of real football from time to time, years ago. Not professionally, of course.”Cadence let out another belly laugh, her side starting to hurt, not just from his comment that soccer was somehow real football but that he felt the need to clarify he hadn’t been a pro, not that he couldn’t have been. Any of them would’ve made successful professional athletes due to their speed alone. “Well, Jamie’s no Bec