“They’ve got Paul out. Margie’s sending Becky and Jeb back to headquarters with him, but the rest of the team is staying. That gives you eight against… about ten, I think,” Cassidy explained.
“These others, Cass, are they as dangerous as Carter?” Cadence asked, realizing she needed to get down there before Carter arrived at their location but needing as much information as she could get before she broke away. He wouldn’t expect them to know where he was. Intercepting him well before he got to this rooftop was her best chance at protecting her sister.
“No, but a few of them are shapeshifters. There’s at least one wolf… and a few mist monsters. Maybe more. I’m doing my best to block Holland’s signals right now, but it doesn’t seem to be helping any. They are all here on their own accord, apparently. She’s not manipulating any of them into attacking.”
“Okay. Can you tap into my mind if you need to?”
“I think so,” Cass nodded.
“Check on us that way. Once you can get down and out of here, do it.” Cadence was talking to her sister, but she looked from Jamie to Brandon and then at Aaron as she spoke. She didn’t see a lot of reassurance on any of their faces. A barrage of bullets lit up the street below them, about a block or so away, and Cadence realized Margie had met Carter’s advanced forces. “Be careful,” she said to Cass, pulling her close and kissing her on the top of the head. She grabbed Brandon’s arm as a reassuring gesture and nodded at Jamie, who didn’t need to say anything to let her know he’d take care of her sister.
She turned to Aaron who followed her over to the fire escape. “Becky wanted to send backup from HQ, but I told her not to. We don’t know for sure where Holland is, and she could be planning an attack there. Remember, Cadence, this was a rescue mission, not the attack. Our objective here is to get everyone out alive.”
“Right.” She understood what he was saying, but she wasn’t thinking about that just now. She already knew they were essentially on their own. A scream of pain filled the night sky. Without her IAC, she couldn’t tell who it was, but she knew one thing for certain: time was up. “I love you.”
“See you in a bit.”
She didn’t stop to kiss him goodbye. Doing so would seem like she thought there was a chance she wasn’t coming back, and she had to believe that wasn’t the case. With one more glance around, she slapped Elliott on the shoulder and they headed down the fire escape.
Cadence jumped to the first landing, barely making a sound. Elliott landed beside her, shaking the entire structure. A few leaps later, they were on the ground. She had two Glocks and a Beretta with her, along with the knife Aaron had given her, a few of Christian’s grenades, which she didn’t trust, and another knife. She had no idea if any of them could get the job done.
Visions of a wild west shootout entered her mind as the pair of them walked through the thick fog toward the sound of commotion just up what was otherwise a deserted street. The fog did seem to be dissipating, and Cadence remembered what her sister had said about trying to combat Holland’s manipulation.
Elliott must’ve seen himself in a similar western setting, especially since he happened to be wearing a long black duster. He made a whistling sound, like some old Clint Eastwood movie her dad used to watch, and she would’ve laughed if the situation hadn’t been so serious. Elliott was also armed to the teeth, but as another scream of pain, this one sounding like it came from a male, hit their ears, she wondered if any of it would even make a difference.
“We need to back them down the road, get them away from Cassidy.” Cadence wanted to add “and Aaron,” but that just sounded silly. She knew he would be more useful to them down here than up there on the roof, and something told her he’d give her a head start before he trailed them, but she thought Carter’s plan couldn’t work if he couldn’t get to two of the key players. And Cadence would make him kill her before she became his prisoner.
Through what was left of the fog, human-like forms became clear. The first thing Cadence noticed, however, was the slick pavement beneath her feet. It was covered in blood, a river of it seemed to flow right down the middle of the street. At first, she thought this might just be another one of Holland’s tricks, but then she saw one of the Guardians from Melbourne, Steph, sitting in a pool of the red liquid, literally holding her own arm in her lap, her neck also blown out.
“Damn,” Elliott muttered.
Steph was leaning back on her remaining elbow but her eyes began to roll back in her head, and Cadence hurried to her, lying her carefully on the pavement. It was too bad she couldn’t get her to Jamie, but they needed to save him for Hunters. There was only one other on the field, besides herself, which was Grant, but if something happened to him he could die. Steph, like the Guardians in the tagging center, would recover. She’d just have to go through hell first.
Cadence didn’t have time to stand before something came flying at her head. She ducked further down just in time as an object, possibly a Chinese throwing star, went whizzing right past her ear. A second later, a cannonball of a man launched himself at her. He was short and round, completely bald, and his fangs were exposed.
She caught him in midair and flipped herself over backward, using her knees to pin him to the ground. Elliott was already engaged with a mist monster just ahead of her, so he would be of little help at the moment. Her initial instinct was to pull out her Glock and shoot this asshole, so she did. The titanium bullets passed right through his chest as he scrambled to get free of her. Remarkably, they seemed to work to some degree, though he didn’t die right off. His large black eyes opened wide as the burning sensation filled his chest. Cadence pulled the knife Aaron had given her from her waistband and sawed into his neck. It took a few swipes, but eventually his head came free, and the first Vampire yell filled the night. She tucked the knife back into the waist of her pants and looked around for her next assailant. The Vampire’s screech seemed to echo around, sounding as if it continued off in the distance, and she wondered if Holland was just playing tricks on her. There was no time to worry about that right now as she continued to survey the battlefield.
