Brandon had been staring at the TV for so long, he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d moved. His dad came in not long after he’d left, muttered something about Christian’s shenanigans, and disappeared into his room. It had been a while since that happened, but Brandon had lost all track of time recently. Ever since he broke up with Cassidy, his days and nights ran together. He hardly did anything. His friends invited him over, but he always declined. Sitting on the couch staring at the TV or his phone and trying not to feel anything at all was eating away at his life, but it was all he ever felt like doing.
A loud banging on his door tore him out of his daze. He glanced down the hall to see if his dad was coming but realized, whoever it was, they probably couldn’t hurt him. It wasn’t like Daunator had just shown up or anything. He got to his feet and pulled the door open, shocked when Cassidy came flying inside, her hair as wild as h
Cadence’s head was pounding when she woke up. A glance at the clock told her Aaron had let her sleep in. It was past 9:00. Normally, she’d be grateful, but they had so much to do, things she’d hoped to be a part of, she found herself feeling irritated at more than just the sledgehammer in her head.Popping a few aspirin, she went to the bathroom, turned on the shower, and took care of nature’s call. She couldn’t tell if the headache was stress induced, hormones, or just bad luck, but she knew it wasn’t two glasses of wine, not when alcohol never even affected her anymore. Her stomach was a little queasy as well, though it was mostly her head bothering her. She hoped she wasn’t coming down with something. Now was not the time to get sick—assuming she was even capable of that. As soon as she was out of the shower, she’d be paying Jamie a visit. If he could heal her arm while it was on fire, surely he could stop the Mack truc
Cassidy’s arm was asleep. She had been laying on it funny, and now that she was awake, she was afraid to even open her eyes because she hated that uncomfortable feeling of creepy crawly tingles that would greet her as soon as she took her weight off of it. But the more aware of her conscious self she became, the more she remembered why her arm was asleep.She opened one eye and then the other and noticed she was staring at familiar carpet, but not the one in her apartment. And this definitely wasn’t her bed. Her arm was no longer her biggest concern as she realized her head was lying on a pillow on Brandon’s lap. She wondered how long he’d been sitting there just letting her sleep.Slowly, she sat up, wiping her eyes and running her living hand across her mouth to make sure she didn’t have any drool or anything. He still hadn’t said anything, which was weird. When she turned her head, he was looking at her, a small smile on his face,
Elliott folded his hands between his knees and thought for a moment, the posture he took when he had something important to say but hadn’t quite chosen the words yet. He blew out a deep breath, loudly, and then said, “I’m worried about you.”“Me? Why?” That wasn’t at all what she had been expecting. Cassidy took a drink of her shake and then set the cup down on the table beside her next to a lamp.“I’ve known you a really long time, since you were in diapers, and I can tell when you’re keepin’ somethin’ to yourself, even better than your sister can, I think.”The blood seemed to be draining out of her face, but Cassidy tried to play it cool. “What do you mean?”“What were you doing yesterday when Daunator got stuck in your head?”“I was checking on these people.” She gestured at the papers spread all over the coffee table. “I foun
Sitting behind her desk in the office she shared with Aaron, Cadence had been discussing some of the new weapons her dad was working on with her husband when she’d gotten a strange call from one of the Guardians at the front gate, the barrier visitors came to on the rare occasion they had any. An older “gentleman” was asking to see her--alone, without Aaron. He claimed to be a Hunter, but he didn’t have any identification, no IAC, and he wanted to talk to Cadence by herself, saying he had valuable information about, “her enemy.”Aaron hadn’t wanted to let her speak with him, even though he admitted he had no idea who it might be, but Cadence postponed her appointment with Cassidy to go downstairs and meet the man. He was sitting on a bench near the chapel, the one where they’d had Elliott’s funeral. Dressed similarly to the way Cowboy Sam had been the first time Cadence had met him, in dusty brown pants, a faded denim shir
“You’re him.” Cadence didn’t move, didn’t stand up, didn’t even turn her head until she repeated it. “You’re him. You’re... Skelton.”He was still in his own world, sniffling and wiping his eyes. “It weren’t my fault. He took over my brain.” His sadness morphed into what she could only describe as rage then, as he whirled around and grabbed her shoulders again. “He’ll do the same to ye, Miss Findley! You’ve gotta believe me. Don’t go. If ya do, you’ll regret it. He’ll get into yer head, and you’ll never, ever get him out. He’ll make ya do bad things. Real bad things.”His fingers were beginning to dig into her shoulders, but Cadence was captivated by the man’s irises. They seemed to be pulsating in a way she couldn’t describe. She’d seen Elliott’s spin before when he was telling one of his tall tales, but this was d
Aaron slowed down slightly, and she took his hand. “Where did you learn to block like that? I was impressed. Maybe you could play for the Cowboys after all.”He chuckled, and a tinge of red started to creep up his neck. “There are other sports a person can play that require the ability to block, you know? Not just your blessed American football.”She couldn’t help but laugh at his choice of words. “Like what? Soccer? Rugby? Did you play lacrosse?”“I used to play a little bit of real football from time to time, years ago. Not professionally, of course.”Cadence let out another belly laugh, her side starting to hurt, not just from his comment that soccer was somehow real football but that he felt the need to clarify he hadn’t been a pro, not that he couldn’t have been. Any of them would’ve made successful professional athletes due to their speed alone. “Well, Jamie’s no Bec
Sitting across the table from her sister, Cadence could see she was nervous. Her hands were interlaced on top of the table, and that fire that usually shot out of her like a volcano when she was explaining her thoughts about what the team should do next was only percolating deep beneath the surface.“How did your research go?” Aaron asked, settling into his normal chair to Cadence’s right. She knew him well enough to recognize he was fighting to sound nonchalant when what he really wanted to do was start an interrogation. She’d let him take the lead for now.“I have some interesting information to tell you,” Cassidy said. “But it’s not good.”Cadence took that to mean that the facts Cassidy was able to establish meant the task ahead of them would be harder than expected. “Let’s hear it.” She tried to smile, even though after her last encounter and this confirmation, it didn’t come easy
“Heather could do it.” Cassidy’s answer was so quick, it seemed rehearsed. “She needs the practice, you know, finding people on demand. She hasn’t done much of that.”“We could ask Heather,” Cadence began, keeping her tone even, “but it might take her a while to locate him, and you could tell us right this very second exactly where he is.”Once again, Cassidy seemed to be having trouble swallowing. “It takes me a little bit of time to find people, too.”“Yeah, I know. But... you could tell us right now, without digging into his head, couldn’t you?” Cadence said again.Cassidy turned her head sideways and studied Cadence for a moment. The older sister didn’t blink or look away, only held her insistence. “He asked me to keep his personal information to myself.”“Why?” Cadence asked. “Why would he trust you after what just happ
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