While this revelation was a bit unsettling, particularly in light of what had happened with Bonnie, Aaron knew Cadence was right. He didn’t want to put Cassidy in danger, but even leaving her back at headquarters didn’t seem particularly safe. “All right. Let Cadence and I chat, and we’ll see what we think personnel wise, but Hannah, I’m thinking I might want you to stay here and oversee things while we’re gone.”
The Guardian nodded. “I can most certainly do that.” It was hard to say whether or not she was happy with that assignment, but Aaron knew she’d do whatever he asked of her. At this point, he was tempted to leave Christian here as well, but he thought the IAC situation might’ve been resolved more quickly last night if he’d been with them. Something told him taking Elliott and Christian was a surefire way to set themselves up for problems, though. There was no way the two of them would be able to get along the entire duration of the mission.
“All right. If there’s nothing else, we will let you guys go. Christian, back to work on the trackers and IACs?”
“There are a few more things I can check….” He looked exasperated. Aaron might’ve felt sorry for him if he hadn’t just pissed Cadence off with his comment about his sister.
“Do you want some help? I can turn knobs erratically with the best of them,” Elliott offered as he stood and followed Hannah and Aurora toward the door. It wasn’t clear whether or not he was actually trying to help or just being a pain in the ass.
“That’s what you think I’m doing?” Christian sounded greatly offended, which only encouraged Elliott, and he continued to jab at the tech guru as they all exited the room.
Cadence was shaking her head, but she had a small smile playing at the corners of her lips, and he imagined she secretly enjoyed watching Elliott torture Christian. “So… how are things?” Aaron asked, finally relaxing back in his chair, slightly. Messages from Australia were still coming in, though not as urgently, and Becky let him know she’d returned to headquarters to organize a search party. He imagined Cadence was getting the same information.
“Peachy.” She rolled her eyes, leaning forward with her elbows on the table. “I never would’ve imagined any of this was possible.”
There was no sense in reminding her he’d warned her before she’d gone to open the portal. Nothing could be done about it now. “How’s Tara?”
He watched her flinch. “She’s… uh… okay. Cale’s with her now since Jamie’s out and the Guardians are mostly on the mend.”
“I know. I sent him.”
“Right.” She swiped her hand through her hair. “We need to get over there and find Paul.”
“Are you changing the subject?” He couldn’t help but be slightly amused.
“No. That’s the subject that brought me here, remember?”
“Uh huh. And I asked you about Tara, but you don’t want to talk about her.” He adjusted in his chair, leaning heavily on the arm away from her so he could survey her better. “Why is that, Cadence?”
Her left eye narrowed as she looked him up and down for a few seconds. “Because… this is more pressing.”
Holding back a smile was no longer an option so he grinned at her as he shook his head in disbelief. “Do you honestly think I haven’t installed enough cameras in Christian’s office to cover every square inch of that space? After every scheme he’s been involved in….”
“You know!” she squealed slamming her hands down on the table as she pushed her chair backward. “Damn it, Aaron!”
“Why are you yelling at me? You’re the one who went behind my back and did something risky—again—without telling me about it!” He wasn’t mad, though. That was the funny thing. He felt like he should be, but what was done was done. Just like with the portal. Only this time, the consequences seemed much smaller.
“Look, I didn’t even know for sure we were doing it until it happened. That was part of the reason I was pissy at Christian myself last night. He came in there like Mr. Fixit with his briefcase of special tools.”
Aaron snickered at her description. “So who ordered it then?”
Her brown eyes widened as she searched for the appropriate answer. He’d assumed it had been her, but possibly not. “It doesn’t matter. I was the one who brought up using it in the first place. Just… not on her.”
Now, that was surprising. “What do you mean?”
“I mean… we’d talked about using it on ourselves.”
“What? Who is we? And why?” Any glee at knowing something she wasn’t informed he was aware of was gone now.
“It’s not like we actually did it. We just talked about it. Listen, Aaron, if this works with Tara, I think we should consider it. You’ve seen how strong they are now. Whatever it is we are about to face, I’m not sure we can do it without… without strengthening ourselves.”
“Have you lost your damn mind—again? Cadence, there’s no way in the world I would even consider letting you….”
“Why do you have to let me anything, Aaron? I’m just as much in charge here as you are. And if I want to do it, or allow Hunters to do it, then I should be able to.”
“But you’re not talking about just Hunters, are you? Who is in on this scheme with you? Obviously Christian. I’m guessing Elliott and Jamie, too? Is that right?” He shook his head. The idea that she was somehow capable of manipulating men into doing what she wanted filled his head again. “Those are my people. And there’s no way in hell….”
He was cut off before he could finish by an unexpected message. Cadence was receiving, it, too. He could tell by the way she leaned forward, her hands braced against the table.
