“Cassidy!” Brandon’s voice echoed down the hallway, and she saw his eyes widen as he looked down at Aaron, who had managed somehow to pull himself up to sitting, both hands wrapped around his neck as blood spirted through his fingers. Behind him, at least ten other armed Guardians were sprinting their direction. Cadence assumed the rest of them must’ve split into other directions and taken different hallways.
Once Brandon had his arms around her sister, Cadence took off toward the sound of the gunfire. Shane, who had been in the lead of the pack following Brandon, was running alongside her.
“I sent other teams down the other hallways. What the hell’s going on?”
“No idea,” Cadence admitted. “We’re looking for Bonnie.”
“The little girl?”
“Yep.”
More shouting and shots rang out ahead of them and then a screech like nothing Cadence had ever heard before. She sped around the corner to see Hannah sitting on the floor holding her leg, which seemed to be held on only by a few tattered bits of denim from her jeans and a strand or two of skin. Elliott and Jamie had Bonnie pinned on the floor, but she was scratching and clawing at both of them and it looked like she was just about to earn her freedom. She imagined this was not the first time the child had been in this situation tonight.
“Shane, take three Guardians and squeeze past them to that end. You,” she said, pointing to a woman she didn’t recognize, “take those two guys down there.” How she longed for her IAC so she could check people’s names. “The rest of you stay here.”
Once the rest of the team was in position she stepped over Hannah, whom she assumed was the source of the latest deathly screech, and situated herself so that she had Bonnie’s small body pinned beneath her knees. She placed the Glock against her chest and pulled the trigger.
Instantly, the child stopped thrashing and went still, but she didn’t turn to ash. Cadence caught Jamie’s eyes. He was also bleeding, though his neck seemed to be intact and he had all of his limbs, and he slowly shook his head as if to say he didn’t know.
Elliott said, “What the hell?” but didn’t lessen his grip on the tiny body, as if he thought she might spring back to life at any moment. His hands and arms were scratched almost to the bone in places.
With the idea that the child might be attempting to fool them in mind, Cadence began to shoot again, firing one silver bullet after another into the Vampire’s body. After half a clip, Bonnie began to make a shrill humming sound, as if the silver was finally starting to get to her, but still, there was no shriek, no poof of ash, nothing of substance to let them know she was no longer dangerous. Cadence continued to fire ignoring what sounded like the whimpers of a small child in pain.
“That won’t work!”
She looked up in shock as she met familiar blue eyes. “How the hell are you standing?”
“Move,” Aaron said to Elliott as he also stared in disbelief, though he obliged. It was then that Cadence noticed he was carrying a long silver blade unlike anything she’d ever seen in his possession before. “Hold her down,” he said calmly. His voice was still hoarse, but a glimpse at his throat let Cadence know it was already mending fairly well. Elliott was across from her now, and with the three of them anchoring the tiny body, Aaron began to saw at the back of Bonnie’s neck.
Almost instantly, she began to shriek, the same sort of noise Cadence expected to hear if the Vampire was about to disintegrate. Since things were under control now, she shouted, “Shane, come here!” A half second later, the Guardian was beside her. “Take Jamie’s place.” Then, turning to the Healer she said, “Cass says there’s an injured Hunter in the office.”
The doctor nodded, and as soon as Shane was properly positioned, he took off back the way they came.
After nearly five minutes of hacking through the child’s neck, Aaron was satisfied he’d weakened her enough that he dropped the knife and positioned his hands. He gave a nod and Elliott and Cadence turned the body one direction while Aaron rotated her head in the opposite. The shriek intensified, rattling the ceiling tiles and shattering a window in a nearby office. Cadence could feel vibrating inside of her mind, her teeth pulsating before the head finally came off, and a deafening silence replaced the scream.
Aaron let go of the handfuls of ash he was left with and sat back against the wall, exhaustion evident on his face. Pushing both Elliott and the Vampire remains aside, Cadence slid over to him. “Are you okay?” she asked, tilting his head so she could see his throat.
“I will be,” he said, his voice stronger despite his labored breathing. “Go check on your sister.”
She turned to see Hannah struggling for air. Elliott had already moved to her side and so had another woman Cadence didn’t recognize, but she thought she might be a Healer in training since Jamie usually had a few of them around. Hannah was pale, perspiration dotting her upper lip and hairline, and it looked like she was doing her best to stay conscious. It would be a long night for Jamie and anyone else with the ability to put people back together. Not everyone else was as self-mending as the Guardian Leader, yet another trait Cadence realized must be attributed to what had happened in Ireland.
Cadence spun back around and kissed him on the forehead before she got up. She stopped briefly to catch Hannah’s eyes. A small flicker of recognition was all she needed before she sprinted back down the hall, hoping her sister and her friend were still in one piece.
