Cadence turned to Aaron, who looked relieved since he would likely have to be the one to stop any fight that broke out between the two of them. “Let’s just all be cautious, okay? We don’t want to have to put anyone’s internal organs back inside of them.”
“Yeah, with this dry weather we’re having, my hands are all chapped,” Jamie added with his deadpan sense of humor that finally allowed Cadence to get the giggle out she’d had entrapped since Christian’s chide.
“All right. You all go assemble your teams. Let me know if there are any questions.” Aaron’s nod was a dismissal, and the vast majority of the team was up and out the door before he could blink, though the usual suspects stayed behind.
“Didn’t you hear him, Dad? Go get your team together. And call Mom,” Brandon said, also not moving from his chair.
“I will, I will,” Elliott assured him, gesturing with his hands that his son should settle down. “I just want to make sure we are all on the same page, that’s all.”
“I believe that’s something you’re supposed to do during the meeting,” Cassidy reminded him, her eyes narrowed in a teasing manner.
“Listen, lil girl, I don’t remember asking you. Don’t you have some Vampires to spy on or something?”
“Sadly, yes,” Cassidy replied, scooting her chair back. “Let me see what I can find out about Larundel. And Daunator.”
“You’re going to be busy.” Cadence gave her sister a small smile of gratitude.
“Story of my life,” Cassidy lamented as Brandon also got out of his chair. “But this will count as my last observation, right? So after this hunt, I don’t have to train with Roar anymore? I’m good on my own?”
“That’s right,” Cadence nodded.
“Thank God. I swear I’m this close to punching Shane in the nuts.”
“Language!” Elliott said narrowing his eyes at her.
“Sorry. Scrotum.” Cassidy winked at him, and Elliott shook his head in return.
“Let me know what you find out,” Cadence called after her as the two teens disappeared, then she turned to Elliott and said, “Whose baby sister is that again?”
“Hey, you’re the one who allows her to talk like a lumberjack,” he replied.
“Technically, that second term was the medically correct one,” Jamie reminded them.
“Did you guys stay here to talk about something other than Shane’s man parts?” Aaron asked, looking at the three remaining members of his team with a large question mark hanging over his head, “Or do you want to get on with your jobs?”
“Well, I guess if you’re going to be like that,” Elliott said, pushing his chair back. He looked at Aaron for a moment with his eyes scrunched together. “Is mean Aaron back?”
“Nope, this is just regular asshole, boss Aaron who wants you prepared so no one dies and Jamie prepared so no one turns into a Gila monster.”
“Oooh, that would be cool if you could do that,” Elliott said to the Healer as the two of them walked out the door together. “Do you have a recipe for that?”
“No, but I bet Christian thinks he does,” Jamie said stepping into the hallway. Whatever else they said, Cadence didn’t catch it as she turned back to her fiancé who was spreading papers out in front of him, poring over them again. Even though the IAC would’ve allowed him to do the same thing, sometimes he preferred a more tangible option.
“These teams are even, aren’t they?” he asked, looking at them closely.
“Yeah, I think so. We went over them a dozen times.” It had been difficult splitting everyone up, especially when they didn’t know all of the new Guardians well, but Alex had helped them with that when they’d first arrived, assigning everyone a number based on experience and other factors he thought would be relevant when considering their skills.
“I worry about Dax. He’s so new. You sure he’s ready? He still has an observation or two, doesn’t he?” Aaron asked.
“He has one more, like Cass. He’s gone on some she hasn’t been able to because of schoolwork. He and Tara are ready. They work together well. You put them with Hannah. She’ll take care of them and hold them in reserve for as long as necessary.”
He nodded, but she could see he was still worried. They’d come so close to losing Tara once before, she was certain he was still concerned about it. “All right. I guess we need to talk to Paul, put a bug in his ear, and then, once we get what info we can from Cass, we can send him in.”
“Yep. But I think we need to get him as prepared as possible before Cass tips Holland off. If the queen has time to contact whoever she left back at the shack, they could be waiting for Paul.”
“Do you think she’ll know Cass is snooping around?” Aaron asked, his eyebrows knitting together.
“I have no idea, but I don’t think we should take the chance. The quicker we can send him in, so long as he is prepared, the better off we’ll be. Of course, he’ll have a limited number of the titanium bullets. At least he knows about the silver blades.”
“True. By the way, sorry I sent you with a replica of Van’s knife. That was not cool.” He shook his head slowly, like he couldn’t believe everything he’d done to sabotage her back when Holland was still in his head.
“It really wasn’t,” she said, smiling. “But it’s okay. I made it work. I’m just glad we’ve got you back because there’s no way I could’ve done all of this by myself.”
“You wouldn’t have been by yourself,” he reminded her. “You would’ve had everyone else with you.”
“Not the same,” she replied, reaching out and taking his hand. “If you’re not with me, I’m alone.”
“Luckily, I’m not planning on going anywhere anytime soon,” Aaron replied, and Cadence leaned over and kissed him, sealing the deal.
