“Yeah. Is Aaron still in his office?” Jamie asked.
Cadence nodded. “Probably. Let me talk to Cass real quick, and then we can head over and see if we can get him back long enough to explain the situation to him.”
“Can’t you do that while we walk?”
She could tell by the smirk on his face that he was teasing her. Everyone knew she wasn’t so great at multitasking, and for something this important, she didn’t want to try to explain to her sister while she was moving. Cadence didn’t answer him, though, only gave him the stink eye. “Cass, I’m sorry I haven’t made it over there yet, but something important has come up, and I need your help.”
“I’ll say. Did you know Aaron had all of Elliott and Brandon’s stuff packed up? What the hell?”
“Yeah, I know. It’s awful. But that’ll have to wait. Look, Jamie and I think that maybe it’s Holland making Aaron act this way. We need your help. We are going to go talk to him, and we want you to block her long enough for us to convince him that she’s in his head. Can you do that?”
“Gee, Sis, I don’t know. I’m kinda tired.” There was a teasing lilt to her sister’s voice, and before Cadence could even yell at her, she said, “Yes, of course. Go. Let me know when to start.”
“Thanks. Let us get over there first so we can actually see if we can tell when his disposition changes.” With a deep breath, Cadence got up and turning to Jamie she said, “You ready to go help me get my man back?” with as much ghetto twang as she could muster.
Laughing, Jamie replied, “You are a hot mess, Cadence Findley,” but he took her hand, and they headed out the door.
Going back to the office so soon made her nervous, especially since there was a possibility that they were wrong or that this wouldn’t work, though the hope inside of her wasn’t completely disintegrated by the pessimism that began to rear its ugly head with every step she took. At least Jamie was with her. If this wasn’t the solution, then they’d have to try something else.
Aaron was still in his desk chair when they arrived, but he was writing frantically when they walked in and once again didn’t bother to look up when the door opened. Cadence and Jamie exchanged questioning looks. Cadence wondered what in the world he could possibly be writing. Still side by side, but no longer joined at the hand, they approached.
“Aaron?” Cadence whispered, peering over the top of his desk to look at the paper.
“I’m busy. Leave me alone,” he said, quietly, his voice sounding manic.
“What is that?” Jamie was talking to himself more than either of the others.
Cadence shook her head. The paper was upside down from her point of view, but it looked like he was writing something in another language, and there were already several sheets filled with what appeared to be the same few sentences over and over again.
“Okay, Cass. Now would be good,” Cadence said, both aloud so Jamie could hear and through her IAC.
“Let the blocking commence,” her little sister replied in a confident voice.
It didn’t take immediately. Aaron continued to write for a good ten or fifteen seconds, but then, slowly, he stopped, looking at the papers like he’d never seen them before, and dropped his pen. He pushed back from his chair, his eyes wide, and gradually lifted his chin so that he was looking at them. “What… what is this?”
“Hi,” Cadence said, a smile covering her face. “How are you?”
He tipped his head to the side and studied her for a moment, like he also hadn’t seen her for a while. “Cadence.” She watched a myriad of thoughts pass across his face, and then he shot out of his chair and rounded the desk. “I am so sorry.”
Pressed against his chest, Cadence wrapped her arms around him. “It’s okay,” she said, not bothering to fight her tears this time. Jamie took a step away, and she appreciated it, though she was glad he was still there. “It’s going to be okay.”
After a lengthy embrace, Aaron pushed back so that he could see her face. “What…? Why…?” He shook his head.
“First of all, what do you remember? Do you remember the conversation we had earlier?”
He was still obviously confused, but he was nodding. “Yeah. I remember it, but it’s like a dream or something. I mean, it’s like I was here, but I wasn’t really here. I know that doesn’t make any sense.”
“No, it does,” Jamie interjected. “Do you remember talking to me earlier, too?”
“Yeah, but it’s the same. I remember all of the planning we did together, but then it’s like I wasn’t me all of a sudden. But I was there. I was saying all of those awful things. God, Elliott….”
“It’s all right. He’s not on his way to Alberta,” Cadence assured him. She knew from her IAC that Brandon and Elliott had their stuff back in their apartment now.
“Okay—so do you know what’s happening?” Aaron asked, backing up and releasing her. He folded his arms but then unfolded them and put his hands on his hips, like he wasn’t quite sure what to do with his own body.
“Yeah. It’s Holland,” Jamie said quietly. “She’s messing with you, to put it mildly.”
Aaron cocked his head to the side and studied the Healer. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you know how she’s been sending that signal to interfere with the trackers? Somehow, she’s been swamping you with negative emotions, taking advantage of your talent, I guess.” Cadence wondered if maybe she should’ve let Jamie explain since it wasn’t coming out quite the way she meant it.
But Aaron understood. “I never would’ve thought she’d be able to do that.”
“Apparently, she can do lots of things she couldn’t do before,” Jamie reminded him.
“Right—like have a baby,” Cadence added.
Aaron started to run his hand through his hair, but Cadence reached out and grabbed it. “You’ve lost enough of that.”
He looked up, as if he could somehow see the top of his own head. “So why am I me right now?”
“Cass,” Jamie said, and Aaron nodded. “But she won’t be able to do this forever.”
“You know how hard it is for her to block Holland long term,” Cadence reminded him.
“I do.” He leaned back on the corner of his desk, and Cadence fought the urge to launch herself at him, realizing he was going to need some time and space. Still, she’d missed him so much; it was hard to keep her hands off of him.
“Do you think that, now that you’re aware of what she’s doing, you might be able to combat it yourself, like with Eliza?” Jamie asked, his tone hopeful.
“I don’t know,” Aaron admitted, running a hand along his jaw. “God, I hope so. Otherwise, I’m more of a liability than anything else at this moment.”
Cadence and Jamie exchanged glances, both remembering what Christian had said about locking Aaron up. “You’re not a liability,” she said, but she wasn’t sure she even believed it if he couldn’t combat this.
Jamie moved around to the other side of Aaron’s desk. “What were you writing?” he asked.
Aaron turned suddenly, like he was shocked to know that the papers were real and weren’t just part of a bad dream. “Oh, uh… well, I’m sure you can read it.”
Jamie’s eyes enlarged, and he slowly began to shake his head. “Glad we figured it out when we did.”
“What does it say?” Cadence asked, looking from one of them to the other.
“You don’t want to know,” Jamie replied, taking the papers Aaron had scrawled all over and wadding them up, tossing them into the trash.
“No, I do. I need to know,” Cadence insisted. “Was that Latin?”
“Yeah,” Jamie said. “It’s really not that important.”
“Jamie…” Cadence began.
But the answer came from her fiancé. He reached out and took her hand, pulling her to him. “It said, ‘Kill the bitch in her sleep. Kill myself.’”
