Chapter 54
Shenandoah, Iowa, America, 2010
Shenandoah High School was not that big as high schools go. Only about four hundred kids went to school there. Aaron was sitting on the roof of the ag building, which provided a pretty good view of the parking lot. He had spent a few days here recently, including the first day of school that year. No one had ever noticed, particularly the kids who were so wrapped up in their post-school-day conversations, it was easy for him to go unseen.
She was not one of the first people out of the building, and he assumed that was because she really wasn’t in a rush to get out of school. She’d always done well, got good grades, and this year she was participating in a slew of extracurricular activities, including cheerleading. Cadence Findley was the all-around American girl.
Aaron saw her friends head into the parking lot first. There was Taylor, the blonde, Sydney, with the short black hair, and sometimes another girl whose name he did not know. He also noticed the lanky baseball player who followed at a distance or stood off to the side watching her almost as intently as Aaron was. Almost.
For fourteen years, he’d carefully followed Janette’s instructions. He’d watched trips to the zoo, visits to the park, field trips, and the oh-so-interesting shopping trip to the mall. Caring about Cadence came naturally because she was Jordan and Janette’s granddaughter. While he had absolutely no expectations for her the way that her grandmother did, he took watching over her seriously and constantly listened to the chatter amongst Vampires and resident Guardians and Hunters alike to make sure that Cadence was well-protected.
Now, something seemed different. Sitting atop the school roof that fall day, he realized he was no longer watching a child. Cadence wasn’t the cute little princess with pigtails who’d accidentally let her balloon float away, she was a young woman now. It had happened in the blink of an eye, and yet it was true. And exactly what it was that made him uncomfortable surveying her from a distance he wasn’t sure, he only knew it was time for him to delegate this particular duty off to someone else.
If what Janette said was true, his fate would collide with Cadence Findley’s soon enough, no matter how hard he tried to stay away from her.
Kansas City, Missouri, America, 2013
“Please, please, please, don’t make me punch you in the face,” Elliott begged. “I told you I would, and I realize it’s been a long time since that club in NYC, but a promise is a promise.”
“It’s fine,” Aaron assured him. “This is different. Laura was overly confident. Eliza is just….”
“Ditzy? Manipulative? Psycho?” he offered.
“No, she’s none of those things. She’s just overzealous.”
“I’m telling you, bossman, you’re not seeing this for what it is. Hasn’t Jamie explained it to you? She’s a Siren—like literally. Just like those damn bitches in the Dracula movie. She’s making your brain all crazy.”
Aaron couldn’t help but laugh. While he had heard Jamie’s theory, he knew it couldn’t be true. Eliza Wrath was a new Guardian who had completed her training about three months ago. Cute and spunky, he’d immediately taken to her. She had short, curly hair that fell around her face in curls, which she liked to keep a dark purple color. She had style, and while he wasn’t usually interested in women who cared so much about fashion, Eliza knew all about the different stylists and designers, and he enjoyed looking at fashion magazines with her and discussing the season’s new looks.
Perhaps most importantly, with Eliza, he’d finally been able to get past his fear of intimacy. She’d helped him understand that Aislyn would want him to be happy, and that having a healthy sex life was part of being happy. This was a point she liked to drive home fairly consistently, sometimes more than once a day.
Aaron smiled. “I know we can become passionate in our discussions sometimes, but trust me, we will not argue during the hunt tonight, okay? We’ve already talked about it. It’ll be fine.”
They were sitting in the conference room preparing for a pre-hunt meeting, and Elliott had shown up early in an effort to persuade Aaron that he needed to find a way to escape Eliza’s clutches, but so far, the words were falling on deaf ears.
Jamie and Hannah walked in, and Elliott said, “Oh, good. Just in time. Jamie—tell him what you told me. About Eliza.”
“I already told him,” Jamie replied, sitting down in a chair across the room from them, facing the projector where Aaron would be presenting shortly. Hannah pulled out the chair next to him. “He doesn’t listen.”
“What are you talking about?” Hannah asked as she sat down.
“They think that the only reason I’m with Eliza is because she is manipulating me,” Aaron replied, looking out the door to make sure Eliza wasn’t on her way in yet. He’d called all the Guardians in a few minutes before the Hunters tonight to go over this particular hunt, and she should be there by now. But, as usual, she was slightly late.
“Well, I can help you with that, if you really want to find out,” Hannah said.
“How’s that?” Elliott asked, leaning forward in his chair. “Tell me more.”
“It’s quite simple,” Hannah shrugged. “I have the power to regulate emotions. In this case, I just block any incoming emotional manipulation so that, if Eliza is sending some sort of signal, I can intercept it.”
“Yes, do it. Do it now,” Elliott demanded.
“Well, I need Aaron’s permission…” she began.
“No, you don’t. Do it now.”
Aaron shook his head. “It’s ridiculous,” he said. “I’m telling you, I know how I feel about her. It’s genuine.”
“Then it won’t hurt to let Hannah do her voodoo, will it? Or her anti-voodoo, whatever-the-hell-you-wanna-call it.”
“How about we call it ‘emotional blocking’?” Hannah explained in her clinical voice.
“Whatever you wanna call it, just do it. Aaron, say yes,” Elliott said grabbing his arm and forcing him to look him in the eye.
“Say yes to what?” Eliza asked, bounding in the door. “Sorry I’m late.”
She smiled, and Aaron felt himself go warm all over. “It’s okay,” he smiled. “Have a seat.”
“Say yes!” Elliott repeated.
Knowing full well why he felt the way that he did about Eliza, Aaron had no qualms about giving Hannah permission, so long as she didn’t actually make him feel anything he wouldn’t otherwise, and he trusted her not to do that. “Fine. Go ahead.”
“What are they doing?” Eliza asked, leaning over to Jamie, who was sitting beside her.
“Nothing,” Jamie replied, “just an experiment.”
Eliza nodded. “I guess that’s okay,” she replied, eyeing her boyfriend quizzically. “He better explain it later though.”
Jamie nodded, as if her demands were more than reasonable, and they both turned their full attention to Aaron who was ready to begin the meeting.
