As Cadence headed for the elevator, she didn’t look back, didn’t allow the tears searing into her eyeballs to fall. Whatever was going on with him, she needed to remember that he needed help—right now, all she wanted to do was tear his head off.
It wasn’t quite dawn yet when she headed into the one place where she thought she might find someone awake who could help her. Unfortunately, when she got to Jamie’s office, he wasn’t there, and the door was locked. She imagined he might be with Ashley. Their relationship had really taken off recently, and while she was incredibly happy for her friend, she needed his council more than ever. Frustrated, she banged her head against the wall next to his door, and once again not knowing her strength, she actually created a small crater in the drywall.
“You know, until you can control that a little better, you might want to take it easy on the facilities.”
Christian. He was headed her direction, seeming to walk in slow motion, though she assumed that was just her new perception. “Sorry. I’m just….”
“Furious? Outraged? Ready to kill someone?”
“All of those things.” Most of the time, even the thought of confiding in Christian would’ve turned her stomach, but seeing as though Jamie wasn’t there, and Elliott may also be otherwise occupied, she didn’t know who else to talk to. “What the hell is going on with Aaron?”
“Ah.” He nodded, like that was what he suspected had her upset. “I don’t know any better than you do, probably not any better than anyone. But I have a suspicion. No one wants to hear it, though.” He turned and walked into his office, as if the conversation was over, and Cadence remembered one of the many reasons why he was so frustrating. She followed.
“What is your theory?” She stepped into the doorway and prayed it wouldn’t be something stupid. Everyone knew that the relationship between Christian and Aaron was increasingly strained. Normally, Aaron was about the only person who could get along with Christian these days, but since the tech guy hadn’t been taken to Melbourne, there was a chasm there that hadn’t been bridged back together.
He shrugged, poising his fingers above his keyboard. Cadence still couldn’t get over how huge his monitor was. It was like a big screen TV from the ‘90s. “I think… when he died, part of his brain tissue died, too, and it hasn’t regenerated. So now, he’s just slowly going insane. But… that’s only my theory.”
She stared at him for a moment, dumbfounded. “You can’t be serious.”
“Hey, according to all of the studies I did on that particular strand of serum, he shouldn’t have come back to life. So, I think we’re going to continue to see a downward trajectory until he completely loses it and has to be restrained. But… what do I know?”
“You’re right,” Cadence nodded. “You don’t know anything.”
“Whatever,” Christian said, like he didn’t care either way. “But once he’s gone, you’re going to have to marry whoever takes over. So, you better push for Jamie to become second in command. Unless you’re into Hannah, which is cool with me.”
For a moment, she thought maybe he was drunk or high. Or maybe he was just messing with her. But it was Christian after all…. Footsteps in the hallway had her shifting her gaze out of his office. An older-looking man with short, dark hair, glasses, and a friendly smile was headed her way. It took her a second to place him, but since he was wearing a white lab coat, she remembered that this was Dr. Morrow, the scientist who had been working on the Retransformation serum in Roatan for so long. He had accompanied the Guardians when they returned, but Cadence didn’t even know if he was a Hunter, a Guardian, or a human.
“Oh, hello, Miss Findley,” he said with a friendly smile. Something about him reminded her of her dad, or a dad anyway. “I’m surprised to see you up at this hour.”
The fact that it was so late in the night, or early in the morning, made her think he must also be a Guardian. She could check her IAC, but she wasn’t sure that it mattered. “Hello, Dr. Morrow. I had my procedure today, so I’m not really tired.”
“That’s right. How did it go?”
“Well, thank you. I think, anyway. Christian and I were talking about the change we’re seeing in Aaron. Christian seems to think it might be related to the Retransformation serum.”
“Really?” the doctor asked as she moved out of the way so he could enter Christian’s lab. “Why is that?”
Christian seemed a little more at a loss for words now that his theory had been questioned by someone who knew a lot more about the serum than he did. “I was saying that some of the studies I’ve done have shown a continuous breakdown in the cells over a period of time. Perhaps, there is a possibility, that the depression, angst, and general malaise has set in due to a loss of function of the brain cells.”
Cadence studied Dr. Morrow carefully, holding her breath, hoping he would disagree. If what Christian said was true, things were a lot worse than she thought they were. “Interesting theory, but hasn’t Dr. Joplin continued to perform CT Scans on Aaron since the incident? Doesn’t he do blood tests monthly? I believe if your theory was true, we would see medical evidence. Don’t you, Mr. Henry?”
She shifted her eyes back to Christian, waiting to see what he might have to say. “I suppose that should be the case,” he began. “But it could be that the cell breakdown just hasn’t reached the point where it would be detectable in those sort of tests.”
Dr. Morrow turned back to face her, and Cadence found nothing but warmth in his blue eyes. “Miss Findley, you shouldn’t fret too much about this possibility. I would say that Mr. McReynold’s current health issues likely have more to do with stress and anxiety than anything irreparable. Have you talked to Dr. Joplin recently?”
“No, actually, I was hoping he would be here, but he’s not.”
“Right, well, I would do that before I begin to worry too much. While there is a possibility that Mr. Henry’s theory is possible, I would say it is not likely. I’m sure once all of this business is over with the current threat, you’ll see your fiancé return to his usual self.”
Dr. Morrow patted her comfortingly on the arm and then continued into Christian’s lab, asking him something about data that Cadence didn’t understand. She caught Christian’s eye, and when the other gentleman wasn’t looking, Christian rotated his pointer finger around his ear and crossed his eyes at her. She assumed he was saying that Aaron was crazy and not Dr. Morrow, but either way, Cadence was irritated. She kept her growl to herself and turned to head out of the building.
