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Chapter 20
Something was different; something was wrong. He was an intelligent man, and he knew his wife very well. So, the fact that he was unable or unwilling to admit to himself or to anyone else that Aislyn was acting peculiarly was blamed on a number of other things. She’d been sick. He was going through changes himself. Shannon’s death was disturbing to both of them, as was Kian’s disappearance. No, Aislyn wasn’t quite her former self, but who would be after a long illness? Additionally, she was nearly five months pregnant. She was certain she’d return to her usual disposition just as soon as the baby arrived.
When Aislyn refused dinner because she was nauseous and kept her eyes squinted because the light hurt her eyes, Aaron dismissed both as symptoms of the pregnancy or the illness. Her skin became paler; the circles under her eyes darker. Her skin was cold. He had never had a pregnant wife before, but he imagined all of these things could be
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Aaron Chapter 21
Asking Kian to help him was out of the question. Not only would he refuse, Aaron knew that, if he employed the assistance of another, he would grow to hate that person, laying the blame on them for the action he was too weak to take himself. He understood now why Kian refused to speak to him. Even though they both knew better, he held Aaron responsible for Shannon’s death.He wouldn’t put this burden on anyone else’s shoulders. He would perform the task he must carry out in order to spare the children of Killarney, and then he would put Ward’s proclamation that he was unable to die to the test. If it proved true, he would go about finding a Hunter who would finish him off. That was a task he was quite certain Kian would be willing to perform.That day, he went about his typical tasks, as did Aislyn. She even hummed a lullaby as she swept the dust out the door. After dinner, they read the Bible together, though Aislyn refused to touch it, and cha
Aaron Chapter 22
London, England, 1888London 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. Wa
Aaron Chapter 23
“See, I told you it stinks,” Vicky muttered as the team made their way down an alley, clinging to the shadows, hoping to ferret out a Vampire who might be willing to talk. Though most were not willing to work with “the enemy” occasionally they’d find one who was willing to provide information for the promise of safety.“Smells like flowers to me,” Edmund, a Guardian who was born and raised in London and was fairly new to the team remarked, flashing his charming British smile at her.“Nah, that’s just me you’re smelling,” Vicky replied with that delightful grin, and Aaron felt the muscles in his stomach tighten.“Let’s just focus on the task at hand and put the odors out of our minds, shall we?” he asked, though the rest of the team would take it as an order. Technically, he was only in charge because Ward had given him the file, and he took it upon himself to organize the explora
Aaron Chapter 24
Ward was back in the office the next day, and he had a bit more information to share, though not much. He called the entire staff into the conference room to meet at nine o’clock sharp, and despite the fact that they hadn’t gotten in until nearly 3:00, the time was no problem for the teammates who rarely slept anyway.There was a total of ten individuals on the London Team as it was referred to. Over the last forty years, Aaron had watched as the two good Passels, the Hunters and Guardians, began to organize themselves to better fight the evil Vampires. Though technically, the job of the Guardian was to protect whichever of the other two Passels needed protecting, Aaron could never even fathom a situation where he’d need to protect a Vampire.With better organization came a more concentrated battle effort, which also required funding. Several sources supplied the money to operate their organization, but the primary sources were governments that realiz
Aaron Chapter 25
London England, 1889The January wind was bitter and unforgiving, biting through the coats and scarves of the humans who quickly made their way from one building to the next, careful not to slip on the sheen of ice left in spots on the surface of the sidewalks and streets. The stars were out, and the sky was clear, but few of them lingered long enough to marvel at the wonder as they rushed to get out of the cold.Aaron and Vicky had no such reason to take cover. Cold no longer affected them the same way once they had gone through the Transformation process. Aaron could easily stand outside in subzero temperatures without a coat for hours before he became even the slightest bit uncomfortable. Likewise, the summer sun was no longer a bother.Tonight, he did wear a long coat, hat, and scarf—as did Vicky—not because they needed them for warmth but because otherwise, they might not quite fit in with their surrounding should any humans pay them an
Aaron Chapter 26
Aaron found the Vampire’s comment that the Ripper wouldn’t be outside on a night like this interesting but didn’t pursue why that might be. He had more important questions to ask. “Did he do that job before Christmas? The strangulation?”“Nah,” came the reply. “That drunk done herself in. Not his callin’ card.”That was just as his team had suspected, and Aaron moved on before the answers stopped coming. “What about the day after Christmas?”“Yeah, that’s him. Papers ain’t think so, though. Neither do the coppers much. He’s switchin’ it up now. You’ll have a hard time tellin’ the difference.”“Why?” Aaron asked. “Why switch it up?”“Why not?” he giggled, and for a moment Aaron thought the maniacal, highly disturbing laugh might be back, but he reined it in. “Coppers is too close. Gotta put
Aaron Chapter 27
Dr. Joplin seemed nervous as he surveyed the group at the table, preparing to answer Ward’s question. “Well,” he began after some consideration, “there could be a number of reasons why the Ripper might take such actions, but, in my opinion, he’s doing it to prevent blood loss from the wounds he inflicts after death.”“How’s that?” Ward asked, leaning forward in concentration. He was clearly interested in hearing more about the doctor’s theory. Aaron listened as well, but he was also trying to read the physician to see if he was legitimate or some sort of a fake looking to advance his own agenda.“So… if you think of the heart as a pump, driving blood to the various parts of the body, if one were to make an incision, particularly the large slashing cuts the Ripper uses in the neck and torso areas, while the heart is still pumping blood, there will be a splattering effect, far beyond what we are see
Aaron Chapter 28
While the rest of the team continued to pound the pavement of Whitechapel, Aaron and Vicky volunteered to go through the paperwork supplied to them by the local police documenting each of the nearly one hundred suspects they took seriously. There were a few hundred more that were dismissed, and while Aaron was a bit apprehensive of taking anyone’s word for it, he did trust the members of their own team who also worked for the police department to make accurate recommendations.The job was simple at this point; look at each suspect and add medical practitioners to a narrowed list which the team would then more closely examine. However, as Aaron and Vicky began to go through the pile of documentation, they realized the task wouldn’t be as simple as first imagined. Some of the suspects had no career noted or the information was so incomplete, it wasn’t clear whether or not they could potentially have a background involving some sort of medical experience.
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