Cadence had a hard time tearing her eyes away from her grandmother’s tranquil face, but she did as she was instructed, and at the back of the book, she found a letter-sized envelope with the inscription, “Kid” written on it in familiar writing.

She was so shocked, she almost dropped the album.

“What is this?” Cadence asked, almost afraid to touch it.

“I found it a few weeks ago when I was looking through the album. It was New Year’s Eve, and I was filling a bit melancholy, missing your grandfather something awful, so I thought I’d have a look at some of the old photos. And that fell out.”

Cadence had spent New Year’s Eve in Philadelphia, hoping Gibbon would show his face, and taking care of a few minor inconveniences who got a bit frisky that evening and ended up piles of ashes. Returning her attention to the envelope, she carefully picked it up, sliding the album onto her grandmother’s lap. Cadence held it as if it were made of filament. “When do you suppose he left it?”

“I’m not sure,” Janette admitted, grasping her most treasured possession with both hands. “He came to visit about a week before the… what do you call it?”

“Sierraville Incident?” Cadence asked, referring to the operation during which Elliott had lost his life.

“Yes. He came to visit pretty frequently, especially if he was in Shenandoah checking on Cassidy. He missed you. A lot. We both did. So… he’d come and visit, and we’d sit and reminisce a bit. I guess he slipped that in while I wasn’t looking.”

With a deep sigh, Cadence carefully unsealed the envelope and pulled out a single sheet of notebook paper. She unfolded it and began to read.

Dear Kid,

If you are reading this, then something has probably happened to me. You’ve been gone on your “find myself” tour for about four months now, and I’ve been missing you a lot. I know I can get you on the IAC but that’s not the same as seeing your goofy grin or feeling your tiny punches in my arm whenever I say something out of line. The truth is, I’ve been feeling a little off lately, like something bad is about to happen, and while I’m not sure what it is, there are a few things I wanted you to know in case the “impossible” happens.

First of all, I’m really sorry that I tried to get you kicked off of the team. There were a few reasons for that. Yes, you were a distraction—a bigger distraction than we’ve ever encountered before. It was pretty clear to me from even before the Eidolon Festival that Aaron was completely hung up on you. I think I saw it a long time before he knew it himself. I was there when he handed you off to Hannah, and I remember why he did it, too, though I guess he had pushed those thoughts out of his mind. He was too close to the situation for other reasons then. Now, here you are, a beautiful young lady who clearly has feelings for him. While I couldn’t blame him for being distracted, I was trying to prevent it from happening.

I also didn’t want you to get hurt. I thought maybe he’d assign you to another team. It makes sense—if he was worried about being able to concentrate on doing his job all of those years before when you weren’t even around every day, why not just send you off to another area? I was hoping that the thing with Henry would get you re-assigned, not released. At the time, I was willing to take either one. You were bound and determined to get yourself killed. I still don’t know how you managed to survive those first few hunts.

Once Aaron almost died protecting you in France, I felt like I had to do something. You needed to go. But by then, I was starting to admire you quite a bit. I’d never seen anything like you. Of course, you know the rest. Taking out Barbarosa was enough to solidify Big E and Little C for life. (Okay—I just made that up right now, but I like it!)

The only problem was, it wasn’t much longer before I started to realize it was going to take something major for Aaron to realize what an idiot he was being. I felt like the universe was shifting in that direction, trying to get his attention. In a way, I think I kind of volunteered myself. I caught myself saying things like, “The two of you will get together if it’s the last thing I do,” more than once, and while it was kind of funny before we knew about titanium bullets and rogue hunters, I’m starting to realize I may have set myself up to take one for the team.

And I’m okay with that, so long as the two of you figure this thing out.

You are meant to be together; that’s clear to me and to everyone else in the world. Now if you would just accept that, you’d make everyone’s lives a bit easier.

I’m sure if something has happened to me that Cass is probably really upset, and I’m very sorry for that. She’s such a good kid. I was so honored to have the opportunity to look out for her for all of those years. Please remind her that I love her very much, and you can let her read this as well if you want to.

Also, I did try to contact Amanda, like you recommended, but I don’t think she’s interested in hearing from me. I do feel better about trying, though. So thanks for that.

I didn’t mean to write a damn book, but I guess I feel better knowing that, if something does happen to me, you’ll at least have a few answers.

All right. Hopefully, this has just been a waste of an hour-and-a-half (What? I’m a slow writer!) and none of this was necessary. But, if something does happen to me, remember that I love you very much. Hope to see you around some time, once in a blue moon.

Love,

Elliott