Cadence bolted upright in bed, not sure if she’d heard a knock on her door or if the zombie apocalypse she’d been dreaming about had infiltrated her bedroom. She wiped the drool from her mouth and glanced at the clock. If that was the door, and someone was actually knocking on it at 8:30 AM the morning after a hunt, whatever the person wanted better be pretty damn important. Another banging noise let her know that it was, in fact, the door. “Stupid non-sleeping, non-human Guardians,” she mumbled as she pulled on her robe and clambered out of bed. Her IAC wasn’t on, and since no one could force it on, not even Aaron, the only way anyone could contact her was through normal methods--a phone call, a text, beating her door down. She glanced through the peephole and sigh
Sam had procured much better accommodations in the last few months since he had been working steadily at the local school district. Rather than hovelling in a burned out trailer home, as he had started his new life, he now lived in an abandoned shotgun a few miles outside of town. It was apparent when he moved in that the last squatters did not care about the property nearly as much as he did, and while he didn’t concern himself with the modern conveniences of the twenty-first century, he did appreciate that there were no holes in the roof and the fireplace worked.Like most Hunters, he
The Cessna Caravan wasn’t the fastest plane in the arsenal, but when Aaron selected it for their current trip, he had good reason. He wasn’t exactly sure how close the nearest airport was to their destination, and there was a possibility catching Sam might take more complicated measures than usual. He wanted to make sure his team was prepared for anything.That’s why he had decided to fly the plane himself.
Sam rapped lightly on Ms. Lawrence’s classroom door before pulling it open even though she had yet to acknowledge him. She was sitting on a stool near the front of the classroom, a chapter book in her hand. The kids seemed to be listening to a story, and while he should be concerned about interrupting, at this point, his only interest lay in retrieving the phone. “‘Scuse me, Ms. Lawrence,” he began as soon as he had her attention.“Mr. Danny!” she acknowledged, a wide smile on her face. “It’s so nice to see you! Everyone, say hi to Mr. Danny.&rdq
Tyler knew he was in trouble now, so he didn’t even bother to add “yes ma’am” as he climbed out of his chair and pulled the phone out of his pocket. As soon as it was out, Sam knew for certain it was his and rushed to get it. Ms. Lawrence looked at him oddly, and he realized he needed to slow down a bit. “This is my phone,” Sam nodded as he pulled it out of Tyler’s hand.Tyler opened his mouth as if he were going to argue, but the look on Ms. Lawrence’s face was enough to keep him quiet. He dropped his head in shame and anger. “I…&rd
“What’s Plan-B?” Cadence was asking as the plane circled back toward the school. Christian wasn’t answering her, however. He had crossed to the back of the plane and was digging in a storage compartment there, beginning to pull out what appeared to be backpacks and handing them out to the rest of the team. They all took them as if they knew exactly what Plan-B was and they were okay with it.Cadence repeated her question. “What’s Plan-B?” Again, she was ignored, but this time
As Sam sprinted across the parking lot to where he had left his truck, a black SUV pulled out of a parking spot and raced toward him. His initial instinct was to turn the other way and run, until he heard a familiar voice shouting his name. “Sam! Get in!” Alex Sanchez yelled as he pulled the vehicle around.Sam didn’t hesitate to jump into the vehicle. However, Alex didn’t go very far, pulling up to Sam’s old truck and stopping. “Listen, you don’t have much time. They’re on their way right now. I saw members of the DFW team leave about an hour ag
Through her IAC, Cadence could see Christian and Meagan were busy chasing Sam down what appeared to be a windy back road, and two members of the DFW team were searching the area near the school for Alex. However, a few minutes into their pursuit, the Highway Patrol had pulled them over, and they were currently attempting to explain how they were not involved with the incident at the school. Cadence hoped one of them was gifted with the same bullshit talent Elliott had been blessed with.She also learned through the IAC that a short woman with shoulder-length brown hair was just about at their
Sam could see the AgCat in the distance, but he was having trouble figuring out exactly where it was and where it might land. He didn’t know of any grass strips in the area, so he assumed the refueling would have to happen at Caddo Mills Airport, a place he was only vaguely familiar with. Still, he kept on eye on the AgCat as he made his way toward the small operation out in the middle of nowhere. He also kept his eye on the Cessna flying high above him, clearly watching his every move. He didn’t hear any vehicles on the ground behind him, but he was pretty sure that could change at any moment.
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