by ID Johnson
“Sure. Why not? I mean, Elliott’s fully capable of making his own decision as to whether or not he wants to come through, you know? At least if you get a chance to see him, you can have some closure.” Cadence nodded as Jamie continued. “Now, I wouldn’t go telling Elliott about what happened to Cassidy or that he has a son on the team now. That might influence him to come through when he normally wouldn’t. But I would tell him that it is an option, so long as he understands that there’s likely no going back.”
“About that,” Cadence interjected, “do you think Dr. Morrow will ever reach a point where he can send Hamilton back?”
Shaking his head, Jamie said, “I don’t know. Things are beginning to change, Cadence. I think you see that more than the rest of us. We’ve been so locked into having definitive rules in the Ternion for hundreds and thousands of years. Now, all of a sudden, the Passels are operating differently than they ever have before. Now, it is possible for a Guardian to kill a Hunter, if they have a titanium bullet. It is possible for a Hunter to kill another Hunter.”
“You’re telling me,” Cadence muttered, remembering how it had felt when Laura shot her.
“Exactly. And then there’s Cassidy’s situation, which no one would have ever thought possible. There’s a very good chance that the serum Aaron tried to use to become human again will be working within the next year or so. We were very close before. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to stop it. So, it’s just very hard to say whether or not something like that will work on Hamilton. Or Elliott.”
She listened to every word he said, taking all of it into consideration. She realized that Aaron was very much a rule follower; everything was black or white. Living in a world where the rules were shifting and bending had to be unsettling. “Answer me this,” Cadence said, turning around so that she was sideways now, facing him, one leg tucked under the other. “If the roles were reversed—if Aaron had died and Elliott had lived, do you think that Elliott would use the portal?”
Jamie didn’t hesitate. “Absolutely.”
Cadence nodded and then dropped her eyes to her lap. That’s what she thought, too.
“But Aaron wouldn’t come through it,” he added.
Cadence looked up at him, her eyebrows raised.
“If Aaron thought for a second he might bring something evil with him, there’s nothing in the world that could make him step through that portal, not even you.”
“Damn,” Cadence mumbled. She knew that Jamie was right, too. That was the hardest part. “Okay, but just because Aaron wouldn’t do something doesn’t mean it’s the right decision.”
“I’m not saying it is,” Jamie nodded. “I’m just telling you what I believe would happen, like you asked.”
“Right,” Cadence replied, shifting back around on the edge of the fountain again. “So when he says that he won’t let this come between us—if I do it—do you believe him?”
Once again, Jamie didn’t hesitate. “Certainly. Cadence, there’s no question in my mind that he loves you unconditionally and completely. I’ve seen him in a few relationships, but nothing like this. Nothing could tear the two of you apart. That I’m sure of.”
Cadence wanted to be happy to hear that, but instead she felt a little sick to her stomach. “And is that because of the whole Hunter Leader/Guardian Leader fate bit?” she asked.
“Are you okay?” he asked, a grin pulling at the corner of his mouth. “You look a little green.”
“Yes, I’m fine,” she said swatting at him. “I’m serious. Does he love me because he wants to, or does he love me because he has to?”
“Yes,” Jamie replied succinctly.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Cadence asked, tempted to smack him for real.
“It means, he loved you before you were the Leader, and I think you had feelings for him before you even Transformed, so I think that’s when you both made your choices. Do I think that fate might have a little bit to do with keeping you together? Possibly. It’s always been the case, as you know. But fate hasn’t been enough to make same sex leaders get together—not often anyway—so, I don’t think you have zero choice in the matter.”
While she heard and understood him, she wasn’t sure that was enough of an answer to calm her nervous stomach. “Okay,” she finally said. I guess that makes sense.”
“I suppose it matters to you, then, why he loves you, instead of just being happy that he does?”
Cadence nodded. She’d never really felt worthy, never felt good enough, for him.
“It shouldn’t,” Jamie assured her, squeezing her shoulder. “Hell, sometimes I can’t even believe I’m worthy of being in the same room with him, let alone his friend.”
She giggled. He really was more like a demigod than anyone she’d ever met—or even imagined. “How did the two of you meet, anyway?” she asked, realizing she had no idea.
“Oh, Jack the Ripper. But we didn’t really become good friends until Pearl Harbor,” Jamie replied, putting his hand back in his lap.
“Really?” Cadence asked. She knew Aaron had some stories, but she had not heard this one before, and he’d only mentioned Jack the Ripper in passing.
“Yes. It’s a long story, but I was stationed there, and he was there gathering intel for your grandfather. The Japanese were not the only ones after the sailors that day.”
“Of course not,” Cadence replied, shaking her head. “Why does it seem like all of these horrible events in history are Vampire related?”
“Not all of them,” Jaimie clarified. “And the bombing wasn’t either. In fact, the Vampires weren’t around at all that day. They waited a few days to come in and try to do some damage. By then, thanks to Aaron’s information, your grandfather and his team were able to stop them.”
“And when you say you were stationed there, do you mean in the navy or as a Guardian?”
“Both. I was a medic.”
“Oh, I see,” Cadence nodded.
“I’d already Transformed by then. After all, I was pretty old by human standards. But no one knew that.”
“Of course not. You still look like a spring chicken.”
He laughed and patted her hand before continuing, “And a lot of us enlisted during the war. It just made sense to fight for our country, especially those of us who could take a bullet and keep going.”
“Right,” Cadence nodded, thinking that seemed logical.
“I had to hide my talents in the hospital, but very few of my patients died, and those that did, well, I couldn’t heal someone who didn’t have all of the necessary parts.”
“Bluck,” Cadence said, sticking her tongue out. “So you were there during the Pearl Harbor attack?”
“I was,” Jamie affirmed. “And I really don’t like to talk about it.”
“I don’t blame you,” Cadence replied. “I bet a lot of people lived who otherwise wouldn’t have.”
“Maybe,” the Healer shrugged. “But you don’t remember the ones that lived as much as you remember the ones that didn’t.”
Realizing he must be thinking of someone in particular, Cadence put her arm around him. “I’m sorry. Do you want to talk about that?”
“No,” Jamie said quietly.
“Okay,” Cadence said. She kept her arm around him for a few more moments, sitting in silence before she said, “Thanks for meeting with me. I know you’re busy. Your opinion really means a lot to me.”
“Any time,” he replied patting her knee. “I’m sure that, whatever you decide to do, we’ll all be able to handle the consequences.”
“I hope so,” Cadence agreed, hopping down off of the fountain and brushing her backside off. “Otherwise, Eliza’s greatest wish might come true, and Aaron and I won’t be together anymore. And even if she’s thousands of miles away in Madagascar, I would really hate for her to get to say, ‘I told you so.’”
Jamie jumped down beside her. “She’s probably just happy to be out of Siberia.”
“True.”
/>
“And Slovakia.”
“Also true.”
“Besides, even if Aaron couldn’t forgive you, he would never get back together with Eliza again.”
“Oh, I know that,” Cadence replied as they began to walk back toward the complex. “I just don’t want her to ever be able to say she was right about anything again.”
“Can you imagine her face if she did see Elliott alive and well?” Jamie snickered. The purple-headed siren had never gotten along with the burly Guardian.
Cadence laughed, imagining what that would be like. “Oh, my God, Jamie,” she exclaimed, grabbing his arm and turning him to face her as a thought popped into her mind. “I can’t wait until Cowboy Sam sees Elliott!”
“Oh, yes. Please let me be there for that,” Jamie agreed. “But I’m not cleaning it up when that old murderer shits his pants.”
Cadence had to stop walking because she was laughing too hard. “Seriously, Funny Jamie is the best. Can I keep him?”
“As long as you protect me from your fiancé when he finds out I approved Operation Blue Moon Portal.”
“You got it,” Cadence said, looping her arm through his as they continued on their way. She knew Aaron wouldn’t get mad at Jamie; he was too valuable. Besides, even Aaron had to know Jamie was right, didn’t he?
Chapter Six
“Jamie’s wrong,” Aaron said, sitting across the table from her in their kitchenette.
“I knew you were going to say that,” Cadence said, the ham and cheese sandwich in front of her suddenly looking unappetizing.
“Look, Cadence, there’s not anyone whose opinion is going to change my mind. This is a bad idea, and it’s not happening,” he said, a very matter-of-fact tone to his voice.
With a sigh, Cadence pushed her plate away. “Maybe we should just not talk about it anymore,” she suggested.
“Does that mean you’re not going through with it?” he asked, placing his hand on top of hers.
“I didn’t say that,” she clarified, interlacing her fingers with his. “I just don’t see the point. We obviously disagree. And we’re not going to change each other’s minds.”
He made a face that told her it was killing him that he couldn’t convince her she was wrong, and she counted that a small victory. “Fine,” he finally said.
“What have you been working on?”
“I think we should probably head to Blue Springs tonight,” Aaron said, still holding her hand. “We’ve basically got a location on those twins that have been hitting the strip mall parking lots.”
“Cool,” Cadence replied, always up for a hunt. “You got a team together?”
“I’ve got my people,” Aaron nodded. “Can you get a few Hunters together?”
“Yes,” she nodded, the sandwich seeming more appealing now that the subject was changed. She let go of his hand and took another bite.
“Who are you thinking?’
“Paxton and Smith, of course,” she said between bites. She thought that would make him laugh, and it did. They were actually Guardians and by far the worst recruits on the team. Their primary jobs now had to do with surveillance and handling menial tasks around headquarters. They hadn’t been on a hunt for a very long time. “I need to get a few recruits out to observe. That okay with you?”
“Sure.”
“One Hunter one Guardian?”
“If you’ve got people.”
“I’ve got people,” she replied. “You taking Shane?”
“Wasn’t planning on it.”
“That makes it harder to take Meagan,” Cadence reminded him.
“That’s ridiculous. Besides, this should be a pretty quick take down. I’ll take Jamie for obvious reasons and Hannah. That’s really all I’ll need.
“Not Brandon?”
“No. Hannah can call it, and I’ll stay on the ground with you.”
Cadence nodded. Brandon was the only other Guardian that could keep up with her, and he’d been with her several times since he Transformed a few months ago. “All right. I’ll bring Aurora with me, then. That should do it.”
“Sounds good,” Aaron agreed. “And when are we going back to Philly?”
Cadence groaned. “Why? No sightings right?”
“No, but we do have at least three major league Vampires that haven’t been heard from for a while. I would really hate for one of them to be working with him.”
She slid her almost empty plate away again. “Whenever,” she replied, not convinced that Gibbon was nearly the threat dead that he was when he was alive.
“Why don’t you want to get him, Cadence? He’s a serial killer.”
“Was,” she corrected him. “Isn’t the real Gibbon dead? Isn’t this something else? I mean, you always said, ‘that’s not Jack.’ So this isn’t really Gibbon, right?”
Aaron shrugged, both hands turning out as he did so. “I guess. That’s the theory.”
“You know, it sure seems like an awful lot of what we operate on is just theory,” Cadence observed as she took her plate over to the trash can, dumped it, and rinsed it off.
“How could I possibly know that for sure?” he asked, turning to face her.
“I don’t know. But if that’s just a theory, then maybe I did kill Jack.”
“And maybe we’ll all wake up tomorrow and the sun will be green. I don’t know, Cadence. I do know that Gibbon is dangerous, and we need to go get him.”
Clearly, he was still irritated about their previous discussion, and Cadence was growing a bit irked herself. “Fine,” she said crossing her arms. “When?”
“Sunday or Monday, I guess?”
“Why not just go get it over with?”
“Because I have to go to Connecticut tomorrow, remember?”
He had mentioned the trip before, though it had slipped her mind. “That’s two days?”
“Should be.”
“And Saturday?”
“We’re always busy here Saturday. And isn’t your sister coming down?”
She nodded. “Supposed to be. How long are we staying in Philly?”
“As long as it takes?”
Shaking her head, Cadence said, “I need to be back here by Wednesday.”
“Why?” he asked, blue eyes narrowing.
“You know why.”
“You are impossible,” he said, standing, pushing in his chair, and walking toward the living room and the front door.
“I’m impossible?” she yelled, following him.
“What? There’s no moon in Pennsylvania?” he asked, his hand on the doorknob.
“You know I’m not taking an urn on an airplane.”
“You’re not taking an urn anywhere because this is not happening!” he shouted at her, both hands in the air.
Cadence said nothing, only glared at him.
“All right. I’m going back to the office. Some of us have work to do,” he said as he opened the door and walked out into the hallway.
Now, she was pissed. Flying after him, she flung the door open and yelled, “What is that supposed to mean?”
“What do you want it to mean?” he asked, standing near the door to the stairs.
“You think I don’t do anything don’t you? Just because I’m better at delegating than you are?”
“I’m not having this conversation,” Aaron said, pushing the door open. “See you later, Cadence.”
Even though he was gone and the door was closing, she growled after him and shouted, “Don’t say my name like that!”
***
There were dozens of strip centers and shopping areas near Blue Ridge and Independence, Missouri, suburbs of Kansas City, and these particular Vampires loved to hit them after closing to feast on late night employees who were locking up or shoppers taking their time getting back to their cars. But they had a tip that the twins would likely be hanging out at Blue Ridge Crossing that evening, so the team assembled there at ten o’clock, which was early for them, but they had to accommodate the Vampires
’ schedule.
Most of the team had ridden together in an Enclave after a brief meeting to go over the plan for the operation, but Cadence rode her bike instead, not wanting to sit in a vehicle for even a few minutes with her beloved and pretend for her friends and colleagues like nothing was wrong, particularly since they had taken along a new Hunter and Guardian who would be there only to observe. It was standard protocol that new team members went on a series of observations before they actually became involved in a hunt, though Cadence’s observation had lasted less than twenty minutes before she inserted herself into the hunt. She couldn’t help but think about that night as she sat at a red light near the mall. That had been the night she’d taken out Henry, and the night that Sam threatened to kill her for doing so, which had gotten Elliott entangled in a trap that was meant for her.
She arrived first and pulled into a spot around the back of the building where Aaron had instructed her to meet them. A few minutes later, he pulled in. She noticed immediately that Ashley, a beautiful new Hunter, was sitting in the passenger seat next to him—Cadence’s seat--and while she’d always liked the girl, now she suddenly wanted to tear every strand of that flowing blonde hair from her head, especially when she noticed they were both laughing as they got out of the vehicle.
“Hey,” Aurora called as she clambered out of the back, her legs so long it was hard for her to sit back there. “How was the ride?”
Cadence just shrugged. “You’re the tallest. Why didn’t you sit up front?”
“Oh, Ashley called shotgun,” she replied nonchalantly. “Bringing Ash and Mickey along was a good idea. They’re both just about ready to go.”
Mickey was a Guardian, and though he was short, he was all muscle. He wasn’t as fast as Cadence would have liked, but he was powerful and a good shot. He was standing behind the SUV along with Ashley listening to Aaron point out a few things about the plan that they might need to know, especially since neither of them would be armed.
“What’s with the face?” Aurora asked, moving so that she was standing in Cadence’s line of sight.
“Nothing,” Cadence said, shaking her head to clear her thoughts.