Even on their own private jet, the ride from Kansas City to Paris seemed to take forever, and Cadence spent the whole time thinking about Jack and wondering how he was doing. The rest of the team understood that she needed some alone time, and they gave her some space. Before she left Nebraska, Taylor and the rest of her friends arrived at the hospital, and at least one of them was at the hospital around the clock so they could constantly keep her updated once she got off the plane. Nevertheless, she still felt bad leaving Jack when he was so ill.
When she had returned to his room that night, he was asleep, not unconscious again, but truly asleep. His parents said they understood that she couldn’t stay, that she needed to get back to work. They already believed that the medication was working, and they were certain they’d be calling her soon with positive information. That was yesterday evening, and she still hadn’t received any word from his parents, which was disappointing. And now, all of the rest of their friends were there as well, which left her feeling very melancholy and made the trip even longer.
For some reason, it seemed everyone and their brother was visiting Paris at the same time, which had made booking enough hotel rooms extremely difficult. Aaron told her that as soon as Eliza found out Stormy was coming, and there wouldn’t be enough hotel rooms for them each to have their own, she had essentially called “Not it!” and talked Jamie into sharing a room with her. That left Cadence to share with Stormy since it only made sense the two remaining women would be best put together. And since the Hunters required more sleep, putting them in the same room was logical. Cadence was fine with that at first. They were both Vampire Hunters, which was something. Surely, she could get along with anyone for a few days.
Unfortunately, that had not been the case. As soon as they arrived at the hotel, Cadence wanted to call and check on Jack. The room was tiny, and the bathroom door was paper-thin. Stormy insisted that she needed to go to sleep immediately. If she were to perform at her best, she needed precisely ten hours of sleep each night.
“Well, I need to call and check on my friend,” Cadence said.
Stormy was a burly woman with short brown hair and a ruddy complexion. She wore a slouch hat and cowboy boots. When she answered, her voice was anything but sympathetic. “I’m sorry,” Stormy said, “but the next ten hours are quiet time for me, and that means you must be completely silent at all times. You cannot call in here while I am sleeping. You’ll have to go somewhere else.”
Cadence thought that arguing with her could quite possibly lead to a physical fight, and though she was fairly certain she would win, she wasn’t willing to escalate the situation. “Fine, I’ll go out into the hallway,” she acquiesced.
She spent the next fifteen minutes on the phone with Taylor, talking about how Jack was doing. Taylor explained that they had changed some of his medications because he wasn’t responding as they had hoped he would. They were hopeful that this new regiment would be more productive in creating healthy blood cells. He would also be receiving one or two blood transfusions daily now. She said he had been awake and talking for a few minutes that day, but he never made much sense. It upset Cadence to know that, each time he woke up, he asked where she was.
After hanging up the phone, Cadence returned to the room she shared with Stormy. However, Cadence quickly discovered Stormy had thrown the bar across the door, and even though she had a keycard, Cadence was unable to access her own room. She attempted to wake her up on IAC, but Stormy was either completely off or just ignoring her.
Cadence knew she had one of two choices. She could bang on the door and attempt to wake her that way, potentially getting into an altercation with her, or she could just find somewhere else to sleep. She was wearing linen pants and a sweatshirt and she had brushed her teeth before she went out to make the phone call. So, all she really needed was a bed. She knew that Jamie and Eliza were already sharing a room, and she didn’t want to ask them to make room for one more. Christian and Elliott each had their own room. Elliott was out of the question, and she was afraid that, if she asked Christian, he would assume other intentions. Tonight, all she truly wanted to do was sleep. That really only left one person.
“Hey, I’m locked out of my room. Stormy put the bar over the door, and she won’t let me in.”
“What! That’s crazy! I can wake her up," Aaron offered.
“No, don’t do that. I don’t want to make her angry. We’ll just end up fighting.”
“Okay, well, I know there are no more rooms available in the hotel. What would you like for me to do?"
“Are you sleeping or working?”
"Working."
"Can I sleep in your bed?"
There was a delay in his response, and Cadence thought perhaps she had overstepped the new boundaries he had recently established. She hoped the delay came from multitasking and had nothing to do with her.
Eventually, he replied, “Of course you can.”
"Thanks. What room are you in?"
"Three-seventeen"
She made her way down the hall and knocked quietly on his door.
“Hey,” Aaron said, opening the door wide enough for her to enter.
“Hi. Thank you,” she added as she stepped into the room.
“Sure,” he replied. “I’m sorry Stormy is being so difficult.”
“It’s not your fault,” she said, looking around. He must have been working on his laptop, which was open on the coffee table in the sitting area. He only had one queen sized bed in his room, but that worked just fine since one of them didn’t sleep.
“It is and it isn’t,” he admitted. “I mean, I’m the one who invited her, and I’m in charge, so if she’s being difficult, I need to take care of it.”
“Well, maybe she’s just tired, and she’ll be nicer tomorrow. I don’t know; I just went out in the hall to call Taylor to check on Jack, and she locked me out.”
“That’s a bit on the harsh side,” he admitted, choosing his words carefully. “Well, it’s all yours,” he said, gesturing toward the bed.
“Thanks again,” she said, walking over and pulling down the blankets. Slipping off her shoes, she sat down on the edge of the bed. She was very aware that he was still standing there watching her as she climbed between the sheets and scooted back against the headboard, propping the pillows behind her. “Everything okay?” she asked.
“Yes, sorry,” he replied, as if realizing he had been staring. “I was just going to ask how Jack was doing, but I didn’t know if you wanted to talk about it.”
She sighed, not really sure if she wanted to discuss him or not. Jack was just one of the many topics that she currently found upsetting. When she had first decided to ask Aaron if she could sleep in his room, she had thought she would be able to handle being so close to him, telling herself her sole purpose in doing so was to get some sleep. Now that she was here, she realized that her feelings for him were still at the surface level. He was dressed in very nice gray pants and a powder blue shirt, almost the same shade as his eyes, and she was beginning to wonder if coming here was a mistake. She had cried enough over him recently, and she really didn’t want to go through that again.
He must have been able to tell how distressed she was, though he didn’t know exactly how bad Jack’s situation was. He seemed to be searching for something comforting to say. Anything would do if it kept her from bursting into tears. “Hey, it’s okay,” he said, sitting down on the side of the bed near her knees. “Jack’s a tough guy, right? He can fight this, you know? It’ll be fine.”
“You don’t sound very convincing,” she pointed out.
He ran his hand through his hair, and Cadence knew he was thinking about how to respond. “You’re right, I don’t. I’m sorry. Do you want me to try again?”
Cadence shook her head. “It’s okay; you don’t need to patronize me.”
“Oh, I’m not. I mean, I wasn’t trying to.” He sighed a deep sigh and turned so that he was facing her. “Look, Cadence, here’s the deal. We can all say hopeful, reassuring things, and that’s nice. It makes people feel good, at least for a few moments. There’s nothing wrong with that. Except for when it doesn’t turn out that way. And I have no idea if Jack’s going to pull through this or not. Of course, I hope so. I hope he makes a full recovery, and you see him out there playing baseball in the spring, just like you always have. But, sometimes that doesn’t happen. And we lose people. And it sucks. God, does it ever suck. But we find a way to go on—sometimes when we truly think there is no possible way to go on. Somehow, we find one.”
Tears were starting to make their way out of the corners of her eyes. “I just can’t imagine losing Jack,” she whispered. “I’m just tired of losing people. I don’t want to do it anymore.”
“I know,” he agreed. “I really do know.”
She wiped her tears on the sleeve of her sweatshirt. “You mentioned that before,” she replied. “What do you mean by that? Do you mind that I ask?”
“No, I don’t mind that you ask,” he responded. “In the past, it has been difficult for me to talk about it. But I’m willing to talk to you about it, Cadence.” She felt touched that he already seemed to trust her so completely. Taking a deep breath, he calmly stated, “My wife died.” He wasn’t able to look directly at her and instead stared down at his folded hands.
Cadence gasped, “Oh, my God, Aaron, I’m so sorry! I had no idea.”
“I know. It’s okay. I mean, it was a very, very long time ago. But, even when this much time has passed, it really doesn’t make it any easier, unfortunately.”
She had no idea he had ever even been married before, though it would make sense that someone who had lived as long as he had would have been married at some point. “Do you ever talk about her--to anyone?” she asked.
“No, not really. Not anymore. There are some incredible rumors about what happened, and most of the team knows about her, but there’s really no one left that ever even met Aislyn. And, she was a human, so even if she hadn’t gotten sick, she wouldn’t be alive now.”
“You fell in love with a human?” she asked, intrigued.
“Mm hmm,” he replied softly.
“And you married her, knowing that, someday you’d have to go on without her?”
His only response was a shrug.
“That’s incredible,” Cadence said. “And pretty damn romantic,” she added.
He smiled shyly, “I guess so. I don’t know. I loved her. There was no question in my mind that I loved her, and I didn’t care what she was. I was going to marry her. And so, I did, and we were together for a short time before she got sick, and even though I am what I am, and I did everything within my power, I could do nothing to save her.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said, holding back tears again.
“Thanks,” he replied, nodding. Then he added, “So, I know. I really do know how you feel.”
She paused for a moment, considering all that he had said, being ever so careful to control her emotions. There was so much that she wished to say. Though she had admired him before, learning of his ability to love someone so unconditionally just intensified her feelings. After a few moments she finally said simply, “Thank you for telling me.”
“You’re welcome. Thank you for listening. It’s been a very long time since I’ve mentioned Aislyn to anyone. But I feel like you deserve to know, especially with everything you’re going through with Jack.”
“And thank you for giving me another chance,” she added.
Her abrupt change of topic seemed to catch him slightly off guard “What?” he asked. “You mean on the team?”
She nodded, slowly, briefly glancing up to meet his eyes.
“Oh, you don’t have to thank me for that, Cadence. I should have never ….” He paused, as if he also didn’t want to think about the conversation they had had the other night. With Jack so sick, she doubted he’d say anything about the possibility of giving her another chance either. Not now anyway. Finally, he just stated, “Cadence, I was mad at the wrong person, and I don’t know if it was just my complete inability to see situations in any shades other than black or white, or if I allowed someone else’s judgment to cloud my own, but I realized after you left yesterday, you never would have broken the rules if they weren’t stupid rules to begin with.”
“You mean the observation protocol? I don’t think it’s stupid…” she started.
“Sure it is. A rule that says every single Hunter has to follow the same protocol even when they don’t need to, and it hurts the team? Yeah, that’s pretty stupid. So, I couldn’t hold you back anymore, even though it scares the hell out of me to see the risks you take. You know what you’re doing. You said you trust me, and I need to trust you, too.” Then he added, “And I do. I do trust you.” He was looking directly into her eyes now, and she could see the sincerity in his words.
Unable to continue to hold his gaze, she looked away. After a moment she said, “Good. Thank you.”
“Sure,” he replied, nodding. Suddenly, he seemed to desperately want to exit the situation. Perhaps he felt he had had said too much. “Okay, I’m sorry. You’re exhausted, and I have work to do, so I promise I will let you sleep.”
“You look pretty tired, yourself,” she pointed out, not looking directly at him when she said it, hoping she wouldn’t think she was suggesting anything.
“Thanks,” he said sarcastically as he stood to walk back to his computer.
“I’m just saying, you really are allowed to sleep, too, you know?” She adjusted the blankets over her shoulder, and turned her back to him.
“I know,” he admitted. He flipped the lights off, and she heard him sit back down at the table. A shift in the remaining light in the room indicated he had turned the screen so that the light from his laptop wouldn’t shine into her eyes. “And I did sleep. Once. A few years ago.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s a big bed so you won’t bother me. Just sayin’” She was too tired to worry about how he may or may not take that remark.
“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind. Good night, Cadence,”
“Good night, Aaron,” she said.
When Cadence woke up the next morning, she was surprised not to see Aaron still sitting on the sofa working. She rolled over and realized he actually had gotten in bed with her. And he was asleep. Although, technically, he was on the bed, not under the blankets as she was, which she found a bit humorous. Clearly, he was concerned with violating her privacy. He had changed clothes into something slightly more comfortable than what had been wearing the night before, and he looked more peaceful than she had ever seen him.
He must have felt her staring at him because his eyes began to flutter, and then he was awake and looking back at her. “Good morning,” he said softly.
“Hi. You slept! I’m so proud of you!” she exclaimed, propping her head up on one arm.
“I know. Me, too. How did you sleep?” he asked, stretching.
She was momentarily distracted, staring at the muscles in his arms as he flexed them in his attempt to fully wake. She shook her head, gathering her thoughts. “I slept well, thanks. And you?”
“Better than I have in a long time,” he admitted turning on his side to face her.
“You were tired,” she reminded him. “See, sleep isn’t such an awful thing.”
“No, sleep’s great. It’s the making up for all of the work that I missed that’s so terrible,” he explained. As if realizing he had a ton to do and that he needed to find a way out of the bed quickly before the situation took a turn, he brought himself promptly to his feet, standing across the bed from her.
Stifling a giggle at his rush to get out of the bed, she reminded him, “Well, that’s because you’re doing the job of two people,” doing a bit of stretching herself. “And two extremely difficult jobs at that.”
“You’re right; that’s exactly why. But until the Hunters elect someone else as Leader, I’m just going to have to do it myself,” he reminded her, walking around the end of the bed toward his computer.
“Well, I may not be my grandmother, but if there’s anything that you think I can help you with, please let me know,” she offered as he opened his laptop.
“Okay, thanks,” he said, beginning to scroll through the information on his computer. His expression revealed he simultaneously checking the messages on his IAC.
Cadence could see that he was very busy, and she didn’t want to bother him. But at the same time, she wasn’t quite ready to leave. “I guess I’m going shopping with Eliza today,” she mentioned, sitting up and attempting to detangle her hair with her fingers. She slipped her feet into her shoes without untying them.
He looked up at her, smirking. “Oh? Have fun--if it’s even possible to have fun shopping with Eliza.”
“I know, right? And the meeting with Sebastian is at 8:00?” she inquired, working on a rather obstinate tangle.
“That's right, 8:00. And he’s coming over here. I guess we’ll just bring him in here.” Then he added, “He doesn’t want you there, you know? He’s afraid you’ll lose your temper and kill him. Same for Stormy.”
“I don‘t blame him,” she admitted. “I just figured you wanted us all in the building, just in case something happens.”
“That is probably a wise idea,” he agreed.
“Well, I will go check on my lovely roommate and see if I am allowed to take a shower.” She momentarily considered using his hospitality as an excuse to cross the room and hug him, but she was keenly aware of the fact that her mouth tasted like an old shoe, so she climbed out of bed and headed straight for the door. She continued to run her hand absently through her hair and, pulling the heavy oak door open, she turned and catching his eyes said, “Thanks again.”
She realized she had his full attention, standing there in her crumpled sweatshirt, hair a mess. Cadence hoped he could overlook her disheveled appearance. He stared at her for a long moment, as if he couldn’t really think of anything to say. Licking his lips, he bit down slightly and then managed to cheerily say, “Have a great day!”
Both eyebrows raised at his ridiculous tone, Cadence giggled. “I feel like I’m leaving Walmart.” Crimson began to creep up his neck, but once again he must’ve been struggling for words, so she shouted, “You, too!” and bounded down the hall, determined that she was getting back into her hotel room, one way or another.
It was 8:37 and Sebastian had not yet shown up. Aaron had been in contact with a messenger off and on all day, receiving updates on Holland and making sure the turncoat knew where to be and when to be there. They were supposed to meet early so that, by the time the nightlife (or afterlife, as the case may be) started their nightly corruption of the City of Lights, his team was well informed and ready to bring Holland down.
Cadence was holed up in her room with Stormy who was polishing one of her guns. She had several, more than Cadence could easily account for, and this one was a custom number Stormy said she relied on heavily. “Is that thing loaded?” she asked, watching Stormy flip it around nonchalantly.
“Always,” the Amazonian woman replied.
“Nice,” Cadence muttered. She had asked Aaron about weapons yesterday, and he assured her they had quite an arsenal and that she would be fully armed. As exciting as that seemed, she’d never even been in a simulator with more than one Glock at a time, and the idea of trolling around Paris with a couple of Berettas or a handgun strapped to every portion of her body was sounding more and more like the backstory for an episode of World’s Dumbest Criminals.
“I think we’ve got a no-show,” Aaron finally admitted at 8:45.
“The first step toward healing is admitting you’ve got a problem,” she replied.
“Sarcasm, very helpful. We’re going to head over to Le Doll, which opens at 9:00, and see if Sabin and the girls know anything more. You want to come?"
“Strip club? You know it!”
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 had each other on IAC, and now Cadence was slightly distracted by the French-to-English translations she was getting zapped through her brain every few seconds. She heard the original message, and then the translation, and it was just a bit much. She had new resolve to learn all foreign languages so as to avoid this situation in the future.
There was a long line of patrons waiting to get in, and Cadence assumed those who were not armed would have a better chance of success. However, Aaron didn’t take them to the front entrance; he took them around the side where Sabin was waiting and let them in.
Cadence had actually never been to any strip club before, so having her first one be a French burlesque was even more of a shock. She was having a very hard time not gasping at every X-rated scene that her innocent eyes were suddenly exposed to, and she felt as if her face must be a deep shade of crimson. Though she felt embarrassed at her naiveté, she did happen to notice that their fearless leader looked fairly uncomfortable himself. A few of the other guys, however, were having difficulty concentrating for other reasons altogether. She made a point not to make eye contact with Christian at all so as to make sure he did not get any ideas.
They followed Sabin into a dressing area. Some of the other performers were a bit startled to see such a large group dressed in dark colors walk in, clearly packing and unbothered by who may notice. But this was Paris, and they had likely seen stranger things.
Sabin and Aaron were speaking French, and even with her mental translator sprinting along as fast as its little legs could carry it, she wasn’t keeping up. Essentially, they weren’t sure if Sebastian had gotten cold feet or if he had been found out. Either way, they suggested a full scope of the club, and if they had no luck here, a raid on the Vieux Moullin. If Sebastian had just gotten nervous and was still undetected, Holland may actually show. She had been in a few nights ago. While the idea of raiding a warehouse full of Rogue Vampires and burning it to the ground sounded appealing, the first and most important step was to cut off the head of the snake.
Genevieve and Chantal both addressed Aaron and the rest of the group topless, and Cadence found it quite amusing to watch him attempt to speak to them nonchalantly when he was clearly excruciatingly uncomfortable. They were discussing location around the inside perimeter of the club that would work well for optimal vantage points and as much camouflage as possible. The club was open from 9:00-3:00, and if Holland had not shown up by 2:00, the plan was to disperse and rendezvous at 2:45 at Location Two.
As Aaron was discussing the details with the French Hunters, Christian approached Cadence. “Are you ready for this?” he asked quietly.
She glanced briefly in his direction, trying to prevent distraction at all costs. “I believe so,” she said, nodding her head.
“Good,” he said smiling. “I have a feeling you are going to kick some major Vampire ass tonight. Can’t wait to see the show.”
She couldn’t help but smile at that. “Thanks,” she said grinning.
“Sure. I know I’m not assigned to guard you tonight, but if you need anything, don’t hesitate to let me know, all right?” he said, gently squeezing her arm and stepping away.
Cadence nodded at him as he walked away, fully aware that Eliza was shooting her a questioning stare from the other side of the small circle the team had formed around Aaron and the informants. Cadence only shrugged at her friend and returned her attention to the rapid-fire translation.
Sabin had the night off, so she was armed; the other two were not. Therefore, they would be reliant on some assistance if things started to go down in the club. The rest of the team members were reminded to share their weapons if possible. Once the conversation with the dancers was finished, much to Aaron’s relief, Cadence imagined, Sabin helped him place his troops as inconspicuously as she could. Cadence had been given fairly strict orders to stay with Aaron at all times, so she got to walk around with him as he positioned everyone. Sabin was clearly intrigued by the striking foreigner, and Cadence noticed how often she put her wispy little hand on him when she spoke.
Once everyone else was in position, Sabin went off to find a vantage point that leant itself well to where she generally saw Holland hang out when she was in the club. Cadence wasn’t particularly saddened to see her go.
The main room of the club was shaped like a large oval with squared off corners. It was three stories high with balconies lining the sides and offering views to the main floor below which were ideal for observing but made deployment a bit trickier, especially when the club was full of innocent bystanders, as it was this evening. Despite the fact that the strippers were all female, there were plenty of women in the crowd, something Cadence found rather odd. Like most clubs, however, it was dark and smoky. Everyone on the team had night vision through their IACs, which could be useful when it came to tracking in the poor lighting.
She supposed Elliott had the best vantage point of anyone, poised in the rafters high above the crowd. Though he had the most experience at mounting the crow’s nest, Aaron mentioned he had considered putting one of the French team members there so that Elliott would be more accessible should they need his guns. But in the end, Aaron knew the importance of a good rooster, and he left him in a position where a quick descent wasn’t very feasible, essentially leaving them with one less pistol on the ground than he had planned on. Elliott said he was interested in checking his range from the rafters, however, and he may be of some help after all.
Placing Cadence was also of the utmost importance, he had explained. She needed to be able to see and to access her target quickly. He had settled on a location on the second story near the stairs. His plan was to stick as closely by her side as possible. Eliza was also assigned solely to Cadence’s protection, so he felt fairly confident that, between the two of them, they could keep her safe, though once her instincts kicked in, everyone knew it would be nearly impossible to predict what she might do or which direction she might head.
The rest of the team was scattered amongst the different levels, some on the main floor, with Genevieve and Chantal taking advantage of their time on stage to survey the crowd as well.
Once the crowd really poured 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.
Once Cadence and Aaron found their positions, they were suddenly bombarded by club goers offering to buy each of them drinks. The constant interruptions were getting to be a bit of a distraction. Finally, Aaron closed the small gap between them and wrapped his arm around Cadence’s waist.
She was rather surprised but certainly didn’t mind. Nevertheless, she had to ask, “Whatcha doin’ there, bossman?”
“Well, I was hoping that these nice patrons would start to think that we are a couple and leave us the hell alone so we can do our jobs,” he replied, his hand on her side but just lightly resting there.
She was standing in front of him peering over the balcony, scanning the crowd for any of the known members of Holland’s clan and for Sebastian. While she agreed that the French partiers were a distraction, she didn’t know if he realized that he was causing even more of a disruption in her ability to concentrate. Yet, despite the knowledge that she knew concentration was vital, she wasn’t about to ask him to move away.
“You know, it’s easier to hold you when you’re not packing heat,” he whispered in her ear.
“Are you trying to disarm me?” she replied teasingly.
“No, not at all,” he resounded. “I’ll just have to figure out some other way to let everyone know you’re presently spoken for,” he said in a more flirtatious tone than she had ever heard him use before.
“I have a few ideas,” she said biting her bottom lip. She was beginning to wonder if he wasn’t also taking advantage of this charade to momentarily suspend their agreement to go their separate ways. If he was, she was definitely game. She felt like she was playing a role in an action movie, not like this was real life.
“Oh? What ideas?” he asked, clearly intrigued.
Though it required taking her eyes off of the club floor for a few moments, she convinced herself that the believability of their cover story was at stake. She swiveled her hips around so that she was facing him and placed her hand on the nape of his neck. Pulling him toward hers, she pressed her lips against his and drew his mouth open with her tongue. After a few moments she released him. “Believable?” she asked, requesting his approval.
In response, Aaron pulled her back in and kissed her again, this time a bit softer but still just as passionately. Releasing her, he said, “I think that might work. It does make it a little more difficult to see the club floor, but really, there will be other opportunities to kill Vampires.”
She laughed and turned back to scan the crowd, making sure she hadn’t missed anything while she had been thoroughly distracted.
“What the hell are you guys doing?” Eliza wanted to know. She was standing just a few feet away with a drink in her hand.
“Cover story,” Cadence replied.
“Believability is everything,” Aaron noted.
“Am I the only one working around here?” the third wheel wanted to know.
Cadence couldn’t respond just then though. Her eyes locked in on a face moving through the crowd. She didn’t have a good vantage point from where she was presently standing, so she began to move, her instincts kicking in.
There was no way Aaron could see exactly what she was doing, but he seemed to know by now that when she went into this state, it was best to just let her work and try to keep up. She could feel him following behind her as she trailed along the railing.
Cadence had a lock. It was Sebastian. He was winding his way through the crowd, heading down the middle of the dance floor, constantly looking over his shoulder as if he was certain he was about to be pounced on at any second. And that was Cadence’s first thought, but the fact that he was here must be significant. If something weren’t amiss, he would have never shown up in the club that night, knowing it was bound to be crawling with Hunters and Guardians.
Surveying the location of her teammates, she realized he was about to pass into Jamie’s zone. “Jamie, Sebastian, white shirt, middle of the floor, your ten o’clock.”
“Affirmative,” Jamie replied.
Jamie was on him in less than two seconds, without the crowd knowing he had instantaneously covered about fifty feet and without bumping into a single one of them. Cadence watched and listened through the IAC as the doctor placed his hand on Sebastian’s shoulder, as if they were long lost pals. “Sebastian, we’ve missed you,” he said, keeping his grip tight as they continued to walk through the crowd. It didn’t really matter exactly where they were going, so long as Jamie didn’t let the Vampire get away.
“I need to speak to Sabin,” Sebastian said, his heavy French accent making it difficult for Cadence to understand.
“Well, let’s go,” Jamie replied, leading him to where she stood at the back end of the club on the first balcony.
“God, I really want to go ring his neck, literally,” Cadence muttered.
“Nice pick up,” Aaron replied. “You can’t kill him just now. We’ve got to figure out what he knows.”
“Don’t you want to go talk to him?” Cadence asked, turning to look at him momentarily.
“I’m dying to go interrogate the turncoat myself, but doing so would mean leaving you, and it isn’t worth it. I’ll just have to trust Sabin to gather and disseminate the information.”
His response made sense, and Cadence nodded before returning her eyes back to the dance floor, crawling back over faces, searching for anyone else who might be a threat.
As 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 IAC.
“Where did you learn to speak such fluent French?” she asked, her smile showing that she was impressed.
“France,” he replied smartly. “I lived here for a while. A long time ago.”
“How old are you anyway?” she asked as she continued to survey the crowd. She had been wanting to ask for a long time but never had. She knew this might not be the best time or place, but she really wanted to know.
“That’s a little rude,” he teased. He had his hand resting on her shoulder, continuing with the façade that they were a couple.
“It just boggles my mind that you look like you’re in college, and you’re like, a hundred and fifty,” she commented, her eyes continuing to fly through the faces in the crowd.
“That’s a good guess. Let’s go with that,” he replied, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze.
She flashed him a disappointed smirk, not pulling her eyes completely away from the crowd. Suddenly, she realized her heart rate was increasing. She started to have an unusual sensation in the pit of her stomach, almost as if her insides were itching. She had never felt anything like this before, but she knew what it meant. “Aaron,” she said, grabbing his arm, “She’s coming all right, and she’s bringing Armageddon with her.”
“What?” he asked.
But she didn’t have time to answer. There was a brilliant flash of white light and the front doors of the club came crashing open, a chilling wind blowing in so furiously, club goers were knocked to the ground and strewn about like flower petals in a storm. The music abruptly stopped, the lights flickered, and then, there she was, standing in the entryway to the dance floor, the crowd parting in haste to make way. Her flowing white dress illuminated in the lights from the dance floor lending a sense of irony as she resembled an angel, long red tresses billowing in the wind. “You want me? Here I am. Come get me!” She turned and looked straight at Cadence, her long, bony finger beckoning in her direction.
The crowd stood petrified with fear as Holland’s legion filled the area around her. There must have been at least fifty of them, if not more. Cadence glanced back at Aaron. Bad intel, once again.
“We got this.” Cadence blasted to the entire team.
“You sure?” Aaron whispered next to her.
She nodded, pulling the Berettas from behind her back. She knew they were grossly outnumbered, but the Vampires had no weapons while they had semi-automatic rifles. Perhaps more importantly, they had Cadence, and she was pissed.
Unfortunately, the Vampires had chosen to take this fight out in public where there was a pretty good chance dozens of humans would be injured or killed. Even as this thought crossed her mind, the Vampires began to shriek, something Cadence took as a sign they were about to attack. Their faces contorted, exposing their spike-like teeth, their talon-clad fingers ready to slice through anyone they came into contact with.
As the Vampires charged into the crowd, the humans began to panic. The Compliant Vampires were suddenly forced to choose a side, predator or prey. Many of them instinctively chose to go along with the rest of their Passel and Cadence turned her head slightly to see a man sinking his teeth into his date. She trained her weapon on him and fired. Though it was too late for the woman who now had a gaping hole in her neck, at least this particular villain would not have a second victim.
Elsewhere, the previously clubbing humans were screaming, trampling each other, trying to find the closest exit. The Vampires were fighting through the crowd, spreading out, attempting to get to the Hunters. The Hunters and Guardians were limited to using their Berettas because the Glocks might kill the humans. Nevertheless, the room was illuminated in bursts of silver-blue light as the LSI searched out target after target.
Cadence had only one objective, and she didn’t have time for the stairs. She leapt over the balcony, dropping the two stories as if she were a child jumping off the bottom step of a stairwell. She didn’t see Aaron shaking his head in disbelief and calculating whether or not he could follow. After a second’s hesitation, he bounded after her, though his landing was a bit rougher. Eliza belted for the staircase.
Trusting her aim, Cadence replaced one of the Berettas in its holster and pulled a Glock out of her right hip holster. The hell with protocol at this point; she could take out more Vampires faster with the handgun. She was heading toward Holland, but she was picking off Vampires right and left as she went.
Stormy was also proving why it was worth it to have her difficult ass around. Christian and Jamie had been assigned to cover her, though Jamie had been stuck in the back with Sebastian when the altercation had first started. He had rushed through the crowd as quickly as possible, considering he was swimming upstream, to get back to his station. Yet, neither one of them were able to add much protection for Stormy as she engaged Vampire after Vampire either at close proximity or with her guns. All they could do to assist was try to take out some of her peripheral attackers before she had the opportunity.
Chantal and Genevieve had also joined the engagement, procuring weapons from members of the French team. They worked well together and were managing to take out quite a few bloodsuckers. Sabin was fighting her way toward them, the three of them preferring to work together.
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 Cadence was out of the question as soon as Cadence took off. Cadence knew as she marched on in pursuit of her prey, she was making it increasingly more difficult for him to judge exactly which path she was taking to reach her goal and to head her off. However, at this point, she was more concerned about getting Holland than she was being protected as she did so.
Cadence knew she would probably have a clear shot at Holland within twenty yards of reaching her, which she was closing in on now. But she understood that Holland was betting she wasn’t planning on using a gun to kill her. Otherwise, she would have never called her out. The rest of the Vampires knew that Cadence was off-limits, and after seeing how quickly she was taking out any of them that entered her proximity, most were staying as far away from her as possible.
Many of the humans had either fled the scene or had fallen victim to the Vampires within the first few minutes of the battle. Originally, they had made good screens for the Vampires to wind their way through to close in on their Hunter targets. However, with fewer humans, there were fewer places for the Vampires to hide, and their numbers were starting to dwindle. Though Holland’s strategy to outnumber the enemy almost four-to-one sounded good on paper, it wasn’t holding up against the far superior weapons her enemies employed.
Not all of the Vampires were having such bad luck, though. Chantal was engaged with a towering brute; his club-like fists had knocked her weapon out of her hand, and before either of her teammates were able to train their guns in his direction, he had severed her arm, plucking it from its socket as if he were defeathering a chicken. Hearing her scream, Sabin turned and fired, making the attacker pay with a direct hit to the heart. She rushed to her friend’s aid, and Genevieve covered them with her guns as Sabin attempted to stop the bleeding.
Aaron was standing close by. He couldn’t stop to assist because he was trying to keep up with Cadence. “Jamie, we need you in the back by the stage.”
Jamie was doing what he could to assist Stormy, but she wasn’t in dire need of his assistance for certain. “I’m on it,” he shot back to Aaron and headed toward Chantal.
Elliott was able to take out quite a few Vampires from his location after all, especially since the crowd had dissipated. Now that the number of Vampires was diminishing, he ascended to the roof of the building so that he could make sure no reserve forces were about to infiltrate the location and to begin to ascertain how best to go about the clean-up process. In situations like this, it was never easy. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people had now had an experience either inside or outside the club. Generally speaking, the best way to convince the masses that they had seen nothing paranormal was to utilize the media, and he was hopeful that, when those sirens he could hear off in the distance reached them, they would be accompanied by a news van or two. “Clear on the exterior,” he reported before making his way down to the street level to begin the second half of his assignment.
Cadence had reached her destination. Holland stood across from her in the center of the room. A few fallen bodies scattered the floor around them, but for the most part, the area was clear. Holland had increased her height, stretching to a seven-foot tall towering specter. Her arms had lengthened and her teeth were bared. Still, Cadence was not frightened. She had full confidence in her ability to take this bitch out once and for all, thoughts of Drew’s face flickering across her mind. “Are you ready to end this?” she asked, tossing her Glock aside.
In response, Holland tossed the top of her head back, opening her jaw almost 180 degrees, and roared. Cadence could feel a rush of warm air billow through the space between them, filling her nostrils with the stench of death and the rusty smell of blood.
She removed the two Berettas, discarded them, and tossed her jacket as well. She could see Aaron shaking his head off to her side, but she knew what she was doing. The rest of the room was almost clear of Vampires, just a few more meeting their demise in the darker corners of the club. Holland’s entire clan had been eliminated, at least those present, and she was more than pissed. She had nothing to lose.
Holland made the first move, stepping forward and swinging her claws at Cadence’s head. Cadence was able to dodge her with no problem. However, when Holland swung her other arm around, she did so quickly, and it caught Cadence a bit off balance. She stepped backward, recovered her balance, and used Holland’s disproportion to her advantage, delivering a swift kick to her stomach. With her elongated skull, it caused the Vampire to become top heavy, and she reeled to the side. Holland wasn’t stupid, however. Recognizing that her attempt to frighten Cadence with her appearance was working to her own disadvantage, she quickly brought her body back together, regaining her more human form. Cadence wasn’t expecting this tactic, and she had to reformulate her plan of attack. She only had a second, however, before Holland threw herself at the Hunter, the force of her body causing Cadence to fall on her back. Cadence used both legs to kick Holland off, and she went shooting into the air, landing about fifteen feet behind where she had been standing. This just provided Holland with more of a running start. This time when she launched at Cadence, however, the Hunter was ready. Just as Holland was about to land on top of her again, Cadence sidestepped and kicked out her leg, sending Holland tumbling to her right. She hit the ground hard this time, and Cadence took the opportunity to jump on top of her.
From Aaron’s perspective, this was excruciating. His entire purpose in life was to protect Hunters, and the one that he wanted to defend more than any other wouldn’t allow him to assist at all. He knew that, if he needed to, he would shoot Holland without hesitation, despite any protest onlookers might make regarding a fair fight. He wasn’t going to let anything happen to Cadence. Period.
Right now, it didn’t matter, however. She was winning. Cadence held her knees against Holland’s hips and chest. Though Holland was attempting to claw Cadence off of the top of her, she was unable to land any blows in her present position. Cadence was attempting to gain a forcible enough grip on Holland’s head that she could sever it, but she was having trouble doing so because of Holland’s sharp claws. They were like razor blades and could easily slice Cadence’s arm open or removed a finger. Holland was able to catch Cadence when she was adjusting and didn’t quite have her balance yet. The Vampire used her feet as leverage and pushed up, knocking Cadence off of her and to the ground. Holland threw herself at Cadence, and though she didn’t have time to jump up, she did spring her legs out, catching Holland, sending her flying through the air. She landed on one of the tables, shattering glasses and bottles and spraying bits of glass into the air.
Despite the glass, Cadence heaved herself at Holland, pinning her down on the floor. She had her by the throat now, putting all of her pressure against the ancient bones in her slowly elongating neck. Holland attempted to claw at her again with her fingernails. Cadence pinned her left arm down with her knee. She caught Holland’s right hand with her left and began to squeeze. Holland could not scream because of the pressure Cadence had on her neck. Within a few seconds, Holland’s tendons began to pop and tear. Twisting seemed to help, and Cadence pulled up, ripping Holland’s arm off and tossing it away.
Holland’s last attempt to save herself was to mutate her mouth, trying to grow her teeth long enough to swing the top of her head down at such an angle as to catch Cadence’s arm, but the Vampire was very conscious of the breaking ligaments in her neck. Now that her left hand was free, Cadence was able to apply even more pressure around the Vampire’s throat.
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 still managed to shriek. It was ear shattering. The same breeze Cadence had felt from her mouth earlier blew past her again, the stench almost too much for her to bear as Holland’s body turned to ashes beneath her.
It took Cadence a moment to realize it was over. Slowly, she stood and dusted herself off. Surveying the room, she saw that only Hunters and Guardians remained, except for one lone Vampire cowering in the back behind Sabin and Genevieve. Sebastian had survived unharmed.
Chantal had been the only Hunter casualty, and Jamie had been able to cauterize and heal the veins where she was bleeding out, which saved her life. There wasn’t much they could do about her arm, but at least she would live.
“That was agonizing,” Aaron said, wrapping his arms around her. “I didn’t know how much longer I could stand to watch that. Thank God you didn’t attempt to decapitate her. As strong as she was, that could’ve taken all night.”
Cadence managed a laugh, though she was still dazed. “Well, a wise man once told me, ‘If you have the shot, take it.’ So, I did.”
He looked into her eyes, and bit his bottom lip. Cadence wondered if the fact that everyone was staring at them was the only thing that prevented him from leaning down and kissing her. He looked like he wanted to. Staring into those blue eyes, she realized that it really didn’t matter what anyone else said or thought; she was falling in love with him. By the looks of it, there was still a chance he felt the same way.
Pushing those thoughts aside for a moment, Cadence momentarily leaned her head against his chest, taking a moment to recover from the excursion of battle. She closed her eyes and took some deep breaths, content to let the world melt away for a moment. She was completely safe and secure now, with Aaron’s arms wrapped around her. After a few moments, however, she realized everyone was still standing around staring at them, including Christian. And the police had to be nearby now. It was time they made a hasty retreat. She smiled up at Aaron and stepped away from him, intending to gather up the guns she had thrown off before the fight.
As Cadence stepped back, she caught a flash of light out of the corner of his eye. Aaron must have seen it, too. He only had a split second to react, and his gut response was to throw himself on top of her. They both tumbled to the ground, Aaron landing on top of her. She knew she was safe, but she had no idea what had happened.
The next thing that registered was Eliza shouting. “I was one step too late,” she said. “Damnit!” From her IAC, Cadence could see that Eliza was wrestling with Sebastian, Sabin standing nearby, clearly in shock. Eliza drew her weapon and shot Sebastian right in the heart.
“What… what happened?” Genevieve asked, this time in English. She came flying up behind Sabin.
“He grabbed Sabin’s hand and fired a shot,” Eliza explained, still breathing heavily.
Sabine was still stunned. “We completely trusted Sebastian. I would have never thought he would go Rogue.”
Cadence was a little shocked but otherwise fine. She took a moment to catch her breath as she listened to the conversation, but she was ready to get back to her feet. Aaron still had her pinned to the ground, however, and it took her a moment to realize why.
Confusion set in; if Sebastian had fired a shot at her, Aaron couldn’t be hurt. A Vampire couldn’t injure a Guardian. Yet, as she unwedged herself and rolled over, the warm red blood oozing across the dance floor said otherwise. Panic beginning to set in, she turned him over. “Aaron!” she screamed. “What? How did this happen?” He was looking at her, still conscious though he was fading fast. “No!” she pleaded. “You’ve got to stay with me!”
She felt hands on her shoulders and realized Jamie was there. He was weakened from healing Chantal, but surely he had some energy left. She just hoped it was enough. Eliza ran over with towels from the bar, and Jamie applied pressure to the bullet hole, which was located right under Aaron’s rib cage on his right side.
Cadence cradled his head in her lap as Jamie continued his work. Jamie was fading almost as quickly as Aaron was, and Eliza wrapped her arms around Jamie to give him the support he needed to stay upright. The rest of the team kept their distance, but they were watching intently. She could feel their eyes.
“How are you doing?” Jamie asked Aaron weakly.
“I… think it might have hit a lung. I can’t talk. I tried….”
“Okay, don't try then.” Jamie had also switched to the IAC. “Do you feel anything at all?”
“I feel… warm.
“Oh, God,” Cadence mumbled.
“No, that’s good,” Jamie explained. “That means I’m healing him.” Back to Aaron, he pointed out, “Of course, if you actually have a collapsed lung, that will take its toll on me. Hopefully, I can patch it.”
“It doesn’t hurt as much now.”
Cadence was glad to hear that, but she still wasn’t convinced he wasn’t feeling better because he was dying. Surely, Jamie would save him. She reached down and grabbed Aaron’s hand, refusing to consider the idea of losing him. She ran her fingers through his hair. Without him, how could she possibly go on? How could any of them? “Please, stay with us. Don’t leave us,” she said, wiping at her tears with the back of her free hand.
He kept his eyes trained on hers, and she felt like, as long as they didn’t break that connection, he would be forced to stay.
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.
That couldn’t happen. Not yet anyway.
There was a sound at the door behind her, and using Eliza’s vantage point through the IAC, Cadence saw Elliott enter the room. His expression showed he hadn’t been watching what was happening because he had a smile on his face for a moment. She vaguely remembered catching a message from him a few moments ago, something about everyone being convinced they had just been shooting a movie about vampires and everything was fine. His expression shifted from confusion to shock when he realized everyone was staring at the situation in the middle of the dance floor. It didn’t take him long to realize what had happened.
Christian caught him at the door, holding him back, even though he knew Elliott wanted to go to Aaron’s side. He needed some room and there were enough people in the immediate vicinity for now. “Wait,” he said, “Just wait.”
Elliott understood and took a step back. “What the hell happened?” he asked.
“Sebastian grabbed Sabin’s gun and used her hand to fire it. So, no matter who it hit, that bullet was lethal,” Christian explained. “Rather ingenious, though he still ended up losing his life.”
“And Aaron threw himself in front of her, not realizing it?”
“Actually, I’m pretty sure he would have done it whether he realized it or not, but yes, he dove to protect her,” Christian recounted. Elliott scoffed, and Christian continued. “If I’d been in the same position, I would’ve done the same thing. I think any of us would’ve. That’s our job. Not that I envy Aaron taking the bullet.”
Cadence could see Christian’s face, and he actually looked a bit jealous. After hearing those remarks, she wondered if Christian was actually somehow envious of Aaron. Before she could contemplate the ridiculousness of the notion, she realized Elliott was speaking again.
“Where is he hit?” Elliott asked, ignoring Christians remark and absently toeing his boot into the dance floor.
“I’m not exactly sure, but I think it’s right under his rib cage,” Christian replied.
“Lungs?” Elliott asked, a grimace of concern on his face.
“Appears so,” Christian replied, his arms folded across his chest.
Cadence returned her full attention to the situation at hand. Aaron continued to stare into her eyes. Suddenly, he took a deep breath, an audible one, the first detectable one he’d drawn since the gun went off. Cadence glanced at Eliza who was smiling. This was a good sign.
Jamie was just barely hanging on, and Eliza helped him lean forward so that Jamie’s head was now resting right over Aaron’s lungs. His hands were still applying pressure to the wound, but the bullet hole was no longer bleeding. For the first time, Cadence began to realize Aaron was actually going to recover. He opened his mouth again, and this time, he was able to speak. “Cadence?” he said softly.
She gasped at the sound of his voice, daring to hope that he was going to be all right. “Yes?” she asked, softly stroking his face.
“You have really pretty eyes.” His voice had almost completely recovered now.
She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. “Thank you. So do you.” She smiled down at him as a solitary tear rolled down her cheek. “How do you feel?”
“I’ve been better,” he admitted. “But I think I’m going to be okay.”
“Yeah?” she said, the tears beginning to stream down her face again now.
“Yeah. I don’t think my body has completely healed yet, and I still have a significant amount of pain in my chest. But I’m pretty certain now that I’m no longer going to die.”
“That pain is the cells in your chest regenerating,” Jamie explained. “I’m sorry, I can’t do more… right now.” With that, Jamie finally lost consciousness, slumping forward, Eliza’s arms the only thing keeping him from hitting the floor. Elliott and Christian hurried over, helping Eliza lay Jamie down.
As soon as Jamie was off of him, Aaron attempted to sit up. Elliott took his shoulder, and Cadence helped steady him as he slowly came up off of the floor. He coughed up a bit of blood, but for the most part he seemed much better.
“You okay, bossman?” Elliott asked, still looking concerned.
“Yeah, I think so,” Aaron replied, wiping the blood off of his hands on one of the towels. “I definitely owe Jamie my life, though. That’s for certain.”
“We’re just lucky he was here and was able to react in time,” Elliott noted before gently patting him on the shoulder and taking a step back.
“Thank you,” Cadence said, relief and thankfulness that he was spared washing over her. “You saved me.”
“That’s my job,” he replied. “I won’t ever let anything happen to you.”
Cadence nodded, and as much as she wanted to lean over and kiss him, she knew now was not the time or place. She’d have to thank him properly later.
Aaron looked around at the faces surrounding him. Everyone looked so relieved that he had recovered. Most of them had tear streaks down their faces. He felt appreciated for a change, which was refreshing. Of all of the faces, however, there was one to which he returned. Those calming brown eyes, the ones that had prevented him from slipping away, although the thought of an eternal slumber had been so tempting. He may have saved Cadence from the bullet, but she had saved him that day as well. As much as he wanted to let her know just how much he appreciated her, he realized that now was not the time. With a deep breath, one that filled his entire lungs, he said, “Come on guys, let’s go home.”
Taylor had left Cadence eight messages, each more despairing than the last. She didn’t understand why she wouldn’t just answer her phone. The first message was just to let her know that Jack wasn’t feeling any better and that she should call if she got a chance. The next two were slightly more urgent. Jack had slipped into a coma, and the doctors weren’t sure if they were going to be able to bring him back.
Next, she’d left a few messages letting her know that Jack’s health was deteriorating rapidly. They had put him on a ventilator. The doctors were only giving him hours to live. The last two had just been asking her to call as soon as she could. She couldn’t bear for Cadence to hear the news on her voicemail.
Jack was dead.
Cadence had been so concerned about Aaron and Jamie; she had let Jack slip her mind, something she felt horrible about. It wasn’t until she was on the plane flying home that she realized she needed to check her messages. When she saw that she had eight messages from Taylor, she knew it couldn’t be good. She recognized that there was nothing she could do while they were on the plane, so she may as well give her heart a few more hours without letting it break again. If Jack was gone, she really didn’t want to know right now. She glanced across the rows of seats to the back of the plane where Aaron was fast asleep. After having almost lost him today, she couldn’t put herself through the trauma of letting go of someone else she loved, not yet. It would have to wait. No matter who else she loved in her life, Jack had been her first, and she knew she would always love him.
The tingling started in his shoulder and slowly radiated through his entire body, spreading into his limbs, each finger and toe, his inner organs, even the hairs on his arms felt alive. He was cognitively aware that the pulsating pain he had been feeling throughout his whole body had finally stopped. Before he even opened his eyes, he knew he felt different. His body felt stronger, more powerful. He felt a new life coursing through his veins, and he intended to relish every minute of it. And he knew exactly whom he was going to spend it with. She had said she loved him just before she left. Now, Cadence would be his forever. Nothing, no one, could ever stop them from being together. Inhaling deeply into his freshly restored lungs, Jack felt invigorated. His eyes fluttered open, the dim light of the morgue sinking into the steel gray irises, causing them to burn at first, but then they adjusted, and he had a new view of the world around him and all the possibilities it contained. Yes, he would find Cadence, and she would be his, right after he quenched his insatiable burning in his throat.
End Book 1
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Next in this collection So You Think Your Sister’s a Vampire?: The Chronicles of Cassidy Book 1