Jack leapt over the railing and crouched next to Cadence. She knew he was yelling her name, but she couldn't make out anything else. She also heard chatter on the IAC, something about a car, Zabrina, and "on the ground," but she really had no idea what anyone was saying. Instinctively, she reached for the Glock she had in a holster near her left hip, the side she had not landed on.
She began to regain her clear-headedness just as another thud echoed against the pavement, and she realized they were no longer alone. Drawing her gun, she began to bring it up to aim at Giovani. She heard Jack yell, "Giovani, no! What are you doing?"
Cadence could see that Giovani had a revolver pointed at her, a ruthless grin plastered on his face. It would be a dual to see who could fire more quickly. Just as she pulled the trigger, Jack jumped in front of his brother, attempting to push the gun away so that he could not fire at Cadence. His quick movement left him directly in the path of the bullet as it was leaving her Glock.
She watched in disbelief as the bullet entered the side of his chest and he fell to the ground. He hit Giovani hard enough to knock his shot off target, and the bullet went flying near Cadence, not hitting her. Giovani stumbled against the concrete wall as Jack hit the ground.
"Oh my God!" Cadence screamed, forgetting the pain in her leg where evidently Giovani's first shot had made contact, and displacing her weapon as she ran to him. "Jack! Can you hear me?" she yelled, grabbing his face in her hands. "I am so sorry, Jack! I didn't mean to..."
"It's okay, Cadence," he said quietly. "I know... I know. Are you okay?"
She nodded as the tears began to spill down her face. "Jack, please stay with me. You can't go, not like this."
"Cadence, it's fine. I'm not... I'm not who I used to be. It's better this way," he replied as his eyes began to glaze over.
"Jack, no!" she screamed unable to control her tears now. She was subconsciously aware that Giovani had crossed behind her and picked up her own gun. It was now pointed at her head. Her weapon was more deadly than his own because it contained silver bullets. And yet, she didn't care, not now.
"Cadence, tell me you love me," Jack implored.
"I love you, Jack," she said without hesitation.
He smiled at her, and his face seemed to take on a calm expression like none she had ever seen before. "I love you, too," he whispered before gasping his last and fading away.
Cadence still had her eyes locked on his face when she felt a firm grasp on her hair, and she was suddenly hauled to her feet. The pain in her head and from the wound in her leg was starting to catch up with her, but it still paled compared to the ache in her heart. At this point, she almost didn't care if Giovani shot her.
However, the sound of her teammates shouting orders brought her around. She wondered where Jamie was, and though she couldn't turn her head just yet with Giovani's grip on her hair, she could see through his own IAC that he had stepped out of the shadows now and had a gun drawn on Giovani. She could only imagine that he had come out before when she was still with Jack, but she didn't know for sure. She could also see Laura coming down the stairs across the way now, gun drawn, with Laney and Hannah behind her.
"Cadence, focus. I know you're injured, but I need you to help me get you out of this situation, okay?" Elliott implored.
The sound of his voice brought her around and she realized, if Giovani shot her in the head, there would be little to nothing Jamie could do about it.
Giovani shifted his grasp so that his arm was around her waist. He was still using her as a human shield. He began to back toward the stairs, constantly glancing up at the street as if he was looking for something, or perhaps keeping an eye out for the rest of her team. She knew no one was coming from that direction, however. Elliott had told them to figure out how Giovani had gotten by them and to see if they could get a visual on Zabrina. Clearly, there had to be more to this equation.
"Giovani, it's over," Laura said as she approached the volatile situation. "I suggest you let go of Cadence, and step forward with your hands in the air."
Giovani laughed his maniacal laugh. "Don't be ridiculous," he replied. "You know that's not happening."
"I'll shoot you anyway," she warned.
Cadence could see that she seemed to be considering any angle that would allow her to hit her target. She was well aware that Giovani wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger at the same time that Laura did, which would end it for her.
"Laura do not, I repeat, do not fire. Stand down. I've got this," Elliott ordered. Then to Cadence, he said, "If you can lean forward on three about one inch, I'll have the shot, kid. You copy?"
Cadence took a deep breath. It seemed to take every ounce of energy she had to reply, "Copy."
"You wouldn't do that," Giovani was yelling back at Laura, still laughing. They continued their back and forth as the pain in Cadence's leg continued to grow. She had to focus on the sound of Elliott's voice. It was the only thing that was helping her keep it together.
"All right, here we go," he said calmly. "One, two..." but before he could say three Cadence slumped forward. "What the hell?" he asked aloud. He realized that Giovani had let go of Cadence's now limp body. Torn between running to assist her and taking the shot, he attempted to fire at the fleeing Vampire but missed, his emotions getting the better of him. A car had stopped on the street at the top of the stairs. He heard several other gunshots ring out as the Corvette screeched away.
