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Watch Your Words

last update Last Updated: 2021-02-15 07:09:16

Lush green foliage, thick with brambles and tangled branches, dotted the mountainside, the ground, muddied from recent rain, uneven and densely populated with rocks that made walking unappealing, and in her present mood, the last thing on earth Asteria wanted to do was trek around the forest looking for help from someone who should’ve been seeking her out. She was the Vampire Queen, after all. So why in the world would she need to suffer the degradation of climbing up and down mountain trails looking for one who should feel blessed to be considered a potential use to someone of her stature?

“Please try not to worry, Your Majesty,” the stooped man called Nelo said over his shoulder as they wound their way up a nearly undetectable trail. “I am certain we will find him today.”

“That is what you said yesterday,” Asteria reminded him. After two days of searching for Daunator, they had come up empty handed. Asteria had announced earl

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  • The Clandestine Saga   Hate Her

    Cadence switched off the treadmill and wiped sweat from her dripping forehead on a towel. She’d missed a few days, but now that Aaron was back to his normal self, she was determined not to let another day go by without finding herself in the gym, leaving her frustration on the black, looping track. Since she had put in her thirty-five miles now, she would be able to concentrate better, which was a good thing because there was a lot to be done. And to think, today she’d gone that far in half her usual time.She headed for the locker room , noticing the complex was eerily quiet. She knew Aurora had taken her new recruits outside, but it was odd that no one else was there, and she wondered if she’d missed a memo or something. There was a lot to be done, but Aaron had assured her that morning, when she’d woken up in bed still in his arms, that she should go run and not worry about anything else until she was finished.Grabbing her stuff out of her l

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  • The Clandestine Saga   Teasing

    “Ellie looked a lot like you,” Cadence said to Ashley. “Jamie is one of the best people I’ve ever met, and I wasn’t trying to imply that anyone should question why you are dating him. I think the two of you are great together; you make a good couple. I was just trying to say that it isn’t really anyone’s business, that’s all. Everyone has an opinion about what two people are doing together, but it really doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks, so long as you’re happy. Same with Roar and Elliott. Not my business. No one’s business but theirs.”“Sorry, Cadence.” She zipped her gym back and pulled her long hair out of her shirt. “I was trying to make conversation, that’s all. You’re not exactly the easiest person for me to talk to. Maybe I shouldn’t try.”Cadence opened her mouth, thinking she should disagree, but she couldn’t, so she just said, “S

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  • The Clandestine Saga   Lunch

    Walking away from the gym gave her an opportunity to get her head back in the game. They had some impossibly difficult tasks ahead of them, and she needed to make sure that she and Aaron were on the same page. They were scheduled to meet with the larger team in about an hour, but she hoped she had a few minutes to go over a few things with him before the rest of them arrived. There were about to be a lot of balls up in the air, and she didn’t want to drop any of them.Noises from the kitchen greeted her as she opened the apartment door. She dropped her gym bag by the door, reminding herself to come back for it later so she didn’t poke the bear, as Elliott would’ve put it, and followed the noise.“Oh, hey,” Aaron said, standing over the stove. “How was the gym?”Cadence stood in the doorway a moment longer, both eyebrows arched. “Fine. What are you doing? Have you been abducted again?”He snickered. &ld

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  • The Clandestine Saga   The Secret is Out

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  • The Clandestine Saga   Missing Something

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  • The Clandestine Saga   Daunator

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  • The Clandestine Saga   Cadon and Jo

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  • The Clandestine Saga   One More

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    “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

  • The Clandestine Saga   Remembering

    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

  • The Clandestine Saga   More To Do

    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

  • The Clandestine Saga   Breathe

    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

  • The Clandestine Saga   Glimpse Into the Beyond

    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

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