The world slowly came back into focus, and Cadence got the idea that she hadn’t really been asleep that long, but the weight of familiar eyes had her stirring beneath the sheets, and she checked the time on her IAC before she opened them. It was only 9:30, which meant she hadn’t been asleep for even four hours yet, but whatever had brought her fiancé to her bedside after such a short amount of time had to be pressing, so she cautiously opened one eye and stared at him.
“Hi.”
“Hi. What’s up?”
He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, but none came out, so that was something. She opened her other eye and pulled herself up to sitting. It must be bad or else he’d just tell her. Immediately, her thoughts went to Cassidy and then to Jamie. Had his procedure gone well? Had her sister floated away during the night?
“It’s Becky.”
Cadence was confused for a moment. She hadn’t been expecting him to mention anyone who wasn’t part of their immediate KC team, but then she remembered Melbourne had been in the middle of their attack when she’d gone to sleep. She’d wanted to stay awake, to help, but their IACs were off anyway, and she knew Aaron could take care of anything Paul might’ve needed. Apparently, something had gone horribly wrong.
“Is she…”
He nodded. “It’s bad, Cadey.”
Her IAC was telling her there were lots of messages waiting for her, some of them even from Becky, but rather than weigh through all of that, she asked, “What happened? Is anyone else hurt?”
Again, his head bobbed up and down. “There were some sort of trap doors waiting for them in the hallways inside of the asylum. Five Guardians fell through, as well as Becky. The Guardians are still alert and communicating, though they are more than a little freaked out. Becky was… slaughtered.” He had tears in his eyes, a rarity, and Cadence could only imagine how awful that must’ve been to watch, particularly from the Hunter’s perspective. She could go back and watch it herself, but she wasn’t sure she could stomach it. “They poured through the door, six or eight of them. She didn’t ever have a chance.”
Cadence shook her head in disbelief and tried to clear her muddled thoughts. “They’re all being held in different cells then?”
“Yes, and they’re small. They’re searching for a way to get out, tried everything they can think of. Tanner even attempted to shoot his way through the concrete. That didn’t work well.”
She nodded, imaging the bullets would ricochet in such a tight spot. “Is he okay?”
“He will be. He can’t kill himself. It’ll heal.”
That was answer enough. She thought about Tanner for a few minutes, how strong he was, how he’d helped her defeat Carter and been wounded in the process. “Who else did they get?”
“Three of them are from Roatan. Stanley, Glenn, and Bobby. I don’t think you’ve ever met any of them.”
“No. Have you?”
“Yeah. I worked with Stanley a while in London. Bobby’s older then Christian. I think they know each other. And Glenn used to run Mexico.”
“Who was the other one?” She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
“Patsy.”
All the blood rushed out of Cadence’s face as she pictured the little pixie of a woman. Tiny but fierce. And now trapped in a cell somewhere, probably fearing she’d be tortured like Paul had been. Or maybe worse if Hines had figured out how to turn them human and then kill them as he claimed. “What are we going to do?”
“Well, that’s just it. We have other attacks scheduled. We can go ahead and let everything else ride and get over there now, or we can follow through with the rest of the plan and then head there. The only problem is, Holland might get there first. If she and Hines arrive before we do, it might be too late.”
“What is Paul doing?”
“Right now, he’s waiting. I didn’t want him to lose anyone else. I’ve got Cass trying to figure out how to get to them, but she’s a little hung up because she’s not aware of whose head she needs to be in.”
Cadence nodded. It would be hard to find someone in Melbourne that she could infiltrate since Holland and Hines weren’t there, and they were the only identified suspects. “What’s Holland up to.”
“Just gave birth.”
Once again, Cadence was stunned. Her mouth dropped open. “Bouncing eight pound, eight ounce baby boy?”
“Oh, no. Nothing like that.” Aaron ran his hands down the length of his jeans to his knees. “I’m not even sure how to describe—it.”
She decided she didn’t want to know. “What are our options then? If we decide to stay here and run our own attacks tonight, what can Paul do?”
“Well, I was thinking of sending Margie, Grant, and a few of her best people over there again. They don’t have anything planned for right now because Perth wasn’t on Holland’s hit list. Maybe they could work together to get back in there. I don’t even care if they attack in broad daylight at this point. He’s going to need a few more supplies—like a pontoon bridge to get back across that damn moat.” She had seen some of those obstacles before she went to sleep and was glad she got to sit that one out. “They still have some grenades left and plenty of ammunition. But I’m leery of letting anymore Hunters into that mad house.”
Cadence bit her bottom lip. That really wasn’t his call, and he should’ve known that. She wasn’t sure it was a good idea to let them in either, but she knew that Jeb and Derrick wouldn’t want to sit on the sidelines while the rest of their team went in to rescue their friends.
“You disagree?”
“I just… I think they should get to decide for themselves, that’s all.”
He looked at her incredulously, his eyes wide. “Well, I guess it’s your call.”
That’s what she needed to hear. “I’ll think it over. I think I need to talk to Cass see what kind of info she’s getting. It really does seem like we should be there.”
“I agree, but I’m afraid that Holland is on to us, and if we don’t move on the cells here now, we’re not going to have another chance to get them. And if we are successful, since she’s brought all of her troops together, we can wipe out almost all of the hostile factions at the same time, leaving her powerless, except for what she’s got hanging out in her little amusement park in Melbourne.”
“There seemed to be an awful lot of them there.”
“You can say that again.”
“There seemed to be an awful lot of them there.”
He stared at her for a moment before a crooked grin spread across his face. “Hang out with Elliott much?”
Cadence shrugged. She’d had to do something to break the tension. “Okay. I’m going to take a shower and then check with my sister. I think you should mobilize Margie and her people. Even if we end up going, it will still be helpful to have her there. That woman is a beast.”
“Yeah, she definitely takes things to a different level.”
Cadence stood, straightening her pajama top. “What’s up with Jamie? Is his procedure done?”
“You’re not going to believe it until you see it, so I’ll just let you talk to the man yourself.”
She raised an eyebrow at him but didn’t say anything else. He was still sitting on the bed, so she stepped between his knees and wrapped her arms around his neck. He leaned into her, and for a moment it seemed like everything was going to be okay, like no matter how awful it all seemed, no matter how many balls there were up in the air, together, they’d figure out how to sort it all out without any of them touching the ground. But the sense of urgency weighed her down as heavily as his eyes had before she even opened hers, and Cadence kissed him quickly before rushing off to shower. Something told her it was going to be another long day.
