had no trouble finding a table. After she'd arrived back at the hotel, she had collapsed, finally getting enough consecutive hours of sleep to qualify as more than a catnap. Even at that, she had shot out of bed about five hours later, not only haunted by her dreams but with the events of the night before hitting her full force at the same time.
Cale always seemed to wear light colors, which went well with his blond hair and pale eyes. For a moment, the symbolism of early American westerns crossed her mind. Good guys wore white, bad guys wore black. She pushed that idea aside and verbalized her thoughts. "You look nice today," she said quietly, a small smile playing at her lips. "That blue really brings out your eyes."
He returned the smile, smugly. "Thanks," he answered politely. "You look lovely as always."
She glanced down, not even sure what she had thrown on, and remembered she was wearing an emerald green summer dress. "Thank you," she said, suddenly feeling extremely self-conscious. She took a sip of her water, wishing she had asked for a straw, and glanced around to see if their waitress was nearby. This one was not nearly as energetic as the last, and she was with another table now.
Eventually, she would have to let him know why she wanted to speak with him, and now was as good a time as ever, perhaps better than when her food arrived. She didn't realize how famished she was until she'd looked at the menu. Though it was past noon, she had ordered pancakes, eggs, bacon, and biscuits. She'd gotten over the notion that girls were supposed to eat like birds a long time ago. Ironically, Cale had decided to stick with the coffee.
"I appreciate you agreeing to meet with me," she said, playing with the condensation on the outside of her glass.
"Sure," he replied, as if he wasn't completely uncomfortable sitting across from her now. "What is it you wanted to talk to me about?"
She concluded that sentence with the statement, "that you couldn't address over the IAC" even though he hadn't actually said it aloud. Taking a deep breath, she said, "I just thought, after last night, I owed you an explanation... and an apology."
He looked a little surprised. "What do you have to apologize for? You came, you did your job... Vampires are dead, end of story."
She shook her head. "No, that's not true. Nothing went the way we had planned. It wasn't fair to your team, the way things went down. It shouldn't have happened that way. And then, there were... other things that happened, things none of you should have had to witness. I'm just... I'm sorry for the way I acted, and I'm sorry if you feel like I was dishonest with you." She had gotten it out almost in one breath and had to pause to inhale, before taking a gulp of her water, while he apparently attempted to decipher exactly what she was saying.
He took a long sip of his coffee before speaking. Finally, he said, "Did you invite him?"
She shook her head. "No, I had no idea he was going to be there. I was just as surprised as you were."
He seemed to believe her. "We both know he wasn't really in the neighborhood. This trip was intentional."
Cadence nodded in agreement. She wasn't exactly sure why he had chosen last night to check up on her, and though she was almost certain it was Elliott who had let him know her plans, he could have just as easily accessed Aurora or Meaghan's IACs to find out. If Elliott had told him, he certainly wasn't trying to create this situation. She would definitely be speaking to him soon about all of this anyway. He had already tried to contact her several times, but she had put him off, wanting to talk to Cale first.
"Whatever it is that's going on between
Cale always seemed to wear light colors, which went well with his blond hair and pale eyes. For a moment, the symbolism of early American westerns crossed her mind. Good guys wore white, bad guys wore black. She pushed that idea aside and verbalized her thoughts. "You look nice today," she said quietly, a small smile playing at her lips. "That blue really brings out your eyes."
He returned the smile, smugly. "Thanks," he answered politely. "You look lovely as always."
She glanced down, not even sure what she had thrown on, and remembered she was wearing an emerald green summer dress. "Thank you," she said, suddenly feeling extremely self-conscious. She took a sip of her water, wishing she had asked for a straw, and glanced around to see if their waitress was nearby. This one was not nearly as energetic as the last, and she was with another table now.
Eventually, she would have to let him know why she wanted to speak with him, and now was as good a time as ever, perhaps better than when her food arrived. She didn't realize how famished she was until she'd looked at the menu. Though it was past noon, she had ordered pancakes, eggs, bacon, and biscuits. She'd gotten over the notion that girls were supposed to eat like birds a long time ago. Ironically, Cale had decided to stick with the coffee.
"I appreciate you agreeing to meet with me," she said, playing with the condensation on the outside of her glass.
"Sure," he replied, as if he wasn't completely uncomfortable sitting across from her now. "What is it you wanted to talk to me about?"
She concluded that sentence with the statement, "that you couldn't address over the IAC" even though he hadn't actually said it aloud. Taking a deep breath, she said, "I just thought, after last night, I owed you an explanation... and an apology."
He looked a little surprised. "What do you have to apologize for? You came, you did your job... Vampires are dead, end of story."
She shook her head. "No, that's not true. Nothing went the way we had planned. It wasn't fair to your team, the way things went down. It shouldn't have happened that way. And then, there were... other things that happened, things none of you should have had to witness. I'm just... I'm sorry for the way I acted, and I'm sorry if you feel like I was dishonest with you." She had gotten it out almost in one breath and had to pause to inhale, before taking a gulp of her water, while he apparently attempted to decipher exactly what she was saying.
He took a long sip of his coffee before speaking. Finally, he said, "Did you invite him?"
She shook her head. "No, I had no idea he was going to be there. I was just as surprised as you were."
He seemed to believe her. "We both know he wasn't really in the neighborhood. This trip was intentional."
Cadence nodded in agreement. She wasn't exactly sure why he had chosen last night to check up on her, and though she was almost certain it was Elliott who had let him know her plans, he could have just as easily accessed Aurora or Meaghan's IACs to find out. If Elliott had told him, he certainly wasn't trying to create this situation. She would definitely be speaking to him soon about all of this anyway. He had already tried to contact her several times, but she had put him off, wanting to talk to Cale first.
"Whatever it is that's going on between
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