Dateless and Deadly

Chapter 12

Then again, maybe not.

He stepped back, looking a little shaken and sank into the chair.

“Anyway,” I said, trying to get rid of the weird tension in the room. “Tell me about the fight. How did it turn out? Is everyone okay?”

He seemed to relax again but he didn’t meet my eyes as he briefed me on the fight that I felt like I wasn’t really part of. My fight had been with Caine. For some reason, I felt like that was the whole reason why we’d been there. Caine wanted something from me. And from my sister and he was determined to find a way to get it.

Just then, Sam flung the door open and stormed into the room. She came right up to my bed, grabbed me by my shoulder said in a voice barely softer than a yell, “Oh my God, Cass! Are you okay?”

I blinked for a second trying to mentally switch gears. One second James is calmly telling me the details of the fight and the next, this torpedo in the form of my sister comes barreling into the room. It takes a second to recover from that.

“I’m fine,” I manage to mumbled as Sam gives my shoulders a firm squeeze before landing on top of me.

I think she’d intended the hug to be comforting but in reality, it hurt. I hissed in pain as her bony hip came into contact with the wound on my side.

“I know, Cass. I know it hurts. You really liked Spencer, didn’t you?” She stroked my hair and I tried to shift so that her hip wasn’t threatening to undo my stitches.

“He was okay,” I ground out, inching away from her.

“Okay?!” Sam shrieked, leaning back and giving me a glare. “You don’t have to hide your feeling from me, you know. I remember how you used to talk about him when you guys were in that stupid study group together. You were so in love with him.” She stroked my hair in what I’m sure she thought was a comforting way but she kept bumping the bruise on my cheek causing shooting pains.

I glanced over her shoulder and saw James had taken a couple steps towards Sam. Maybe to stop her from killing me? But he’d stopped when he’d heard her talk about Spencer.

“I wouldn’t say I was in lo-,” she cut me off.

“Don’t be shy, Cass. Everyone could see it. And now he’s betrayed you in the worst possible way. I can’t even tell you how sorry I am, Cass.” She straightened, sending me a sympathetic look. I glared back at her. She patted me on the hand.

“Well,” Sam said, turning to James. “I’d better get back to training! After all, I’m going to have to work extra hard now to protect you. You just get better, okay?” She sent a wink my way before heading back out the door.

The sudden silence in the room was incredibly awkward. I racked my brain for something to say but he beat me to it.

“I was so concerned with your physical injuries I didn’t even think of your emotional ones,” James said, scowling.

I snorted. “Oh please, my sister was exaggerating.” This time James snorted. I felt my anger rise. Who was he to make assumptions about my love life? Or lack thereof. “Okay, fine. So I had a crush on the guy. He was smart and cute and he always helped me with my studying so yeah, I liked him. But trust me, any feelings I may have had for the guy are long gone thanks to the fact that he went crazy and stabbed me!” The last part had come out a little shrill and my chest was rising and falling quickly.

James cringed at my tone. He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry Cass. I wasn’t thinking. I guess I’ve just had a long day.” He sighed and sent me a sheepish smile. My stomach seemed to lurch a little bit at the sight of his rare smile.

I coughed and immediately regretted it as my side gave an uncomfortable twinge. Jeez, I was a mess. I winced at the pain and felt James start to take a concerned step in my direction when Derek came into the room, ducking through the doorway.

“Cassandra, you look terrible,” Derek said gruffly. His voice was so deep that it seemed on the verge of being out of the normal human decibel range.

“Um, thanks,” I mumbled feeling super self-confident and sexy.

Not.

Derek coughed, clearly uncomfortable talking to a teenage girl. He was having trouble meeting my eyes. “We need you to rest up and get better. There have been some developments that you may have missed while you were…incapacitated.”

“Okay,” I said slowly drawing out the word. Somehow I knew I wasn’t going to like what I was about to hear.

He cleared his throat and his gaze met mine steadily. His eyes were a nice dark brown and for the first time, I noticed a jagged scar across his left cheek. Apparently it was the good guys who had scars in this battle. “Dillon left us.” I frowned, not understanding. Did he quit the fight, not wanting to be part of a universe-ending battle? Did he realize how much was at risk? Did he go pick up a carton of milk at the grocery store?

“You’re going to have to be a bit more specific than that,” I said, still frowning.

He nodded, his expression solemn. “Dillon has joined Caine.”