Cadence nodded at him confidently before returning to her sister. "We were in a situation where we were trying to bring in a very dangerous Vampire and a team of Vampire Hunters that were angry with us over another situation ambushed us. Elliott died protecting my friend Meagan. He died a hero--he is a hero."
"So, how are you going to find this Vampire Hunter, the one that killed Elliott?" Cassidy asked, the wheels in her head clearly spinning.
"We'll find him," Cadence assured her.
"I want to help," Cassidy replied, meeting her sister's eyes.
"I'm sorry, Cass, you can't, not yet. You're not old enough," Cadence replied sympathetically.
"What? What do you mean?"
"You're going to have to wait until you're seventeen to go through the Transformation process and become a Vampire Hunter, if you decide you want to," Cadence explained.
"That's bullshit," Cassidy exclaimed.
Cadence's eyes widened. She had never heard her sister use a swear word before. Ever.
Cassidy threw her hand over her mouth. "Sorry. I didn't mean..., but Elliott was like a brother to me. You've got to let me do something," she pleaded.
"I'll tell you what, we'll talk it over, and see if there's something you can do when the time comes. But we have a lot of other things to consider right now--and we have to find him," Cadence said, hoping to offer some sort of consolation to her sister. "There are a lot of rules, a lot of other things that you don't know about yet. It takes time to and a lot of exposure to all the moving parts to figure this all out, Sis. It's like a completely different world, one you have been living in your whole life that you didn't even know existed. It's really very overwhelming, and I can't explain it all to you right now." For the first time since Cadence had been exposed to the Clandestine Ternion back in November, she finally had some clarity as to why Aaron didn't tell her everything all at once. Once again, she met his eyes, and she saw the acknowledgement there that he recognized her new perspective.
Cassidy seemed to accept that but made one last plea. "Fine," she said, "but if there's anything at all that I can do to help find this... creep, you've got to let me."
"We will," Aaron assured her.
"Thank you," Cassidy said, managing a small smile. Then she added, "So, Aaron, what are you?"
He laughed quietly. "Good question," he shot to Cadence, who smiled in acknowledgement "I'm a Guardian," he replied.
"A Guardian?" Cadence asked, looking at him skeptically. He shrugged at her and she threw the pillow she'd been holding at him, which he was able to dodge. When she turned back to her sister, she looked confused. "He's the Guardian Leader, Cass. He's in charge of every Guardian in the world."
"Oh, wow," Cassidy said in awe. "That sounds pretty important."
"Yeah, and since there's currently no Hunter Leader, he's in charge of all of them, too."
"But," Aaron chimed in, "we are in the process of electing a new one of those, so hopefully that won't be an issue for much longer."
"If we can find a suitable candidate," Cadence muttered, just before the pillow came whizzing back in her direction. She caught it with one hand without looking, and Cassidy's mouth fell open. "I can do lots of cool stuff now, Cass. You should see how fast I can run."
"I'm..." she began, "overwhelmed. You're right. Okay. I guess I need to process all of this, and figure out what to do without Elliott," she said slowly.
"I think we're all going to need some time to figure that out," Aaron said quietly.
Cassidy nodded. "I'm sorry. He was your best friend for a really long time, huh?"
"Yes."
She was clearly fighting back tears again. "I think I'm going to go to my room now," she said, pulling herself to her feet.
"Okay, Cass, but there's just one more thing," Cadence began. "You can't tell anyone about this. No one. Not Lucy or Emma, not Milo or Wes, or any of your other friends, okay? If you feel like you need to talk about it, you have to talk to one of us."
"All right," she said nodding her head, "but Lucy and Emma have been helping me with the research, so they already think..."
"You'll have to throw them off," Cadence interrupted. "Tell them you talked to me about it, and I assured you that I'm not a Vampire Hunter."
She considered her older sister's response for a moment before asking, "What do I tell them about Elliott?"
Cadence looked surprised. "Do they know Elliott?"
Cassidy exhaled loudly in a way only a teenager girl can before saying, "Cadey, all of my friends know Elliott."
Cadence looked at Aaron, who just shrugged, clearly equally confused. "Tell them... he was in an accident."
"Can I tell them he was murdered? Since he was."
Again, she checked with her boss before responding. "Yes. But make sure they don't think he was murdered by Vampires. Because he wasn't."
"All right," she agreed, before Cadence stood and gave her a hug. "I love you, Sis."
"I love you, too, Cass, so much," Cadence replied before releasing her and watching her drag herself up the stairs in a much more somber mood than she had been in just a few minutes ago when she had bounded in the door to see her sister.
Aaron wrapped his arms around her. "You did a great job of breaking the news and explaining what you could."
While she appreciated his support, she wasn't sure she agreed. She collapsed back onto the couch, dragging him down with her. "Thanks, but, ugh, that was awful. I hope I never have to tell her another person she cares about is gone."
"Me, too," he agreed.
"What about her friends?" she asked. "Is that going to be a problem? Do we need damage control?"
"No," he scoffed. "It'll be fine. She'll throw them off, and they'll accept it for a little while. Eventually, they'll start asking questions, and then we'll tell them the truth."
Cadence gave him a puzzled look. "What do you mean? Are they Hunters, too?"
"Lucy is," Aaron assured her. "And she's almost seventeen. Emma is a Guardian."
"Really?" she asked in disbelief.
"Mmm hmm."
"What are the chances that so many of us would all end up in the same small town?" she asked still baffled.
"I'd say pretty good, considering your grandmother orchestrated it," he replied.
"There's more to this story, isn't there?" He nodded, and she leaned her head back against the couch, a wave of exhaustion hitting her. "There's always more to the story...."
"It's a very old story with a lot of complex characters," he replied.
Cadence absorbed that response before saying, "Someday, you'll have to fill me in. But I think it's too much for me to take just now." He gave her another sympathetic look, and then a thought occurred to her. "How come my grandma asked you, and then Hannah, to watch over me, but there's no one assigned to my sister or these other potential recruits?"
"Who says there's not?" Aaron replied, answering her question with a question of his own.
Cadence's brow furrowed. "You mean, my sister has a Guardian assigned to her, too?" She was having a hard time believing that could be the case and no one ever mentioned it to her.
Aaron was quiet for a second, a solemn expression on his handsome face. Eventually, he said, "She did. That's something I am going to have to address."
The revelation hit her hard, like a massive blow to the chest. "Elliott!" she gasped. "He was assigned to my sister?"
"Yes," he confirmed.
"So, all this time--you were watching over me, and he was watching over her?"
"Yes."
Cadence shook her head in disbelief. "No wonder he was so fond of her. And she took to him immediately...."
"You'll have to help me determine who to assign to her, in a few days. She's not in any immediate danger, and there are other Hunters and Guardians in the area, but your grandmother specifically requested we look after you. And after so many years of service, we whole-heartedly agreed. The rest of the kids who haven't Transformed yet don't necessarily have anyone in particular looking out for them. But there are always eyes and ears watching and listening," he explained.
