Eliza's attitude had changed. She had been lucky enough to spend some time with Aaron since they had left for Billings, and she was happy to have had the opportunity to do so without Cadence in the way. Before Cadence had come into the picture, Eliza thought that all he really needed was some time and, eventually, they would be able to give their relationship another try. Now that Cadence was here, however, she knew that it was going to be much harder to win him back. And the thought of the two of them spending the night together, which she knew they had the night before, made her physically sick to her stomach. Eliza had a few tricks up her sleeve, but for some reason, none of her special talents seemed to be working, and she wasn't quite sure why....
They were sitting in a briefing meeting, talking about a hunt they would be attending later that night, when Laney's message had come through. Now, despite the fact that the Guardian who would be leading the hunt that night, Morgan, was going over some fairly pertinent information, Eliza's mind was wandering. Aaron was sitting right next to her, too, which made it even harder to concentrate.
They had only dated for about three months before he broke it off, saying that she was too much of a distraction. And he was right. They did not do well in high-pressure situations, especially not when he was giving her orders--which was part of his job. She had ended up botching a hunt pretty badly and almost got herself accidentally shot by a Hunter who didn't realize Eliza was out of position. The entire team had been outraged, and Aaron broke up with her, saying he didn't think it was a good idea to date someone he worked with. Of course, he had recently told Cadence the same thing, so technically they weren't dating either. But, after Aaron had told Eliza that he didn't want to see her anymore, he hadn't ended up in her bed. Score one for Cadence.
Speaking to Laney about Jack had brought up a lot of questions about that situation, too. She knew that Aaron would probably be annoyed if she started asking them right now while Morgan was talking. But she couldn't help herself. "What's up with Jack? Is he headed toward Shenandoah?" she asked, knowing Aaron could probably tell her his exact coordinates if she asked.
"Yes, if he isn't there by now." Aaron replied, not even glancing at her as he did so.
"Laney was asking. I guess Giovani's with him?"
"Believe so," he replied shortly, completely ignoring the mention of Laney, which also alluded to her sister.
"Any activity?"
He audibly sighed then, and Eliza knew she was pushing her luck. "Body at a truck stop between Omaha and Shenandoah. Found this morning."
That could be a game changer, Eliza thought. "Innocent?"
"Yes," he replied.
"Giovani or Jack? Or do you know?" she asked, wondering if Jack just made the Naughty List.
"You know how Giovani operates," he replied glancing at her this time. They both knew that Giovani was notorious for convincing newbies to commit acts of violence against Innocents, getting them on the Rogue list, where there was only one option for the Vampire Hunters; find them and destroy them.
"So, you putting him on the Rogue list then?" Eliza wondered if Aaron would do that, considering that Cadence would probably flip out.
"No confirmation yet, so I'm holding off. We still need to bring him in. Now, would you please pay attention so you don't get yourself shot tonight?" he ordered her.
"We're just consulting," Eliza said, huffing a bit. "It's not like I'm going to be doing anything."
"Well, I am so shush," he said, attempting to choose a word that would keep her from getting her feelings hurt. He could tell by the way she crossed her arms that he had not been successful. It was moments like these that made him remember why they had argued so much. Breaking up with Eliza had been one of the smartest things he had ever done. Breaking up with Cadence, on the other hand, was one of the dumbest. Now that he had fairly good evidence that Cadence's ex-boyfriend had gone Rogue, the situation became even more complicated. It was bound to be a tough next few weeks. Right now, however, he needed to prepare for this hunt. He attempted to put Cadence out of his head and focus on Morgan's speech, but concentrating on the speaker was increasingly more difficult, and Eliza's huffing beside him made it even more so. Hopefully, they would accomplish what they needed to that evening so they could get back to the job at hand--finding Jack and bringing him in unharmed.
* * *
Cadence slept well that night, and the next morning, and into the afternoon. Elliott had explained to her parents what he had done so they wouldn't worry; but at 2:00, when her mother had come into her room to see if she needed anything and she was still fast asleep, Mrs. Findley had been a bit panicky and sent Elliott in to check on her. Cadence was fine, just regaining her strength and clarity. She would wake up when she was ready to.
It wasn't until 4:30 that she finally awoke. At first, she wasn't sure exactly where she was. It took her a few minutes to realize that she was in the bed she had grown up in. She rubbed at her eyes and yawned. Then, stretching, she sat up and looked around the room. She had a feeling she wasn't alone, and she expected Elliott might still be there, but she was a little surprised to see who was actually sitting in one of the two chairs by the window across the room.
"Hey," Christian said quietly, standing and walking toward her. "Are you finally awake?"
It took Cadence a moment to speak. Finally, she said, "Yes, I think so. What are you doing here?"
"We came up for the memorial service," he explained, sitting on the edge of her bed. "Jamie and Meagan are back at the hotel with Elliott and Hannah, but I couldn't wait to see you. How are you doing?"
Mention of the memorial service brought a flood of recent memories into her head, and she had to think for a moment before replying. Finally, she said, "I'm okay. I know Hannah's talent is definitely working. It just seems a bit . . . surreal."
"I bet," he said quietly. "Is there anything I can get for you? Anything you need?"
Cadence considered the question for a moment. "No, I don't think so," she finally replied. "I can't think of anything."
Christian nodded slowly. "Okay, well, if you think of anything, anything at all, please let me know." Cadence nodded, and he sweetly patted her leg, which was still beneath the blanket, before continuing. "I'm sure you want to see your family, so I'll get going. I hope you don't mind me sneaking in. I just. . . I wanted to make sure you were okay."
Cadence wasn't exactly sure how to reply to that so she simply said, "It's all right."
Christian gave her a small smile before standing, staring at the floor for a moment, and then turning back toward the window. He paused for a second before spinning around to face her. "When we get back to LIGHTS and everything is sort of back to normal, as normal as it ever is at LIGHTS anyway, do you think. . . would you like to grab a cup of coffee, or something?
Cadence could see just how much he wanted to spend time with her, and she wasn't about to crush his hopes just now, not when she had no idea what was going on with Aaron, especially considering the vagueness of the request. She gave him a small smile and said, "Sure, that would be nice."
He nodded, returning her smile. "Okay, then," he replied. "Cool. All right. Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay. Bye," she said, watching him quickly disappear out of the window.
