Cadence was certain she had to be breaking at least a few weapons ordinances. Before he let her out the door, Aaron had strapped two Berettas into her long black coat. She had two Glocks in holsters at her side and a third strapped to the back of her leg. They were all armed to the teeth and dressed like they were going to a cosplay for The Matrix movies. Nevertheless, she felt like a badass, and she was more than ready to find Holland and finish this once and for all.
The French team was also tired of waiting, and they were descending on Le Doll as well. Aaron had made sure everyone
After the crowd really started to pour in, Aaron told her his Vampire tracker started getting hits all across the club. This application in his IAC picked up on the implants of tagged Vampires within a set range and determined if they had any complaints against them. If they had enough substantiated offenses on their record to meet Rogue status, the rest of the team would also receive notification. Of course, this only worked for Vampires who were tagged. It was a bit shocking to know just how many of the patrons below were Compliant Vampires. The incessant beeping was just one more aspect of Aaron’s job that could have easily driven someone of lesser skill beyond the breaking point.
Chapter 60 InvasionAs Jamie reached Sabin, Cadence switched their primary vision setting to her so she could get the information as quickly as possible. She assumed everyone else on the team likely did the same thing. Since they both spoke French, however, it took a bit longer for Cadence to understand the message.“Holland is on her way,” Aaron explained, his translating slightly faster than the
Though it was the primary responsibility of the Hunters to kill the Vampires and the Guardians to protect the Hunters as they did so, under these circumstances it was completely permissible for a Guardian to engage any and all attacking Vampires. All of them posed a threat at this point, so most of the Guardians were on the offensive as well, seeking out the predators before they could turn their attention to the Hunters they were assigned to.Aaron was forced to take this position as well because he couldn’t keep up with Cadence. Any attempt at situating himself between Holland and Cade
As much as Cadence hated Holland, held her partially responsible for Drew’s death and for changing all of their lives forever, she looked down into the eyes of the monster beneath her and realized she was causing her to suffer excruciating pain. It was over; Cadence had won. There was no reason to prolong it any more. Keeping her left hand firmly planted on Holland’s throat, she reached back with her right hand, drew the Glock from her leg holster, placed the gun against Holland’s chest directly above her heart and pulled the trigger.Despite the damage to her throat, Holland
Jamie was giving it everything he had, but she could see he was starting to lose consciousness. Cadence caught Eliza’s eyes. She looked as petrified as Cadence felt, but she kept her grip on Jamie, giving him the strength to carry on.“What happens if Jamie passes out?” Cadence whispered to Eliza.“He’ll be done,” she said solemnly.
When Jack Cook awoke in the darkened morgue beneath Bryan Health in Lincoln, Nebraska, he was extremely aware of two things: the unbelievable sensation of electricity coursing through his veins and the overwhelming burning feeling in his throat, which was unlike anything he had ever felt before in his entire life. In fact, he had been so intent upon extinguishing the fire, he momentarily lost focus of the one goal he had resolutely declared he must attain as quickly as possible--to find Cadence Findley and make her his for all time.It had taken him a few moments to get his bearings in the dar
The plane ride from Paris to Kansas City was excruciatingly long for Cadence Findley, and even though she attempted to rest, she could not keep her mind off of Jack. Despite the fact that she had been up most of the night and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with an ancient, evil Vampire, the weariness of her body was not enough to keep thoughts of how her friend back home was doing from invading her mind.She glanced down at her iPhone for about the thirtieth time, wishing she had taken a moment to check her messages before the private Gulfstream G5 had taken off. While it might be possible for
Closing her eyes and leaning back against the headrest, Cadence resolved to attempt to get a few hours of sleep, if at all possible, so that she could face the next hurdle head-on. Next to her, the only other Hunter on the plane, Stormy, was snoring loudly, her head situated precariously on a small, red pillow, haphazardly shoved up against the window. Cadence sighed, knowing there was absolutely no way she could actually sleep with that raucous going on and her mind flittering from Jack, to Aaron, to the other events that had just transpired. In this situation, she honestly wished she had some sort of sleep aid that could put her out of her misery. Just as she was contemplating throwing an elbow in Stormy's direction, despite the fact that the other Hunter had a reputation for being less than h
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