“It’s really not a big deal, but I’m sure you’re not going to be happy about it. So... I just want to remind you that this doesn’t change anything. The wedding is going on as planned. It’s just... I’m going to have to take a little detour on the way to Iowa.”
Her eyes were as round as the dinner plates he’d just put in the dishwasher as she studied his face. She could feel her eyeballs bulging. “A detour where?”
“To West Virginia. Just for one night. I’ll be in Shenandoah by August thirtieth. That gives us three days before the wedding. It’ll be fine.”
“But we’re supposed to be up there a week before the wedding,” she reminded him. “I have everything planned. We are supposed to leave on Saturday. That’s in three days.”
“No, I know. And I can go with you on Saturday. We can be there most of the week. I’ll just have to leave for a few hours. Really, Cadence. It’s not that big of a deal. I promise.” His hands were on her knee, and she wanted to believe him, but there was something about the entire situation that wasn’t sitting easy with her.
“Where are you going?”
“To Shepherdstown, West Virginia,” he said, not giving her much more information than she’d had before.
“For what? Is it a hunt? It doesn’t have to do with Holland does it?” A bit of panic welled up inside of her. Surely, he’d say something if it had to do with her arch-nemesis.
“No, nothing like that.” He scoffed like it was no big deal. “I got a call today from a Compliant. They want to put together an Eidolon Festival. It won’t be very big because it’s awfully short notice, and even Compliant Vampires have day jobs. Sometimes. Anyway, she seems like a legitimately decent person. I had Cass check her out, and she has no connection to Holland or to anyone who has a connection to Holland. Christian did some research, too. As much as I don’t like the idea of doing this right before the wedding, we do owe them. The Guardians, that is. We should’ve never taken out all of those Compliants earlier in the year. So I’m going to permit it.”
Cadence wasn’t sure what to say. She took another gulp of her wine, almost choked, coughed, and set her glass aside as Aaron asked her if she was okay. “I’m fine. I just... I don’t like this.”
“I know. I didn’t think you would. I don’t blame you. But if we weren’t getting married, would you object?”
It was a good question, one she didn’t know how to answer. “I guess not....” So it was just the fact that it was so close to the wedding that had her uneasy? No, that wasn’t it. There was something else....
“It’ll be all right, Cadence. I’ll call in our strongest team members from DC, Boston, Philly—”
“We have no strong team members from Philly,” she interrupted, thinking back to what a joke it had been ending Gibbon.
“We have a few. Anyway, it’ll be fine.”
“Who are you taking from here?” she asked, assuming he wouldn’t go all by himself. She knew he had to be there. As the Guardian Leader, it was part of his duties. While it seemed ridiculous to think that Guardians were actually meant to protect Vampires from Hunters, that was also their job, and as many times as Cadence had said she wished there was no such thing as an Eidolon Festival, it was an ages old ritual, something even Aaron couldn’t change.
“I haven’t decided yet. Christian wants to go, and I don’t mind taking him. I’ll see who else wants to attend. Probably not a huge team.”
She nodded. Most of the time, they took trainees to Eidolon Festivals, or so she’d been told, so that they could get some experience in a situation where they weren’t likely to have a fight. But after the last one, she imagined that might change a bit.
Thinking of the last festival, the one where she’d killed Carter the first time, made her even more uneasy. “I want to go with you,” she said quietly. She watched her husband’s eyes enlarge almost to the size her own had been when he’d first started this conversation. “I know I can’t go to the festival itself, but there’s just something about this that isn’t sitting well with me. And I’d rather be there. Just in case.”
“Just in case what?” Aaron asked.
She noticed he hadn’t said no. “Just in case Holland shows up. Or... I don’t know. Something goes wrong. You weren’t expecting Carter to go after Drew, were you?”
“Not exactly.” He leaned back a bit and ran his hand through his hair. “I thought he might do something to draw you out. But I didn’t think he’d kill your friend.”
Cadence remembered how startled she’d been when Aaron had told her that Drew knew Carter before the festival, that he’d been talking to her online and had used her as bait to get Cadence there. What if something else like that happened? They had no way of knowing for sure if Holland was up to something. While it was a huge benefit to have Cassidy now, since she could read minds, Holland was still powerful, and there was a possibility she could find a way to mask what she was up to. “I’ll stay at the hotel, or wherever. But I want to go.”
Aaron swallowed hard, and she could see him thinking about it, weighing it out in his mind. Finally, he said, “Okay. If you don’t think you’d be more comfortable staying in Shenandoah and working on the wedding.”
“I wouldn’t be able to concentrate with you gone anyway,” she reminded him, glancing down at her engagement ring. She’d taken the cheap wedding band he’d given her in Vegas off so that no one would figure out what they’d done, but the engagement ring on her finger was a reminder that they were hitched, and the idea that he’d be gone from her so soon after they’d said “I do” didn’t sit well with her.
“What about Cass?” Aaron asked, slipping his hand into hers. “She asked me if she could go. At the time, I figured you’d want her to stay with you. But if you’re going to go, maybe she should, too.”
It was a difficult question. If Holland was up to something, having Cass there would be a double-edged sword. While she’d certainly be a huge asset, she could also get hurt. “Let me think about it,” Cadence said, mulling it over in her mind.
He nodded. “Whether she goes will change who I take with me,” he reminded her, and Cadence indicated she understood. “I think we should both give it some time, let it sit, and then figure out what to do about it.”
It was a good idea, and there were plenty of other topics to keep her mind occupied. “All right,” Cadence agreed. “Do you want to see the new seating chart?”
“Not even a little bit,” Aaron admitted, pulling her closer. “I trust my wife to put everyone where they belong.”
Setting her glass down on the table behind her, she scooted over to him so that her arms were wrapped around him. “I like the sound of that,” she said, leaning in to kiss him.
“What? My wife?” he asked once she let him come up for air. “Me, too.”
His hands were on her waist, pulling at the hem of her shirt, and Cadence let all thoughts of the wedding, the Eidolon Festival, and everything else slip away as she surrendered herself to her husband’s kisses. There’d be plenty of time later to worry about all of that. For now, she was ready to let him carry her away to a place where nothing in the world mattered except for the two of them and the bond they’d created when they’d both said, “I do.”
