Brandon’s room smelled more like him now than it did this morning, or at least I thought it did. I tossed my jacket and holster on the bed and pulled his blood-stained shirt off. I hated to take off the one article of clothing that smelled so much like him, but I couldn’t keep wearing it with Christian’s blood all over it. I needed to take a shower, too, but that would have to wait until after 7:00.
Most of their stuff was already packed. I just needed to gather up their toiletries and a few odds and ends Elliott, mostly, had strewn around the room. There was a half-eaten bag of Cheetos on the dresser. I unclipped it and stuck my face inside, inhaling deeply. It didn’t exactly smell like him, but his essence was there somehow. I ate one, even though I know he licks his fingers and sticks them back in the bag. I don’t exactly love Cheetos, but this one was better than most because it reminded me of him.
I cleaned up the rest of their stuff,
I couldn’t help but be worried to know the Guardians stuck in the portal were being attacked by creatures that sounded an awful lot like demons. I swallowed hard and tried to remember that Brandon was trained to fight, and Jamie was with him, not to mention his dad would keep him safe.“There’s a girl here I think you’ll want to meet, once we get out. I’m not sure how to tell you this exactly... but... it’s Heather. Yeah, that Heather.” I caught my breath—I’d been looking for Heather ever since I’d met Mina and Bonnie earlier in the year. To think, she’d been in the portal the whole time!“She’s been in here over a century. So it’s no wonder you couldn’t track her down. She’s been super helpful. She can tell us when to expect an attack. There’s an iron pin in the ground that we think has something to do with how we can get out. So the brains of the operation a
It really didn’t matter what I wanted, though. I knew if Alex had the chance to die, he’d take it. Which sounds morbid, but he never asked to be brought back from the dead in the first place, and that was over two hundred years ago.... He was tired of living, and he’d done an awful lot of it.I took in a deep breath and headed off to Ashley’s room, messaging Tara back at the same time. Rather than repeating everything to each of them, I just told Tara to hold on a second, and I’d give her visuals once I was in Ashley’s room.Ashley was smiling for the first time since she’d gotten Jamie’s last message. She was sitting on her bed, cradling her phone, wearing one of Jamie’s lab coats, which I thought was really weird. “Hey—why... does Jamie bring that with him?”“Huh?” She looked down, like she’d forgotten she’d put it on. “Oh.” Her face went a little pink.
I remembered from last time it took a couple of extra seconds to come through, so when my phone said 1:00, and nothing happened, I kept breathing. About the time it rolled to 1:01, I heard a whoosh and two dings.Brandon and Elliott.Of course, I read Brandon’s first. I glanced over at Cadence and saw her reading, too, so I knew at least Aaron had messaged her. It didn’t take much persuasion to keep me focused on Brandon’s words.“Hey, babe. How’s it going? You’re probably sound asleep, right? Nothing on your mind? Dang, I wish I was there with you. Of course, if I was, you really would be asleep, and I’d be in another room, in Iowa, probably watching a lame movie with my dad. Still, it beats what I’m doing now, I guess.“So it has occurred to me that Holland wanted us gone for a reason. I hope you’re being careful. I’m sure Cadence has contacted every available Guardian in the tri-state ar
Around 2:00, I started to get a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. I could tell my sister felt it, too, because I saw her sit up a little straighter on the bed. I was back in the chair, just perusing social media, looking at old pictures of Brandon and me. But once that stirring started, I put my phone away, inside one of the secret pockets in my jacket where it was less likely to fall out or get busted. Tonight could get ugly.I closed my eyes and tried to relax for a moment, feeling out into the night. They were definitely coming, and there were more of them than I had expected. I thought we’d knocked out most of the Vampires in the area during our raids. The deeper I probed, the more I realized most of these were newbies, created recently for just such an event. I guess a Vampire’s a little bit like a cockroach. You can do your best to squish them, but if you leave one or two around, soon enough, you’ll find yourself infested again.My best es
My sister was caught up by the other two Vampires, so she would be no help, and Ashley was checking out her shoulder. I needed to get rid of this guy quickly. Out the door, I could see more coming. It seemed like our perimeter hadn’t done a darn thing. I also heard sirens wailing, which wasn’t a surprise. Even with the silencer on Cadence’s gun, we were still in a suburban area firing guns and breaking glass in the middle of the night.I shot the guy in the face, knowing it would only slow him down. His head jerked back, and his hands covered the hole in his head. I jabbed my knife into his chest and dragged it down a foot or two as he screeched. By the time I yanked it out and gave him a good kick in the gut, he was done for. I moved through his ashes just as Cadence tossed her knife across the room to take out the last one that had made it into the room.My sister was bleeding and so was Ashley, but we moved out the door. “Head for the car!&rd
Cadence had three Vampires on her while I only had two. I needed to find a way to get through them quickly so I could help my sister. Ashley also had two, but it looked like the pair were the smallest of all of them.I would have to find a way to use their weight against them. I glanced over my shoulder to see Guardians getting closer to our location, but they weren’t on us yet. I figured Holland had sent these suckers to take us prisoner, to return us to her, but a quick glance in their heads told me they were here for the kill.As I was invading their thoughts, the woman made it clear she intended to lunge at me, and it occurred to me for the first time, I could use my telepathy to help me anticipate what they were going to do. It wasn’t easy considering I’d have to quickly read two minds simultaneously, but it did give me an advantage. She lunged; I sidestepped, bringing up my knee and sending her into the brute behind her.He was quicker. M
Arriving in Kansas City had felt weird. It was like being in a house where you live that isn’t your home. Your stuff is there. It’s all familiar. But it’s not right—it doesn’t feel right.Dr. Cale Ryan picked us up at the airport, which was a surprise. It was very clear to me from the moment we stepped out of the plane why he was there. He had a sparkle in his eyes that he couldn’t hide; there was a possibility my sister might be single again. I like Cale, and we joked around a little bit in the car on the way back to headquarters, but I thought it was a little despicable that he was there to hit on my sister when Aaron wasn’t dead. Not that it would have been okay if Aaron was dead....Cale parked outside of the archives building, and we headed inside. The sun was just coming up. I was more than exhausted, but I had a fire inside of me still, the kind that propels a person to keep picking up their feet even when they have abso
I had a huge lump in my throat and realized I knew who was missing before my sister even opened her mouth. Aurora asked her what was going on again, and when Cadence spoke, I felt my heart stop beating.“Alex.” She had to pause to force herself to breathe. “He was wounded in the leg, and he told Jamie he didn’t want to be healed.” She looked around the table. “He... passed away.”Immediately, all eyes were on me. Everyone began offering their condolences, how they were so sorry I’d lost a friend, maybe even Christian. I didn’t know. I couldn’t believe it—even though I’d had a horrible feeling earlier. I still never thought it would actually happen. Hannah said something about this being what he wanted.... I didn’t hear it all.“I told Tara I’d let her know as soon as we heard something since Dax can’t text her. I’ll be back.”My sister nodded, and I