“Now who’s like a cat?” Elliott asked, looking up at her. She’d been so fixated on the Vampire, she hadn’t even realized he was there.
Dropping down next to him, she laughed, knowing how he liked to compare his stealthiness to a furry feline. “That everybody?” she asked, catching her breath.
“Think so. We’ve got some damage to repair, though. And Ashley said she thought she saw headlights, so we might be in for some company.” They both stood and looked down at the river for a moment. The view would’ve been breathtaking under normal circumstances, but at the moment, Cadence was just glad Spittle was gone.
“All right. You better head back up and take care of interference, then. I’ll go back to the vehicle to get the Extracto.”
“And the toolbox,” he added as they headed back toward the mansion.
“Right.” Sometimes, they’d call in local Independents to take care of things like broken doors, but in this case, there really wasn’t anyone else around to help, and she had no idea what Elliott might do about the broken mirror and other antiques that had been damaged. She felt awful for trashing such a beautiful historical place, but if the Vampires that had been staying there had the opportunity, they were likely to start turning anyone and everyone who came through that front door. Holland certainly wasn’t playing by the rules when it came to changing people, and if it cost a few precious pieces of furniture and some scuffs on a mahogany handrail, then it was worth it.
They parted halfway up to the house, and a Jeep pulled into the driveway. It looked like a park service vehicle, but Cadence wasn’t sure, and she wasn’t sticking around to find out. Elliott could certainly handle interference by himself. The rest of the team was almost back to the SUV, so she ran into the shadows of the trees where the human wouldn’t see her and headed back to grab the supplies they would need to fix as much damage as they could.
“Does Dad need any help?” Brandon asked as Cadence flew up next to him.
“He’s fine for now,” she said, checking her IAC to see that the short, older woman he was speaking to seemed to be buying his story that he’d been out for a walk and seen some burglars in the house, but he’d taken care of them and would clean up the house. She didn’t even question why anyone would be out walking in the middle of the night or why that person would be responsible for putting things back in order. She only mentioned that some neighbors down the road had called her because they thought they heard gunfire. Elliott assured her that was only firecrackers. She knew how kids were this time of year. It made no sense logically, but she bought it and was soon in her vehicle, backing down the drive.
“You okay, Meag?” Cadence asked once she had the opportunity.
“I will be. I don’t think it hit anything important,” she replied. Martin was helping her back to the SUV, and Cadence was surprised that he didn’t seem tired at all. If it were Jamie, he likely would’ve exhausted himself trying to heal the wounded Hunter.
“My powers don’t work the same way as Jamie’s,” the new guy explained as if reading her mind. “I don’t get tired, but my healing battery, if you will, runs down a lot quicker than Jamie’s. So… I still have to recharge it by waiting and letting it reenergize, but I don’t fall asleep.”
“Got it,” Cadence said with a friendly smile, even though she wasn’t quite sure she did. At any rate, they were back at the vehicle now. She grabbed what she needed, and she and Brandon headed back to the house to help Elliott clean up the best they could. The rest of the team stayed put.
“Cass sure did a good job of keeping those bastards from shifting,” Brandon noted as he took the toolbox from Cadence.
“Yeah, she sure did.” It hadn’t been something she’d allowed herself to reflect on yet, but Cassidy had said she would do her best to shield the Vampires in that house from Holland’s influence while they were fighting, and since there hadn’t been any werewolves, mist monsters, or other anomalies, she assumed that it had worked. She could only imagine how furious Holland must be now that she knew what they’d done.
Once they reached the house, Cadence left the men to fix the door and whatever else they could repair and headed upstairs to sweep up the piles of ash and silver nitrate. How Christian had crafted the grenades so that they dried into a fine powder that didn’t stain or damage anything other than Vampires was beyond her, but Cadence thought it was pretty ingenious. “One of the only things he gets right,” she muttered, and then realizing her IAC was on and other teammates back home might hear her, she bit her tongue, hoping no one would put two and two together.
The upstairs took a while, and she had to go to the kitchen to find a towel to clean Meagan’s blood off of the wall and the wooden floor. It definitely wouldn’t pass CSI inspection, but it would do. She had read that some Southern soldiers had been killed at the foot of the stairs and imagined this place wasn’t exactly biohazard free anyhow.
The guys had the door hung and headed upstairs to do what they could with the broken furniture, and Cadence made her way do the basement. Though the floor was dirt, she still wanted to sweep up what she could of the remains of the Vampires she and Elliott had taken out there, and she needed to locate her grenade. She realized she no longer had her useless Beretta either and found it on the ground next to the stairs. A bit of searching turned up the grenade, and she send a message to Christian thanking him for letting them use his secret weapon. They had really come in handy.
