House of the Damned

The Boy's POV

Twenty-Six

The Boy’s POV

Knowing Ian was willing to die for Cassie makes it marginally less awkward to be around him, but knowing that (despite her beliefs) he’s still in love with my girlfriend, still makes it a weird situation.

For the sake of everyone else, I can deal with it. I think.

My dad isn’t here yet, but there’s no surprise there. Even flying, it’s going to take a while to arrive. About an hour, I’m guessing. I called him twenty or so minutes before I left and the walk here was half an hour, so we don’t have a long wait. Cassie’s group and my dad should be getting here at about the same time.

“She lived here, you know,” Ian says, coming up beside me. His eyes roam around the now crowded park. “It was her favorite place to sleep. Heaven forbid she stay in the shelter like a normal person. Scared the shit out of me a few times because she wouldn’t. This was her home, though.”

I look around. I had known she was homeless, but she wasn’t much for details. She probably wouldn’t have told Ian except that she was actually living here at the time. He points at a large oak tree.

“She couldn’t sleep on a bench either. Had to sleep in that tree. Cassie just can’t do things like a normal person.”

“You and I both know that that’s part of her charm,” I reply.

He smiles, kind of sadly. “So it is.”

“Thanks, by the way.”

“For what?”

“Not letting her do this on her own. She’d have died for sure.”

“No problem, but even if I hadn’t helped, she would have managed somehow. You’re right, she’d be dead, but the souls would be free. That’s just how she is.”

I nod, agreeing. She’s a freaking miracle worker, I swear. I have no idea how she manages to do all the amazing things she does.

“They’re here,” he mutters, gesturing at the entrance. Another mob of people arrive, Emily at the front. She sees us and her expression alone is enough to tell me something’s wrong. Ian and I exchange a look and run over to her. My eyes roam the crowd and I’m certain I already know the problem. As soon as we reach her, I ask, “Where’s Cassie?”

She shakes her head. “She says to tell you both that she’s sorry, but she has to stay.”

“Is she insane? Venus is going to murder her! Slowly, painfully, awfully. What the hell was she thinking?” Ian shouts.

I frown. “What exactly did she tell you, Emily?”

“She has business to attend to. Then she promptly changed the subject to giving me directions to this place.”

“We have to do something,” Ian argues.

“It will have to wait,” a familiar voice says. I turn around and find someone standing there. I nod at him and smile.

“Hey, Dad.”

He smiles back. “Good to see you, Michael.”

“Did you find transportation?”

“For 203 people? Not quite.”

“202,” Ian corrects quietly. I hear the pain in his voice and ignore how much it irritates me.

She doesn’t love him. Not anymore, I remind myself.

“One less person makes very little difference in the matter.” An unintentional slight, one I can ignore. In this matter though, one less person is a world of difference. “I can’t afford this. Transporting that many people is way outside my pay grade.”