Cover Story
After the crowd really started to pour in, Aaron told her his Vampire tracker started getting hits all across the club. This application in his IAC picked up on the implants of tagged Vampires within a set range and determined if they had any complaints against them. If they had enough substantiated offenses on their record to meet Rogue status, the rest of the team would also receive notification. Of course, this only worked for Vampires who were tagged. It was a bit shocking to know just how many of the patrons below were Compliant Vampires. The incessant beeping was just one more aspect of Aaron’s job that could have easily driven someone of lesser skill beyond the breaking point.
Once Cadence and Aaron found their positions, they were suddenly bombarded by club goers offering to buy each of them drinks. The constant interruptions were getting to be a bit of a distraction. Finally, Aaron closed the small gap between them and wrapped his arm around Cadence’s waist.
After the night they’d spent in bed together, he didn’t think she would mind. As much of a shock as it had been to him that she was not only willing to give him another chance after what he’d told her the other night, but she actually seemed to want something to happen between them, it had been pretty clear by the time they’d both gotten out of bed that she was still attracted to him.
So… she shouldn’t mind his little façade. In fact, she might even like it.
Though, he told himself it was all part of fooling everyone into thinking they shouldn’t bother to approach them.
Cadence’s eyes widened slightly as she gazed up at him. “Whatcha doin’ there, bossman?”
“Well, I was hoping that these nice patrons would start to think that we are a couple and leave us the hell alone so we can do our jobs,” he replied, his hand on her side but just lightly resting there.
She was standing in front of him and both of them had been peering over the balcony, scanning the crowd for any of the known members of Holland’s clan and for Sebastian. “Yeah, they’re definitely a distraction,” she agreed, returning her eyes to the floor below them. He could practically feel Eliza’s eyes cutting through him from a few feet away, but Aaron ignored them as Cadence scooted closer to him.
The memory of how good it had felt to have her pressed up against him in bed came back to him.
If only she had known he had been dreaming of her before he’d opened his eyes to see her in his arms….
She stood up taller and leaned back against him, and his breath caught in his throat. The scent of vanilla wafted through the air, and he couldn’t help but reach up and brush her hair back behind her shoulder. Her gun was in the way or else he would have pulled her even closer. “You know, it’s easier to hold you when you’re not packing heat,” he whispered in her ear.
“Are you trying to disarm me?” she replied teasingly, biting down on her bottom lip.
“No, not at all,” he resounded. “I’ll just have to figure out some other way to let everyone know you’re presently spoken for.” She had him all kinds of sidetracked now. Holland could walk right past him, and he wouldn’t see her.
“I have a few ideas about how we can convince them,” she said, turning around and placing her hands on his chest. She wasn’t even looking at the ground anymore. Was she also taking advantage of this charade to momentarily suspend their agreement to go their separate ways? “I feel like I’m playing a role in an action movie.”
Aaron knew what she meant, though he was keenly aware that this was real life.
Curiosity got the better of him. “Oh? What is your idea?” he asked, intrigued.
Their eyes had been off of the dance floor for quite some time now, but he was paying attention to the chatter on the IAC, and they seemed to be good.
His attention was fully on Cadence as she placed her hand on the nape of his neck. Pulling him toward hers, she pressed her lips against his and drew his mouth open with her tongue. Aaron let her. In fact, he found himself kissing her back, letting the fantasy sweep them both away. She tasted so good, and kissing her, even if it was under the guise of keeping others away from them, sent a rush of adrenaline through his body.
After a few moments, Cadence released him. “Believable?” she asked, requesting his approval as she gazed up at him through her long eyelashes.
In response, Aaron yanked her back in and kissed her again, this time a bit softer but still just as passionately. He ran his tongue along her bottom lip and then took it between his teeth, tugging slightly before he let her go. “I think that might work.” She was grinning at him, her lips slightly swollen from the exchange. “It does make it a little more difficult to see the club floor, but really, there will be other opportunities to kill Vampires.”
She laughed and turned back to scan the crowd, and he did the same, making sure he hadn’t missed anything while she had been thoroughly distracted.
“What the hell are you guys doing?” Eliza wanted to know. She was standing just a few feet away with a drink in her hand.
“Cover story,” Cadence replied.
“Believability is everything,” Aaron noted.
“Am I the only one working around here?” his ex-girlfriend wanted to know. She was glaring at them, and he couldn’t help but feel annoyed. They’d broken up a long time ago; she needed to let it go.
He couldn’t respond then, though. Something was going on with Cadence. She’d turned back around, and her body had tightened up. Her eyes were locked in on the crowd, and then he saw who she was looking at, too.
A face stood out as his eyes flickered through the crowd. Cadence must’ve thought she didn’t have a good vantage point from where she was presently standing, so she began to move, her instincts kicking in.
There was no way Aaron could see exactly what she was doing, but he knew by now that when she went into this state, it was best to just let her work and try to keep up. He followed behind her as she trailed along the railing.
The idea that this could get very dangerous very quickly came to mind. Ordinarily, he didn’t let his emotions bother him since the risk involved in losing a team member was just part of the job, and most of the time, the Hunters he worked with were not as important to him as his team of Guardians, who really didn’t have much worry when it came to injury or death.
But this was different. If anything ever happened to Cadence, he didn’t know what he would do.
Still, he knew he needed to let her be the one to make the move on Holland. This was her fight.
He’d just have to make sure she didn’t die.
***
Cadence had a lock. It was Sebastian. He was winding his way through the crowd, heading down the middle of the dance floor, constantly looking over his shoulder as if he was certain he was about to be pounced on at any second. And that was Cadence’s first thought, but the fact that he was here must be significant. If something weren’t amiss, he would have never shown up in the club that night, knowing it was bound to be crawling with Hunters and Guardians.
Surveying the location of her teammates, she realized he was about to pass into Jamie’s zone. “Jamie, Sebastian, white shirt, middle of the floor, your ten o’clock.”
“Affirmative,” Jamie replied.
Jamie was on him in less than two seconds, without the crowd knowing he had instantaneously covered about fifty feet and without bumping into a single one of them. Cadence watched and listened through the IAC as the doctor placed his hand on Sebastian’s shoulder, as if they were long lost pals. “Sebastian, we’ve missed you,” he said, keeping his grip tight as they continued to walk through the crowd. It didn’t really matter exactly where they were going, so long as Jamie didn’t let the Vampire get away.
“I need to speak to Sabin,” Sebastian said, his heavy French accent making it difficult for Cadence to understand.
“Well, let’s go,” Jamie replied, leading him to where she stood at the back end of the club on the first balcony.
“God, I really want to go ring his neck, literally,” Cadence muttered.
“Nice pick up,” Aaron replied. “You can’t kill him right now. We’ve got to figure out what he knows.”
“Don’t you want to go talk to him?” Cadence asked, turning to look at him momentarily.
“I’m dying to go interrogate the turncoat myself, but doing so would mean leaving you, and it isn’t worth it. I’ll just have to trust Sabin to gather and disseminate the information.”
His response made sense, and Cadence nodded before returning her eyes back to the dance floor, crawling back over faces, searching for anyone else who might be a threat.
