Cadence had been hopeful that Cassidy would awaken quickly after Dax since she had actually Transformed before him and wasn’t all that much younger than he was, though sometimes those three years seemed like decades. But by the wee hours of the morning, when the sun was about to come up, her sister still wasn’t awake, and Cadence watched as a restless Brandon paced back and forth in front of her cot. Liz was still asleep, and Elliott and Jamie were on the other side of the room discussing something through their IACs.
Dropping her head into her hands, Cadence began to wonder how much longer she could stay awake. She had thought she’d be back in her bed hours ago, but then, she’d had no idea her sister was going to pull one of her stunts again either. She remembered the quiet, obedient girl Cassidy used to be and wondered how they’d gotten themselves here. Cadence couldn’t help but think about how much of it was her own fault.
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“I actually haven’t had the opportunity to examine her yet,” the doctor explained. “I know you have all been here for an eternity waiting for her to wake up, but I think it might be best if I checked her over alone, and then I’ll let you all back in the room, okay?”Cadence knew what he wanted to see, if she had control over her ability to levitate, and if there was anything else unusual, but she could hardly say anything in front of their mom. “Come on. Let’s go wait outside.” Cadence stepped around the end of the bed and took her mother by the arm, having to pull a little harder than she expected, but Liz’s feet started moving after the second tug. Brandon kissed Cassidy on the cheek. Elliott put his hand on his son’s shoulder and followed Cadence out into the hall.Immediately, Cadence requested visuals from Jamie, and he said he’d rather not, which irritated her to no end, so she tried her sist
“Mom, Cassidy just needs to learn a few things about how all of this works. She’s impulsive, and she doesn’t always think about how her actions affect other people. She didn’t know she was delaying Jamie’s procedure because of her stunt. She probably thought I wouldn’t want to worry you and wouldn’t tell you about it until it was over, like last time. But she’ll see how her actions distressed everyone around her this time, and maybe she’ll stop this ridiculous behavior.”“Or maybe I’ll put her in boarding school,” Liz said, wiping at her eyes and straightening up. “Maybe if she had to spend a few months away from this place, she’d stop acting so utterly ridiculous.”Brandon took the threat seriously and stopped walking, his mouth agape. “She doesn’t mean it,” Cadence told him, but he didn’t seem so sure. He looked at his dad, who shook his head, negat
“This is going to be a problem,” Elliott said, echoing Cadence’s concern. “She’s not mature enough to handle that kind of power.”“I know. But what in the world can we do about it now?” Cadence asked.“I haven’t the foggiest idea, but I can’t see any good coming of it,” Elliott replied.“Listen, I don’t know what all you could see through her IAC,” Jamie began, “but something seemed a little off to me. She seemed a little… less good natured than she usually does.”“Since when has that pubescent bundle of hormones been good natured?” Elliott asked, but Cadence understood what Jamie was trying to say.“You think that the serum somehow enhanced her Vampire qualities, too, so that she’s a little more… evil… than before?”“I guess that’s what I’m getting at. Maybe evil isn&rsquo
The fact that there was a moat didn’t come as a surprise, but as Paul and the first wave of his attack team stood on the edge of the murky water, looking at an expanse of about eight feet, he was shocked at what he was seeing moving beneath the surface of the water. The low growls and rumbles emanating from the bubbling water didn’t make him feel any more comfortable.Tentacles sprang from beneath the murky surface every once in a while. There were other forms as well. Some looked like shark fins or snapping jaws. The shadows that past near the surface were all unwelcoming, so the team stood on the edge contemplating how to get over this roadblock.“We could try to leap across it,” Jeb suggested.“Yes, but how do we know those arms aren’t going to reach out and grab us,” Patsy said, which was precisely what Paul had been thinking.“Could we throw together a bridge or something?” Becky stood with her ha
Something brushed against Paul’s leg. He glanced down, but couldn’t see what it was and decided it was time to get out of the moat. He began to swim the few feet to shore when there was a loud gasp behind him and then a splashing sound. He turned to see Steph being sucked under the murky water.“Shit!” Paul shot down into the water again. He could hardly see, but a black shadow was moving rapidly away from him, further down the length of the moat. He swam after it, noting Tanner was right behind him. It took several powerful strokes to catch up with it, but when they did, there was no easy way to describe what had ahold of Steph.It’s skin looked like seaweed, billowing in the water. It was a dark, mossy green color, and as far as Paul could tell, it didn’t have a face. It held Steph in front of itself in a way that made him think of a criminal positioning a hostage against its chest, but it was hard to tell for sure exactly where it
The gunfire began to taper off once the Vampires saw what happened when the silver nitrate spray from the grenades made contact with their flesh, and Paul knew they needed to move quickly if they were going to infiltrate the building before the Vampires regrouped. Some of the Guardians had already moved in, and without his IAC on, he had no way of knowing whether or not everyone was okay or how the attack was going. He hated moving blind but he had no alternative.The upper floor of Larundel looked a lot different than the basement where Paul had been held, at least he assumed the concrete cell he’d been in was in the basement. The ground floor level almost looked welcoming, with newly refinished wood floors, white paint, and crown molding everywhere he looked. It was a stark contrast to the hellhole he remembered, one he hadn’t been prepared for.Still dripping wet from his encounter with the moat, he started down the hallway with Becky behind him, Tanner
They were in cells, both of them, but not together. He knew they had to be in the basement and that they must’ve fallen through some sort of opening in the floor. Without taking another step, he requested the rest of the team turn on their IACs. “Proceed with extreme caution! There are openings in the floor, and cells beneath them!”“I can’t find Patsy!” Jeb shouted. “She’s gone!”“Glenn is gone, too,” Lynn said. “He was right here.”“Paul, drop back now. Start your exit.”The sound of Aaron’s voice in his head was startling, and Paul pulled himself to his feet but didn’t know whether or not to follow the order he was just given or find his teammates. “We’ve got people missing.”“I know that, but you’re not going to be able to get them out under the pre
The world slowly came back into focus, and Cadence got the idea that she hadn’t really been asleep that long, but the weight of familiar eyes had her stirring beneath the sheets, and she checked the time on her IAC before she opened them. It was only 9:30, which meant she hadn’t been asleep for even four hours yet, but whatever had brought her fiancé to her bedside after such a short amount of time had to be pressing, so she cautiously opened one eye and stared at him.“Hi.”“Hi. What’s up?”He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, but none came out, so that was something. She opened her other eye and pulled herself up to sitting. It must be bad or else he’d just tell her. Immediately, her thoughts went to Cassidy and then to Jamie. Had his procedure gone well? Had her sister floated away during the night?“It’s Becky.”Cadence was confused for a moment. She hadn’t b