Cadence did so, quickly, tugging at the hem of her white shirt, not that he’d moved it. “What is it? Am I going to die, Doc?” The amount of drama infused in her voice got the laugh she was looking for, but part of her was truly beginning to question how serious this situation might be.
“Someday—but not from this. Cadence, I’m not sure I want to tell you right now, since we’re headed into a pretty big battle, but you’re not sick.”
“Huh?” she asked, bracing her hands on the edge of the table. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
“It could be. But I also don’t think you’re going to be particularly happy to hear what it really is.”
She took a deep breath, the edge of the table cutting into her hands. “What is it, Jame? Just tell me.”
“You’re... pregnant.”
Cadence’s face was frozen, and once again, she felt the blo
It wasn’t like Cadence to be late to a team meeting, and when she walked in, about five minutes after the time he’d planned to start, Aaron could tell something was bothering her. She mouthed “sorry” at him, and he smiled at her reassuringly. The room was crowded, and a lot of people were still chatting. Already an hour behind the time he’d planned to leave, part of him wanted to make them all shut up so he could get on with it, but the expression on his wife’s face also made him want to tell them all they needed a few more minutes.“Jamie will be here in a few,” she said through the IAC. “He’s working on an experiment.”“Yeah, I got his message, thanks,” he replied, glad to know she’d been with the doctor. “Your head still hurting?” Maybe that’s what was bothering her, though not feeling well didn’t quite seem to be enough to
Heather laughed, bringing more smiles, but she seemed satisfied with that answer, so Aaron moved on. “Paul, Lex, and Margie will be with her to make sure she’s able to throw her shield if needed.” He looked at those three, certainly a trio that would be difficult for any enemy to reckon with. “Over here, we’ll have Hannah, Mila, Eliza, and Kaycia.” He pointed out the different places where he was positioning the teammates. Cadence had ended up inviting Kaycia and Moira once Aurora was allowed to come, despite the fact that they were Hunters. They’d earned it. The ladies would be close enough to each other where they could see and hear even without their IACs but they weren’t bunched together. “And on the other side, Moira, Cale, and Andor. That’s the first line. Beyond that, the rest of you will be waiting in reserve.”After a pause to let that all sink in, he went over the positioning for the remaining Guardia
The forest around Klet was alive with the sound of animals stirring, leaves trailing across bark as they tumbled to the ground, and the footsteps of twenty or so assailants dressed completely in black winding their way up a steep incline in search of a wayward friend—and maybe their worst nightmare.Cadence knew she wasn’t herself and that Aaron was worried. The flight from Budapest had brought many questions, none of which had been answered truthfully. Yes, she was fine. No, nothing was bothering her. Sure—she was just concerned about the hunt. Whatever she’d needed to say to make him feel better, she’d said it. The idea that she was carrying another person up the mountainside along with her was a constant distraction, one she didn’t need on the cusp of probably the hardest fight of her life. But there was no pushing it out of her mind at the moment. As she tried to avoid piles of fallen, crunchy leaves, her mind wandered to what the futur
“All right, we’ll move forward, Cass will stir up the ground over Christian, and the rest of us will hold the perimeter while she pulls him out.” Aaron’s directions made it seem far too simple, but they all agreed knowing it wouldn’t be easy at all. “Cadence, stay in the back,” he added, and she looked at him with an arched eyebrow for a moment before nodding. She would stay behind the others until Daunator showed up. Then, all bets were off.Elliott and Aaron went first, staring at the ground before each step in order to make sure they didn’t inadvertently walk on any of Daunator’s pits of destruction. Not that it mattered if he decided to create shafts for them to fall down. Still, she didn’t blame them for being as cautious as possible.Cass followed them, floating above the ground so she wouldn’t have to worry about it, and Cadence made sure she was using her X-ray vision before tak
Cadence’s thought was interrupted by her sister. “Too late,” she said, her voice sounding a little more like the little girl from Poltergeist than Cadence would’ve liked. “He’s... coming.”“At least she didn’t say, ‘They’re here,’” Elliott mumbled, still staring off in front of them. “Where?”Before Cassidy could answer, the ground beneath their feet began to shake, and Cadence shifted, trying to stay between the holes that were certainly opening up to suck them down. The idea that all of them could be trapped in a matter of seconds was terrifying. “Run!” Aaron insisted, letting go of Christian, and giving his wife a good shove in the direction from which they’d come.Cadence’s instinct was to run, but not the way that Aaron had pushed her. Still, he seemed determined to make her move away from the danger this time, and she took a few hurrie
Cadence was getting away from him. Despite his best effort, it seemed every time Aaron took out one of the black creatures, three more took its place. They continued to pour out of the mountainside, the ground nearer Daunator opening up in a wave that went halfway around the mountain so far, from what the Guardian Leader could see, and there didn’t seem to be any end in sight. How his wife had managed to power through them was a mystery, but then, he hadn’t realized she was leaving until she was gone, and by then, the first bunch of demons had been on top of him. While part of him had wanted to hang back a bit, to make sure Cassidy was safe, it was obvious now that they couldn’t reach her anyway as she was floating out of their grasps, using her powers to push them over the side of the mountain, a novel idea that only she and Heather were capable of.“This isn’t cool,” Elliott said, his hands full with the monsters as well. “The cover
Stopping Daunator by herself was an impossible task. After Christian’s failed attempt with the grenade, Cadence didn’t even bother to throw any of the regular ones she had with her. A glance over her shoulder showed Lex was hung up, too, and even though the ground wasn’t shaking as much back where the rest of her team was pinned down, it continued to quake further up the mountain and to her left, which meant there were more minions on their way.Daunator stood in front of her, a knowing grin on his pale face, as if he’d already done the calculations, and there was no way their meager forces could overpower him. Why they hadn’t just brought everything they had with them, like they had to face Holland, was beyond her. Sure, there was a chance he would’ve heard them coming that way, but from what she could tell, he’d been prepared for this for a while now, maybe even before she’d Transformed. Her sister and Heather didn’t see
Aaron’s first instinct was to run toward Elliott, but with Aurora still firing, doing so would be a suicide mission. Instead, he turned toward the Hunter, wondering how he might get the gun away from her before she decided to take him out as well. The fact that Jamie was behind him and was also vulnerable was another concern. He knew Daunator had to have infiltrated Aurora’s mind—as angry as she had been at Elliott the past few months, she would’ve never actually shot him from her own choosing. So, any decisions she was making were not her own, and despite the fact that she’d never had anything negative to say about the Guardian Leader or the Healer, that didn’t mean she wouldn’t take them down.He got some help, right when he needed it. Cassidy—just as outraged as he was over what Aurora had done—pulled the Glock out of the redhead’s hand with her powers. She also managed to get the Beretta strapped to her back and