The flight would be relatively short, and everyone was chatting about other matters, not really concerned about the festival itself, except for maybe Dax, who looked a little pale, and Alex, who had nearly refused to get on either plane—the one headed toward the wedding or the festival. He said he just didn’t trust flying contraptions, never had. But Cassidy had talked him into going to the wedding because she said it wasn’t every day one got to invite a true American hero to their nuptials, and he’d gotten on the second flight because he said he never did trust those bastards—the Vampires, of course—and if they were going to be given free rein, he wanted to be there to, “keep them vigilant.” He’d insisted on sitting in the row nearest the exit, the one across from Cadence, and when she turned her head to look at him halfway through the flight, his knuckles were still white from gripping the armrests so hard.
“So much for wanting to die,” Aaron said in her head, noticing the same thing.
“He said he isn’t afraid to die, but he doesn’t want to be splattered into a million pieces and forced to live,” Cadence explained.
“I can empathize with that,” her husband replied, and Cadence immediately thought of the time he’d been in an airplane crash, not that long ago. At the time, she had no idea if he would be littered all over the Texas countryside or if he’d make it out in one piece. Thankfully, he’d walked away without a scratch.
Aaron adjusted his grip on her hand, and she turned her attention to him. “Are you nervous about tonight?” she asked him, certain he’d say he wasn’t, even if he was.
“No, why should I be? We’ve checked everything. Despite the eclipse, it’s just another full moon. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Right. But they’re mad, aren’t they? At least some of them? That we took out some Compliants?”
“I guess. But what can they do? That’s why we don’t take Hunters to Eidolon Festivals, and if they try to hurt anyone who isn’t there of their own free will, who doesn’t consent, we’ll move in. That rarely happens. And it’s always just one or two Vampires we’re left confronting.”
He spoke from over a century of experience, and Cadence knew it was silly to be worried about anything at all, especially since Cassidy had spent an extensive amount of time in the organizer’s head. She’d even gone so far as to trace down every Vampire who so much as thought about the Eidolon Festival, those she could pick up on anyway, and feel around in their heads as well. As far as Cassidy could tell, there was absolutely no connection between any of these Vampires and Holland or Hines—or Asteria as many of the Vampires had taken to calling Cadence’s arch-nemesis. In theory, they should be just fine. This should be a short operation, much like working security at a concert, and the Guardians should all be home by dawn.
But Cadence didn’t feel like that’s what lie before them. In the pit of her stomach, she felt unsettled, though she couldn’t put her finger on why or even what she thought might happen. When she’d mentioned it to Aaron, he’d chalked it up to being nervous about the wedding, being concerned they’d be delayed and something wouldn’t go right, but Cadence really didn’t think that was it.
Her sister said she was being paranoid, and she needed to have a little faith. She took it as a personal attack anytime Cadence questioned the possibility she might’ve missed something, despite the fact that Vampire brains were complex, and Cassidy wasn’t the only one capable of walking around in other people’s thoughts. Was there a chance she’d missed something? Or that Holland had grown wise enough to figure out how to mask what she was doing? Cadence thought so. Cassidy said, “Whatev,” rolled her eyes, and left the room.
Rationally speaking, when Cadence went over the possibilities, there were only a few concerns she should even be worried about. The first one was that the Eidolon Festival was a diversion, and Holland was sending in her troops to take out Cassidy and herself. She hadn’t mentioned this to Aaron yet because she knew he was having trouble figuring out personnel for the festival itself, and she didn’t want to pull valuable resources away from that when her trepidation was likely unfounded anyway. Besides, there was a good chance Cassidy would see them coming in time for the two of them to get away, if that was what Holland had planned.
Then, there was the possibility they may try to drug the Guardians and take them away, like they had attempted to do with Elliott at the amusement park back in April. While that plan had been foiled, it was mostly due to Cassidy’s ability to levitate her friend enough to get him back on his feet, not that it was very likely Sam and the other Vampires would’ve been able to get Elliott very far with Jamie and over a dozen Roatan Guardians on site, but the fear that Aaron and the rest of the team could be walking into some sort of a major trap had crossed Cadence’s mind. She just didn’t know if the Vampires would select a few Guardians to snatch or if it would somehow be all of them. It seemed like either would take a huge amount of planning, especially if they somehow wanted to try to take out all of them, but Cadence wouldn’t put anything past Holland at this point.
“What are you thinking about?” Aaron asked, squeezing her hand. “You seem distracted.”
“I am. I’m sorry.” She adjusted in her seat, checking the time and noting they should be descending soon, according to what Aaron had told her earlier about the flight time. West Virginia was beautiful. She’d been through there on her “finding myself” tour and was excited to see it again, though she wouldn’t be spending much time there.
“Cadence, you really don’t need to worry. I’ve got it all figured out.”
She smiled up at him, though it was forced. “I know. It’s just... what if they try to break into the bed and breakfast while you guys are at the festival? I’ll have to keep Cass safe by myself.”
“Ashley will be there,” he reminded her, and she couldn’t help but make a face. She’d actually forgot about the fact that Jamie’s girlfriend might inadvertently be in danger. “But I asked some of the area Hunters to set up a perimeter, just in case. I don’t think we have anything to worry about.”
“Protected by Hunters?” she repeated. It was an idea she never would’ve considered. “But those are my people.”
“I know, but when I was talking to Job, one of the Independents in the area, he suggested it, and I thought it was a good idea. You know the Independents are jumping at the chance to be involved in anything these days.”
