Laura and Laney had driven up and down the same few streets hundreds of times over the last few weeks, constantly looking for the elusive black Corvette Giovani was known to wheel around town. They only knew that he was staying somewhere in the area because they had caught a glimpse of him peeling out once, several weeks ago, followed shortly thereafter by an incident where they had trailed him into the area, only to be found out and led on a high-speed chase across town, ending with a smashed-up fender on Laura's Charger. The paint job had not been spectacular, and each time she caught a glimpse, it made Laura's blood boil all over again. It was yet another reminder of how close she had been to finally ending this weary, exhaustive search.
The Enclave was still parked where they had left it, which shouldn't have been surprising to Cadence, but returning from a hunt was always a bit like waking from a dream, and it took her a bit to get her bearings. She wouldn't have been too surprised to see that it had been carried off by dragons.Elliott pulled the door open for her politely, and she slid into the passenger seat. "When does that no-longer-need-to-sleep phase kick in?" she asked, reaching back and pulling the seatbelt across her lap as Elliott shut the door behind her.
Eliza had stayed off of IAC as long as she could, but after Elliott and Cadence had been gone for a couple of hours, she began to realize something had to have gone amiss. Either Elliott hadn't been able to keep her in the car, or he had intentionally set her up to go after Barbarosa. As much as she didn't want to see Cadence get hurt, she was just a bit curious to see what would happen when the superhuman Vampire Hunter went up against the seasoned bloodsucker.Hannah had mentioned contacting Aaron and letting him alert whoever was in the area to offer backup. But Eliza was pretty sure she ha
Jack shot straight up in bed, the intense burning in his throat almost more than he could bear. He looked around the room, only vaguely remembering where he was and what had happened to him. It was still dark outside, and glancing at the clock, he could see that it was only 5:15 AM. He remembered Giovani saying that older Vampires rarely slept, so he was hopeful that his brother would be available to tell him what to do about this condition. Pulling on his crumpled jeans from the floor and a T-shirt, he went out to investigate.Giovani was sitting on the couch, game controller in hand, steerin
"Hey, are you guys about done with your private conversation?" Eliza asked aloud. "I feel like I used to when I was a kid and my mom and dad would spell things because they didn't want me to know what they were talking about.""And what did you learn from that experience, Eliza? Apparently, nothing!" Elliott said, joking, but still slightly serious. He had learned how to work with the sassy, petite Guardian, but he didn't always like her, and since he was convinced that she was probably the one who tattled on him to Aaron, she was definitely on his list again.
"This time of morning, it's pretty easy to find a group of druggies all passed out together," Giovani was explaining as he drove his Corvette into one of the worst neighborhoods in town. "Before we go, we make it look like they all overdosed. No one asks questions. Hardly ever even makes the news."Jack was sitting in the backseat, a tight squeeze, but he had given Rob the passenger seat, thinking there's no way he could climb into the back with those long legs. "Okay," he said, hesitantly. He hadn't had any problem sucking the blood out of the corpse in the morgue, but this would be different
Even before she opened her eyes, Cadence was very much aware that she was not alone. As her mind reached the outskirts of consciousness, she realized who it was that had his arm wrapped around her, and she felt an overwhelming wave of calm rush over her spirit unlike anything she had experienced since the day Jack had called her and told her he was sick.She wasn't quite ready to wake up, not yet, though she was looking forward to seeing Aaron. Still, the exhaustion that had knocked her flat last night wasn't quite done with her, and rather than force herself awake, she rolled over and put her
"Okay," Cadence said, trying to push the questions out of her mind. She knew him well enough to know that probing for answers would do her no good. Changing the subject she asked, "Is my breath atrocious?" She was very much aware that her breath was hitting him directly in the face. Since he hardly ever slept, bad breath didn't seem to be much of a problem for him, a fact that had her momentarily jealous."No, it's fine," he assured her, laughing. He honestly hadn't noticed, and with the possibility of kissing her very presently on his mind, he knew he wouldn't have minded tasting her mouth to
The trip from Lincoln, Nebraska, to Shenandoah, Iowa, should have taken almost two hours, but with Elliott behind the wheel, it took just over one. Cadence was finally starting to get used to traveling at such ridiculous speeds, and she was wondering if roller coasters might have lost their thrill forever.Her friends from home had been slightly disappointed that she had decided not to make the journey back with them. However, they were starting to get used to Cadence not being around. As much as they disliked her absence, they were each aware that something was different about her now. It was
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