Chapter 22
London, England, 1888
London was much different than the peaceful rolling hills of Killarney, and while from time to time, Aaron missed the life he’d left behind, joining Ward’s team in London ended up being the best decision he could have made at the time. Now, over forty years after he’d left his home in Ireland, he was finally beginning to feel as if he had the hang of being a Guardian, though he was still learning.
Sitting in an office with a decent view of Hyde Park in the distance, he went over the notes Ward had provided him regarding the recent incidents in Whitechapel. None of them were quite certain how many victims they were looking at since the area had a reputation for being an uncouth slum, but with the recent demise of a young woman drained of most of her blood with slashes across her neck, it became clear that it was time for Ward’s team to take action.
As usual, the facts in the press were not at all reliable. Ward knew the best way to get information was to have eyes and ears on the police force, so several Hunters and Guardians spent at least part of their time working inside jobs. In most cases, when a Vampire was involved in a suspicious murder, the evidence was quite clear, and once Ward was called in, tracking down the noncompliant Vampire and destroying it was only a matter of time.
In this case, things were much more complicated, and Aaron wasn’t even sure if all of the murders were attributable to the same suspect, let alone the same Vampire.
He paged through the notes again, so enthralled by what he was reading, he didn’t acknowledge the office door when it opened, though he was vaguely aware that he wasn’t alone when a familiar voice said, “Find anything interesting?”
Looking up into large brown eyes, he smiled. Vicky certainly knew how to be stealthy. “It’s all interesting,” he replied as he gestured for her to have a seat, “but I’m still not sure what to make of it.”
“Mind if I take a look?” He slid the folder across the desk to her and took the opportunity to make some notes himself as she read through the documents.
Forty years had come and gone in the blink of an eye. While he spent very little time reflecting on the events of the evening Ward had come to his house in Killarney and found him sobbing into a pile of ashes, his mind did often return to his wife, Aislyn. Now, sitting across from the attractive blonde teammate he’d worked with for over three decades, a woman who was a firecracker and smart as a whip, he reminded himself he’d sworn never to fall in love again. If he couldn’t keep his promise to Aislyn to protect her, the least he could do was honor her memory by keeping his wedding vows.
“Well, it seems pretty straightforward to me,” Vicky replied, tossing the file back onto his desk.
“How’s that?” he asked, steeling himself for what was sure to be a sarcastic remark.
“Seems we’ve got a murderer on our hands,” she shrugged.
He couldn’t help but laugh. “That is the most brilliant deduction I’ve heard today.”
“I try,” she replied, rubbing her fingernails on her shoulder and blowing on her hand.
Unlike any other woman he’d ever met, Vicky refused to wear a skirt. She said it prevented her from working properly, particularly the long, complicated dresses everyone was wearing these days. Instead, she wore a split skirt—essentially pants with very wide legs—with a button-down shirt and jacket. Regardless of her style, there wasn’t a male on their team who wouldn’t proclaim she was definitely a lady.
“Ward gave me the file. He’ll be back this afternoon, but he’s trying to gather more information from one of our informants down at the station. It’s just hard to say if these are all related or if we actually have murderers,” he explained.
“Touché,” she nodded. “It does look to me like those first two, the one from April and the first August death, may not be related to the one last week.”
“I agree. And there’s really no reason to suspect that the first one was even a Vampire, but the police seem to want to lump them together, so Ward wanted me to check into it.”
“Are you going over there tonight then? To Stinkytown?” She crinkled her nose up and shook her head, blonde curls dancing around her face as she did so.
Aaron smiled. “I was thinking about it. Should I bring a nose plug?”
She shrugged. “All of London could be called Stinkytown, I suppose, although having the park out the window does make Kensington a little bit nicer than say, I don’t know, Whitechapel.”
“I agree. It’s nice,” he replied, turning his chair so that he could look out the window for a moment before turning back to face her.
“Reminds me of home,” she said, a lilt of sadness in her voice. “What about you? Do you see the Irish countryside when you glance out the window?”
Scoffing, Aaron said, “No, not nearly enough rocks.” She laughed, which gave him the opportunity to change the subject. “Do you want to go with me tonight?”
“To Stinkytown?” she clarified. “Yeah, sure. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“Great. I’ll see if I can find a couple more teammates to join us.”
“Dinner first?” she asked, crossing her legs, which exposed her left ankle.
Temporarily distracted by her flirtatious nature, Aaron considered the proposition. After all, it was just dinner. Just a meal. Everyone had to eat. “I’ll probably be working here until it’s time to go,” he mumbled.
She tilted her head and looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “You do eat—sometimes, don’t you?”
“I do,” he assured her with a smile, though the longer he did this job the less essential it seemed to become.
“Okay, well if you change your mind, let me know. It’s meatloaf night at the diner. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes chewing on old boot leather.”
“That sounds very tempting,” he nodded as she stood, smoothing her clothing as she did so.
“See you, Aaron,” Vicky said with a wink as she ducked out into the hallway.
“Goodbye,” he called after her and then released the deep breath he didn’t even realize he’d been holding. He looked down at the wedding ring he wore on his left hand and reminded himself that he was still married, at least in his own mind, and that Vicky would just have to find someone else to have dinner with—though the thought of the pretty blonde Hunter eating with anyone else also made him jealous.
