Elliott chuckled. “That Eliza sure is a piece of work. I’m so glad we got rid of her when we did. Don’t you go thinking she’s earned her way back here, now. That was impressive what she did to those Vampires on the roof the other night, but that don’t make her a gold star student.”
“I won’t,” Aaron said, and Cadence knew that to be the gospel truth. Eliza could do all the good deeds in the world, but she wasn’t coming back to this team.
“All righty. You two have a good night.”
“Bye, Elliott,” Cadence called, finally snapping out of her thoughts enough to remember her manners.
Aaron told him goodbye, too, and closed the door behind him. He stood with his hands in his pockets for a moment, staring at Cadence.
“Do you think...?’
“I don’t know.” He came back toward the couch but didn’t sit yet. “God, I hope not. Surely, she’d know better than to keep that from us. And he wouldn’t be that reckless, would he?”
“We’re talking about Christian here,” Cadence reminded him as he sat down next to her.
“I know. But Christian is usually only careless when it comes to other people, not himself.”
Cadence nodded. That seemed to be true. “What do you think Cassidy meant when she said he’d been hurt before? Some woman? Do you know who she might’ve been talking about?”
“No, I have no idea. I’ve known Christian since Dracula, about a hundred and thirty years, and in that time, he’s dated dozens, maybe hundreds of women. I’ve never known him to be serious about any of them, though. He goes out with them for a while and then they either blow him off, or he decides they’re not for him.”
“Isn’t it a little odd that he’s never had a serious relationship in all of that time?”
“Sure, but he also seems to like to play the field. Besides, you know how creepy he can be. And in fairness, I didn’t have a serious relationship for a really long time either.”
“Yeah, but that was because of Aislyn, not just because you didn’t want to or you were busy. Do you think there’s some chick in Christian’s past that had the same effect on him? It’s hard to believe he would’ve never mentioned her to you, if that’s the case.”
“I really can’t imagine it either, but I guess it’s possible. It had to have been before I met him, though.”
“Why? Amanda wasn’t before Elliott met you, and look how traumatic that experience was for him. And you didn’t know about her until after I did.”
Aaron turned his head to the side and nodded at her with his eyes. “Maybe I don’t know these people as well as I thought I did.”
She laughed. “I’m sure that’s not the case. What do you know about Christian before you met him?”
“Not much. He never talked about his past. He was in the Revolutionary War, obviously. He served with Washington and Hamilton at different times. After that, he was part of the same team as Hamilton and Burr until the duel. He was there when Alex came back. You know all of this as well as I do.”
“But that was like a hundred years before you met him, wasn’t it? He never mentioned what he was doing that whole time?”
“No, all I know was when I met him, he was part of the Philly team. He’d been working with them for a long time. Jordan transferred him to work with me in London because he felt I worked well with Christian.”
“Grandpa didn’t say you worked well together, only that you worked well with him?” Cadence thought the word choice was odd.
“I don’t think Christian works well with anyone,” Aaron admitted. “He never has.”
“So... maybe something happened before that, then. And maybe that’s what Cass saw.”
“When did she see this? While they were having coffee? Or afterward?”
Cadence shook her head. “I have no idea. Seems sis is keeping secrets, and while I can’t say I’ve always been one hundred percent honest with her, I don’t like this. She seems... different since the second round of serum, don’t you think?” Cadence hated to admit it out loud, but her sister’s disposition had changed since she injected herself with the second dose, not that she’d been an angel before then, but she seemed sneakier these days. And then there was the fact that she’d annihilated a teammate’s face.
“I didn’t want to say anything, but yeah, I do.” Aaron put his arm around her and pulled her against his shoulder, and Cadence snuggled up to his chest. “Maybe she’s a little more Vampire now than she was before. As long as she tells us everything she knows about what Christian’s up to without us having to get Heather to traipse around in her head, I’ll let it go.”
“She’s still the most valuable weapon we have against any sort of enemy,” Cadence reminded him. “Heather’s not up to speed yet.”
“I know. I’m sure Cassidy will do the right thing. I can’t imagine she’d lie in order to protect Christian, no matter what she saw in his head, especially if there’s a chance he could be in danger. And if he really did try to go after Daunator by himself, then he’s most definitely in danger.”
Cadence agreed, but she couldn’t think about Christian anymore, especially not now that her head was pressed in the crook of Aaron’s neck, and his scent started to interfere with her senses. Her hand was pressed against his chest, the perfectly chiseled chest she’d been staring at on the beach for the better part of two weeks. “Can we put all of this on hold until tomorrow and pretend we’re still on our honeymoon for one more night?” she asked, pulling back enough to look into his clear blue eyes.
He answered her with a kiss, and for the first time since she’d boarded the plane, Cadence wished she hadn’t left Fiji early.
