The scent of ozone mixed with sulphur was overwhelming, and it hit Aaron in the face out of nowhere. One moment, he was walking toward a woman who looked strangely like his wife, and the next, everything was black—and smelly.
“What the hell happened?”
It took a few moments for Aaron’s eyes to adjust to the dark, but when he was finally able to make out the form of his best friend next to his shoulder, part of him felt relieved that he wasn’t alone wherever they were, and the other part was angry that Elliott had just been transported to whatever this place was. Even though he’d only gotten a glimpse of their surroundings, it was pretty obvious it wasn’t a hospitable place to say the least.
“I’m not sure,” the Guardian Leader admitted, “but it doesn’t look like paradise.”
The landscape around them began to come into focus, and Aaron could hardly believe what he was looking at. Th
Cadence stood in the field, steering up at the moon for hours. Around her, the LIGHTS team worked to take eight Vampires into custody, verify the information they’d collected from every other Vampire present, and comb the area for anything they’d missed. Vampires worked to tear down the tents and other festival equipment, once LIGHTS had fully searched it and determined there was nothing of value. Even when the moon had worked its way across the sky and was descending beyond the horizon, she stood, watching, thinking, wondering how this had happened.Most of the team had long since gone back to the B and B, and Cassidy had gone with them because Cadence had insisted she do so. Dragged against her will was basically the best way to describe it. Only Hannah and Job, the local guy Aaron had mentioned the day before, remained behind with her. They pretended to be searching the perimeter again, but she knew they were waiting for her to call it, to give up, to go home&m
“Did you get anything?” Cadence asked, praying she’d been able to find Stewart.“Not much. But I know he’s running. I decided to see if I could find Holland instead. If I can figure out where she’s hiding, I can stop the signal.”Looking over her shoulder briefly, Cadence said, “But you haven’t been able to do that for months.”Cassidy sighed. “I’m out of ideas.”“Okay, okay.” Cadence put her hands out, trying to show she wasn’t trying to irritate her sister. “Whatever you think. Stewart’s got to resurface eventually, though. He’s a professor. Do you think he’ll just walk away from all of that to serve Holland?” They were out the door and headed to the SUV.“Maybe.” Cassidy slid into the back seat and Cadence went around as Job got in and fired up the engine. Hannah got in as well, and they headed out. “Who
“Okay, this is the festival grounds,” a tall guy Cadence remembered meeting the night before was saying, gesturing at a 3D model they’d hastily put together on the table. “This is where we found the first set of objects, here and here, and this is where we know Aaron and Elliott were stationed.”“Thanks, Ahmed,” Job said with a nod before a shorter, spunky girl with pink hair picked up.“Brandon and Jamie were over here, on the other side of the festival grounds.” She pointed to the side closest to the parking lot. “And Dax and Alex were here.” With her pointer finger, she indicated an X on the model nearer the center of the activities. “The second set of objects was picked up right about here.”Cadence took it all in and visualized those locations from where she’d spent most of the twilight hours. “All right....”“So Brandon and Jamie must’ve cross
“I guess he had enough experience with portals to figure it out,” Christian replied with a shrug.“How do you know it’s a portal?” Cass’s voice sounded a little jagged, and Cadence increased her grip on her sister’s shoulder.“I mean... I think it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?” Christian replied, still seeming a little too nonchalant for Cadence’s liking. “Clearly, the Blood Moon Portal exists after all, and they just walked into it.”“What do you mean after all?” Cassidy sounded even more aggressive this time as she took a step forward, and Cadence stretched out her arm to keep light contact with her sister.Christian’s eyes flickered back and forth from Cadence to Cassidy, and she could see an uneasiness in his disposition. This was the Christian she’d become more familiar with of recent—unfortunately. The sketchy one. “Nothing. I just m
Exactly how much time had passed, Brandon wasn’t sure, but it seemed liked they’d been trapped in this hellish black cave for hours. Dax was still pacing back and forth, crying, Jamie and Alex had ventured a few steps away, down the tunnel, and even though Brandon could still see them, if they took a few more steps, their silhouettes would disappear into the darkness. Brandon was usually the one pacing in situations like this, but Dax was freaking out enough for both of them, and Brandon was trying to come up with some explanation for what had happened.“It just doesn’t make any sense...” Dax was muttering. “Why are we here? Why?”“Dax....” Brandon didn’t get a chance to finish the sentence, probably because he had no idea what to say.“I shouldn’t have followed you....”“I know.” They’d been over this. He wished his friend hadn’t jumped down the rabbit h
Dr. Hamish Stewart sat in a first class seat, sipping wine that was the color of the liquid he longed for, though the taste did nothing to satisfy the burning which was slowly beginning in the back of his throat. He’d learned to ignore it, to control it, under most circumstances, but the high he was on right now made it much more difficult to brush the giddiness building inside of him aside, and as he looked out the window at the Midwest beneath him, he couldn’t believe he’d actually pulled it off.Of course, he should’ve never doubted his skills. He’d taken every single precaution to ensure that if there truly was a Blood Moon Portal, it would open just as the moon hit its culmination above Shepherdstown, West Virginia. The fact that the six students he’d put in charge of making sure the marks stumbled inside at exactly the right moment had completed their tasks was what really shocked him. Standing off in the distance, he’d watched
Cadence drew in a deep breath before she even began to formulate a sentence. Christian sat across from her, someone else’s cluttered desk between them. He was no longer bleeding, but the signs of Cassidy’s attack were still there. Besides the blood all down the front of him, the Healer hadn’t been that talented. Christian’s face would scar if Jamie didn’t get back in time to fix it correctly. She thought it served him right to a degree but didn’t bother to voice that now. Instead, she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. “Tell me what you know.”He ran a hand through his hair and looked away. “Not much,” he finally said. “Only that there is a book in the archives that mentions a Blood Moon Portal. I don’t really read ancient Scottish Gaelic, but I thought it said it had been sealed. Maybe that’s not what it said. Maybe it only said they don’t use it anymore.”“Who d
The sound of her sister’s footsteps behind her registered with Cassidy, even though her eyes were closed. She knew Cadence’s cadence, and she was glad to have someone there that she could speak to about all of this.She turned her head just as Cadence walked into the room. “Can I speak to you for a moment, Sis?” she asked, and Cassidy literally flew up out of the chair, levitating a moment before she put her feet down and headed out the door. Cadence glanced past her in Ashley’s direction, a sympathetic expression there for a moment before it faded away, and the two sisters stepped out into the hallway.“Christian did know,” she said, her voice calmer than Cassidy would’ve expected. “But we can’t murder him. We need his help in getting them back.”“And what makes you think he’ll do that?” she asked, folding her arms between them.“I don’t. But I’ll give 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