That only left those of them who would be traveling to the land of koalas and kangaroos. At least, that’s about all Cadence knew about Australia. “Christian seemed a little disgruntled.” Brandon smoothed back his girlfriend’s hair, making the understatement of the year.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. He seemed perfectly gruntled to me.” Elliott folded his arms like he didn’t really give a damn, and Cadence assumed that was because he didn’t.
“He’ll get over it,” Aaron replied. “You guys, we’re about to undergo an extremely dangerous mission. You know they’re going to throw everything they have at us. The Melbourne team is good, but they’re not up to the caliber of what we’re used to working with. We have got to be extra diligent and not veer from the plan, especially since, as Cassidy noted, we’ll be going into this with no communication system.&r
Spending an entire day on a small private jet would’ve been unbelievably boring if Cadence hadn’t been so tired she fell asleep almost as soon as the plane took off and dozed for a good ten hours before waking up to take care of nature’s call, eat something, and go back to sleep for another five hours. The fact that her sister was asleep even longer made her feel a little less like a freak since none of the Guardians had to sleep at all. She was shocked Jamie wasn’t tired since it took so much energy to heal himself the day before, but when she settled into the seat beside him to pick his brain for a while, he claimed he hadn’t slept a wink.Stifling a yawn, she reclined the seat as far as it could go and leaned back into the soft leather. “How are you still tired?” he asked, his voice quiet so as not to bother Cassidy who was snoozing on Brandon’s shoulder a few rows in front of them.“I know it’s been a long
“Ellie couldn’t Transform, could she?” Cadence asked, not truly able to wrap her mind around the idea that Jamie could look like he did right now, in his early twenties, and have an elderly wife at home.“No, she was completely human.” He was quiet for a moment, reflective, before he said, “I always knew I’d lose her someday; I just had no idea it would be so soon. She died before she’d even had a chance to live. Ellie wanted nothing more than to be a schoolteacher, to be a mother. I hadn’t gotten around to asking her yet, but I think she would’ve agreed to be my wife.” A tear formed in the corner of his eye, but it didn’t fall. “All of that was stolen from us.”“At Pearl Harbor?”“Yes.” Quiet hung between them as Cadence tried to remember everything she could from history class, which probably wasn’t as much as it should’ve been. “I thin
The cold, hard concrete smelled like bleach mingled with the aluminum scent of his own blood, but Paul was relieved to wake up face down on the cement, as opposed to strapped to an operating table or fastened to the wall. He imagined his legs hadn’t been able to hold him when they’d brought him back to his cell, so they’d dumped him here. The pain throughout his body was still unbearable, but his left hand and his abdomen hurt more than anything else.He was a Healer, though not a very powerful one. His father had dabbled in optometry before he Transformed himself. Afterward, he’d done a little bit of work on the side when he wasn’t actively chasing down Vampires, which Paul had observed and taken an interest in. He supposed that explained his minor abilities when it came to putting people back together. But he was nothing like some of the more powerful Healers he’d heard of on the team. Which was unfortunate at the moment because at this p
Aaron licked his lips, and an unsteady feeling rose up in Cadence’s stomach. “There is.”She inhaled and settled herself into her seat, ready to accept whatever it was he had to say, though something told her it would be hard to digest.“I haven’t told you before… because… I didn’t want to upset you needlessly. But, now that he’s back, I do feel like you should know.”“What is it?” The question came out slowly, like it didn’t even want to be asked, and he let it sit between them for a moment, let it dissipate like the fog when the sun peeks from behind the clouds.“Drew didn’t just find that flyer at a gas station. She was invited to the Eidolon Festival. By Carter.”The breath in Cadence’s lungs felt like lead she could not choke down as the implications of what he was saying nearly suffocated her. Formulating a question at this point was out of
The way that Cassidy had described Melbourne, Cadence expected to be walking through something like the Sahara with a few smatterings of buildings here and there. That’s not at all what she saw through the SUV window as they made their way to their accommodations. In fact, very little of it looked deserty at all, though her understanding was that the sand was not far away.The hotel wasn’t the nicest they’d ever stayed in, but it would do. Her mom, Liz, who was taking over for her grandmother as Aaron’s personal secretary, and now Cadence’s as well, had made the reservations, and while she wasn’t perfect at it yet, this wasn’t a bad first try. Since only Cassidy and Cadence would require any sleep, they’d only booked two rooms, despite Liz’s argument that this wouldn’t work. Cadence assured her that Cassidy would be her roommate, and all the men would share the other room, though something told her that would probabl
The Melbourne team, along with Margie and Grant, set up a perimeter around the bottom of the department store while the KC team used the same fire escape Paul had climbed not that long ago to make their way to the rooftop. With three Guardians and four Hunters on the ground, as well as four overly-protective Guardians and Cadence alongside her, Cassidy would have a decent chance of figuring out where Paul was before anything could get through all of them. Of course, as Cadence looked out over the short brick wall that served as the only barrier between herself and a sharp drop to the ground below, she wasn’t completely convinced it would be enough to stop anything Holland and Carter threw their way.Cassidy took a seat on the rooftop about where she supposed Paul would’ve been standing. Her legs were crisscrossed, her eyes closed tightly. And about the time she seemed to fall into some sort of self-induced trance, Cadence noticed a fog began to roll in, encapsulat
“They’ve got Paul out. Margie’s sending Becky and Jeb back to headquarters with him, but the rest of the team is staying. That gives you eight against… about ten, I think,” Cassidy explained.“These others, Cass, are they as dangerous as Carter?” Cadence asked, realizing she needed to get down there before Carter arrived at their location but needing as much information as she could get before she broke away. He wouldn’t expect them to know where he was. Intercepting him well before he got to this rooftop was her best chance at protecting her sister.“No, but a few of them are shapeshifters. There’s at least one wolf… and a few mist monsters. Maybe more. I’m doing my best to block Holland’s signals right now, but it doesn’t seem to be helping any. They are all here on their own accord, apparently. She’s not manipulating any of them into attacking.”“Okay. Can
Moments later, Elliott managed to get rid of the mist monster whose last cry was much more mournful. The thought, “Eight more and Carter,” filled her mind, and she knew it was not her own.Once she was on her feet, Elliott nodded at her, and they jogged ahead. In front of them, Margie was in full hand-to-hand combat with what could only be described as a ninja. He had a lone, long braid anchored in the center of his head, and Cadence assumed this was where the star that had almost hit her in the face must’ve come from. Margie was more than holding her own, though, as he twirled and kicked at her. One roundhouse after another from the spunky Guardian had him backing up, and Cadence knew she’d find a way to decapitate him, even if she had to chop his head off with her own blade-like hands.“That’s Jamie’s sister?” Elliott asked, clearly as impressed as she was. Jamie was an amazing Healer but wasn’t