Des Moines, Iowa, America, 1996Janette Findley had continued work with the team, even though she was no longer a Hunter. She lived in a large Queen Anne in Des Moines, and Aaron spoke to her several times a day as she had volunteered to work as his assistant a few years ago as things began to grow and he had found it difficult to get everything done. Being the Guardian Leader with no Hunter Leader—as none had ever been appointed—was challenging in and of itself. Recently, there’d been more and more Vampire activity, and the team continued to face recruiting challenges to keep up with the need. It was more than one man could handle on his own.Sitting on her sofa was calming, and for a moment, Aaron leaned his head back and relaxed, something he seldom had a chance to do, particularly since Christian had perfected and installed his Intelligence Assistance Communicators in everyone’s eyes. Now, any Hunter or Guardian in the world could r

Aaron could see Holland and Giovani now, though they were at a distance, and it seemed like they were aware of the Hunters, too. Morris had reported that he was certain they had known his team was there several times and had made no move to leave or attack. They had simply found a way to disappear at the end of the night before he could move in. Tonight seemed different, however. Holland was looking around, as if she was looking for someone in particular. And then her eyes stopped; she was looking right at him.They’d met a few times before. Aaron had been called in to help out in France where the redheaded woman originated and preferred to spend her time. Despite her odd name, she was a former Frenchwoman and she didn’t take kindly to having LIGHTS members on her turf. She’d been with her longtime beau, Carter, every other time he’d come into contact with her, and since he hadn’t been running the operation, there hadn’t been much he could

Within minutes, Aaron began to feel a little bit different. While he still found Eliza very attractive, some of the things she said, the questions she asked, were no longer cute or endearing; they were annoying. He realized she was asking basic questions, things she should know by now. Clearly, she wasn’t paying attention while he went over the first part of the meeting, because once the Hunters joined them, she asked about some of the topics he’d already covered. It was too early to admit it, but he realized there was a possibility that Elliott and Jamie might be right.Eventually, Eliza ran out of questions, stupid or otherwise, and the team loaded up and travelled to the zoo. Even though he was beginning to wonder about his relationship with Eliza, she sat next to him as he drove one of the two SUVs full of team members, and when she reached for his hand, he gave it to her, hoping he’d feel different about the possibility he was being manipulated once the