Cadence stood in the field, steering up at the moon for hours. Around her, the LIGHTS team worked to take eight Vampires into custody, verify the information they’d collected from every other Vampire present, and comb the area for anything they’d missed. Vampires worked to tear down the tents and other festival equipment, once LIGHTS had fully searched it and determined there was nothing of value. Even when the moon had worked its way across the sky and was descending beyond the horizon, she stood, watching, thinking, wondering how this had happened.
Most of the team had long since gone back to the B and B, and Cassidy had gone with them because Cadence had insisted she do so. Dragged against her will was basically the best way to describe it. Only Hannah and Job, the local guy Aaron had mentioned the day before, remained behind with her. They pretended to be searching the perimeter again, but she knew they were waiting for her to call it, to give up, to go home&m
“Did you get anything?” Cadence asked, praying she’d been able to find Stewart.“Not much. But I know he’s running. I decided to see if I could find Holland instead. If I can figure out where she’s hiding, I can stop the signal.”Looking over her shoulder briefly, Cadence said, “But you haven’t been able to do that for months.”Cassidy sighed. “I’m out of ideas.”“Okay, okay.” Cadence put her hands out, trying to show she wasn’t trying to irritate her sister. “Whatever you think. Stewart’s got to resurface eventually, though. He’s a professor. Do you think he’ll just walk away from all of that to serve Holland?” They were out the door and headed to the SUV.“Maybe.” Cassidy slid into the back seat and Cadence went around as Job got in and fired up the engine. Hannah got in as well, and they headed out. “Who
“Okay, this is the festival grounds,” a tall guy Cadence remembered meeting the night before was saying, gesturing at a 3D model they’d hastily put together on the table. “This is where we found the first set of objects, here and here, and this is where we know Aaron and Elliott were stationed.”“Thanks, Ahmed,” Job said with a nod before a shorter, spunky girl with pink hair picked up.“Brandon and Jamie were over here, on the other side of the festival grounds.” She pointed to the side closest to the parking lot. “And Dax and Alex were here.” With her pointer finger, she indicated an X on the model nearer the center of the activities. “The second set of objects was picked up right about here.”Cadence took it all in and visualized those locations from where she’d spent most of the twilight hours. “All right....”“So Brandon and Jamie must’ve cross
“I guess he had enough experience with portals to figure it out,” Christian replied with a shrug.“How do you know it’s a portal?” Cass’s voice sounded a little jagged, and Cadence increased her grip on her sister’s shoulder.“I mean... I think it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?” Christian replied, still seeming a little too nonchalant for Cadence’s liking. “Clearly, the Blood Moon Portal exists after all, and they just walked into it.”“What do you mean after all?” Cassidy sounded even more aggressive this time as she took a step forward, and Cadence stretched out her arm to keep light contact with her sister.Christian’s eyes flickered back and forth from Cadence to Cassidy, and she could see an uneasiness in his disposition. This was the Christian she’d become more familiar with of recent—unfortunately. The sketchy one. “Nothing. I just m
Exactly how much time had passed, Brandon wasn’t sure, but it seemed liked they’d been trapped in this hellish black cave for hours. Dax was still pacing back and forth, crying, Jamie and Alex had ventured a few steps away, down the tunnel, and even though Brandon could still see them, if they took a few more steps, their silhouettes would disappear into the darkness. Brandon was usually the one pacing in situations like this, but Dax was freaking out enough for both of them, and Brandon was trying to come up with some explanation for what had happened.“It just doesn’t make any sense...” Dax was muttering. “Why are we here? Why?”“Dax....” Brandon didn’t get a chance to finish the sentence, probably because he had no idea what to say.“I shouldn’t have followed you....”“I know.” They’d been over this. He wished his friend hadn’t jumped down the rabbit h
Dr. Hamish Stewart sat in a first class seat, sipping wine that was the color of the liquid he longed for, though the taste did nothing to satisfy the burning which was slowly beginning in the back of his throat. He’d learned to ignore it, to control it, under most circumstances, but the high he was on right now made it much more difficult to brush the giddiness building inside of him aside, and as he looked out the window at the Midwest beneath him, he couldn’t believe he’d actually pulled it off.Of course, he should’ve never doubted his skills. He’d taken every single precaution to ensure that if there truly was a Blood Moon Portal, it would open just as the moon hit its culmination above Shepherdstown, West Virginia. The fact that the six students he’d put in charge of making sure the marks stumbled inside at exactly the right moment had completed their tasks was what really shocked him. Standing off in the distance, he’d watched
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.