by ID Johnson
Cassidy made a face at the thought of being attached to the strange new Guardian. “You wouldn’t.”
“Hell, if I thought it would keep you safe, I’d handcuff you to Christian, and I know you’d hate that.”
Her face contorted even more. Cadence had no idea Cassidy had something against Christian. Interesting.
“The bottom line is, you’re gonna do what your sister says, what Aaron says, and what I say. Now, go make me a sandwich.”
“What kind of….”
“Just go!”
Cassidy looked at her sister and then back at Elliott who was pointing at the bedroom door definitively. She got up and went out, but Cadence had no idea what she might do next since the hotel room was only a living room and bedroom. There was no kitchen and certainly no sandwich making material.
Once she was gone, Elliott plopped down on the bed next to her. “That girl has changed a little bit.”
“You think?” Cadence asked. “How the hell is she going to make you a sandwich?”
“I don’t even want a sandwich,” he said, shaking his head. “I just wanted her to listen.”
“You don’t want a sandwich?” Cadence repeated. Putting her hand on his shoulder, she asked, “Are you feeling depressed?”
He snickered. “No, just trying to adjust. This isn’t as easy as one might think. It’s like I’m missing eight months of history. Everyone else keeps talking about things I missed, assuming I know what’s going on. Did you know the Cubs won the World Series? What kind of a world have I returned to?”
“I know. Everything changed when you left. Even sports,” Cadence agreed, shaking her head. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with Brandon, though. How’s that going.”
Elliott’s face lit up. “Good. He’s a good kid. A bit of a smart ass….”
“I have no idea how that’s possible.”
“I was afraid he’d hate me because I wasn’t there for him, but so far he seems to be coming around.”
Cadence nodded. “I think he’s mature enough to realize that you couldn’t be there when you had no idea he existed.”
“I guess. Still, it must be really weird to find out the dad you’d been told was dead your whole life was actually alive, but then find out he just died—only to discover he was alive again. I mean… that’s a lot of flip flopping going on there.”
“Well, I think if you keep doing what you’ve been doing, the two of you will be just fine,” Cadence offered, patting him on the back and letting her hand linger there. She still had trouble believing he was back.
“I’m not sure what I think about this thing with Cass either,” he offered. “I mean… it’s like my son is dating my little sister. Man, that’s messed up.”
Cadence laughed. “I was wondering what you would think about that. I wonder if that’s how grandma felt about me and Aaron dating.”
Elliott shook his head. “Nah, I don’t think so. I mean, Aaron was like a son to her in a lot of ways, but I think she was hoping that would happen. I think, in some ways, she orchestrated that.”
Cadence felt her stomach knot up. That nagging voice in her brain was back again. Did Aaron love her, or did he just think he did because he had to?
“Cadence? You all right?” Elliott asked, nudging her with his shoulder.
“Oh, yeah,” she said, pulling herself back around. “Just… never mind. It doesn’t matter.”
“I guess I’m a little nervous about this hunt, too,” Elliott admitted. “My last hunt didn’t exactly go as planned.”
She smiled sympathetically. “I remember. This one will definitely be different. We’ll all make it out.”
With a sharp nod, he said, “I think so, too. Just bad memories. None of those shitty titanium bullets hanging out this time, right?”
“Shouldn’t be,” Cadence assured him. “Christian was supposed to have collected all of those and locked them up.”
“Good. I know that has nothing to do with what Sam did to me, but I don’t like remembering what Laura did to you.”
“Me neither,” Cadence said, absently rubbing at the spot right beneath her collarbone near her left shoulder where she still had a slight indentation from the bullet Laura had hit her with. “Hey, speaking of Christian, what’s up with Cass and him? That was some face.”
Elliott laughed, the sound filling the small space and nearly rattling the glass in the window. “She said he reminds her of a creepy old uncle, only he doesn’t look old—except his eyes. She said he has the eyes of a pervert trapped in the face of a B-list British actor.”
Cadence couldn’t help but laugh at her sister’s interpretation, even if she thought the assessment was off. “Cassidy is such a weirdo. I’ll talk to her. He’s not a pervert.”
“He’s not?” Elliott said, looking at her closely, his bushy eyebrows arched. “I mean, I seem to recall a certain video….”
“No, that was weird, but one video doesn’t make a person a perv.”
“I don’t think that’s the only one,” Elliott replied, standing. “Hell, I don’t know. I never much cared for the guy.”
“You know he helped me bring you back, right?” she asked, looking up at him. She had to lean back so she could see his face he was so much taller than her at this angle.
Elliott shrugged. “Not sure that’s something to thank him for. We’ll find out. Can’t imagine he did it without thinking there must be something in it for him, though. I’d be careful about owing Christian any favors.”
Cadence’s brow wrinkled. She had no idea what he might be talking about. Lowering her gaze to the carpet and chewing on her cuticles, she pondered the idea for a moment, but Elliott didn’t wait for her to formulate her question as he began to walk toward the door.
“Just be careful, Cadence. You don’t know everyone as well as you think you do. Not yet anyway.” He offered her a small smile before pulling the door open and shouting, “Cassidy! Where’s my sandwich?”
Still chewing on her finger, Cadence tossed herself back onto the bed where she’d been trying to take a nap nearly an hour ago when her sister insisted they needed to talk about the hunt. Christian had helped her without saying anything at all about Cadence owing him a favor or wanting anything in return. Surely, Elliott was mistaken and Christian was just helping her because they were friends. What else could he possibly be trying to accomplish? With a sigh, she slid her arm under her head and flung her other arm across her face. Whatever it might be, she couldn’t think about it right now. If she was going to be at her best to get Gibbon, she couldn’t worry about Christian, or Ashley, or Morgan—or even Cass. She needed to concentrate on killing this monster so they could all get on with their lives.
***
The weaponry the team had amassed for this hunt was impressive. Between the four different areas that were now involved, they were able to gather all kinds of firearms and even a few specially designed hand grenades that Christian had come up with, which sprayed a concentrated silver liquid that would potentially take out a Vampire without damaging the location of impact. While they’d never been used on a hunt before, the Guardian was clearly excited to try one out tonight, should the opportunity present itself, and as Aaron, Jamie, and Cale finished packing the last of the extra weapons into the back of one of Andrew’s vans, Christian explained how it had come about.
“It was really more of an experiment than anything else,” he said, holding one of the items in question in his hand. “I didn’t even know if it was possible.”
“And you’ve tested them several times in training?” Jamie asked as he and Aaron each pushed one of the van doors closed.
“Yes. They don’t affect the Hunters or Guardians at all. Of course, we haven’t actually tested them on a Vampire yet, but they’re bound to work. It’s virtually the same compound we use in the Berettas, just a bit less concentrated so it sprays better.”
“And it’s coming out under a different charge,” Aaron pointed out, not sure if he
liked the idea or not, but he’d already approved it. May as well test it out, so long as they were certain it couldn’t hurt any of their teammates. Then another thought occurred to him. “I don’t want them anywhere near Cassidy.”
“Oh, right,” Christian said, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Honestly, that thought hadn’t occurred to me.” He put the grenade into the utility belt he wore that also contained two revolvers and a knife, all concealed by his long, black coat.
“Seems like everything is changing so quickly,” Cale said aloud, though it seemed like he might be talking to himself.
Aaron nodded, and placing his hands on his hips he said, “We’re going to have to start thinking about these things differently. Everything.”
“Who else has the grenades?” Jamie asked, sitting down on the bumper.
“Just Aurora and myself,” Christian assured them. “She has two, and I have three. I’ll talk to her and make sure that she knows not to detonate them near Cassidy. And since Elliott will be with Cassidy the whole night if things go as planned, I’ll just be sure not to use any if I get near them.”
While Aaron would’ve felt more comfortable having control of all of the grenades this first time out, he knew he couldn’t always regulate everything. “That should be fine. Just be overly cautious.”
“Yeah, I don’t want to have to put that little girl back together again,” Jamie agreed. “I’m going to go let Andrew know we’re loaded. Christian, want to come with me? Set to go in…” he checked the time, “ten minutes?”
“Yes,” Aaron nodded. “Thanks for your help, guys.” The Healer smiled and went on his way, Christian right behind, leaving Aaron and Cale standing alone, awkwardly. Neither of them said anything for a while, and finally, Aaron decided upon what might be the only safe topic to bring up. “So how long have you and Morgan been dating?” he asked, attempting to sound as nonchalant as possible.
“Not too long,” Cale said, a bit of a smile at the corners of his mouth. “It’s not easy with her being so far away, but we manage.”
“Yeah, Morgan’s great,” Aaron replied, looking down at the toe of his boot which he was using to chip away at an already forming crater in the concrete parking lot for some reason.
“Oh, yeah. She’s so smart,” Cale replied. “And energetic.”
Aaron thought both of those terms an odd way to describe one’s new girlfriend; not sexy or beautiful but smart and energetic? “Well, I hope everything works out well for you.”
“Thank you,” Cale nodded with a nervous smile. “And uh, just so you know…” he continued, also staring at the parking lot and then back at Aaron, his hands deep in his jacket pockets, “I had no idea that Cadence was even coming until she was practically there. I didn’t know about her plan or anything.”
“Oh, no, it’s fine,” Aaron said waving him off. “I know this was all her idea and that the people that helped her did so because… well, it’s Cadence. When she asks people to do things, they usually do it.”
“Yep,” Cale agreed.
“Especially men,” Aaron admitted more to himself than to the apprehensive doctor standing next to him.
“Um hum.”
“And it’s like she doesn’t even know the power she has.”
“Well, I don’t know about that,” Cale replied, and Aaron looked away from the drive and up at him, an inquisitive expression forming on his face. “I mean… I think she knows who she can get to do things for her and who she can’t.”
“You think?” Aaron questioned. He’d never thought of Cadence as manipulative before. Ever.
“Sure. I mean… look who she picked. A guy who showed up at her apartment with flowers a few days after she arrived at headquarters, a guy who she… kissed right after you said you didn’t want to see her the first time, and, well, me.”
Of course, Aaron was aware of all of those things, but he’d never made any sort of a romantic connection between Cadence and Jamie. If there had been any feelings on Jamie’s part, those had faded long ago, hadn’t they? And Christian was constantly trying to make up for what he had done—starting the whole situation with Eliza and nearly getting Aaron to kill himself—wasn’t he? And then there was Cale who, despite the fact that he had a new girlfriend still couldn’t help but stare at Cadence every chance he had and didn’t seem to hesitate for a second when she’d showed up at his doorstep needing help to get Elliott. Maybe there was more to this than he had considered before.
Cale continued, “I’m not trying to stir anything up, you know. I’m just saying, I’ve heard everyone going on about Eliza being a siren. Maybe… maybe she’s not the only one.”
“No,” Aaron replied, adamantly shaking his head. He even started to chuckle at the thought. “Cadence is definitely not a siren. She’s just very likeable. It’s hard not to want to help her when she’d do anything to help anyone else who needed it.”
Cale said nothing, only stared at him, his blue eyes slightly larger than normal, his mouth drawn into a line.
Before Aaron could continue the argument, either externally or internally, he heard the sound of Andrew’s, Christian’s, and Jamie’s voices coming near them. Looking back at the headquarters building, he could see several more people making their way to the launch site. Whatever Cale thought was going on with Cadence, it would have to wait until after this hunt. For now, he needed to concentrate on getting Gibbon and making sure that no one got hurt. Everything else would have to be continued.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Even though she had seen pictures and videos, looked at maps, and had it described to her numerous times, Cadence still wasn’t prepared for the enormity of Eastern State Penitentiary. Standing on the outside, looking up at the massive structure, it was hard to imagine what it must have been like to know you’d be spending years—maybe decades—entrapped inside, coming through the colossal outside wall into the building as a prisoner.
It had taken several vehicles to transport them all to the site, and they had parked them all in various locations a few blocks away so that there was no way Gibbon could hear them coming. Likewise, the teams approached from different directions. While Cassidy wanted to send out a message to see if he was there, Cadence ordered her to wait until everyone was in position. They didn’t want to tip him off that something was up and have him make his escape over the looming brick wall before they were in position to stop him.
Getting over the wall was a beast for some of the members, but for Cadence it was just a matter of standing back a few feet and taking a running leap. She wasn’t sure exactly how high it was—maybe twenty or thirty feet—and she landed atop the two feet span with no problem. Looking down on the other side, she saw trees and overgrown shrubbery and thought she’d need to be more cautious jumping down.
“Why can’t we just use the gate?” Cassidy was asking over the IAC.
“Too obvious,” Elliott replied. “Come on. You’ve got this.”
“It’s too high,” Cassidy said. “There’s no way I can jump up there.”
Cadence turned around to see her sister wringing her hands, clearly nervous, and felt bad that she’d just left her behind. She was focused on the hunt; it would be hard to remember that her sister was there while she was trying to get Gibbon. She may be forced to do what she was doing right now and leave Cass to the others.
“I’ll give you a boost,” Brandon encouraged, bending down and putting his hands out in front of him.
“I still can’t,” Cassidy said, looking at the wall and then back at Brandon.
Aaron had been walking the perimeter checking to make sure everyone else was getting into position, and when he saw the trio at the bottom of the wall, he stopped and put his hands on his hips. Cadence knew that look. “Cass, come on. You can do it,” she yelled down to her sister.
“What’s the problem?” Aaron finally asked.
“Nothing. Cass is just having a little trouble getting over the wall, that’s all,” Brandon explaine
d with a shrug.
Aaron exhaled loudly, and Cadence knew he was losing patience. “We don’t really have time for this,” he muttered. “Elliott, get up there.”
With a questioning glance but no response, Elliott leaped toward the top of the wall. He didn’t quite make it, but he was within reach of the lip, and he grabbed it with one hand and pulled himself up to standing.
As soon as Elliott was next to Cadence, Aaron approached Cassidy. “What are you doing?” she asked as he grabbed her around the waist.
He didn’t answer. “Ready?” he asked, and before Elliott could even nod, he picked Cadence’s little sister up and tossed her up to Elliott.
Despite their agreement to keep completely silent, Cassidy let out a loud yelp, and Cadence watched her flying through the air, hopeful that Elliott would catch her without knocking both of them backward. He easily plucked her out of the air, and Cadence put her hands on his shoulder to steady them both.
“What the hell?” Cassidy shrieked, this time on the IAC.
“You’re welcome,” Aaron said and then hurdled himself clean over the wall, landing on the ground on the other side between two trees.
“What the hell, indeed,” Elliott muttered.
“Elliott, meet Green Aaron. He can do lots of things that regular Aaron couldn’t do,” Cadence explained as Brandon came to a stop next to her on the other side. Then, looking at her sister, she said, “Ready to go down?”
“No!” Cassidy said, emphatically.
“Well, you can’t stay up here,” Elliott reminded her.
“You’re going to blow out your knee again,” Cassidy said to her older sister as she peered down at the ground.
Cadence thought Cass must be as terrified as she had been herself when Aaron threw her out of the plane. But she knew she could jump from here with no problems. Unfortunately, her sister wouldn’t know that until she did it. “Come on, Cass,” Cadence said, “you can do it.”