Cadence slid in a pool of blood as she rounded the final corner approaching the office, barely keeping her balance. The crimson substance was everywhere. Her clothes were coated with it, mostly Aaron’s she assumed, even her hair. She tried not to think about it as she glanced around and noticed two Guardians she hadn’t even seen before lying very still on the ground, their eyes closed tightly in anguish. While she wanted to stop and see if there was anything she could do, she realized the only person who could currently help either one of them was trying to save a young Hunter, and if this Tara girl looked anything like Aaron had when she first caught him in the hallway, there was no way she was going to make it.
Her boots crunched on the broken glass of the office door. She opened the blood splattered door on the right where the glass was still intact and followed the bloody footprints back down the hall toward the playroom.
As she entered the room, Brandon and the new guy both raised their weapons and pointed them at her “It’s just me!” They relaxed but kept them at the ready, one on each side of the doorway as if they were sentinels.
The crumpled body of the doctor who had been so kind to them the night before lay on a sofa against the far wall, a sheet tossed over her, some sort of bandage around her neck. Even from here, Cadence could hear her shallow, gurgly breath. There was blood everywhere here as well, and as she took in the scene on the floor, she wondered what there might even be for Jamie to fix.
Tara was spread out on the floor her arms and legs splayed, Cassidy sitting next to her with her hands folded as if she were praying, while Jamie seemed to be piecing together a jagged wound that comprised most of the young woman’s neck and shoulder. There didn’t seem to be any skin left here at all, and every time the girl took a wheezy breath, Cadence thought she could see her esophagus expand and retract.
“How is she alive?” she asked, quietly.
“I have no idea,” Jamie admitted. “I honestly don’t think she will be much longer if we don’t do something really quick.”
“You can’t just heal her?” Cassidy asked.
“I’m trying,” Jamie nodded as he continued to run his hands through the raw, meaty material that should’ve been her neck. “But… I’m not a miracle worker.”
“Is there anything I can do?” Cadence asked.
Jamie seemed to think for a minute. “Actually—yes. You’re O negative, right?”
“Yeah,” Cadence replied. “How in the world did you know that?”
“I’ve put you back together a few times,” he replied. Then with a shrug, he added, “and I still have access to my own IAC. I think she needs a blood transfusion. But it has to be from a Hunter.”
“Okay,” Cadence said without hesitation. “Do we need to move her to your office?”
“No, she won’t make it,” he replied, and already she could hear his voice growing weak from the exertion of trying to heal such a massive wound.
Behind her, Cadence heard what sounded like a murmuring noise, and she turned to see Faye gesturing across the room toward the door. “Right,” Cadence said. “Surely, she has everything you need in whatever place they do the trackers, doesn’t she?”
“Maybe.” Jamie turned and looked at the other doctor. “Okay—I hate to leave her to go get it though. And… we have other problems.”
“What’s that?” Cadence asked, realizing Jamie must know Bonnie was gone if she was back here, and yet he hadn’t called off the boys with the guns.
“The Vampires. They all had to have escaped, for one thing. And then there’s the scrambled IACs.”
Cadence picked up something in his tone. “Escaped? What do you mean? I thought the people who came here to get tagged were fine—they chose to come here.”
“Not them. The other ones.” His tone sounded slightly sinister, and Cadence felt the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand up. “We have holding cells downstairs…similar to the ones Sam and Laura are being kept in. Only these were for… informants. Vampires who traded away their secrets for safety.”
“And they aren’t on our side anymore,” Cassidy said, slowly turning her head so that she could meet her sister’s eyes.
There wasn’t much time to ask exactly what that meant. “Okay—do you think, that’s where Aaron’s sent the rest of the Guardians? To look for them?”
“I think so,” Jamie nodded. “And then… there are the other areas. We can’t be sure something similar hasn’t happened elsewhere.”
“There are tagging facilities in other areas?” It wasn’t quite a question as she realized that had to be the case, but it had never occurred to her before. “All right. Chances are, Aaron’s already thought about that, but we need to make sure.”
“And then there’s the fact that we have more torn up Guardians than I can count. How’s Hannah?” Jamie asked.
“Uh, not good when I left. But it looked like a Healer was with her. A blonde girl.”
“Good. That’s Sicilia. She’ll fix her. We don’t have any other Guardian Healers on campus right now.” His eyes fell back to what he was doing for a moment, but she could see him still thinking. With a deep breath, he said, “There are two Hunters, though. They could help if we could get them here safely.”
Cassidy put one finger up, and Cadence moved around to see her eyes were closed. She was so still for a moment, it looked as if she might be in some sort of a trance. Her eyes flew open violently. “They’re all gone. Except for one. And he’s no problem,” she said, her tone almost hypnotic.
“I’d ask if you’re sure, but I don’t think that’s necessary. What are the Healer’s names?” Cadence asked.
“Ona Pierce and Martin Green.” Jamie sounded even weaker now.
“All right,” Cadence nodded, rushing over to the door. “Brandon—I need you to go outside of the front gate and contact… Cale. See if Aaron’s sent anything out to any of the other areas to let them know what’s going on, and if he hasn’t, then tell Cale to let the other Area Leaders know if they have a tagging center, it needs to be on full lock down.”
“Okay,” he said, glancing at Cassidy.
“Be careful, and hurry.”
Brandon nodded and took off down the hallway, his Glock still in his hand.
