Cadence thought of the titanium bullets and wondered if they would be any more useful, but since Aaron had forbidden anyone from using them after their first trip to Philadelphia, she didn’t ask in front of the rest of the team.
The room was quiet for a second before Shane asked, “Did you guys encounter any other kinds of monsters at Wallachia that we didn’t see tonight, besides Dracula himself?”
The answer came quickly from a haunted voice. “Sirens.”
Everyone shifted their attention to Christian. He was staring at the wall in front of him, like he’d just seen a ghost. Jamie put his hand on the tech guy’s arm, seeming to snap him out of it, but he still looked uncomfortable.
“Sirens?” Elliott repeated, his tone a mixture of surprise and confusion. “You mean like that bitch Eliza?”
Christian didn’t answer though, and it was Aaron who responded. “Sort of—but muc
Once again, Cassidy’s voice drew their attention, though she’d been yelling for at least ten seconds before everyone heard her. “Listen! LISTEN!” Once the rest of them were quiet and looking at her, she said, “I know who came through the portal. I know where they are. I just… just have to… remember.”Over the sound of Shane’s guffaw, Elliott asked, “Cass, what do you mean?” and rested his hand on her shoulder.“I mean—I saw them. I saw both of them. There are two. Mina said she also saw it. You all heard, didn’t you?” She glanced around briefly, her face fraught with worry. “She also said I already know everything. I just have to find it. So… let me figure it out.”“And how long will that take?” Shane asked. “How will we even know we can trust you?”“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Cadence asked, sudde
Team members got up, some of them like Aurora, Meagan, Ashley, and Mickey, who hadn’t said a word, rushing for the door. Shane lagged behind his girlfriend, like he still had words he wanted to say to Elliott, but eventually he followed them out the door. Cadence turned her attention to her sister, who was sitting across from her, glaring.“Hey, why don’t you take your jacket off and let me look at that.”Cadence jumped and looked up, the sound of Jamie’s voice catching her off guard. She didn’t even know he’d crossed the room. Too tired to argue, she pulled her jacket off, noticing for the first time that the teeth marks were much bigger than she’d expected. Beneath the leather, the sleeves of her purple shirt was shredded. “Damn,” she muttered. She’d really liked that one.She turned her chair so that Jamie could more easily reach her as Aaron offered him the wheely chair he’d only sat in
The moon was waning, and while Asteria preferred it full as it had been on the night she’d come back, as long as it’s twisted light rained down, tugging and pulling and wreaking havoc on those who came out long after the sun was set, she was pleased to be alive—or as close to it as she had been in a thousand years.The fortress was nearly complete. It was amazing what could be accomplished in a few weeks’ time if one put the right minions in place. They’d come from near and far, across the oceans, from the deserts like the one where she’d first appeared from the highest snow covered peaks, and they would keep coming, those she beckoned anyway. The others had their calling cards as well, and once everything was in place, she would unleash her banshees in waves across the earth, sure to cause utter chaos wherever they tread.“What are you thinking about, love?” Perses asked, reaching across the bed and gently stroking her p
Titus had been a construction worker, possibly an architect in his former life, which had run out about a hundred years ago from what Asteria knew. She saw him speaking to another wiry Vampire with short, curly black hair. As soon as Titus saw her coming, he turned, removed his hard hat, and held it in his work gloves in front of her. She’d thought it funny that he insisted on such protection when nothing could hurt him anymore but knew firsthand that old habits often die hard, miserable deaths.“Your Majesties,” Titus said, dropping his head and bowing as they approached. “I hope our work is to your liking.”Asteria looked around and then smiled at the stubby bald man who possibly came up to her chin in his usual form when he wasn’t stretching to become taller. “It’s lovely,” she assured him, though she had no idea what she was looking at. The rooms down here had been used to restrain new patients back in the day w
Cadence was proud of herself. Even though the hunt the night before had completely exhausted her, she still managed to make it into the gym by 10:00, only an hour later than usual. She was surprised how deserted it looked, however, but when she walked into the room that housed her favorite treadmill, she had to do a double take. “Christian? What are you doing here?” she asked, clipping her water bottle into the holder and tossing her towel across the frame as she fastened herself to the dead man and started up.“Well, I usually run in the middle of the night, while you’re fast asleep, but since we were up most of the night trying to figure out what the hell is going on, this is the first chance I’ve gotten.” He was on the machine two away from her, and a quick glance at his screen let her know that he had only been here about fifteen minutes.While she wasn’t particularly fond of him, it was nice to have someone to chat with th
Before Christian could say more, the door opened, and the last person on earth Cadence cared to see stepped through. “Good morning, Cadence, Christian,” Ashley said, looking more than a little out of place, and Cadence assumed that if she’d known either one of them was working out in here, she probably would’ve picked a different room. The glass windows in the hallway didn’t do much good if you didn’t use them.“Hey,” Cadence managed, plastering a smile on her face, though she didn’t shift her eyes to see what Ashley was doing. It sounded like she was taking a spot on one of the ellipticals in the back of the room.According to her countdown, she had thirty minutes left, and Cadence wasn’t sure what was worse—going back to the discussion she was having with Christian or trying to carry on a conversation with Ashley. She hoped neither one of them wanted to speak and was relieved to see the minutes tick of
Infuriated, Cadence entered the locker room and was happy to see that she was all alone. She grabbed what she needed out of her locker and headed to turn on the shower. A few deep breaths stilled her enough so that she could stop pacing and begin to go about her usual routine. By the time she decided to contact Aaron to tell him about the gall Christian had in implying such things, she was under a warm stream of water completely lathered up from head to toe.“What’s up?” he asked, and she could tell by his tone he was entirely distracted, likely staring at a map, an updated version of the one he’d presented to the team the night before.Trying not to sound like an irrational teenager, Cadence began, “Do you know that Christian Henry is a psychopath?”Aaron chuckled. “I know that Christian Henry is a lot of things, but I’m not sure that one is exactly right. What did he do now?”
Cadence continued. “I know. I just… I didn’t really want to go to lunch with her, but I thought that I might as well do it if it could also get Christian off of my back.” He said nothing, and she knew it sounded pretty despicable, but the girl could’ve said no. She ran a brush through her hair and approached a nearby mirror with her makeup bag in hand. “Anyway, no lunch with Jamie. But I will see if he wants to talk soon.”“Okay,” Aaron said quietly, and it began to annoy her how much it bothered him that she’d set Ashley up with Christian. She knew he would deny any mention of the fact that Ashley clearly had feelings for him as she’d brought it up before, and she was sure he didn’t like her that way, but it was bothersome, nevertheless.Cadence finished putting on a touch of brown eye-shadow and lip gloss, thinking that was good enough for what she had planned and pull