“What do you want us to do?” Eliza asked as she sprinted toward the bridge.
“Split up. If she’s going to Cira, it’s got to be because Giovani’s over there,” Aaron replied. “We should be on scene in less than five minutes. Slow them down if you can.”
“Affirmative,” Eliza replied. She gestured to her teammates which directions she wanted them to go. Three of them ran off to gain access to the Cira Center while she and two others ran up the steps to Thirtieth Station to access the pedestrian bridge from there.
Brandon was fast, and while Cassidy couldn’t do much to fend off her assailant, she was managing to dig her heels in and fight back. There were a few onlookers who jumped out of the way when they saw the struggling duo coming, but for the most part, the pedestrian bridge, which was made almost entirely of glass, was empty.
As Brandon caught up to Zabrina, she stopped. Looking behind her, she saw Giovani, Howard, Meat, and Preston approaching, slowly. She turned and faced Brandon with a ghoulish grin on her face, her fangs exposed. She still had one hand around Cassidy’s neck, but she slipped the other hand up and grabbed her hair, pulling her head up sharply. Cassidy screamed in pain, and Brandon lunged forward instinctively trying to save her from Zabrina’s bite.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Giovani said, covering the last hundred-yard distance in less than five seconds. “We will not hesitate to turn the younger Miss Findley into one of us.”
Brandon stopped dead in his tracks, knowing they were not bluffing. He heard hurried footsteps behind him and turned to see three figures dressed all in black, guns drawn, come to a screeching halt behind him. On the other side of the bridge stood three more.
“Well, if it isn’t the little purple-headed vixen,” Giovani laughed. “Didn’t I shoot you once before?”
“What makes you think I won’t shoot you right now?” Eliza sneered.
“No!” Brandon yelled as Zabrina somehow managed to open her mouth even wider. “Put your guns down.”
“Better listen to the young man,” Giovani advised. “I do not think the elder Miss Findley will look kindly upon you if you force my hand.”
“I don’t care,” Eliza replied.
“Eliza stand down, now,” Aaron ordered. “Do not fire; I repeat, do not fire.”
Eliza shifted her gun so that it was pointed toward the ground, as did the rest of her party on both ends of the passageway. “What do you want, Giovani?” she asked, glaring at him.
“Funny, I would have thought Cadence would have come herself to save her sister and the brother of her friend, but she sent you instead. What a pity. I’m afraid I don’t want anything you can give me. I guess I’ll just take Miss Cassidy here and be on my way.”
“No!” Brandon screamed again as Cassidy began to cry. “Take me instead!”
“You?” Giovani laughed. “I don’t want you. I can’t do anything with you. You’re already—invincible.”
“But I’m not.”
The voice came from far behind Eliza and the others. They turned to see Cadence and Aaron approaching from the train station. While they appeared to be walking, they covered the ground quickly, and in a matter of seconds, Cadence found herself standing in front of Giovani, and her sister, who was sobbing.
“Let her go,” Cadence said quietly. “It’s not her you want. It’s me.”
“Are you willing to take her place?” Giovani asked, taking a step forward.
“Cadence-don’t do it. There are other ways to get you sister back,” Aaron implored only to her.
“I have to do it,” she replied. “I trust you will find me.” Then turning to look at him for a moment, she said, “I love you.”
Before he could reply, she turned her attention back to Giovani. “Yes. Let her go, and I’ll come with you.”
“No!” Cassidy whimpered. “Cadence—it’s too late! She already scratched me!”
“Shut up, you little whore,” Zabrina spat, twisting Cassidy around so that her mouth was crushed against her shoulder.
Cadence looked at Aaron, her mouth wide in terror. He looked just as shocked and devastated as she felt. Turning her attention back to Giovani, she said, “Is that true?”
“Does it matter?” he asked. “If I keep her, I will destroy her, no matter what she is. You know that. Now, come along. You first, and then I let her go.”
Cadence knew he was telling the truth. The thought of her little sister spending eternity as a Vampire was more than she could bear, but just as she would have rather had Vampire Jack than no Jack at all, she was still determined to protect her from an even worse fate. “Okay,” she said quietly. She took her Glock and tossed it on the ground, pulling another one from her holster and tossing it, too.
“And the one on your calf,” Giovani reminded her.
Cadence bent down and unstrapped that one as well. As Cassidy pleaded with her not to do it, she spun around and patted herself down so Giovani could see she was clean.
“Everyone else, drop your weapons. Now.” Giovani demanded.
With little other choice, Aaron gave them the order to comply, and the rest of the team, including Christian, Jamie, Aurora, and Hannah who had joined the group on the other end of the tunnel, dropped their weapons.
“Now kick them this way,” Giovani barked.
Once again, the team complied, sending their weapons within Giovani’s easy reach
Cadence turned and looked at Brandon and then at Aaron one more time, and then stepped forward, her hands out in front of her. Preston handed Giovani what looked like a steel infused rope. He nodded at Zabrina to let Cassidy go as he began to wind the cord around Cadence’s hands. Zabrina launched Cassidy across the open space between them, and she fell forward into Brandon’s arms, trembling and screaming her sister’s name.
