The next morning, Cadence slept in. She couldn’t remember the last time she had actually dozed on past 9:00 or 10:00 o’clock. But this day, she actually slept until almost noon. And, when she finally rolled out of bed, she was slightly trapped in that feeling of impending doom she desperately hated, remembering only her interaction with Aaron at first. Then, the other memories slowly came back, and she couldn’t help but wonder if Christian would be upset with her for rejecting him the night before. Still, she knew she had made the right decision. Though she was attracted to him, she was not interested in a relationship with him, nor was she the kind of girl who fooled around just for fun.

Thinking about Aaron, however, that was a different story. She would have been willing to give him her heart and everything that went along with it. Now, the possibility of that happening was over. She knew she needed to find a way to get over it and move on. After all, she hadn’t come to LIGHTS intending to meet a guy; she had come there to find a way to track down the Vampire she felt was partially responsible for Drew’s death. And if that meant a life lived alone, so be it. Still, the thought of those piercing blue eyes, the way he blushed when she teased him, his perfect smile, all of those memories made the tears well up in her eyes again, and she knew she needed to find a way to keep herself distracted while her heart began to mend. Despite the temptation, however, she was certain that Christian was not the distraction she needed.

She decided to throw herself into her work. Perhaps there was something on the IAC to occupy her mind. By the time she turned it back on, she had almost two hundred messages. The vast majority of them were supportive. Most of them managed to compliment her on the kill without sounding negative toward Aaron or anyone else. None of them condoned her insubordination, and a couple accused her of thinking she was already the Hunter Leader. She understood that some people were automatically going to judge her more harshly because of who she was and where she had come from. She tended not to take those sorts of messages personally.

She had several messages from Jamie, wanting to know if she was okay, if she needed anything, if he needed to kick anyone’s ass, etc. Most of them were rather humorous, and they actually made her chuckle. She responded that she was fine and that she appreciated his support. And word that Aaron had “broken up” with her must have also spread quickly because Eliza sent her a message stating that she had been there, and she was willing to be a shoulder to cry on any time. Cadence actually suspected that this message was one of elation on Eliza’s part since Aaron was now single again, although Cadence would be the first to state that they had never been dating, so it wasn’t as if they had actually broken up. He had simply made it clear that he was no longer interested in pursuing a relationship with her. She was slightly disappointed that she had not received any messages from Christian, but she knew it was for the best.

Cadence actually did have a message from Aaron telling her to let him know if she was planning to go visit her family and she wanted a car so he could arrange it for her. She hadn’t decided whether or not she was going to go home or just stay in her apartment. As much as she wanted to go back to the way things were a few weeks ago, when all of her friends were alive and the only problems they had were determining which college class to take or which shoes to wear, she knew that returning home was never going to accomplish that.

Relief that Aaron was still willing to be kind to her and treat her with the same respect he did the other members of his team settled her nerves for a brief moment. She had been worried as she fell asleep the night before that things might be so awkward between them that they would no longer be able to work together. One thing she had noticed about Aaron, despite his reputation for being a perfectionist with impossibly high standards, he never seemed to hold grudges against people when they made mistakes or said things he disagreed with. She fully expected Christian to be held after the meeting last night, but Aaron just accepted the fact that they had a difference of opinion and let it go. It took an extremely competent leader to be able to take that sort of criticism and not be compelled to display his power.

Even though she had more or less decided she wasn't leaving the house, she decided a shower would do her good. The warm water had a way of making her feel better, and as she stood beneath the down flow, she tried to let all of her worries go, a feat she knew would be nearly impossible, but there wasn’t much she could do now except for try to move forward.

As she climbed out of the shower, her cell phone rang. Rushing over to the counter by the sink where it lay, she glanced down but didn’t recognize the number. The screen read, “Lincoln, Nebraska,” and she only knew one person who lived there.

“Hello?” There was no sound on the other end at first. “Hello?” she said again. “Jack? Jack? Is that you?

“Cadence?” She finally heard a very weak voice on the other end of the line, so raspy she could hardly even recognize it.

“Jack, what’s the matter? Are you sick?”

“I think I’m dying,” he said.

His tone was so serious she had to suppress the urge to panic. “Jack, if you think you’re dying, you need to go to a hospital. Jack?” There was silence for quite some time before she finally heard him speak again.

“Cadence, I need you. Please. Come, help me.”

“Okay! Calm down, Jack, you’ll be all right. I really think you should go to a doctor or something. The hospital, maybe. Jack? Jack?” She looked down at her phone and saw that she had lost the connection. She tried calling him back, but it just rang and rang. She tried his parents and had to leave a voicemail. His roommate, Byron, did not pick up either. She suddenly felt like she needed to get to him as quickly as possible. Cadence hurriedly dried herself off and began to get dressed, suddenly remembering Aaron had sent her a message just a few minutes ago asking if she needed a car. In response, she replied, “How about a plane?”