Repercussion: The Clandestine Saga Book 3 (28 page)

              "All right," she said nodding her head, "but Lucy and Emma have been helping me with the research, so they all ready think..."

"You'll have to throw them off," Cadence interrupted. "Tell them you talked to me about it, and I assured you that I'm not a Vampire Hunter."
              She considered her older sister's response for a moment before asking, "What do I tell them about Elliott?"

              Cadence looked surprised. "Do they know Elliott?"

              Cassidy exhaled loudly in a way only a teenager girl can before saying, "Cadey, all of my friends know Elliott."

Cadence looked at Aaron, who just shrugged, clearly equally confused. "Tell them... he was in an accident."

              "Can I tell them he was murdered? Since he was."

              Again, she checked with her boss before responding. "Yes. But make sure they don't think he was murdered by Vampires. Because he wasn't."

"All right," she agreed, before Cadence stood and gave her a hug. "I love you, Sis."

              "I love you, too, Cass, so much," Cadence replied before releasing her and watching her drag herself up the stairs in a much more somber mood than she had been in just a few minutes ago when she had bounded in the door to see her sister.

              Aaron wrapped his arms around her. "You did a great job of breaking the news and explaining what you could."

              While she appreciated his support, she wasn't sure she agreed. She collapsed back onto the couch, dragging him down with her. "Thanks, but, ugh, that was awful. I hope I never have to tell her another person she cares about is gone."

              "Me, too," he agreed.

"What about her friends?" she asked. "Is that going to be a problem? Do we need damage control?"

              "No," he scoffed. "It'll be fine. She'll throw them off, and they'll accept it for a little while. Eventually, they'll start asking questions, and then we'll tell them the truth."

              Cadence gave him a puzzled look. "What do you mean? Are they Hunters, too?"

              "Lucy is," Aaron assured her. "And she's almost seventeen. Emma is a Guardian."

              "Really?" she asked in disbelief.

              "Mmm hmm."

              "What are the chances that so many of us would all end up in the same small town?" she asked still baffled.

"I'd say pretty good, considering your grandmother orchestrated it," he replied.

              "There's more to this story, isn't there?" He nodded, and she leaned her head back against the couch, a wave of exhaustion hitting her. "There's always more to the story...."

              "It's a very old story with a lot of complex characters," he replied.

Cadence absorbed that response before saying, "Someday, you'll have to fill me in. But I think it's too much for me to take just now." He gave her another sympathetic look, and then a thought occurred to her. "How come my grandma asked you, and then Hannah, to watch over me, but there's no one assigned to my sister or these other potential recruits?"

"Who says there's not?" Aaron replied, answering her question with a question of his own.

              Cadence's brow furrowed. "You mean, my sister has a Guardian assigned to her, too?" She was having a hard time believing that could be the case and no one ever mentioned it to her.

Aaron was quiet for a second, a solemn expression on his handsome face. Eventually, he said, "She did. That's something I am going to have to address."

              The revelation hit her hard, like a massive blow to the chest. "Elliott!" she gasped. "He was assigned to my sister?"

              "Yes," he confirmed.

              "So, all this time--you were watching over me, and he was watching over her?"

              "Yes."

              Cadence shook her head in disbelief. "No wonder he was so fond of her. And she took to him immediately...."

              "You'll have to help me determine who to assign to her, in a few days. She's not in any immediate danger, and there are other Hunters and Guardians in the area, but your grandmother specifically requested we look after you. And after so many years of service, we whole-heartedly agreed. The rest of the kids who haven't Transformed yet don't necessarily have anyone in particular looking out for them. But there are always eyes and ears watching and listening," he explained.

***

              Clearing the dinner plates was definitely a two person job considering there had been very little eating going on. Cadence had noticed Cassidy hadn't taken a single bite of the baked chicken their mother had prepared. She was surprised her sister had even made it down the stairs.

              Liz was rinsing and Cadence was putting the dishes in the dishwasher--their usual arrangement. Cadence knew her mother liked to take advantage of these opportunities to find out information, so as she slipped the dishes into the rack, she waited patiently to see what her mother would ask this time.

It took a bit longer than usual, but eventually, Liz began to pry. "You and Aaron seem to be getting along well," she said as nonchalantly as she could.

Cadence didn't look up from the dishwasher. "We are," she confirmed. "I think we've gotten it figured out this time."

              "That's good," Liz offered, though her tone seemed to suggest otherwise. She handed her oldest daughter a glass and moved on to the silverware. "You know, Elliott mentioned some doctor in Colorado or some place?"

              Glancing at her mother out of the corner of her eye, Cadence took the glass and put it in the top rack before answering. "It was Nevada, but that didn't work out, Mom."

"Why not?" Liz asked as she handed Cadence a handful of forks to put in the dishwasher.

              "Because... I'm in love with Aaron, Mom. I have been pretty much since the first day I met him." She took the last of the utensils, put them in the proper place, and closed the dishwasher.

              Liz dried her hands on a tea towel. "Well, honey, if you're happy, I'm happy for you. I just want you to be careful, that's all. He's broken your heart a couple of times before."

"It's different this time, Mom," Cadence replied, turning the machine on and leaning back against it. "Everything changed when Elliott died. And then the things that happened in Ireland.... I can't really explain everything to you, Mom, but I think he was just having a really hard time figuring out exactly how he felt about me, considering he's known me my whole life."

Liz seemed to consider her daughter's words. "I can see why that might be confusing," she agreed. She began to straighten up the containers and other items on the counter and Cadence could plainly see that she was stalling. Finally, she asked the burning question. "What happened in Ireland?"

              Cadence hesitated, not wanting to disclose any private information. But this was her mother, and she rarely kept secrets from her. "There was a misunderstanding," she began, "between Aaron and Christian. I really can't go into detail, but let's just say I almost lost him, too. In fact, I think I did, for a while. Even since he got shot protecting me against Holland, I've known I wouldn't be able to make it in a world without him, Mom. But this was so far beyond that.... He died. And then he came back to life. I can't explain it, but it happened. There's no way that I am ever going to let anything come between us again."

Liz listened intently, a confused expression on her face. "How could he have died, honey? He's a Guardian."

"I really can't explain it, Mom. But it happened. And I think--no, I know--he's done trying to distance himself from me now. He wants to be with me just as much as I want to be with him."

              Liz turned and leaned against the counter, folding her arms. The questions seemed to be spinning around in her brain, but she didn't ask them. After a while, she finally said, "Well, I certainly hope it all works out for you, darling. You deserve to be happy, especially after everything you've been through recently."

              "Thanks, Mom," Cadence said, giving her mother a hug.

              "Now, are you two staying here or in a hotel?" Liz asked, giving her daughter another tight squeeze before letting her go.

              Cadence looked up at her, but hesitated before she answered, trying to choose her words carefully. "Oh, uhm, a hotel," she replied.

              "We have a guest room," her mother bated her.

              "I know, Mom, but..." Cadence began.

              "Oh, Cadence," Liz laughed. "I'm just giving you a hard time. I'm not an old ninny. I understand."

              Cadence breathed a sigh of relief, hoping the conversation was over.

              As Liz led her into the living room where Eli and Aaron were talking, she added, "I guess the pink comforter on the bed in your bedroom was okay for Jack, but this is a different story, huh?"

              Cadence's face turned bright red, and she looked at her mother in horror. "What?" she asked, frozen in place as her mother turned to look at her, a twinkle of mischief in her eye.

              "It's hard to slip one by this mama," she replied, patting Cadence on the back.

"You knew?" Cadence asked as they continued to walk into the living room.

              "Yes, of course I did," Liz replied. "Your father was in denial though. So don't worry about that." She gave Cadence a little wink as they entered the room to see her dad embracing Aaron, something Cadence thought was extremely odd. Upon recognition that they were no longer alone, Eli stepped back, and Cadence was sure she saw a tear in his eye.

              "Everything okay?" she asked, eyeing her father both sympathetically and suspiciously.

              "Oh, yes," he replied dismissively, sitting back in his chair. "Just talking about... guy stuff."

Aaron just nodded along, and when Cadence shot him a sterner questioning look, he shrugged.

              She didn't buy it, but she had no idea what they could have been discussing. She thought, perhaps, it had something to do with Elliott or the memorial, and she didn't really want to think about it just then, so she let it go. "Are you ready?" she asked, not bothering to sit back down, afraid she might not get up again.

"Sure," Aaron replied. After a quick reminder of when they would be leaving the next day to return to Kansas City and Elliott's memorial, Cadence and Aaron made their way out to the car. Cadence wanted to tell her sister goodbye, but she hadn't seen her since dinner, and she was afraid she was asleep. She left, asking her mom to tell Cass she said goodnight should she make a reappearance.

              In the car on the way to the hotel, Cadence asked, "What was up with my dad?"

"What do you mean?" Aaron asked, focusing on the road and attempting to sound nonchalant.

              "He was hugging you--and crying," she explained pointedly

              "I didn't notice the crying," he replied. "I think you may have imagined that part. But he was hugging me. We were just talking about stuff... some of the stuff that's happened recently. He said he's really going to miss having Elliott around. Obviously, I agree. We talked about your grandparents a little bit. He asked me how things were going between us, and I told him I thought they were going really well, you know, that sort of thing."

              Cadence nodded along. She wasn't sure what to think--the word "stuff" wasn't generally in her boyfriend's vocabulary, so she was sure he wasn't telling her everything. But she was certainly used to knowing less than everything.

              "Have you heard from Hannah?" she asked as they approached the hotel parking lot.

"Yes," he replied, seemingly relieved to have a new topic to discuss. "She says everything is ready to go for tomorrow. She has both of us scheduled to say a few words." He stopped and glanced in her direction. Cadence took a deep breath, but nodded. As horrific as the thought of such a thing was to her, of course she would speak at Elliott's memorial. How could she refuse?
              "She also mentioned that she was able to track down Amanda Keen," he said, squeezing her hand quickly before releasing her to pull into a parking spot.

              "What?" Cadence asked, shock and delight temporarily pushing the terror of public speaking out of her mind.

              "Yep," he continued. "She said she only talked to her for a few seconds, but she did confirm that she had known Elliott. She told Ms. Keen that he had passed away and about the memorial. She said she thanked her for the information and hung up."

              The car was stopped now, but Cadence made no move to get out, just sat contemplating the information. It wasn't what she had hoped for, but at least she had been found. And at least she knew. He was patiently waiting for some sort of acknowledgement, a look of concern on his handsome face, and when she finally gave him her full attention, she couldn't help but think about how lucky she was that they were finally together. Without speaking, she leaned over and kissed him sweetly on the lips.