Ashley popped her head between my sister and I. “What’s happening?” she asked, and I realized she had no idea what was going on, like none at all. She’d missed out on my little dance with the moon, and it probably hadn’t occurred to her that there was even an eclipse tonight, though I thought Aaron might’ve mentioned it during our meeting.
“We don’t know,” Cadence admitted.
I turned to Ashley to say more, but there really wasn’t much else to say, so I didn’t. I stayed in Hannah’s head and watched her as she and the others did as Cadence had said—rounding up Vampires, searching for Guardians, questioning anyone who looked suspicious.... It was all a chaotic mess, and I wished my sister could somehow drive even faster than she already was.
When we pulled into the field next to the Eidolon Festival, Cadence dodged several parked cars to stop as close to the entryway as possible, and we al
I wanted to smack my sister. Like I hadn’t been trying to find Dr. Stewart, the Vampire responsible for the missing Guardians. “I can’t! Holland has some shield around him. I’ll be able to break through it eventually, but nothing I’m trying is working!”Cadence pulled me into her arms, and I realized I was shaking. “Okay, okay. Take some deep breaths. I’m sure, wherever they are, they’re all fine. Vampires can’t kill Guardians, remember? They’re strong. They’ll be okay.”She was talking like she still believed they’d just been kidnapped or something. I didn’t know how to make her see that this was something worse than an abduction, nor could I feel any trace of Hamish in the air, past that vague image of him rushing out of the festival in Rog’s mind, one he didn’t even realize was associated with Stewart since he’d never seen him before. I just knew the stocky ma
Instead of going into the room I was sharing with my sister, I went into Brandon and Elliott’s. It was weird. All of their stuff was still there, exactly how they’d left it. They thought they’d be coming back in an hour or two. Now, who knows? I wondered where they were, if they were okay, if they were scared. I imagined they’d have to be unless they lost their memories of us, the way that Elliott had when he died. I couldn’t imagine Brandon being out there somewhere in the cosmos now, not remembering me. I refused to believe that could be the case.I opened his suitcase and took out the shirt he’d been wearing earlier because it smelled like him. It was a cotton shirt, blue, with a logo on the front in black. I held it up to my face and took a deep breath and tried to fight back my tears. Taking off my leather jacket and my holster, I set them on the end of the bed and put his shirt on over the top of mine.Moving to Elliott’s
My sister’s voice infiltrated my thoughts, which seemed weird because I didn’t even know she was back. It wasn’t until I opened my eyes and saw her standing in the doorway that I also noticed I was levitating. I bounced up and down on the mattress a few times, and she looked at me a little oddly, like she couldn’t quite figure out what I was doing. She didn’t ask, only said, “Come on. We’re going to DC.”“Okay.” I slid off of the bed, grabbing my jacket and my Glock and putting them both on as we went. I still had Brandon’s shirt on, which probably looked way too big on me but not totally weird, but I decided to shove Elliott’s hat back in my pocket.I almost asked where Ashley was, but then I realized I’d been out a lot longer this last time than I would’ve ever guessed. I had a message from her from about an hour ago that said she went with Christian to DC to see if she could help. Sh
I had no idea how fast Job had been driving or exactly how far it was from Shepherdstown to DC, but we had reached our destination. He pulled into a spot in front of a rundown, brick office building. It wasn’t huge, but then this was the space most of the Independents worked out of, when they worked together, which just meant they truly answered to no one except Job, the leader they had appointed, and had no government funding. The second part showed.None of us said anything as we followed Job inside. We ran into a few people in the hallway and all politely greeted each other, but my mind was elsewhere. If I couldn’t find Holland, and I couldn’t find Stewart, what else could I do? I was starting to go a little crazy, and the person who is always there to calm me down and get me back on track was nowhere to be found.A tall woman with short blonde hair I recognized as Trina, the Hunter Leader for DC, was already in the conference room. So was her Guar
Aaron had been talking to Elliott on the video Christian was showing us of what happened right before they disappeared. I couldn’t hear either of their voices, but I could tell by Elliott’s expression that he was worried about something. I’m not an expert lip reader, but I thought he said he was leaving, maybe going back to the B and B.The image bobbed up and down, and I supposed that was Aaron nodding before he turned his head. Out in front of them about twenty yards, a girl came into view. She had the same build as one of the Vampires I’d talked to earlier, but she wasn’t wearing her face.“That looks like me,” my sister said, her mouth hanging open.“Right,” Christian agreed. “Elliott sees the same thing. They start walking in a hurry, and then, at 2:32, just as the moon hits its culmination....” He stopped talking and we watched as Elliott noticed something on the ground and then vanished, ri
The three Guardians who had ahold of me started moving me toward the door, but the further away from Christian I got, the more I wanted to come back for round two. I was so close to using my levitational powers to see if they could free me, but in the back of my mind, I thought I could end up hurting someone who didn’t deserve it, and I didn’t want Christian to turn me into that kind of monster.Nevertheless, if I could break free of my own accord, I was going to do it. I twisted and turned, picked my feet up off of the ground and kicked, shouting, “I’m going to kill you, Christian Henry! And you know I can!”If he was smart, he would’ve kept his mouth shut, but instead he told me where I could go and called me a nasty name.“Seriously?” Cadence asked, taking her eyes off of me for a second to look at him.Christian had a smirk on what was left of his face, but then his expression changed really quickly, and
“Is there a place I can wash my hands?” I asked Ashley. They were covered with Christian’s blood, and I wanted it off of me. Now.Ashley didn’t blink, so I leaned around her. The woman on the other side of her had heard. “There’s a restroom right there.” She pointed across the hallway.“Thanks.” I looked at Ashley, who didn’t seem to notice me at all, and headed off to the ladies’ room thinking if my sister had given her some sort of a warning not to let me out of her sight, Ashley had failed in less than thirty seconds.I opened the door with my mind and was glad to see the room was empty. Three stalls, three sinks. I picked the one closest to the door and turned the faucet on, shoving my hands beneath the warm water and watching it instantly pink. There was more blood there than I had realized, and I felt slightly bad for what I’d done to Christian—not that he didn’t deserve it
I recognized my sister’s footsteps behind me even though my eyes were closed again. Amanda had stopped calling, so I was trying to find Stewart and getting nowhere. I opened them and turned to look at Cadence as she came to stand beside me. She was just as tired, frustrated, and upset as I was—but not nearly as angry.“Can I speak to you for a moment, Sis?” she asked, thumbing back down the hall.I flew up out of the chair, literally, levitating for a moment before I stepped away with her. Glancing back at Ashley, I saw she had stopped crying, but her shoulders were doing that shuddering thing that sometimes happens when you’ve cried yourself into oblivion.Down the hallway, my sister folded her arms and kept her voice down. “Christian did know, but we can’t murder him. We need his help in getting them back.”I shook my head, my dander up again. Of course I knew he knew, but now that I knew my sister knew he