“Brandon!” Cadence exclaimed, flinging herself at him. He barely had time to open his arms before she wrapped him up in a huge hug. “You came! You’re here.”
“Surprise! It’s me!” he said, less than enthusiastically. “Hope you weren’t expecting the pizza guy.”
“No, some of us don’t like pizza,” Cadence said, fi
Meagan, Shane, and Aurora were working out on the cardio equipment as Aaron and Cadence entered the building to show Brandon and Cassidy around. They all promptly stopped what they were doing, recognizing Cassidy but awestruck at seeing Brandon in person for the first time.“Oh, wow,” Aurora said as she walked over, drying her forehead off with a hand towel. “You’ve got to be Brandon. We’ve heard so much about you.” She offered him her hand, which he shook. “I’m Aurora.”
Cassidy considered his comments carefully for a moment before hurrying to catch up. Once she reached her sister, Cadence stepped back to join her, letting the guys lead the way to the gym, the next stop on the tour. “Everything okay?” Cadence asked quietly.“Yeah, it’s fine,” Cassidy replied, not sure if Cadence knew Brandon’s mom had no idea where he was and not wanting to give away his secret. “I’m fine.”
One look at Brandon’s face made Cassidy stop talking. She had clearly said enough to upset him. After a moment of silence, she said, “I’m sorry. That was rude.”“It’s okay,” he shrugged. “You’re right. I never got a chance to meet him. I’m glad you did though. You can tell me stories about him. All three of you can. I just wanted to see Sam before I Transform, to say that I faced him as a man, that’s all. He’s a big part of my motivation to be here, after all. It might make it a little easier if the Transformation gets pai
They paused outside of the door, waiting for Cassidy and Brandon to catch up. Before Aaron unlocked the door, Cadence reminded them, “He’s in pretty bad shape, but he’s still a cantankerous old fart, so stay back. And, Brandon, whatever you plan to say to him, don’t expect any sort of polite response.”“I understand,” Brandon replied, nodding. He looked at Cassidy, who smiled at him reassuringly and squeezed his arm, before Aaron opened the door and they all made their way into the tiny cell.
The tunnels beneath the town of Cesky Krumlov were damp, dark, and not designer-clothing friendly at all. Wrinkling her nose against the smell of old and mildew, Eliza led her team onward, hopeful that the payoff at the end of this mission would be worth it; if she could bring down Giovani, they’d have to let her back on the Kansas City team.She’d gotten a tip just the day before from an ex-Hunter who said she was almost certain she had seen someone fitting Giovani’s description entering the premises above this elaborate system of tunnels and that there had been rumors for c
The flight from London Heathrow would be much longer than the initial flight from Vienna, but it would give Giovani and Zabrina a chance to strategize, and there wasn’t too much to complain about while sitting in first class, sipping champagne.“What is your plan once we arrive in Philadelphia?” Zabrina asked, absently flipping through a fashion magazine.Giovani turned his
“Are you sure you don’t want me to call your mom?” Aaron asked. “You might be out for a day or two.”Brandon scrunched up his mouth in consideration. After a moment, he began fishing his phone out of his pocket. “All right,” he finally replied. “But make sure I’ve gone through with it before you call her. And her number isn’t under mom. But you’ll find it.”
Almost instantly, Amanda picked up. “Brandon Michael, where the hell are you?” she asked, her speech slurred. “I’ve been texting you all damn day.”“Ms. Keen, this isn’t Brandon,” Aaron said, keeping his voice completely calm, despite her obvious agitated, and extremely inebriated, state. “This is Aaron McReynolds. I was a friend of Elliott’s.”