Once outside, she hurried off toward her apartment at such a pace she didn’t realize how fast she was going and nearly collided with Alex as he was crossing the street. “Well, I dare say, aren’t you quite the thoroughbred.” He stepped out of the way just in time and gave her a slight bow.
“I’m sorry,” Cadence said, thinking she’d had enough Revolutionary War soldiers for one night.
“It’s quite all right, Cadence. How are you feeling? I trust your procedure went as expected since you are much swifter than the last time I saw you.” He smiled at her, standing in the sort of pose one might expect a proper gentleman from two hundred years ago to stand, and she couldn’t help but stop for a moment to speak with him.
“I’m feeling just fine, thank you.” Realizing that Alex had actually been around even longer than Aaron had, and a year or two longer than Christian, she took a step f
Jamie took a deep breath, like he didn’t want to suggest anything about Cass to her, but he continued his thought with her probing. “I was wondering… if you were to cut Cassidy—nothing too serious, but just a little cut—if it would heal quickly by itself. That’s all.”“You mean me because I’m a Hunter?”“Yeah. But we don’t have to do that. I was thinking that might give us more data on whether or not a Hunter can harm her. But anyway, that’s not why you’re here. What’s up?”It was Cadence’s turn to take a deep breath now. As much as she had been going over everything in her head the last eight hours or so, it was difficult to think about saying it out loud. Jamie was staring at her in anticipation, however, so she finally said, “I’m worried about Aaron. Really worried about him. Worse than before worried about him.”Jamie nodded, as if
Cadence knocked on Elliott’s door, and waited as patiently as he could before Brandon called out in a high pitched voice, “Who is it?” as if he was a house wife from the fifties. It would have normally made her laugh, but humor was not on the agenda today.“Open the damn door, Brandon,” she replied, trying to bite back the anger seeping out of every pour.“Gee, someone is in a lovely mood.” He pulled the door open. Cass was sitting on the couch, her algebra book open and her laptop on the coffee table, so at least they were actually studying and not doing… something else.She breezed past him. “Cass, I need you to gather as much intel as you can about Lexington,” she said, dropping into Elliott’s favorite recliner. She looked around, partially expecting him to be there, but she didn’t hear him. “I am going to put a hunt together, but I likely won’t be able to take any Guardians,
“How’s it going?” Cadence inquired, no longer ready to push up out of his chair.“It is going. It is going,” Elliott replied, tossing his jacket on the back of the recliner, the breeze brushing Cadence’s hair up off of her shoulders. “You will never guess who I ran into downstairs.”Cadence knew by his happy demeanor he must not have any idea about Sam, and she supposed she’d have to tell him, but there was no reason to spoil it yet. “Who?”“Your beloved. And… it was weird, but he was back to his old self for a few moments. It was… strange.”He was headed into the kitchen, so Cadence followed him, her eyes narrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?” The idea that Aaron could be himself again, even for a few minutes, was almost unfathomable. The closest she’d seen to it in weeks had been before and after her procedure, and it hadn’t lasted, ob
Asteria’s airplane landed at a small airport in Linz a few hours after Hines touched down, and while she wasn’t sure this scheme of his was going to pay off, she did feel more hopeful about the situation than she had in days. Ever since those Guardians from the Caribbean had flooded every headquarters she’d been targeting, she’d been stuck. It seemed the serum Hines had concocted to turn the Guardians back into humans so they could be destroyed was fairly useless, and she wasn’t getting anywhere with any of the plans she attempted to put in place. Perhaps she would find her answers in the hills around Cesky Krumlov.The pregnancy wasn’t affecting her the same way she would have expected a normal human pregnancy to wear on a woman, though the child was growing much faster than any human baby. She had a feeling she’d be giving birth within the next few weeks at most, and then what, she wasn’t sure. Having never had children, other
“Here we are,” Hines said, bringing Asteria back to the moment. They were at the top of a long staircase, hidden by a turn in the stone wall. She followed him down, glad to hear the whimpers and cries of those they sought out. Nelo and Venette were known for their ability to keep reserva de sange, something Asteria rarely bothered with. It was easy enough for her to send someone else out to get a fresh victim for her if she grew thirsty. But having these vessels on hand at all times was attractive, and she decided she’d look in to that once she made it back to Melbourne.An older man with stooped shoulders, along with a woman who appeared to be in her mid-to-late twenties with jet black hair were standing in one of the many prison cells quietly giving instruction to the two new recruits. She could tell them from the others because they were still dressed as prisoners. “You didn’t bother to get them any less conspicuous clothing?” A
Under normal circumstances, it would’ve taken about an hour and a half to drive through Kansas City to Lexington, but at 2:00 AM, there was hardly any traffic at all, and Elliott was exceeding the speed limit by at least half of the posted number which meant they’d arrive well before 3:00 AM. By then, she hoped the Vampires would be done with any hunting they might be up to, and her team could move in and finish them all off.She sat in the passenger seat of the Enclave, mostly staring out the window. Just like her encounter with the Blue Moon Portal, she hated doing anything without Aaron’s blessing, but this needed to be done. If Holland was off in Europe somewhere doing who-knows what, she likely would have no idea Cadence had moved in on one of her attack teams until it was too late. And Cadence’s philosophy was to get in, get out, and leave no one behind.The rest of the team was quiet, too, likely contemplating what they needed to do. Beca
“This is where I leave you,” Martin announced as they came to the last copse of trees before they reached the immediate yard around the house. He’d be close enough should anyone become injured, but he also wouldn’t be at risk of getting attacked by a Vampire.“See you in a bit,” Cadence said, nodding at him. She hadn’t had the chance to work with him before, but Jamie said he was one of the best Healers he’d ever seen, so she was confident they’d be all right if someone got hurt. Under the circumstances, there was a good chance that was going to happen.Cassidy said that as far as she knew, none of these eleven had ever shapeshifted, but she thought it was some sort of a power Holland could bestow upon a Vampire from a distance, and once the queen realized what was happening, she could become involved from afar. Since Cassidy was aware of this, she was going to do her best to create some sort of te
Just as Cadence stepped aside, raising up her right leg in a kick that landed squarely in the Vampire’s gut, she heard a barrage of gunfire from upstairs. Checking her IAC, she could see that Brandon and Meagan were pinned in the hallway and that Meagan had been hit in the arm. Apparently, these bastards had guns and weren’t afraid to use them.“I’m going up there,” Elliott said, and it wasn’t a question. Not that she wouldn’t have agreed. He flew up the stairs as Cadence turned to see he’d only taken care of two of the Vampires he’d been engaged with, which meant she had the bowling ball and a lanky woman with long white hair to dispatch.They both rushed her at the same time from opposite directions. Since her own firearm seemed of little use, she decided to see how powerful her ninja moves were now that she’d been repurposed. She kicked out with both legs at the same time, leaping into the air in t