It didn't bother Aaron that he found Cadence's door locked about an hour later when he returned to her apartment; there weren't too many locked doors he couldn't find his way through, and that included Cadence's.
As he entered her bedroom, he could tell by her breathing that she wasn't asleep, although her steady breaths indicated she had been in bed for a while. He had changed into something more comfortable, though it wasn't the boxers he usually slept in, when he slept, which wasn't often. He did his best not to jostle her as he slid in bed beside her, leaving adequate room so she wouldn&rs
"Cadence, are you awake?"Her eyes flickered open for a second, confusion setting in before she promptly shut them. The room was bright--which meant it was morning. Her head wasn't pounding; rather than feeling like she had been hit by a truck, she felt like she could pick one up and throw it.But she was still confused. She buried her head beneath a pillow before asking, "Why a
Elliott patted her on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, too, kid. I know that's upsetting. But I'd be lying if I didn't say it makes me happy," he added to her alone.She glared at him, saying nothing, before turning back to her breakfast, clearly annoyed at his glee."Well, Eliza will be here in a few minutes," Aaron mentioned, changing the subject. "So, now that we've had a chance to... s
"Wow... I can't believe they bought it," Finn was saying as they all sat around the same laminate-topped table in the cheap hotel outside of Alleghany, California."We're not home free yet," Laura reminded them, absently rubbing at her eye again. "We've got to be ready for anything. Don't expect them to just let us waltz in there with our own weapons, no questions asked. ""We've got to make
"What about the north end of the property?" Aaron asked, confused."You can put some people up there if you've got anyone to spare," Laura shrugged. "But we'll be coming in from that direction, so between the three of us, we should have him covered. Besides, this is uphill, and I don't think he can out run us, Cadence anyway, uphill.""Okay," Aaron said, crossing his arms, but resting his ch
Back by the driveway, Elliott was watching Sam rather closely as they covered the only reliable exit to the property. The cowboy was a tricky son-of-a-bitch, and they'd had a run in before, several months ago, when he was bad-mouthing Cadence after the last hunt they had been on together. Elliott hadn't been a fan of Cadence himself at the time, but no one should ever talk to a lady the way that Sam had spoken to Cadence.Meagan had stepped a bit in front of them, clearly trying to see if Cadence was in position yet. "I can't see anything," she mumbled.
"Oh, my God!" Cadence exclaimed just above a whisper. She was vaguely aware that Meagan was sitting on the ground nearby crying. "Jamie!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "Where the hell is Jamie?" she yelled, throwing herself on the ground next to her broken friend.The expression on Aaron’s face said it all. "He's hit, too," he choked out.Cadence's eyes widened even further. "
"Cadence! Don't do it!" Aaron had caught up to her. He grabbed her from behind, wrapped one arm around her waist, and lifted her cleanly off of the hysterical woman."Why not?" she argued, flailing. "She deserves it!""You're not a murderer," he reminded her, sitting her on her feet. "You only kill Rogue Vampires. She’ll get what she deserves, but we’ll do it the right way."
Hannah had caught up to her in the lobby and the women had ridden up in silence. Upon exiting the elevator on the hospital level, they were greeted with a whirl of flurry. It was organized chaos, and Archie was there to meet them. They didn't know where Aaron was; he had driven away from them pretty quickly, and Cadence could only assume he was there somewhere. He had shut his IAC off once they had left the scene."Ladies, first of all, I am so very sorry for your loss," Archie said a sympathetic look on his face. "I know Cale is taking good care of your friends, but I'm going to show you dire
Hannah took Jo to give her a bath, and Ona helped Cadence get Cadon latched while Jamie left to go check on his own one-month-old baby. Cadence’s son was a pro almost immediately, latching on the first try to resting peacefully while he nursed. Cadence couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have even one sweet baby, let alone the blessings of two. He wore a tiny little cap to keep him warm, and she couldn’t help but stroke his head while he made soft baby noises in her arms.Hannah brought Jo back before Cadon was finished. It took her daughter much longer to latch. She kept turning her feisty little face away, growling her discontentment as Cadence tried to get her on and not disturb Cadon at the same time. With Aaron’s help, their daughter finally latched, but he had to have his hand on her back or else she’d pull off again. “She is definitely a Daddy’s girl,” Cadence declared, shaking her head at her strong-spirited daughter.
“For the record, there really is no comparison between us naming our son after a famous jazz pianist and you naming your daughter after a murderous dictator,” the Healer pointed out before getting back to the task at hand. “I think in two or three more pushes, we’ll have a baby.” He was looking at Cadence now, smiling at her above the draped sheet that made her feel a little more secure even if it didn’t really hide anything at all from the doctor.“Okay,” she said again, ready to get it over with. Jamie told her to push, and she did, as hard as she could, hoping for two and not three as the lucky number.“Keep pushing,” Jamie said, even though Aaron had reached ten. “She’s almost there.”Cadence strained even harder, giving it every bit of energy she had left, and a few seconds later, she felt her daughter slip into the world. Listening to her cries made Cadence’s heart melt all
“One more push, Cadence,” Jamie insisted, his normally friendly-tone replaced by his not-quite-as-friendly medical professional tone. “One more time, and we’ll have a baby.”Cadence could feel the sweat dripping off of her forehead and wondered how normal human women did this, especially the ones who refused any sort of pain medication. Even with her superhuman strength and resilience, she was tired. Jamie had gloves on so he wasn’t using any of his healing powers to help her, but she had opted for the epidural, which minimized her pain but did nothing for the exhaustion.“You ready?” Aaron asked, standing next to her, holding one leg while Ona, a Healer who was acting as Jamie’s nurse, held the other.“I’m ready,” she nodded. Her husband’s smile hadn’t dimmed since her water broke three hours earlier. It might not have diminished since they’d left Prague eight months ago,
Jamie gently wrapped his arms around her. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” He kissed her cheek. “Love you, Cadence.”“I love you, too,” she said, returning the kiss. He took a step back and smiled at her before heading off toward the mountain.Cassidy hugged her sister a little more tightly than the doctor had. “Don’t you ever die on me again.”“I won’t. You neither. I love you, little sister.”“I know.” Cassidy giggled at her own smart remark. “I love you, too.” Cadence kissed the top of her sister’s head, and Cassidy let her go, stepping back to wait for Brandon.“Good job getting the monster.” Brandon’s hug was more like a pat on the back, and Cadence almost laughed, wondering if he just didn’t want to break her or was embarrassed.“Thanks, Brandon. Take care of my sis.”“I will try,
“The baby, Cadence,” Aaron said in her head. “You’re carrying our baby.”Cadence sucked in air all over again, like she had when she’d first fought to open her eyes. The baby! Jamie had told her she was pregnant before the hunt. How it had slipped her mind was beyond her, but yes, she was going to have a baby.Or was she? Her eyes flew to Jamie’s face, all of her questions bottled up in her eyes as she raised both brows, hoping he could alleviate her worry.Jamie smiled and gave a small nod only she could see. All of the air rushed out of Cadence’s lungs again as her hand flew to her abdomen, sighing in relief.“What is it?” Cassidy asked. “What was the other thing you couldn’t remember before?”Part of her wanted to keep their little secret just that, and she was disappointed that she hadn’t been the one to tell Aaron. She looked to him to see if
Cassidy smiled, but didn’t say anything, and Cadence could tell by her expression, she didn’t know what to make of Cadence’s revelation. It was no matter—she moved on.“Jack was pitching, Elliott. And the batter was a guy who looked so much like you. I couldn’t remember you at the time—sorry—but I asked, and my grandparents said the batter’s name was Jimmy.”“Jimmy?” Elliott echoed. “I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned that name to you.”“I don’t think you have either, but that’s your brother’s name, isn’t it.”Elliott’s head rocked back and forth slowly. “Wow. If that don’t beat all.... It’s like the freakin’ Wizard of Oz. ‘And you were there, and you were there....’ Hmmm.”“Well, it gets Wizardier because your mom was there, too. Arlene. And she wa
A growl from Elliott let her know he disagreed, but he didn’t say anything more, and Christian only nodded before he faded out of view. It was just as well. Cadence was exhausted. She didn’t really want to talk to anyone else, just let her husband pick her up in his strong arms and carry her back to the SUV so she could take a shower and fall asleep for a few years.“I hate to interrupt,” Scarlet said, taking a step closer to where they were sitting. “Cadence, it is wonderful you’re okay. But Jamie, what about that serum you made? Do you think we should try it? If we can get the Hybrids back up there, we might be able to save some of those people who are still trapped in the holes.”“Oh, right.” Jamie scratched his head, like he’d forgotten about the serum. “Yeah, why don’t you and Cale start working on that. The serum is in my backpack, which is in the trees near where we first encountered the bla
Lungs burning, body aching with the pain of soldering itself back together, eyes blinded by brilliant white, Cadence opened her mouth and sucked in air for the first time in as long as she could remember. Her legs still felt like they were on fire, like she’d been running for hours, but as she tipped her head back and began to cough the memories of what had happened to her, how she’d killed Daunator and then found herself in the air with no ground beneath her boots, flooded her mind, and every trace of memory about why she felt like she’d been running fled her mind.“Cadence? Cadence!”Aaron was there. She could feel his hands on her, even though she couldn’t open her eyes to look at him yet. Her throat burned as she continued to sputter, coughing and choking on the air she so desperately wanted in her lungs. How long had she gone without taking a breath? Why did her heart feel like a jackhammer, her chest muscles sore from the exert
Jamie was at twenty-two, and Aaron was trying to focus, but the voices to his left were prominent in his mind. He could still hear Elliott’s murmurs, Cass’s sobs, sighs and gasps from others. Christian was pacing back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, behind almost everyone. Aurora, free of her handcuffs now that she was no longer a threat, was doubled over on the ground, her hands linked around her knees, her wails having lost their voice minutes ago so that she was no longer making a noise as her body shook and spasmed. Eliza had her arm around the much taller Hunter, trying to be comforting, but Aaron was aware that, of everyone here, Eliza Wrath was the only one who really didn’t care if Cadence ever opened her eyes again. He could feel it rolling off of her in waves of ugliness like the sea during the type of storm that leaves debris littered all over the beach, breaks boats in its wake, and sends sailors to the bottom of the ocean.There were