Chapter Five

Jo’s mouth gaped open, and she was certain her eyes were wide enough to resemble dinner plates. Elliott’s words hovered around her mind for a few seconds before they slowly began to sink in, and her mouth managed to connect. “Dad… he’s… back?” She shook her head, still trying to process. “How long? He never called me.”

“Maybe that’s because the last time you spoke to him, you said you hated him and if he ever tried to find you, you’d pull out the special titanium bullet you’ve been saving.” Cassidy’s glare was so intense, Jo could feel it on the back of her skull.

She swallowed hard, not needing her aunt’s verbal reminder of what had transpired between herself and the Guardian Leader the last time they’d spoken. Words were exchanged…. Blame was placed…. She’d thought about calling not that long afterward and apologizing, but she hadn’t. And then he’d left again, back out there, searching again, like he had been for years--ever since that night when Jo was fifteen and their world had come crashing down around them.

“You need some water or something?” Brandon asked, the first thing he’d said in a while.

Blinking twice, Jo came back around. “No, I… uh, I’m fine.” She didn’t want to let them know how much she hated the fact that her dad had heeded her empty threats this time. It had been over two years since she’d seen him, and she’d assumed he’d contact her when he came back, despite her ugliness, because he always had before. But this fight had been different, and Cass was right. She couldn’t blame him.

Rather than repeat her question about how long he’d been back, she took a deep breath and asked, “Where did he see her?”

“Russia,” Elliott replied, folding his arms for a moment before unfolding them and running a hand through his unruly hair. Curls stood on end for a few seconds before falling in a disheveled mess. She remembered how she’d loved to play with his hair when she was a little girl, when she’d been his, “lil Jo.” Again, she cleared her mind of the memory and waited to see if he’d continue on his own.

He did. “He’d caught wind of a potential lead there. When Ward was locked up, he heard about some Guardians hiding in the forest north of there. Kimki or some shit. Anyway, while he was there, another team contacted Aaron and asked him if he could please help them because they thought he was the only one capable of taking out this group of demonics holed up in some tiny farming community. They were coming out at night and preying on children.”

Jo’s breath caught for a moment as she thought about how significant that would be to her father. He’d grown up in a similar situation in Ireland, in the 1800s. “So he did?”

“He did. Despite his better judgment, I guess.” Elliott looked away for a second, his head obviously full of even more memories, significant ones, than Jo could fathom. “They managed to run them off, and when they did, he got a good look at her. He’s positive. It was Holland.”

Once again, Jo swallowed hard. Her chest began to hurt, so she leaned forward in her chair, her knees spread and her elbows propping her hands as she held the sides of her head. As if that might keep the world from spreading out of control.

Even though she was obviously struggling to keep up, Cassidy continued the story. “They only got two of the Vampires, and the next day, the Russian government showed up at the village and took every single one of the humans, Hunters, and Guardians in as enemies of the state. They locked them up. Even the children. I think they let them go a few days later, but by then she had disappeared.”

Jo managed to raise her eyes. “And dad?”

“He was gone already,” Cadon assured her. “But he felt like shit--again. Like it was his fault.”

“Why? They asked him to help.” Jo didn’t understand the logic.

“Guess your dad is used to being blamed for things he didn’t cause.” Cass uncrossed her legs and clunked her right boot down on the table next to her left, jarring Jo’s insides with a vibration that pained her all the way through.

But she’d walked right into that, and she deserved it. “Where is he now?” she asked, hoping the anguish she was feeling inside was still hidden securely behind her tough exterior.

“Right now? He’s in Stanstead, the only place any of us is remotely safe. But he won’t be there long. He’s going back out as soon as he can get us organized to go look for Holland. Then… he’ll be back at it. Until he finds her.” Elliott shoved his hands into his pocket and turned away.

“Until he finds her?” Jo repeated, her voice breaking in a shrill squeak. “Are you serious? Does he honestly think, after ten years of constantly roaming the universe it’s still possible he could find her? When is he just going to realize it’s a hopeless mission--”

“Shut the hell up, Jo!” Cadon sprang off of the couch. Jo turned to look at him, her eyes slivers. “We all know your damn opinion. We don’t care what you think.”

She stood now, too, her shoulders back as she squared up to her older brother. “I was there, Cadon. I am the only one that was there. There’s no way she’s out there somewhere for Dad to find her--she’s gone!”

“You don’t know anything! You weren’t looking! You were hiding!”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Brandon was between them now, pushing them both apart at the shoulder. “There is no reason to get into all of that right now. It doesn’t matter.” As they both backed up, he turned so that his back was to her, his nose millimeters from Cadon’s. “Remember what we talked about?”

Cadon blew out a hot breath and nodded. She imagined her brother had been warned before they got there not to piss her off because, clearly, they wanted something from Jo, and while she thought she had an idea of what it might be, she didn’t want to hear it. She didn’t want to have to tell them no.

“Look, lil Jo, here’s the deal,” Elliott said, stepping past the others. Brandon had Cadon under control now, and they both walked back behind the couch, Cadon’s arms still crossed in anger. “We’re putting a team together. It’ll be dangerous, we all know that. Not just because these are some badass demonic Vampires but because we’ll have to cross into countries, like our own, that are pro-Vamp. We want you with us. We need you with us. You’re the best Hunter we’ve got.” Cadon grunted, and Brandon nudged him in the arm. It was no secret her brother thought he was better than she was, though Jo didn’t let it keep her up at night. “Your dad wants to see you. So do your grandparents. We’ll head there first, figure out who else is on board, and then see if we can catch the bitch so she can tell us what she knows.”

Jo listened, but she was shaking her head before he even finished. “I can’t.” She had her mind made up. She was never going back out with LIGHTS again, no matter what. Lincoln International Guardian and Hunters Training Station had died the day of the Revelation, and while it had taken a year or two for them to realize it, the damage was long since done. “I can’t do that, Uncle Elliott.”

A wave of sadness washed across his face. She saw it in the way his green eyes dimmed. But he nodded his head once, solemnly. “You change your mind, we’re staying at the BW off of 270. We’ll pull out at 8:00 in the morning.”

She was still shaking her head like she was trying to convince herself. Maybe she was. “Who would take care of… my stuff? And I have work to do here.”

Elliott surveyed the shambles around them. There were no plants, no pets, and nothing worth stealing. “‘Kay,” he said, knowing he could make no argument stronger than the one already launching in her mind. She was immune to his abilities to brainwash people. It worked best on humans, but even their kind could usually be persuaded to some degree. Not Jo, though. She could see through him. He wasn’t even trying. “We’ll get out of your hair then.”

Cass stood, and narrowed her eyes at Jo. The younger girl gulped back a lump that threatened to close off her throat. She remembered a time when Aunt Cassidy thought she was one of the best people in the world. Now, her aunt hated her. They all did. “Guess we’ll see you around, then,” she said tartly.

“Take care,” Brandon said, patting her arm and offering a small smile.

Cadon’s nostrils flared. “Bye, sis.” He shook his head and followed behind Brandon

The three of them stepped out into the hall, and Jo prayed Elliott would just go with them. But he didn’t, and she made the mistake of looking in his eyes again. The pain she saw there was akin to the anguish she’d felt the last ten years, ever since that horrific day when they’d lost her mom. “Jo,” he said, his voice soft, not accusatory. “We all love you.” She snorted. “It’s harder for some to show it than others. But we do. We know… none of this is your fault. You were just a kid.”

She dropped her eyes, ran a hand through her hair and down one braid. He had no idea the burden she carried….

“Just think about it, okay?”

Jo nodded, and he pulled her close, squeezing her so tightly she thought her heart might burst, and then he was gone, only the scent of his aftershave and the leather of his jacket clinging to her for a moment before it, too, dissipated, and once again, Jo McReynolds found herself all alone.

She covered her face with both hands as the shell broke, and Jo began to cry.