Despite the fact that she had consumed no alcohol the night before, Cadence awoke feeling as if she had been hit by a Mac truck. The restless nights were starting to add up. By the time she'd made it back to her hotel, met with Aurora and Meagan and went over the new plan, and unwound a little bit, the sun was creeping over the horizon. Even after nearly ten hours of attempting to get even a couple of uninterrupted, consecutive hours of slumber, she finally hauled herself to the shower, hoping the hot water would somehow make her feel as human as a non-human could feel.
She spent much of the remainder of the day in training and trying to escape her funk. She was excited about the hunt, as always, and part of her was also intrigued that she would have the opportunity to see Cale again, though she wasn't sure what that was all about.
By the time she climbed on her bike around 2:45, she was finally starting to feel a little better. Dressed in a deep purple cat suit, despite the high temperatures, she was hopeful that the hunt would go well, though she had her reservations. The Reno team just didn't seem to be on board. Hopefully, Cale had been successful at convincing them to trust Cadence's judgment. As she neared the Exxon parking lot they had agreed to meet in, she was beginning to regain her usual optimistic attitude.
That all changed when she realized the black Lamborghini Aventador parked in the shade of the tree line near the old gas pumps did not belong to the Reno team. She stopped her bike so abruptly, it almost spun out. Meagan and Aurora were following close behind and had to take evasive action to avoid her as well. "Holy shit," she mumbled.
"Why is Aaron here?" Meagan asked, stopping just inside of the parking lot and behind where Cadence had screeched to a halt.
"I have no earthly idea," Cadence replied. Realizing she couldn't leave her bike where it was, she started moving again, heading over to where he was parked. Aurora and Meagan knew better than to follow and they chose other discrete locations to disembark.
As she approached the car, he got out. She dropped her kickstand, removed her helmet, stood up, crossed her arms, and said nothing. However, seeing him standing there in front of her after all these months, dressed all in black as usual, that confident, yet unassuming expression on his face, she realized she was still in far deeper than she had imagined.
He waited until he was right in front of her before he said anything. He didn't intend for it to be a showdown, however, so once he was over the initial breathlessness her presence caused, he simply said, "Hi."
Cadence still said nothing. Attempting to ascertain the nature of his visit without asking, she contemplated the possibilities. She could come up with nothing.
"I was just in the neighborhood," he offered, a sarcastic smirk on his handsome face.
She snickered, she couldn't help it. Obviously, that was not true. Finally, realizing she would have to actually speak to him eventually, she said, "Did you drive or do you just have a legion of those sitting around?" referring to the car. It appeared to be exactly the same make and model as the one he had driven in Iowa and his preferred vehicle in Kansas City as well.
"No, I flew," he confirmed. "It's a good car," he explained. "Fast..."
"Unassuming?"
The grin was back. "Absolutely."
"Why are you here?" she asked, cocking her head to the side and shaking it slowly in disbelief.
There were a number of explanations he could have offered, but none of them were easy, and none of them would have been acceptable. Finally, he said, "I'm just here to observe. I promise not to interfere."
"Does Cale know?" she asked, thinking her new friend might be very embarrassed to see their boss on site, as if he couldn't handle it himself.
"He does now," he replied, nodding in the direction over her shoulder.
She turned to see two vehicles pulling in behind them. One was the same BMW from the night before. The other was an Enclave similar to the one she had ridden in with her teammates before. Cale stepped out of the driver's side of the BMW, confusion plastered all over his handsome face. Cadence couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Turning back to Aaron, she said, quietly, "You're an asshole."
"It's my job, Cadence," he said, folding his arms, not giving any indication that her comment had affected him at all.
She didn't acknowledge his explanation verbally, choosing instead to send him the bird via an emoticon through her IAC. It was the first time she had given him access in months. Unlike everyone else, he could not force hers on. She spun on her heels and approached Cale, hoping to say something to him before he reached Aaron. The rest of his team had piled out of the cars and stood, mouths gaping, looking for their immediate boss to explain what the Guardian Leader was doing there.
Cale was slowly heading in their direction, and Cadence stopped just in front of him, blocking his path. "He was here when we got here," she said only to him.
"Why?" Cale asked, tones of nervousness and embarrassment coming through even through the IAC.
"I'm not sure," Cadence admitted. "But I'm fairly certain it has more to do with me than you," she replied.
He didn't seem to know what to make of that. He slowly nodded his head and took another step forward, as if he expected her to slide out of his way.
She didn't, which left him less than an inch from her now. Uncrossing her arms, she reached out and squeezed his bicep reassuringly. He gave her a small smile and then stepped around her. She glanced over her shoulder, wondering if Aaron would care at all about the physical contact he had just witnessed. If he did, it didn't show. He was leaning against his car, waiting for Cale to approach. Shaking her head, she joined her girls who were standing off to the side, away from the rest of Cale's group.
