Jack shot straight up in bed, the intense burning in his throat almost more than he could bear. He looked around the room, only vaguely remembering where he was and what had happened to him. It was still dark outside, and glancing at the clock, he could see that it was only 5:15 AM. He remembered Giovani saying that older Vampires rarely slept, so he was hopeful that his brother would be available to tell him what to do about this condition. Pulling on his crumpled jeans from the floor and a T-shirt, he went out to investigate.
Giovani was sitting on the couch, game controller in hand, steering some mutant with a club around a make-believe world, destroying everything and everyone within sight. Next to him sat a tall, thin man with dark black hair, his own controller propelling a wizard through the same land, attempting to halt the mutant's progress, though without much luck. Both men were vocalizing their elation and devastation at each juncture, their expressions punctuated with all sorts of expletives and threats.
Jack stood watching for a moment, not exactly sure how to make his presence known. He didn't want to interrupt the game, but the discomfort in his throat seemed to be increasing by the second, and he didn't know how much longer he could stand it.
Giovani was aware that Jack had joined them. He completed the sequence he was working on in the game, and then hit pause on the console. "Hey, Jack. We didn't wake you up, did we?" he asked sitting the controller down.
"No," Jack assured him, gesturing with his right hand. "Not at all."
"Good, good," Giovani said, standing. "This is my friend Rob. He lives in the apartments across the street."
"How are you doing?" Jack asked, shaking the lanky fellow's hand.
"Pleased to meet you," Rob replied, not standing but stretching his hand over to reach. "You're Giovani's brother?" he asked.
Giovani nodded in Jack's general direction, letting him know that it was okay to confirm. "Yeah," Jack said, nodding. "We're brothers."
"Cool, cool," Rob said leaning back on the couch.
"Everything all right?" Giovani asked, a look of concern on his scruffy face.
Jack wasn't sure if Rob really was "cool" or not. He hesitated a moment before answering. "Yeah, I just. . . I'm really thirsty."
Amused Giovani said, "That right, brother? Well, then, we can take care of that. Rob, you wanna go grab a drink?"
Rob's eyes twinkled, and Jack could clearly see two sharp fangs forming in his smile. "I'm always up for a drink," he replied, coming to his feet.
"Great," Giovani stated, smiling. "Well, then, let's go see what we can scare up."
* * *
Elliott was still engrossed in his phone when a rapping at the door got his attention. "Anybody order a pizza?" he asked the girls. Hannah was reading, not acknowledging the knock or the comment, and Eliza appeared to have dozed off. He set his phone down and clambered to his feet, mumbling, "Who the hell knocks on a hotel room door at 5:30 in the morning?"
He didn't bother to check the peephole, thinking there weren't too many people in the world he couldn't take. Pulling open the door, however, he wished he would have checked. At least he would have had a few more seconds to prepare. "Well, shit," he said, stepping out of the way so that his boss could enter the room.
"I'm really happy to see you, too," Aaron replied, walking past him but pausing just inside the doorway. "I can't tell you how badly I'd like to punch you in the face right now," he added, only half joking.
"She's fine," Elliott assured him, pushing the door closed behind him.
"She'd better be," Aaron exclaimed, taking his coat off and tossing it on a chair by the door. "You don't authorize hunts, Elliott. Only I do that."
"I know, I know," Elliott replied, throwing his hands into the air and walking away, back toward the living area. Tossing himself back down in the chair he added, "Believe me, I didn't intend for her to actually take on Barbarosa. It just . . . happened. And it's fine. Everything turned out fine for all non-bloodsucking parties involved."
"Hey," Eliza interrupted, just waking up and realizing Aaron was in the room. She stood and hugged him gently. "How are you feeling?"
Aaron hesitated before returning the hug. "I'm fine," he replied, releasing her. Eliza returned to the chair she had been snoozing in, and he turned to Hannah, who had put her book down. "Hannah," he said, waving politely.
"Hello," she said. "Glad to hear that you're feeling better."
"Yeah," he replied, sitting down in an empty chair across from the couch. "Jamie fixed everything the second time, so it's really no big deal."
"Ha," Eliza chimed in rather loudly. "You were shot, Aaron. That's nothing to be trifled about. You could've died."
Aaron was very much aware of how close he had come to expiring that day. Nevertheless, the last thing he wanted was his teammates worried about him. "I know, Eliza," he said calmly. "But I'm fine now. Of course, you can imagine my surprise when I heard that Cadence had destroyed Barbarosa," he added, returning his attention to Elliott.
Shaking his head, Elliott attempted to explain again. "I told you," he said dismissively, "I never intended for her to actually engage him. She's . . . tenacious."
Aaron opened his mouth, as if he was going to respond, but then, surveying the room, he thought better of it, and closed it abruptly. He switched to IAC instead, speaking to Elliott, and only Elliott. "She's less than a month old. How could you have done something so completely irresponsible?"
"You're absolutely right," Elliott agreed. "I should have never taken her out there in the first place. And once I did, I should have demanded she stand down and dragged her back to the vehicle. But, I didn't. I couldn't. I just watched her. . . in awe. I've never seen anything like it. I'm sorry, man. I shouldn't have been screwing around. It won't happen again."
"Was this pay back?" Aaron asked, wondering if Elliott had taken her out there intentionally trying to get her hurt, or worse.
"No, well, not exactly," Elliott admitted. "I was just trying to scare her. I definitely didn't want to see her get hurt. I wouldn't have let that happen."
"There might not have been anything you could do about it. The guy was a freaking nightmare, something out of a bad dream. You were there when we lost Williams and Morris. And the other time when Campbell didn't make it out. Honestly, Elliott, I'm questioning your judgment now, and that's not a good thing." This was about as stern with Elliott as Aaron had ever gotten, and he could see his friend's expression changing from one of slight disappointment in himself to one of a child being reprimanded by his favorite parent.
Elliott sighed, attempting to get his thoughts together before he replied. Finally, he said, "You're absolutely right, and, again. I'm sorry."
Physically nodding, despite the fact that the girls in the room were not privy to the conversation, Aaron said, "All right. Just. . . don't ever let it happen again. Got it? No matter how much you don't like her, it's my job to keep her alive. And it's your job, too."
"Oh, no," Elliott corrected, "that's all over with now. She's great. I mean, she's amazing. I love her." Aaron's forehead visibly furrowed, sparking Elliott to clarify. "I mean, like she's my little sister or something. What I'm trying to say is, you don't have to worry about me complaining about her anymore. You wanna date her, I'm all for it. In fact, go ahead and marry her. I'll stand next to you."
Aaron blushed, something he had a propensity to do whenever the topic of dating Cadence, or almost anything associated with Cadence, came up. "Good to know," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. "I guess that's better than the alternative," he added as an afterthought.
Elliott waited a few moments before asking the question that was burning in his mind. "How did you find out?" he inquired, wondering if Eliza or Hannah had ratted him out.
"What difference does it make?" Aaron asked, protecting his source.
"I'm just curious," Elliott admitted. "It had to be one of these two lovely ladies."
"Possibly," Aaron replied. "But honestly, it doesn't matter. It should have been you. And you should have called for backup as soon as you realized she was headed in."
Considering that remark, Elliott absently pulled at a string on the edge of the armrest. "I thought about it," he confirmed. "I just didn't think anyone would get there in time. Either she'd have him, or he'd get away. Or. . . "
"He'd have her."
