“Cassidy,” Aaron said, exasperated, “do you have any idea how Holland is doing this? How she’s disrupting our IACs and the trackers? If we can’t stop her from doing that… this is going to be that much harder.”
Cassidy cleared her throat and stared at the table again. “I know it’s her telepathy, that she can mimic, that she can tap into our systems. She can send messages to one person from another without the other person or anyone else on the team even knowing it. She sent that message allegedly from Paul earlier, the one you forwarded to me,” she looked at Cadence then, “but she only sent it to the two of you and Becky. She can basically do whatever she wants to in order to disrupt our communication.”
“You say she used the alarm system in the tracking center for this, right?” Aurora asked.
“Yes, so I think, in order to communicate with so many people at such a great dista
“How do we know which one it is?” Cadence asked.“It doesn’t matter,” he replied. “Either way, we can’t engage with her right now. We have to get Paul first.”“Why is that?” Aurora asked.He ran a hand through his hair. “Because we aren’t prepared for her yet either.”Cadence’s forehead crinkled. “What else can we do?”Before he could answer, a flicker in her IAC caught her attention. There was a short beeping noise, then nothing for a split second before, all at once thousands of trackers began to emit their frequencies all at the same time, and the map of where those tagged Vampires were currently located came to life.“Holy hell, Cass. You did it!” Aaron exclaimed. He would be the only other one with access to the program, and Cadence was relieved that he was seeing the same thing she was. The chances that Holland would try to throw
That only left those of them who would be traveling to the land of koalas and kangaroos. At least, that’s about all Cadence knew about Australia. “Christian seemed a little disgruntled.” Brandon smoothed back his girlfriend’s hair, making the understatement of the year.“I don’t know what you’re talking about. He seemed perfectly gruntled to me.” Elliott folded his arms like he didn’t really give a damn, and Cadence assumed that was because he didn’t.“He’ll get over it,” Aaron replied. “You guys, we’re about to undergo an extremely dangerous mission. You know they’re going to throw everything they have at us. The Melbourne team is good, but they’re not up to the caliber of what we’re used to working with. We have got to be extra diligent and not veer from the plan, especially since, as Cassidy noted, we’ll be going into this with no communication system.&r
Spending an entire day on a small private jet would’ve been unbelievably boring if Cadence hadn’t been so tired she fell asleep almost as soon as the plane took off and dozed for a good ten hours before waking up to take care of nature’s call, eat something, and go back to sleep for another five hours. The fact that her sister was asleep even longer made her feel a little less like a freak since none of the Guardians had to sleep at all. She was shocked Jamie wasn’t tired since it took so much energy to heal himself the day before, but when she settled into the seat beside him to pick his brain for a while, he claimed he hadn’t slept a wink.Stifling a yawn, she reclined the seat as far as it could go and leaned back into the soft leather. “How are you still tired?” he asked, his voice quiet so as not to bother Cassidy who was snoozing on Brandon’s shoulder a few rows in front of them.“I know it’s been a long
“Ellie couldn’t Transform, could she?” Cadence asked, not truly able to wrap her mind around the idea that Jamie could look like he did right now, in his early twenties, and have an elderly wife at home.“No, she was completely human.” He was quiet for a moment, reflective, before he said, “I always knew I’d lose her someday; I just had no idea it would be so soon. She died before she’d even had a chance to live. Ellie wanted nothing more than to be a schoolteacher, to be a mother. I hadn’t gotten around to asking her yet, but I think she would’ve agreed to be my wife.” A tear formed in the corner of his eye, but it didn’t fall. “All of that was stolen from us.”“At Pearl Harbor?”“Yes.” Quiet hung between them as Cadence tried to remember everything she could from history class, which probably wasn’t as much as it should’ve been. “I thin
The cold, hard concrete smelled like bleach mingled with the aluminum scent of his own blood, but Paul was relieved to wake up face down on the cement, as opposed to strapped to an operating table or fastened to the wall. He imagined his legs hadn’t been able to hold him when they’d brought him back to his cell, so they’d dumped him here. The pain throughout his body was still unbearable, but his left hand and his abdomen hurt more than anything else.He was a Healer, though not a very powerful one. His father had dabbled in optometry before he Transformed himself. Afterward, he’d done a little bit of work on the side when he wasn’t actively chasing down Vampires, which Paul had observed and taken an interest in. He supposed that explained his minor abilities when it came to putting people back together. But he was nothing like some of the more powerful Healers he’d heard of on the team. Which was unfortunate at the moment because at this p
Aaron licked his lips, and an unsteady feeling rose up in Cadence’s stomach. “There is.”She inhaled and settled herself into her seat, ready to accept whatever it was he had to say, though something told her it would be hard to digest.“I haven’t told you before… because… I didn’t want to upset you needlessly. But, now that he’s back, I do feel like you should know.”“What is it?” The question came out slowly, like it didn’t even want to be asked, and he let it sit between them for a moment, let it dissipate like the fog when the sun peeks from behind the clouds.“Drew didn’t just find that flyer at a gas station. She was invited to the Eidolon Festival. By Carter.”The breath in Cadence’s lungs felt like lead she could not choke down as the implications of what he was saying nearly suffocated her. Formulating a question at this point was out of
The way that Cassidy had described Melbourne, Cadence expected to be walking through something like the Sahara with a few smatterings of buildings here and there. That’s not at all what she saw through the SUV window as they made their way to their accommodations. In fact, very little of it looked deserty at all, though her understanding was that the sand was not far away.The hotel wasn’t the nicest they’d ever stayed in, but it would do. Her mom, Liz, who was taking over for her grandmother as Aaron’s personal secretary, and now Cadence’s as well, had made the reservations, and while she wasn’t perfect at it yet, this wasn’t a bad first try. Since only Cassidy and Cadence would require any sleep, they’d only booked two rooms, despite Liz’s argument that this wouldn’t work. Cadence assured her that Cassidy would be her roommate, and all the men would share the other room, though something told her that would probabl
The Melbourne team, along with Margie and Grant, set up a perimeter around the bottom of the department store while the KC team used the same fire escape Paul had climbed not that long ago to make their way to the rooftop. With three Guardians and four Hunters on the ground, as well as four overly-protective Guardians and Cadence alongside her, Cassidy would have a decent chance of figuring out where Paul was before anything could get through all of them. Of course, as Cadence looked out over the short brick wall that served as the only barrier between herself and a sharp drop to the ground below, she wasn’t completely convinced it would be enough to stop anything Holland and Carter threw their way.Cassidy took a seat on the rooftop about where she supposed Paul would’ve been standing. Her legs were crisscrossed, her eyes closed tightly. And about the time she seemed to fall into some sort of self-induced trance, Cadence noticed a fog began to roll in, encapsulat
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