With the addition of Brandon, Dax, and Heather on the plane from Rome to Southampton Airport, it was a little louder at first, but then it died down as the teens turned to cuddling masses, though Cadence could still hear Heather and Aurora talking about the portal. Part of Cadence wanted to know every detail, but the rest of her thought it was too ghastly to think about it and would wait to hear it from Aaron when he got out in a few hours.
She was sitting by herself in the front of the plane and had been for most of the first two hours of the three hour trip. It would’ve been easy to fall asleep if she wasn’t so concerned about how this might go. There was still no sign of Holland, but Cadence could feel it in her gut that the Vampire Queen would make an appearance and try to wreck their plans. She likely hadn’t meant for Dax to be sucked into the portal to begin with, who knew what her thoughts were on Heather, and as much as Holland probably thought it wo
Stonehenge was even more impressive in real life than in all of the pictures Cadence had seen over the years, though it was a little difficult to see in the middle of the night. By the time they arrived in several SUVs and parked far enough away that they wouldn’t be announcing their location to Holland, it was past eleven, and Cadence was rushing to get everyone into place. Still, when she finally had a chance to look up at the towering structure, she stopped for a moment to take it all in. How in the world the ancients had managed to stack those enormous rocks in such a way that they’d stood for so long she didn’t know. She only hoped they didn’t end up getting knocked over tonight. Of course, if that did happen, she wouldn’t feel so badly about it as long as she met both of her objectives in the process.Stewart was refusing to walk, so Cass was levitating him alongside them as they covered the open ground nearing the landmark. There wasn&rsqu
The demon baby was running amok, leaving bleeding Guardians and seriously injured Hunters in its wake, and Cadence couldn’t help but compare the damn thing to that little psycho Bonnie. It tore through another Hunter, leaving the girl’s leg bleeding profusely, on its way to Cadence. It was hard for her to believe the mother would let her own child attempt to fight her battles for her, but then, Holland was just the sort of parent she imagined would’ve also left her kids alone in the car while she went inside to grab some more menthols despite hundred and ten degree weather--if she had been a human.Despite the chaos unfolding around her, Cadence heard the distinct popping sound of the portal opening to her right. It fell in line with the demon child seeking her out, so she couldn’t pay too much attention to what was happening. She needed to fend off the beast while still managing to get Stewart into the portal, and once the opening began to take shape,
The sound of voices jarred Aaron awake, and his hand immediately flew to his head. The last thing he remembered was running headlong into the portal wall, trying to break free. He’d seen something come flying in and hoped that was his chance to get out, but for some reason, whatever Cadence had done hadn’t worked. So he’d knocked himself out trying to reach her.That didn’t explain the voices, though. He sat up too fast, made himself dizzy, and leaned back on one elbow. The forms were at the far end of the tunnel, and it was difficult for him to understand what or who he was looking at at first because his vision was blurred. But then he recognized a voice. “Shit,” he said, falling back to the cave floor thinking he’d rather be in there all alone than trapped with Christian Henry.“Hey—you awake?” Major Henry called, making his way over. Aaron managed to sit up again, this time hoping to handle the situation a
The Vampire Queen was pissed, and she was doing her best to take it out on Cadence’s friends. That wasn’t going to do—not at all. The Hunter Leader chewed up the space between them as Elliott fell into step to her right, Margie, who’d seemed to materialize out of nowhere on her left. Up ahead, Jamie was ready to literally put out any fires Holland created while he healed those who’d already felt her wrath. Cassidy was doing her best to offset what Holland was doing with the other Vampires, but it didn’t seem like there was much she could do about the redheaded monster herselfHolland saw them coming, but she couldn’t stop all three of them at the same time, and as she aimed her balls of fire, Cadence and the two Guardians were able to sidestep them, their speed unquestionably a surprise to Holland. With less than a hundred yards between her and the grieving mother, Cadence tried to determine how best to take her out once and for all.
“Hey, how’s it going?” Elliott asked, lying next to her on the ground, panting heavily. “Miss me?”“More than you can ever imagine,” she replied with a crooked smile. But the fight wasn’t over yet, and a much as she wanted to lie there and chat, she had to see if her grenade had done the job.It hadn’t—not really. She jumped to her feet, and off in the distance, she saw Holland’s dragon form flying off into the night. There was a stream of smoke trailing the monster, and she was still shrieking, but she wasn’t dead, and Cadence felt defeated. She’d ruined one of the world’s greatest treasures but hadn’t taken out the monster.“That had to hurt,” Jamie said, coming up behind her. “It might not have killed her, but that will put her out of commission for a while, I think. I doubt she’ll be able to follow us to the next portal opening.”&ld
The little red devil seemed to be a pretty good distraction for the demon hunters—while it lasted. Making it over to tunnel twenty-seven wasn’t too difficult, despite the fact that the howls and hisses were growing louder. The demon hunters were chasing Holland’s offspring from one tunnel to the next, the Guardians tracking the battle through the shrieks and growls, and from time to time, a red streak would pass by the end of the tunnel near enough that Aaron could almost make the monster baby out.The demon hunters were relentless, though, and eventually, they caught up to their prey. From a few tunnels away, Aaron heard the sound of sharp claws on rock and imagined the devil was trying to climb up to escape those chasing him. It obviously didn’t work, though, and a few seconds later, an earsplitting, high-pitched wail filled his ears. The shrieking went on for several seconds, and Aaron had to put his hands up to try to block it out. Holland’s
Normally, the attacks coincided with the portal opening, but this time, he didn’t hear the familiar pop and whooshing sound it usually made. There was no sign of it at the end of the tunnel either. So either the demons were early because they were restless, or he’d missed it. He was praying it wasn’t the latter. Surviving another six hours under these conditions didn’t seem likely.The snake was almost at his ankles by the time he disposed of both griffins. He shot it several more times, but stomping on its head was what finally made it go still. Behind it, several more pairs of glowing red eyes caught his attention.A loud grunt from Hines had him spinning around. One of the devil dogs had made its way past Christian and was gnawing on the Vampire’s head. “Son of a bitch!” Aaron screamed. Hines could do nothing to defend himself, and the canine had destroyed most of the quack’s scalp. Aaron shot the dog three times befor
The Cliffs of Moher were breathtaking, especially with the first streaks of sunlight coming up, kissing the velvety green grass with hints of gold. Ireland always seemed like a magical place to Cadence, though she’d only been there once before. Standing on the edge, gazing down at foamy waves breaking against jagged rocks seven hundred feet below her as a light breeze blew through her hair, she couldn’t help but hope the enchantment worked in her favor, and when the portal opened, her husband would be returned to her at last.“They’re here,” Cassidy said, purposely making her voice sound like the little girl from Poltergeist. Her approach interrupted Cadence’s solace, and she shifted slightly to look at her sister who stood a little too close to the edge for Cadence’s liking, despite the fact that Cassidy could float. “Dang, that’s a long way down.”“Where are they?” she asked, knowing her
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