Inside of the bunker, which was constructed inside of a deep cave, Cadence wanted to make herself useful, but there wasn’t too much for her to do. They were safe here; there was only one way in, and unless Holland could somehow manage to bore her way through thick metal and silver reinforced doors, none of them were getting in here. However, an unsettled feeling remained as Cadence thought about all of the humans out there who had no idea what could potentially happen to them should the Vampire queen decide to take her desperation out on them.
Jamie had hooked all of the Guardians up with some morphine as he focused on fixing the injured Hunters first. None of them had life threatening wounds, and once he was finished patching them, he worked on reattaching Steph’s severed arm.
Cassidy sat in a chair by the door, her eyes closed, monitoring with her mind. While Cadence had approached her as soon as she arrived, Cassidy waved her off, letting her know she was concentrating, and even though Cadence wanted to ask her about the battle, she respected her wishes. Now, Brandon was pacing behind her, clearly worried, and Cadence quietly walked over, still not wanting to bother her, but also wanting an update on the situation outside.
“She’s done for the night,” Cassidy assured her. “I see her lying on a bed covered in red silk, crying. She’s inconsolable, but also outraged.”
“Maybe she’ll learn her lesson,” Cadence muttered, thinking it wasn’t likely. “Let me know if anything changes.”
Her sister reached out and grabbed her hand. “Cadence, I know you wanted to keep me safe out there, that that was your biggest priority. But Aaron told you, I held my own out there tonight, right? And once I’ve completed my training, you’ll let me engage, won’t you?”
Cadence hesitated, wanting to say an unfaltering, “No,” but instead she replied, “Let’s find out what happened to this Heather girl, the one you saw in your vision, and we’ll go from there.”
“I’m not a child anymore.” Her words were not argumentative or angry, just a statement of fact, one Cadence was having trouble accepting.
“I know you’re not.” She managed to keep her voice even. “I just… need some time.”
Nodding, Cassidy closed her eyes, and Cadence waited for Brandon to make his pass before she headed back to the room where Jamie had been piecing people back together.
Margie was standing near Grant’s bed, holding his hand, and Cadence thought perhaps they were a couple. Asking now wouldn’t be the wisest, so she stored it away for later. Glancing around, she saw the Hunters all sleeping, as was Steph, whose arm was back on. Familiar voices came from further back in the building. Being in here did make her feel safe, though it was difficult being inside of a windowless building, and Cadence felt slightly claustrophobic. Laughter rang out, and she wanted to go back and chat with her friends, but the fact that Paul was looking at her caused her to stop.
“Hi, cousin,” she said stepping over next to him. He looked like hell, though he didn’t seem to be in pain anymore. His hands were bandaged. The rest of his injuries were covered by a sheet. “Feel like grim death?”
“You know, not being able to die isn’t always a good thing,” he managed, not leaning up at all off of his pillow. “I wished I could die many times in the last couple of days.”
“I’m sorry we didn’t get here sooner,” she replied, touching him lightly on the arm.
“It wouldn’t have mattered. They decided to let me go once they had enough tissue samples from me. That doctor—Hines, I think his name was—he’s insane.”
Cadence knew Aaron was looking into this creature, who he’d been in life and what he’d become. Apparently, he’d been there on the rooftop during the skirmish. “Well, you’re safe now. That’s all that matters. I don’t think they’ll find anything that can allow Vampires to kill Guardians.”
“I don’t know,” Paul muttered. “Asteria… Holland, whatever her name is… she can do so many things other Vampires can’t do.”
That was certainly true. But then, she had been able to the first time as well. They’d just found ways to neutralize her, as they had tonight. “We’ve got our own secret weapons.”
Paul managed a smile. “Yeah, that sister of yours is something else. Even when I was lying there in the holding cell, or on that dank floor in the theater, I could feel her with me. I knew I wasn’t alone.”
“She’s pretty remarkable.” Cadence smiled, remembering how she’d felt knowing Cassidy could use her telepathy to communicate with her, too, even when her IAC wasn’t on. “You should get some rest, Paul. Your team still has a lot of monsters to fight, and even though I’m pretty sure Aaron’s called in some reinforcements for you, it won’t be easy.”
“Luckily, the team was able to relocate all of the important weapons and equipment here before they evacuated the other building. Once we can track them again, it’ll make things easier.”
“We’re working on it.” She didn’t bother to explain that Cass seemed to be the only one who could get a clear signal from any of the Vampires. For now. Cadence patted his arm and watched as he closed his eyes before she moved on.
In what looked like an office break room, Elliott was telling a story to a few of the members of the Melbourne team while Jamie rested his head on the table, clearly tired but not down for the count, and Aaron pretended to listen to his best friend while he obviously worked away on the IAC. He gave her a small smile, and she crossed the room, sitting next to him, across from Elliott. She didn’t need to hear the beginning of the story to be entertained.
Maybe bringing him back was a huge mistake. It was hard to say how many innocent lives had been lost in the process as the Vampires filled in their ranks. But then, having Elliott by her side had been very helpful tonight. And taking out Carter had been difficult, but not impossible. Listening to him tell the story of how they had worked together to get Barbarosa brought a smile to her lips, and she felt confident she’d made the right decision after all. Despite the weight of the world on his shoulders, Aaron had a grin on his face as well, and she thought perhaps he’d finally come around to seeing things her way. Either that or he understood that you can’t go back and change the past--not usually anyway.
