Cadence jerked backward in the chair, almost causing him to poke her eye with the tweezers. The second the chip hit her eye, she was suddenly flooded with streams of data, both voice and visual. It was as if she were instantaneously trapped in the mainframe of a computer database. The unending waves of information were overwhelming.

Jamie had no way of knowing what had happened, but he rushed over and immediately grabbed her head Aaron also hurried to her side.

“What’s happening?” Jamie asked.

“I don’t know,” Christian replied, shocked. “I don’t think she’s in pain.”

“Shut it off!” Cadence began to yell, unable to hear the volume of her own voice over the ones in her head. “Shut it off!”

“I can’t,” Christian said looking at Aaron.

“Then take it out!” she screamed.

“I can’t do that either,” he admitted. “The incision healed over when Jamie touched you.”

“It’s okay, Cadence,” Aaron was saying in the calmest voice he could muster.

“No, it’s not!” she screamed. “You’ve got to do something. It’s too loud! I can’t stand it!”

“It’s flooding her mind with information.” She could barely understand what Aaron was saying because of the incessant noise. Cadence grabbed her head with both hands.

“You can detect it with your IAC?” Christian asked.

If he replied, Cadence didn’t hear him, but the next thing she knew, it wasn’t Christian sitting beside her anymore on the stool. “Cadence, listen to me. I can help you to learn how to control it so you can turn it off yourself, but you’ve got to calm down and listen to me. All right? You’re panicking, and that’s not going to get us anywhere.”

She still couldn’t see out of her right eye very well, but she could see out of her left, and looking into his eyes was enough to make the panic start to subside.

“Take some deep breaths,” he said. “Focus, just like you did in the gym. You’re going to use your brain just like it’s a muscle in your body, and you’re going to turn the IAC off with your brain, all right?”

Cadence suddenly realized she was hearing him through her mind, not through her ears. His mouth wasn’t moving, but he was talking to her. Even through all of the other cacophony, Aaron’s voice came through clearly and loudly. She closed her eyes, trying to ignore the flood of images and just listened to the sound of his voice.

“The command to turn it completely off is simple. It’s ‘IAC full off.’ That’s all you have to do; send that signal through your brain to the chip, and it will turn completely off.”

Cadence attempted to concentrate. She tried stating the phrase once, but nothing happened. Aaron must have heard her because he reminded her that she needed to calm down or else her own brain wouldn’t understand the command. She tried it once more, and suddenly, everything came to a screeching halt. The noise, the pictures, everything was gone. She slumped her head to the side of the chair in relief.

“Did you get it?” Jamie asked.

“Yes,” Aaron confirmed. “She got it."

“But wait,” Christian said, “Why couldn’t you just turn it off for her?”

“I can’t access the controls,” Aaron replied.

“What? How’s that possible? I created her IAC just exactly the same way I’ve created the rest of them. They’re all the same with the exception of yours. How could you possibly be unable to access it?”

“I don’t know,” Aaron said, “but I can’t. I can’t turn it off, and I can’t turn it on. Which means, if she’s ever in a situation where she’s in danger and her IAC isn’t on, there’s no way that I can warn her.”

“Well, I don’t like that at all,” Jamie said as Cadence sat up a bit, finally beginning to regain her vision in her right eye. She knew they weren’t talking to her anyway, though she couldn’t help but listen.

“I don’t like it either,” Aaron continued, “but short of digging the chip out of her eye and replacing it, there’s not much we can do.”

“No, you’re not doing that,” Cadence assured them. She was never letting anyone cut her eye again.

“Besides, I have a sneaking suspicion it’s not the chip’s fault.” Aaron was still sitting next to her, and as he spoke she was tempted to reach out to him, to see if it would steady her any at all, but she fought it.

“What do you mean? What else could it be?” Christian was standing near her feet, and she noticed he looked just as concerned as the other two, even though she’d just met him.

“Honestly, I think her brain is just wired differently than anyone else’s.”

“Great. My brain is defective,” Cadence muttered.

Aaron laughed and rested his hand on her forearm where she gripped the armrest. “That’s not what I meant. But it is different. So, we’ll just have to work through these glitches.”

“You’re going to keep us on our toes,” Jamie said, still standing next to her.

Cadence wasn’t sure what to think of that, so she just smiled. She wasn’t sure what the flowers had really meant, but she’d need to make sure Jamie know how much she appreciated his friendship sooner rather than later.

“Let’s get her back to her apartment,” Aaron said, looking at Jamie.

“Do you need any help?” Christian asked. “I still kinda feel like this is my fault.”

“It’s not your fault,” Cadence assured him, even though she had no idea whose fault it really was.

“I think we can manage,” Jamie replied, answering Christian’s question about getting her back to the apartment.

Suddenly, Cadence had the sensation that she was floating and realized they had actually picked her up. She was expecting some help, not to be carried. “I’m okay,” she said struggling to be put down. With her feet on the ground and Aaron’s arm still wrapped around her waist, she steadied herself on their shoulders for just a moment to get her balance before blinking her eyes a few times. Her vision looked completely clear, just as it had when she came in. There was no trace of the voices and videos, much to her relief, and she was beginning to regain her sense of self.

“Are you sure you’re okay? Can you walk?” Aaron asked after giving her a moment.

“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you.” As they approached the door, he plucked her coat off of the hook and helped her slide it on. Turning her head, she said, “Thank you Christian. I hope you know that this wasn’t your fault. Clearly, this has something to do with my defective brain.”

“Well, if there’s anything I can do, please come back in, and I’ll check it, all right?”

She nodded and headed out the door, Jamie on one side and Aaron on the other. Once she had taken a few steps, she knew she’d be just fine. “Guess I don’t need those eye drops then, if you healed me,” she said to Jamie.

“No, I don’t think so,” he said, one hand on her shoulder, the other out and on the ready in case she should happen to get dizzy.

“I really am fine, I promise,” she said, and both men seemed to relax a little bit. She was glad Aaron still had her arm though, even if it wasn’t necessary.

Upon reaching the apartment building, Jamie rode the elevator up with them to the fourth floor, but that’s where his apartment was, and Cadence insisted that he get off there. She really was fine so long as she didn’t accidentally turn her IAC back on before she felt confident in her ability to control it.

Once Jamie was out of the elevator, she gave in to temptation and used her condition as an excuse to wrap her arms around Aaron’s waist and just let him hold her. It had been a long day, and she really didn’t care at this point what was appropriate and what wasn’t. He didn’t seem to mind as he gently stroked her hair. He smelled like leather and sandalwood, and she found his scent completely intoxicating.

When they reached their floor, he took her hand and led her over to her door. “Why don’t you let me come in for a few minutes and make sure you’re all right?” he asked.

She hesitated only because she knew he had to leave to go on the hunt soon, and she was afraid that, once he came inside, she would be reluctant to let him go. But she agreed, and he took her key and let her into the apartment.

Cadence dropped onto the end of the sofa, sinking into the cushion. She finally felt like she could relax and completely let the terrifying sensation of not being able to control her own mind release.

“Can I get you anything?” Aaron asked.

She patted the couch next to her, indicating that she wanted him to sit down, which he did, and she rested her head on his shoulder. She didn’t say anything for a moment, just took deep breaths, trying to reorganize her thoughts. She could feel his hand running through her hair again and was aware of how nice it felt. He smelled divine; it was intoxicating. It was as if her senses were trying to reclaim their own territory. Resistance seemed futile. Her head rested in the crook of his neck and when she spoke, she wondered what affect her breath might have on the sensitive skin there. “Thank you for coming with me.” Her voice was groggy, almost unrecognizable even to herself.

“You’re welcome,” he said just above a whisper.

His tone was indicative to her that the connection she was feeling was not imagined. She supposed lifting her face would easily bring contact between her lips and his. She kissed him only in her mind, but she did slide her hand across his chest to rest on his other shoulder. “If you hadn’t been there...”

“Mmm, but I was. That’s all that matters.”

She was starting to drift off to sleep, the adrenaline leaving her bloodstream causing her to suddenly become very drowsy. The futility now seemed to be in fighting off dreamland. When he spoke again, his voice was distant.

“Cadence?” Aaron asked. Her eyebrows fluttered, coming into contact with his neck. “Do you want me to carry you to your bed?”

She mumbled something, something she didn’t even understand, and he must have taken it to be a yes. The next thing she knew, she was in his arms and then in her new bedroom. She hadn’t even taken off her coat, so he carefully pulled that off of her, removed her boots, and slid her between the covers. Cadence opened her eyes a few times, but she couldn’t say anything, mental and physical exhaustion overwhelming her.

He sat down next to her on the bed and gently brushed the hair away from her face. “I’m going to go, okay?”

“Okay,” she whispered without opening her eyes.

“I would stay with you, to make sure you’re okay, but I have Rogue Vampires to catch. And I think you’ll be just fine after a good night’s rest. Sweet dreams.” Cadence’s eyes were so heavy, she couldn’t even open them, let alone say anything, but just before he stood, she felt the warmth of his lips on her forehead, and she fell asleep in a state of bliss.