“Are you really coming over for lunch?” Lucy asked. “That would be great.”
“Yeah, why not?” I replied. She’d pressed floor five with her IAC, but I hadn’t hit the button for four yet. I pulled out my phone to text my mom that I’d be home a little later than previously planned. She did not have an IAC. “Do you even have food?”
The doors opened and we popped out into the hallway. “Yeah, of course I do. I just order it online, and it shows up in my refrigerator and cabinets.”
I looked at her like she was crazy. “What are you talking about?”
“Yeah, it’s a new service the grocery downstairs added a few weeks ago. It’s pretty cool. You should tell your mom.”
“The only time my mom ever leaves campus is to go to the store,” I replied, following Lucy into her apartment. It was always tidy, which didn’t fit with the Lucy I knew
I did check my phone again before I got off the elevator, and my mom was right. The message hadn’t sent. I was irritated because there was no reason why it shouldn’t have, but I assumed Brandon was correct, and the signal hadn’t gotten through on the elevator. Rather than trying again automatically, it waited for me to try to send it again, a flaw in the default settings for my particular not-so-smartphone. I fixed it so that any time I sent a message that didn’t initially go through, my phone would keep trying until it went.That didn’t fix the problem with my mom.She was literally standing a foot inside of the door with her arms crossed as I opened it. She had to move aside to keep from getting hit with it. “I’m sorry,” I said, hoping my voice sounded more apologetic than I actually felt. “It didn’t go through.” I flashed my phone in front of her face, but she didn’t care to look at it.&
The next morning, I was allowed to accompany Lucy to training because my sister spoke to my mother on my behalf and said it was good for the other new recruits to have me there. It seemed ironic that I’d been fighting tooth and nail to get out of practice only for practice to be the one place I was allowed to go. I was also allowed to go to the gym in the evenings so long as either Cadence, Aurora, or Ashley, the “grown up” Hunters, were with me, but that was it. No going to my friends’ apartments. No hanging out with Brandon. It was the stupidest thing ever—except for the fact that it gave me an opportunity.Lucy and I were walking back into the apartment building when I noticed Juan across the way again, and I decided it was now or never. “I need to talk to Juan Diego,” I said to Lucy who had been relatively quiet, likely matching my somber mood. “Just go along with it, okay?”She scrunched her forehead up at me l
Over the next few days, I slowly started moving my stuff up to the fifth floor. I stowed it in the closet in the bedroom so that no one would open the front door and see a pile of miscellaneous items sitting there and assume that someone was squatting—although that was what was about to happen, if I could figure out how to get permission from my parents to not be home when they wouldn’t let me go basically anywhere else. I knew at some point I’d have to involve my sister, but I hadn’t gotten that far yet. When I did, I’d need to be vague. I also needed help from someone else, and since I wasn’t allowed to go to Brandon’s apartment anymore, catching that person would be hard.So I blew off training one morning, even though that’s where my mom thought I was, and went to meet Elliott at the donut shop. All I had to do was mention food, and he was there. I just prayed Aurora would have no reason to talk to my mom for the next few da
Despite my superhuman speed and stamina, by the time I reached the penthouse, I was out of breath. I waited a second in the hall outside Cadence’s door, trying to catch it again. I didn’t want to panic her, and there was no reason to try to talk when I couldn’t. Once I was able to speak again, I knocked lightly on her apartment door and waited, hoping this conversation went as well as the last one.I heard my sister sigh like I’d just interrupted something uber important, but she was at the door in a second. She must’ve looked through the peephole because when she opened the door, she was smiling. I guess of all of the people who could’ve been interrupting whatever critical work she was doing, her little sister wasn’t nearly the worst.“Hey, Cass. What’s up? Does Mom know you’re here? Aren’t you supposed to be at training?”Four hundred questions and I hadn’t even stepped through the d
My new apartment was amazing! Sure, it was basically completely empty at this point, though I had gotten Brandon and Dax to move my bedroom furniture in, and I’d ordered a few kitchen necessities on Amazon. I couldn’t live without a blender, after all. How could I make my protein shakes in the morning without a blender? I didn’t mind not having any place to sit or a TV to watch because along with living by myself came an amount of freedom I’d never known before. Not only did I give myself a new curfew of 11:00, I allowed myself to watch scary movies and eat all kinds of junk food. I was basically Kevin in Home Alone.Except I was living on the edge, and I didn’t know how much longer it would take for my sister and my mom to really sit down and talk about this. Three weeks in, and neither of them had said much of anything. I made a point of dropping by to have lunch with my mom every other day and show her my math progress because I wante
Shane’s office was junked, too, but he didn’t have a say in whether or not we were going in. And it was empty. I tried not to question why Aurora’s wasn’t as I had a seat next to Aaron in two chairs on the side of the desk closest to the hallway. At least he wasn’t sitting across Shane’s cluttered desk from me. Then I would really feel like I was in trouble.The odor of decaying gym socks did not deter him as he took a moment, and turning his chair toward me, asked quietly, “Do you want to tell me what’s really going on, or do you want me to guess?”The old me would’ve just politely told the truth and asked for forgiveness. I am not the old me. I’m not sure what happened to her, but I think she disappeared even before I boarded that train to Philly. “I’m not sure,” I began. “But I’m guessing there’s something in Aurora’s office she doesn’t want us to see. M
My mom and dad were sitting on the couch when Aaron and I walked in, and my sister was there, too, in a chair, leaving the smaller loveseat for Aaron and I, which was really awkward. I felt like Cadence should’ve gotten up and switched with me, but then I also thought if my mom tried to kill me, maybe he’d protect me. Not that I couldn’t save myself, but I wouldn’t want to be the one to try to restrain my own mother from beating me upside the head.We all stared at each other for a long time, and I knew that Aaron wanted me to start, but I wasn’t ready for that, so I just sat there, even after he literally nudged me with his shoe. We were having a stare down, and I wasn’t going to be the first to shout chicken.So my mom finally said, “Cassidy, what is this all about? Your father left work to be here. Do you want to explain?”No, not really. Another nudge. “Uh, well, Mom, you know, ever since I moved
“I think what we all need to do here,” my dad began, drawing all of our eyes, “is take a few moments to reflect on the facts. Whenever something isn’t going as expected at work, we have to take a step back and look at the situation. Now, the facts are that while Cassidy was living here, in this small space, the two of you were constantly fighting, at each other’s throats over everything.” My mom opened her mouth like she was going to protest, but Dad actually stopped her with a gesture. “And I didn’t like seeing either one of you that way. It was miserable. For all of us.” He looked at my mom intently until she nodded. “Now, she’s not far away, just upstairs, and she seems to be handling herself just fine. While I would’ve appreciated a consultation before this took place, I am glad to hear that you’re happy, Cass. And it’s certainly been much more peaceful here. Your mom has even gone out a few even
Cadence was glowing, holding both of her babies, one in each arm. I smiled at her and then focused on Josephina. She wasn’t crying now, but her little face was wrinkled as if she might burst into tears at any moment. Aaron had his hand on her back, beaming with pride as he looked at his little family. Jamie and another Healer, Ona, were cleaning up a tray table, but I caught his eye, and he winked at me. I hoped he could tell how grateful I was. If it wasn’t for him and his life saving blue magical healing powers, not to mention his medical skills, Cadence never would’ve come back to life.“Where’s my new favorite lil girl?” Elliott asked beside me.“Hey! I’m your lil girl. You’re going to have to think of something else to call her.” I threw an elbow at him.“Oh, I’m just teasing,” Elliott assured me. “Still, she is definitely lil. And she is my girl.”“I&rsqu
I’ll never forget the day my sister died. Even now, eight months later, sitting outside of Jamie’s operating room with Brandon’s hand in mine, every time I think about what happened that day, I get tears in my eyes. So many things could’ve gone differently, if only one of us would’ve made a different choice. I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on what I could’ve done differently myself that day, and even though everyone tells me there’s no point in dwelling on it, what’s done is done, it still haunts me sometimes when I’m trying to fall asleep at night, when I can so vividly see Cadence hanging there in the air before she plummeted to the ground, the whoosh of power that left my hand just missing its mark.The new Hunter Leader is a guy named Daniel Bower. He came in from California a few months ago. He’s awesome. I’ve known him for a while. He’s the one who helped capture Professor Stewart after th
I continued to beg and plead with her to come back to us. At fifteen minutes, Scarlet’s whispers were loud enough for me to detect what she was saying to Cale. “How long will he give it?”“I don’t know.” Cale seemed agitated and upset, certainly more connected to my sister than Scarlet. “Not yet.”“Please... Cadey, please.” I felt as far and as deep as I could, thinking about how I’d had to go so very far into her brain to plant that dream. The clock continued to tick. Cadence still wasn’t breathing, and Jamie began to sound desperate. At twenty-five minutes, when Jamie said “thirty,” his voice broke. He knew that the chances of her coming back to us now, after this long, were minute at best. He couldn’t give up, though. We couldn’t give up.Aaron blew two breaths of air into my sister’s lungs, and Jamie started counting again.Something was diff
After Aaron finally moved forward, I followed, staying back a little bit. I didn’t want to see her like that. I had never seen a person’s body after they’ve fallen that far, but I could imagine what it was like.Only when I finally did take a few hesitant steps around the trees, Brandon’s hands on my shoulders, she didn’t look like I expected her to at all.Cadence was lying flat on the ground with her hands folded over her abdomen, sort of like Snow White. Her feet were out straight, and her hair was blown out around her. She looked absolutely beautiful. And still. So very, very still.Jamie was doing chest compressions, and when it was time to breathe, Aaron did that for my sister. Some sort of automatic pilot must’ve turned on for him because his movements were very robotic. Jamie would say thirty, and Aaron would breathe into my sister’s open mouth twice before Jamie started counting again.Tears were rolling
“No!” My scream echoed across the mountainside as I watched in horror as my sister fell. I cannot guide what I cannot see, and I didn’t have a chance to get a grip on her before she plummeted. My hands shot out in her direction, but the surge of power I’d sent to grab her went over her head. I saw a streak of blue do the same and knew Jamie had missed as well.Fumbling through Cadence’s stream of consciousness, I tried again, hoping I’d be able to figure out how to get my powers around her before she hit the ground, but she was moving too fast, and without my eyes on her, I wouldn’t be able to get a grip.Part of me wanted to at least jump into her head, to be with her, to let her know she was okay, but then, the thought of what she was about to endure, when she hit the tops of the trees and then cascaded down through them to the earth, I couldn’t bear the thought, and I knew she wouldn’t want me to see it.I
“Brandon!” I shouted, floating over to where he had disappeared. He didn’t answer, and I realized he must’ve fallen all the way in. “Dang it.” I looked around the battlefield. I knew he was safe down there, but I hated that he was in that miserable place. Cadence was firing at Daunator now while Christian moved in, to place the grenade, I assumed, so I thought perhaps she’d be safe for a few minutes. I decided to help Brandon.“Are you all right?” I asked, using my telepathy.“Thank goodness,” he thought, probably not even to me. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just really dark in here.”“I know. Hold on, and I’ll get you out.”“If I hold on, won’t it be harder for you to get me out?”“All right smarty pants.” I needed to focus all of my energy if I was going to do this
“You okay?” Brandon shouted to me as he moved a little closer to where I was standing. The holes in the ground were not shaking now as much as they had been before, but they were still an obstacle we had to consider. I didn’t want him to get too close because of my tornadoes, but I was glad he was nearby.“Great,” I called back, sending another pile of creatures over the side of the mountain.Aaron was fighting his way through the crowd of black creatures, working his way to Cadence. The path was getting clearer, as far as the minions were concerned, but once he got within about a hundred yards of Cadence’s location, one of the Vampires that had been engaged with our forces closer to the top of the mountain broke off, clearly on his way to intercept the Guardian Leader.Whether he liked it or not, Aaron wasn’t alone now. I wasn’t sure where she’d come from, but Eliza was running parallel to him, fighting off
Moving the black creatures off of the ledge worked well, and I was just starting my second round when I realized my sister had taken off running toward Daunator. Christian had reached him already, a grenade in his hand. I prayed he didn’t get sucked down into another hole. The fact that Cadence was so far away from Aaron was worrisome, but he was busy with the creatures. While Cadence was slowed a few times by the minions sinking their teeth into her arm or grabbing at her heels, for the most part, they seemed to be letting her through, which seemed like a bad sign to me. Did Daunator want her to fight him?A blast of light illuminated the mountain, and then a wave of smoke obscured my view of Christian and Daunator. He’d thrown a grenade, the old kind, the ones he knew wouldn’t work. When the smoke cleared, Daunator’s laughter echoed through the air, and Christian went flying twenty feet in the air.Paul’s voice came over the IAC as I tos
Christian’s eyes widened. “Get out of here? We can’t. We have to get Daunator.”“We will. But for now, we need to go back and regroup. The most important thing is that you’re safe now,” Cadence explained to him.Christian was starting to freak out again. “No, Cadence, you don’t understand. We can’t just leave from here! We can’t just let him go!” His eyes were wild, and he reached forward and grabbed my sister’s shoulders. That lasted about half a second before Aaron grabbed him and pulled him off.“Listen, Christian, I agree. It’s important we come back and end this, but you need medical attention. And a good visit with Hannah.”And a shower, I thought to myself. But I was staying out of this one for the moment. I felt a stirring in the ground and a shift in energy somewhere further up the mountain. The argument was about to be moot.“No,