Chapter 517
We were almost to their office building when Aaron stopped in front of me and pulled on Cadence’s arm, bringing her to a halt as well. I braced myself for the inevitable doom of discovery. “Hey—can you get Christian?”
Oh. Crap.
Obviously, my sister had been talking to someone else because she’s not very good at using her IAC and carrying on a conversation with another person in real life at the same time, so it took her a second. “What? Christian?”
A volcano began to bubble in my stomach, on the brink of eruption. No longer worried about protecting his secret, the threat of my own demise had me panicked. If they knew what I’d helped him do, they’d be so angry—at me.
“Yeah, I can’t get him on the IAC at all,” Aaron said, putting his hands on his hips and staring at my sister, frustrated.
Trying to be the voice of reason, I said, “He’s on vacation,” praying that would make them drop it, even though I knew in my heart it wouldn’t.
“No, I know,” Aaron said, turning to face me a little more directly than I liked. His piercing blue eyes are intimidating, and I felt myself shrink back a step. “But I need to ask him if he’s ever seen these creatures before, and I can’t get him at all. I should be able to force his IAC on. But I can’t.”
The way he was looking at me told me somewhere inside of my core that he knew I was aware of the situation, though exactly how he knew, I wasn’t sure. It would’ve probably been a great idea to confess right then and there. Instead, I went with the bluff, delaying the inevitable. “That’s... super weird.” A giggle like a schoolgirl staring at Channing Tatum came out of my mouth, and I have no idea what had become of my brain. His eyes shifted slightly, taking in my reaction and judging it.
Cadence didn’t even look at me, though she seemed annoyed that Christian was being a pain. “Let me try.” We started walking again, but I could somehow feel Aaron’s eyes on me even though he wasn’t looking at me. That was super weird.
“No, I can’t get him either,” Cadence said, turning to look at Aaron. “How is that possible?”
“I have no idea. I should be able to force anyone on at any time.”
I should’ve learned to keep my mouth shut, but I didn’t. “Maybe he made his different. He made them. He could’ve done whatever he wanted to with his, right? Made it like yours?” Deflect suspicion from myself and put it all on Christian alone....
Thankfully, he didn’t turn to look at me as he answered. “I guess he could have, but I don’t know why he would do that. I certainly didn’t authorize it.”
I bit back a response of, “Since when has that stopped Christian from doing anything?” and let my sister reply instead.
“Try calling him.”
We were at the building now. Aaron pulled his phone out of his pocket but still got the door for us like a gentleman, and I was thankful he didn’t slam me in it and use it as a torture device as he questioned me. We didn’t get on the elevator yet. I know firsthand you cannot trust a cell phone in an elevator since my mother got very angry once that she didn’t get a text I sent while in an elevator, so we waited, and I tried to look concerned, innocent, and calm.
I could hear Christian’s voice through the earpiece. It wasn’t surprising that his greeting was rude. “Leave a message,” was all it said, but in that “I’m Christian Henry, and I cannot be bothered with you tone.” Aaron didn’t leave one. He hung up. “He’s not answering.” He typed out a text and sent it while Cadence called the elevator. The doors opened, and I walked into the small area with them feeling a little too much like I did the other night when I dreamt of being buried alive.
“It’s probably nothing.” I shrugged. Nonchalant. Calm. That was me.
“I know you hate him, but you have to admit all of this is weird, even for Christian,” my sister said as the elevator door opened on the top floor where their joint office is.
She didn’t know. My sister hadn’t deduced the fact that I knew where Christian was yet. That realization made me breathe a little easier, even though I was certain her other half did. “I guess,” I said, focusing on the positive aspects of the situation. “He’s the weirdest person I’ve ever met, and that’s saying something.”
Neither of them responded as we walked into the office and Mrs. Carminati, their sweet, human secretary who is old enough to be my great-grandmother—or Aaron’s great-great-granddaughter—came around the desk to hug them and welcome them back. She hugged me, too, because that’s just how she is, and it was comforting to be in her arms for a moment. It made me miss Grandma Janette.
I stood there for the next few minutes while Mrs. Carminati asked them a bunch of questions about the honeymoon. They were polite and answered her like they weren’t in the middle of solving a world crisis. I listened to the answers so I wouldn’t end up asking the same things later, when we had a chance to talk about normal stuff. It did sound like they’d had a lovely time, and I was glad they’d gotten a break, even if it meant six hundred people wouldn’t be sleeping in their own beds that night.
Eventually, she let us go, and we walked into their office. The conference table is at the back of the room, near the door. My seat is next to Jamie’s, which is next to Aaron’s. I was glad to have an ally between us. Everyone said hello to me like I hadn’t done anything wrong, and I took my seat, ignoring Brandon’s empty chair. I noticed Aurora wasn’t there yet and prayed she’d hurry up because I wanted to get this over with.
Aaron wasn’t ready to start yet anyway. I could tell by his expression he was working on something. I should’ve brought my notes, but I didn’t think about it, I’d been so distracted when we left.
