Aaron continued. “ I should have understood that, that was precisely what had happened. But I was too foolish, or too emotionally distraught to believe it. I thanked God for giving me my wife back. We went on about our lives, completely entrenched in our marital bliss, me ignoring all of the signs that this creature was not my wife, she pretending everything was as it should be, until I caught her sneaking back into our home one night. The next morning, I stumbled upon a mourning party burying the remains of a small child. There was no doubt in my mind then that Aislyn was no longer the person I had married.
Cadence nodded, still staring across the room at nothing. Aaron removed his hand from her shoulder and clasped his hands together, leaning forward again. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him drop his head and start to stand, as if he were going to leave. Without saying anything, she shot her hand out, pulling him back down on the couch. "How many people know?" she asked.He considered her question for only a split second before saying, "I've told that story once before.... One other living person knows."
That night, in her dreams, Cadence was chasing the Vampire version of Jack through an airport as he feasted on children of all ages, from infant to teen. She was always just behind him, never able to catch up. By the end of his reign of terror, she had finally trapped him against a wall where he had nowhere to go. "Give it up, Jack," she had said in her sternest Vampire Hunter voice.With a maniacal laugh, he stated, "I'm not Jack, you fool!" and came at her, teeth bared.
Aaron pulled Cadence’s apartment door open abruptly, causing Eliza to stumble forward, as she had been attempting to eavesdrop. He sighed in disgust and headed back to his apartment. She followed, wondering just how much damage was done and if she could repair it.She got her answer shortly. As soon as Aaron entered his apartment, he turned to look at her, an expression of outrage on his face. "What in the world possessed you to answer my door--dressed like that--and let Cadence believe she had interrupted...something you know we weren’t doing?"
The brisk knock on the door alerted Cadence to who was on the other side more so than any visual even could have. Pulling it open, she smiled at Elliott who was leaning against the doorjamb, her phone in his hand. "Mornin' kid. You ready to do this?"Taking a deep sigh, she nodded, stepping out of the way so he could fit his large body through the door.Handing her the phone he said, "So, do
Elliott just shook his head. "You did amazing," he said giving her a small smile. "Totally sounded like you meant that and everything.""Good... it was hard to say. If I hadn't said that in the first place, I might not be in this position.""If you hadn't said that in the first place, he might not be so damn set on getting you back, and we would have a hell of a time tracking him down," Elli
The weather was unseasonably warm on Tuesday and had been for the last several days. Cadence had parked a few blocks away from the place where she was supposed to meet Jack so she could walk up and do some observing. Most of the team had been in or near their assigned positions for hours so that they could keep a lookout. When Cadence was about a block away, she got confirmation from Elliott that Jack had arrived on foot from the west. He was lingering in the shadows near the pharmacy building.Cadence could see him from a distance. He looked like Jack, at least from there. Already, she was ha
Jack leapt over the railing and crouched next to Cadence. She knew he was yelling her name, but she couldn't make out anything else. She also heard chatter on the IAC, something about a car, Zabrina, and "on the ground," but she really had no idea what anyone was saying. Instinctively, she reached for the Glock she had in a holster near her left hip, the side she had not landed on.She began to regain her clear-headedness just as another thud echoed against the pavement, and she realized they were no longer alone. Drawing her gun, she began to bring it up to aim at Giovani. She heard Jack yell
Cadence felt herself dying. She had no idea what had just happened, but the pain in her chest was unbearable. Once Giovani had dropped her onto the pavement, she almost lost consciousness. If it hadn't been for Jamie's eyes locked on hers, she would have faded away."Cadence, stay with me! You're okay!" he was shouting at her."What the hell happened?" she asked aloud. "Did Elliott shoot me?
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