Cadence hung in the air for a moment, or so it seemed. She knew her sister wasn’t close enough or focused enough to have sent her a protective bubble of levitational power. Still, everything in front of her seemed to pause for a heartbeat or two. Beyond Christian and the ebony embers of the exploding Vampire, she saw familiar faces, either staring at her in shock or just turning their eyes in her direction, realizing what was happening. Her arms flailed through air, her legs kicking as if she might gain traction and suddenly learn how to fly as they all watched her, hopeless.She saw Cale and noted how the moonlight gleamed off of his blond hair. He had been a good friend to her when she needed him, and she hated the fact that she’d broken his heart. Christian was shouting her name; he was misunderstood, she realized that now. Her sister had been right to help him. Hannah, her strawberry-blonde hair fluttering behind her as she ran in what seemed like slow motion

Jamie was doing chest compressions. The rest of the forest started to move around him again, and Aaron realized he needed to do something, anything, now. If there was a way to keep from losing her, or bring her back if she was already gone, they needed to find it. Running a hand through his hair, he stepped forward out of his memories and dropped to the ground next to her, ignoring the fact that his knees were instantly coated in her sticky, crimson blood. “Breathe for her,” Jamie said as he reached thirty, and Aaron’s instincts took over. He knew how to do CPR. Tilting her head back to open her airways, he breathed into her still-warm lips twice and then waited for Jamie as he pumped her heart for her. The doctor may as well have been counting in slow motion. It seemed like it took forever for him to reach thirty again. When he did, Aaron dutifully gave her two more breaths, willing her to start breathing again on her own. She didn’t.A crowd had gath

As they continued on their way, one of the houses caught her eye. Large and regal, with tall white pillars in front of a red brick exterior, the estate looked like something out of a history book—whatever that was. “Who lives here?” Cadence asked, but before either of her grandparents could answer, that voice was back in her head.“Cadence, please. Just breathe, Cadence. Just take a breath. You can do it.”Cadence sucked in air, filling her lungs, her forehead puckering again. What did the voice mean she should breathe? Clearly, she was already breathing.“Are you all right, dear?” Grandma Janette’s smile was turned down a bit at the corners, as if she wasn’t quite as happy as she had been before.“Yes, fine,” Cadence assured her. “I just heard the voice again, that’s all.”“How peculiar.” Grandpa tsked his tongue.“This house belon

“Oh, no, honey. No one has a baby here,” Janette said, still smiling but a note of sadness in her voice. “You bring your baby with you. Either you have one or you don’t.”“What?” Cadence asked, pressing down harder on her abdomen. “But... I want one.” She didn’t feel like that had always been the case, but seeing Aislyn talking to her child, she knew in her heart she also wanted to be a mother, to have a beautiful child and speak to him or her as if they were the most important person here. Because they would be.“Sorry, dear. Unless you brought a baby with you here, you can’t have one. But there are lots of other people’s babies you can hold.” Jordan looked sympathetic as well, but not sad.“I don’t think I brought a baby with me here, did I?” Cadence couldn’t remember seeing one.“Sometimes they don’t arrive right away. Give it time. Y

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