Cadence drew in a deep breath before she even began to formulate a sentence. Christian sat across from her, someone else’s cluttered desk between them. He was no longer bleeding, but the signs of Cassidy’s attack were still there. Besides the blood all down the front of him, the Healer hadn’t been that talented. Christian’s face would scar if Jamie didn’t get back in time to fix it correctly. She thought it served him right to a degree but didn’t bother to voice that now. Instead, she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. “Tell me what you know.”
He ran a hand through his hair and looked away. “Not much,” he finally said. “Only that there is a book in the archives that mentions a Blood Moon Portal. I don’t really read ancient Scottish Gaelic, but I thought it said it had been sealed. Maybe that’s not what it said. Maybe it only said they don’t use it anymore.”
“Who d
The sound of her sister’s footsteps behind her registered with Cassidy, even though her eyes were closed. She knew Cadence’s cadence, and she was glad to have someone there that she could speak to about all of this.She turned her head just as Cadence walked into the room. “Can I speak to you for a moment, Sis?” she asked, and Cassidy literally flew up out of the chair, levitating a moment before she put her feet down and headed out the door. Cadence glanced past her in Ashley’s direction, a sympathetic expression there for a moment before it faded away, and the two sisters stepped out into the hallway.“Christian did know,” she said, her voice calmer than Cassidy would’ve expected. “But we can’t murder him. We need his help in getting them back.”“And what makes you think he’ll do that?” she asked, folding her arms between them.“I don’t. But I’ll give h
“Son of a bitch! My ax!” A short, blonde figure came running out of the shadows in the direction the cat was headed. Elliott pulled himself up, grabbing his shoulder, and Aaron took a few rushed steps in his direction as they both watched the girl disappear after the cat.“Should we....”Sounds of a scuffle, followed by the screech of a panther in pain, and then several sharp thunks filled their ears, and a few moments later, the figure reemerged from the darkness, wiping her ax on her pant leg, muttering to herself about “damn fools and idiots.”When she realized she was back in front of them, she slid her ax into a belt loop “Don’t be firin’ no damn guns in here right now,” she said with a thick, country twang that made Elliott’s accent seem mild. “You’re liable to shoot clean through the walls and hit one of yer friends.”Once again, the two Guardians exchanged glances.
Before they could ask any other questions, they heard the sound of footsteps off in the distance. Aaron and Elliott exchanged glances, not sure if they should brace for the worst or assume that was their friends. Part of him didn’t want to know who else was trapped in here. He could easily guess Holland would want Jamie, possibly Brandon, but who else she would target, he had no idea.“Dad?” The sound of Brandon’s voice echoed off the rock walls around them, and he came running in their direction even as the girl cursed him for being loud. Elliott didn’t pay her any mind either and shot off to embrace his son in a tight squeeze.“I hate that you’re here, boy, but at least you’re okay.”“I’m glad it’s you and not... Cass,” he replied, patting his dad on the back. A few seconds later, the others came into focus.“Damn it,” Aaron muttered, shaking his head when he saw D
Somehow, the sun had managed to climb the sky the same way it always did. Cadence stepped out into the parking lot to make a few of the hardest phone calls she’d ever made, and part of her was startled to see that big, orange globe hanging there like nothing unusual had happened the night before, like it was just an ordinary Thursday afternoon.She pulled Cassidy’s phone out of her pocket first, deciding it would be easier to call Amanda than her own parents. She had missed IAC messages from at least a half dozen people who deserved to know what was going on, too, but she’d been trying to defer all of the telling to Hannah. The temporary-Guardian Leader was also swamped, Cadence imagined, even though she was on a plane headed back to Kansas City right now, with Christian, so there may be a few people Cadence would actually have to speak to herself. Which sucked. She wasn’t even sure the words could make it out of her mouth. At least Hannah confirmed sh
The line was silent for a moment, and she was sure her mom was contemplating how in the world a good mother could leave her youngest daughter alone when she was hurting so badly, but things had not been good between Cassidy and their parents lately, particularly their mom, so Cadence knew Cass wouldn’t want to talk to their mother about Brandon. Finally, her mother just said, “Okay. I’ll... give her some space.”“Thanks. Thank you for handling the wedding, too, both of you. I just can’t do that right now. I can’t think about it.” Once again, she glanced down at her ring. She wondered if Aaron had his, too, or if he’d left it in his bags. The thought that his stuff was back at the B and B, that it would need packed up, that she’d have to touch his things and put them in a suitcase, one he’d packed just yesterday, made her stomach hurt, and the tears would no longer stay put. They insisted on cascading down her c
The whooshing sound the portal made when it opened was unmistakable. Brandon had been walking alongside Heather when it opened, and she took off running in the direction where it came from so quickly, he could hardly keep up even though something told him if they’d been on level ground, out in the open, where he could see more than five inches in front of his face, he’d be a lot faster than her. She seemed to know what to look out for, though, whereas he was just thankful by the time he reached her, he hadn’t collided with any of the cave walls.“Damn it all to hell!” she shouted as a hole in the wall closed up. “Stupid ocean!”He lurched forward and tried to get a glimpse of what she was seeing. Just before the anomaly was gone, he spied a bit of water, but it looked like they were still far away from the actual exit itself. It was hard to describe. It appeared to be a tunnel through the wall and then a small opening at the ot
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