Read Online Resistance (The Variant Series #2) by Jena Leigh - Free Book Online
Authors: Jena Leigh
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the planet capable of maintaining order amongst the troops at the dinner table. Cassie’s father, bless him, just didn’t command the same sense of authority.
Her brothers had sniffed out that weakness like natural-born bloodhounds and were once again using it to their advantage.
Cassie sighed.
Danny’s glass of water had just been added to the ranks of the fallen, giving Runt’s milk the final push it needed to breach the edges of the table.
That was her cue.
“May I be excused?” she asked.
No one seemed to hear.
Cassie took it as a yes, anyway, grabbed her plate, and fled to the kitchen before her father could call her back into the fray.
She’d done her tour. Now it was time for some well-earned leave.
Cassie climbed the stairs to the second floor and closed the door to her bedroom firmly behind her. Moments later, her cell phone started vibrating insistently against her palm.
Put off by the unfamiliar number on the screen, she answered with a hesitant, “Hello?”
“It’s me,” said Kenzie. “Had to use the house phone.”
Smiling, Cassie crossed to the large round folding chair set up in the corner of her room between her bed and the wall, just beneath her tiny window that looked out onto the backyard. She sank into the oversized pink cushions.
“I heard,” she said. “Something about pool water and revenge.”
Kenzie snorted. “I was only trying to help him. I mean, poetry ! In a text ! Who doesn’t love that crap?”
Cassie laughed. “Heard from Alex yet?”
“Nah, but Decks said she’ll be fine. She’ll talk to him , apparently, but not us.” Kenzie huffed. “Which is nine kinds of ridiculous, if you ask me.”
Cassie sighed. “Yeah, well. Knowing Declan, he probably didn’t give her much choice in the matter. She’s okay though?”
“She’s okay.”
In the past, Jessica’s torments usually prompted Alex to retreat into herself for a while until she’d dealt with the pain, and Cassie had slowly learned that the best thing to do was to simply wait it out.
But with everything else going on these days, Cassie was no longer certain if the hands-off approach was still the right way to help her friend.
Cassie couldn’t stand guard over the girl 24/7, and so altercations like this one with Jessica were bound to happen every so often.
At least, they would until Alex learned to stand up for herself—or until Cassie finally convinced Declan to use his jumping ability to drop the evil wench into an active volcano somewhere.
“So have you called him back yet?” asked Kenzie, changing the subject.
“Who, Aiden? No. Not yet.”
“And why the hell not?”
Cassie picked at the sewn edges of the circular cushion. Why not, indeed?
It’s not that she didn’t want to. Aiden was the sort of guy Cassie had always hoped to meet someday. The sort of guy that just didn’t exist in Bay View.
But Mr. Perfect had arrived on the scene with more than a few unexpected risks attached.
And Cassie wasn’t quite sure what to do about those just yet.
“I don’t know,” she said finally. “Just haven’t gotten around to it, I guess.”
“You know what I see?” asked Kenzie. “I see two people who are absolutely crazy about each other… And one that’s too scared to give it a chance.”
Rubbing her forehead tiredly, Cassie closed her eyes. “Are we really going to have this conversation over the phone?”
Kenzie ignored her. “Is it because of what he is?”
Cassie frowned. “No.”
“You sure about that?”
“It’s not about what he is,” said Cassie, struggling to put into words the fears that were currently holding her back. “It’s about all that comes with it. It’s the life you guys lead. And don’t lie—you know that Aiden is just as much of an adrenaline junkie as Declan is, he just hides it better. And I… I don’t know.”
Memories of being stuffed into the trunk of her own car and then being held hostage by a madman—of Aiden’s burning
Her brothers had sniffed out that weakness like natural-born bloodhounds and were once again using it to their advantage.
Cassie sighed.
Danny’s glass of water had just been added to the ranks of the fallen, giving Runt’s milk the final push it needed to breach the edges of the table.
That was her cue.
“May I be excused?” she asked.
No one seemed to hear.
Cassie took it as a yes, anyway, grabbed her plate, and fled to the kitchen before her father could call her back into the fray.
She’d done her tour. Now it was time for some well-earned leave.
Cassie climbed the stairs to the second floor and closed the door to her bedroom firmly behind her. Moments later, her cell phone started vibrating insistently against her palm.
Put off by the unfamiliar number on the screen, she answered with a hesitant, “Hello?”
“It’s me,” said Kenzie. “Had to use the house phone.”
Smiling, Cassie crossed to the large round folding chair set up in the corner of her room between her bed and the wall, just beneath her tiny window that looked out onto the backyard. She sank into the oversized pink cushions.
“I heard,” she said. “Something about pool water and revenge.”
Kenzie snorted. “I was only trying to help him. I mean, poetry ! In a text ! Who doesn’t love that crap?”
Cassie laughed. “Heard from Alex yet?”
“Nah, but Decks said she’ll be fine. She’ll talk to him , apparently, but not us.” Kenzie huffed. “Which is nine kinds of ridiculous, if you ask me.”
Cassie sighed. “Yeah, well. Knowing Declan, he probably didn’t give her much choice in the matter. She’s okay though?”
“She’s okay.”
In the past, Jessica’s torments usually prompted Alex to retreat into herself for a while until she’d dealt with the pain, and Cassie had slowly learned that the best thing to do was to simply wait it out.
But with everything else going on these days, Cassie was no longer certain if the hands-off approach was still the right way to help her friend.
Cassie couldn’t stand guard over the girl 24/7, and so altercations like this one with Jessica were bound to happen every so often.
At least, they would until Alex learned to stand up for herself—or until Cassie finally convinced Declan to use his jumping ability to drop the evil wench into an active volcano somewhere.
“So have you called him back yet?” asked Kenzie, changing the subject.
“Who, Aiden? No. Not yet.”
“And why the hell not?”
Cassie picked at the sewn edges of the circular cushion. Why not, indeed?
It’s not that she didn’t want to. Aiden was the sort of guy Cassie had always hoped to meet someday. The sort of guy that just didn’t exist in Bay View.
But Mr. Perfect had arrived on the scene with more than a few unexpected risks attached.
And Cassie wasn’t quite sure what to do about those just yet.
“I don’t know,” she said finally. “Just haven’t gotten around to it, I guess.”
“You know what I see?” asked Kenzie. “I see two people who are absolutely crazy about each other… And one that’s too scared to give it a chance.”
Rubbing her forehead tiredly, Cassie closed her eyes. “Are we really going to have this conversation over the phone?”
Kenzie ignored her. “Is it because of what he is?”
Cassie frowned. “No.”
“You sure about that?”
“It’s not about what he is,” said Cassie, struggling to put into words the fears that were currently holding her back. “It’s about all that comes with it. It’s the life you guys lead. And don’t lie—you know that Aiden is just as much of an adrenaline junkie as Declan is, he just hides it better. And I… I don’t know.”
Memories of being stuffed into the trunk of her own car and then being held hostage by a madman—of Aiden’s burning
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