“That’s what I came to say. You know that little mission Dirk went off on? Well, he came back, and we may have something on Ella. We’re going to go out, and if it is her, get her back.”
He looked proud and happy.
“And you didn’t tell me?” I asked sharply, getting out of bed with a frown and turningaway to grab clothes and start pulling them on.
Behind me, Caz’s dragon began happily growling away. I turned back to see him staring at me.
“Not now,” I said in that same hard tone, removing the smile from his face. “Worry about my ass later.”
“Kind of hard to do when you’re bending over in front of me like that,” he pointed out. “Makes me want to step closer and grab your hips, and—”
“You won’t be grabbing anything anytime soon,” I snapped, pulling up my pants and reaching for a sports bra.
“Have I done something wrong?” he asked, taking a half-step back to give me some space. “I thought this was a good thing.”
“It is, Caz. But you waiting to tell me is not. If you wanted me to be excited, you should have come and told me the second you found out.”
“But … that’s why I’m here?”
“No,” I said, jabbing a finger in his chest. “It isn’t. You already have a plan in place to go get her. You’ve probably got teams getting ready to go. Everyone knows what to do because you took the time to come up with that planbeforeyou came and told me.”
“Why am I in trouble for this?” he said, throwing up both hands to show they were empty. “I’m letting you know the good news.Goodnews, might I remind you.”
“And that’s the problem, Caz.” I shrugged on a jacket he’d gotten me as well, along with every other item of clothing in the room. But I couldn’t let that cloud my emotions now. “You’re letting me know. Announcing it like a bulletin board for me to read and nothing more.”
“Uh, sorry?” he shook his head. “How would you like me to do this? Seriously. I’m going to need some hand-holding through this one. I’m not used to getting in trouble for good news.”
I sighed. “You aren’t in trouble for the efforts you’ve put in to locate my friend, Caz. I am eternally grateful for that.”
“What’s wrong then? Why are you upset?” His eyes were thick with confusion.
“I’m upset because you’re treating me like an outsider when you should have been including me in your planning to go rescue my friendfrom the start!” I shuddered, holding back heavier emotions. I didn’t want to start crying right then.
He just frowned. His hands twitched, likely trying to come wrap me in one of his fantastic hugs, but they stayed at his side. He knew now wasn’t the time.
“Caz, this is my friend,” I said. “One of the only two people I’ve had in my life. Myentirelife. Did you think I was just going to sit around and wait, sipping on tea and bread while you fetched her back here to me? No way in hell.”
“But …”
“I’m going with you. End of story.”
I started for the door, but Caz didn’t move. He stayed put, blocking my way.
“Caz, think about it,” I said. “Say itisMilly or Ella. When you arrive, how is she going to know that you’re there to help her and not do worse? How are you going to get her to trust you? To her, you’re just more elites, breaking her out of one prison to go to another.”
The wrinkles on his face deepened. “Uhhh.”
“You didn’t think about it from her perspective at all. Did you?” I asked, shaking my head. “Not that I can blame you, I guess. It’s hard to assume a perspective you’ve never lived.”
Caz looked away unhappily.
I didn’t enjoy it. At all. Regret welled up in me at the harshness of my pointing out the truth to him. He didn’t deserve it. Caz was trying. Trying hard. I had no idea the number of resources he’d expended trying to find them, but it had to be far more than I could ever have possessed on my own.
Not only that, after finding this lead with his own money and efforts, he’d been ready to charge off and storm the gates himself to bring her back, regardless of any consequences to himself.
He was trying. His heart was true. He justdidn’t understand what it was like to be a clippy in his world.
“Hey,” I said in a much softer voice, closing the distance to him. “Thank you, Caz. Thank you for finding her. Thank you for being willing to go get her. That means a lot to me.”
