“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
Asteria’s eyes flew open, and she immediately noted that something was different. She sat up too quickly, and a pain shot through her head, something that shouldn’t happen. A glance around the unfamiliar room reminded her of where she was, and then she felt her abdomen. Empty.On unsteady feet, she clambered across the room, grabbing a dressing gown as she went and flinging it on over her dress, which she noted seemed to be in shreds in the front. She hurried down the unfamiliar hallway, but the castle seemed too quiet, as if everyone was down in the bottom lairs, which is precisely where she headed.The longer she walked, the more steady she became until she was practically flying. She remembered Hines giving her the shot to put her out so he could remove her baby from her womb. Her hands went there now and felt stitches beneath the robe. She wondered how long it would take for those to heal, but more importantly, what had become of her child.Voice
Asteria realized the other three continued to watch her, even when the child switched sides, which was also quite painful, his dagger-like teeth sinking in with no regard for her sensitive flesh. “What are you doing?” she barked at them. “Surely, there must be something else you could be spending your time on!”“Your Majesty, much has happened while you slumbered. Melbourne… we’ve been attacked. But we’ve pushed back the assault, for now. And we have prisoners as well as a Hunter’s demise.” Hines oscillated between an anxious smile and pride.“Only one?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.“Well, they brought hardly any Hunters with them. But five Guardians stand in the cells below Larundel, waiting for my return so that I may end them.”“Why are we waiting? Have your incompetent assistant do it.” The child adjusted, snarling, as if he didn’t lik
Liz opened her apartment door, looking exhausted, and waved for Cadence to come in. She wrapped her arms around her mother and then greeted her father with the same sympathetic gesture before asking, “Where is she?”“In her room. Floating above her bed in some sort of trance.” Liz sounded completely defeated as if it had been hard enough to control her teenage daughter before she could essentially fly.Cadence entered her sister’s bedroom with caution. She wasn’t sure she was prepared to see her that way again, but Cassidy was sitting with her legs crossed, her hands out, palm up, about a foot above her bed with her eyes closed. “Cass?”Nothing changed, so Cadence took another step inside the room and cleared her throat. “Cass? Can you hear me?”With a sigh, Cassidy fell back to the bed and then opened her eyes. “What?”“Nice to see you, too,” Cadence muttered. &ldq
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