Hamish couldn’t remember the last time he’d been at an airport, other than the one in DC where he’d boarded this plane a few hours ago. Airports were crowded and messy, and he could see no reason to ever leave his hometown anyway, unless of course, one wanted a fresh start, to go off in peace and form a Vampire army without anyone being the wiser.
He patiently waited his turn to step down the aisle, his carry-on bag in his hand. It was all he’d brought with him. A few changes of clothes, some toiletries, and all of the cash he had on hand, which was a considerable amount. It was easy to save up when one was an immortal with superpowers, after all.
“Have a nice day,” the stewardess said. Hamish nodded, noting she wasn’t bad looking. Maybe she could be his first lieutenant. If only he’d thought to change her in the restroom before the plane had landed. Ah, well. He’d have to find someone else for that role.
Stu
The footage from the night before was difficult for Cadence to watch, but she made herself go back over it with the team, looking for anything they could’ve missed. In the first few seconds of Alex’s IAC recording, before he spoke at all, they could hear one of the Vampires in the background chanting something. That had sent Cassidy on an errand to go extract the information by whatever means necessary. A few hours later, she’d returned with a glint in her eye. “Leig solas na fala fala a-mach d ’anam!”“Fala fala to you, too,” Cadence replied, a smirk on her face for the first time in a while. “Where’d you find that?”“All of their heads, eventually. Well, the four gents. The girls had no idea what I was talking about. It took a little persuasion of the strong-arm variety.”Cadence shook her head, glad her sister was on their side. “All right. So... now we just need to f
Cadence realized she’d stopped breathing and began gasping for air. “What... what does it say?”Ashley had tears in her eyes. “Hi, baby. Not sure if this will work, probably not, but worth a shot. I think we’re trapped in some sort of a portal. Working to get out, working to get back to you. We are all fine. I love you, and I will see you soon.”No words would come to her as Cadence went over the message again in her mind. How it was possible, she didn’t know, but to hear they were all okay, to see that they could actually communicate, even if it was on a huge delay, it was more than she would’ve ever hoped for.Cassidy stared at her phone for a few moments, and Cadence knew what she was thinking. Cadence hadn’t even bothered to pull hers out of her pocket because it hadn’t vibrated, and she knew Aaron wouldn’t have thought to try to text her. While it was more surprising that Brandon hadn’t
The Vampire girl, Heather, had led them to some sort of a large opening, and from his vantage point, Aaron couldn’t quite see what she meant when she said they weren’t alone. But he could hear. Around them, the growls and hisses grew substantially louder until it was obvious attack was inevitable.“What is this place that they don’t seem to want us here?” Elliott asked, his voice low.“It’s not the place itself, I don’t think,” she replied in a harsh whisper. “I think it’s just that this place is more open than the rest, that they can see me—us—better, that’s all.”“And this thing you want to show us is here?” Brandon clarified.“Yep. So get ready. Be careful with your damn bullets, though. I ain’t traversed this place this long to get killed now.”Heather took a few more steps into the opening and the rest of them followed. As so
“You need to show us whatever you wanted us to see before round two get here,” Aaron said to Heather who still didn’t quite seem to understand what it was that enabled him to shoot through the fog that way. Down here, the white patches against endless black, along with the thick cave walls, made X-ray vision almost useless. But from up there, looking down, he could see well enough there was no chance he would’ve hit one of his teammates.She huffed, knowing he was right. The ground around them was still littered with bodies, but they seemed to be dissipating somehow, not turning to ash but crumbling, merging into the ground. They stepped over them toward the center of the open area as Heather explained, “They don’t die exactly, least I don’t think they do. I swear I’ve killt the same damn hellcat at least ten times. They just have to go back to their starting point and try again or something.”“How many of the
“A what?” Heather asked, and the others exchanged confused expressions for different reasons altogether. He’d had his hand on that phone the whole time they’d been in there, so if he’d had a text before, he would’ve seen it. This had to be new.“What does it say?” Brandon asked, looking over Dax’s shoulder.Tears were streaming down the kid’s face again. “Hey, babe! I’m so glad you thought to text me. I’m not sure if or when you’ll get this, but you all should know we’re doing everything we can to get you out of there. So just be strong and be careful. I love you so much, and I can’t wait to see you again. I know it’ll be soon. You’ve got some savage protection in there with you. You’re going to be just fine. Don’t worry about me. I love you!”Dax read it again; Aaron could see his eyes wandering back over it. The second he was done, the
Staring at maps, charts, and communication logs all day was making Cadence’s eyes cross, and it seemed like time was crawling by as they all waited for 7:00 to arrive so they could see if they received any more texts from inside the portal. She hoped her text to Aaron was worded in such a way that he’d know she missed him but wouldn’t freak him out any more than necessary either. She’d also sent a text to Elliott and one to Jamie.By 5:00 her eyes were starting to burn and no amount of caffeine was going to keep her awake. Pushing back in her chair, she stared across the table at Cassidy, who looked wide eyed and ready to take on the world. “I think it’s time we headed back to the B and B.” Her sister’s eyebrows raised. “We need to get a few hours of sleep and then see if Holland sends her minions after us.” They’d already decided Cadence, Cassidy, and Ashley, who was sound asleep on the floor at the other end
When she finally opened her eyes again, it was dark outside. She snatched her phone up off of the nightstand and quickly scanned the empty room. Cass wasn’t here. The clock said it was past 11:00. “Holy hell,” she muttered, shocked she’d slept that long.She had a text from Aaron, and the one she’d sent had gone through. “Hey, Mrs. McReynolds. I hope you’re holding up okay. Sorry I didn’t text you sooner. Who knew, right? Anyway, we’re all fine. Heather is here, if you haven’t heard by now. I’m not sure what these kids are sending out. She’s been here a long time and seems to know the place. With her help, I’m sure we’ll find our way out of here in no time. She claims there’s some sort of a key that’s supposed to open a door, but then it also opens by itself every once in a while. We’ve also found a spike in the ground in an open area with a bunch of tunnels heading off in lo
Asteria was on the wrong continent. She should’ve known better than to let Hines plan all of this on his own. While it made sense to her that she should know as little as possible for fear that the stupid girl would somehow discover what they were up to, if they could shield their location, she could shield her thoughts. Now, out of precaution, she’d miss out on Cadence Findley’s capture. The thought sickened her.“Listen, it’s not all that bad,” Hines assured her. “We’ll simply have them bring her to us.”“Do you not recall what happened the last time she was taken prisoner?” Asteria hadn’t been around for that, but she’d heard the stories. Instead of destroying her when he had the chance, Giovani had been foolish enough to try to move her. Of course, she’d escaped, and he’d ended up dead. “No, I am not going to order them to take her hostage when they can end her. I’