The pilot seemed relieved to finally have a definite header. He assured Cadence they’d get to Rome as quickly as they could, and she went back to the rest of the team, all of them anxiously watching the battle at the Colosseum unfold on their IACs, except for Amanda, who was lost. The worried mother was asking questions of anyone who would answer her, but since she was sitting next to Aurora, who was preoccupied, and Ashley who was crying uncontrollably because Jamie wasn’t among the Guardians who had gotten out, Amanda was left in the dark.
About the same time that Antonio ran off for his medical bag, Cadence sat down a row in front of Amanda. Leaning over the seat, she said, “Brandon’s out of the portal. His leg is broken, but our team on the ground in Rome is working to heal him, and he should be just fine. We’ve diverted to Rome to pick him up, along with Dax and Heather.”
A look of relief washed over the redhead’s face. “Thank goodness. And what about Elliott?”
Slowly, Cadence shook her head. “He’s still in the portal. Aaron and Jamie are in there as well. But we’ll get them out as soon as we get to Wiltshire.”
“Son of a bitch,” Ashley declared, tears streaming down her face. “I don’t understand! Why didn’t Jamie come out, too? He could’ve, obviously, and he wouldn’t have even gotten hurt!”
“Ashley, I am sure he stayed because of the one left behind rule. If Jamie left, Elliott and Aaron would be alone in there. With these new demon hunters, he was probably afraid they’d get hurt.” Or killed—she didn’t want to say that part out loud though.
“Yeah, well, he’s not their freaking babysitter,” the angry girlfriend proclaimed, clapping her hands down hard on the armrests. “Now he’s going to be in there at least another six hours! Aaron should’ve let him go.”
“Aaron probably told them both to go, but they chose to stay behind.” Cadence could hear the calm evaporating from her voice as she dealt with what she could only perceive as selfishness. She knew Jamie well enough to believe he wouldn’t go off and leave Aaron or Elliott in there alone. Why didn’t Ashley know him better?
“It’s bullshit. So much for age doesn’t matter! And why the hell did they take that stupid Hybrid with them?”
“Hey! She’s been in there for over a hundred years!” Cassidy called from further forward in the plane, turning to look at Ashley.
“So what? She’s not even part of our team.”
“Didn’t you just see her throw that shield? She just saved our asses!”
“Okay, ladies!” Cadence said, putting her hands up between them. “I know all of our emotions are on edge right now. No one wants to see someone they care about trapped in there. We are on our way to get the rest of the team out. For now, can we please try to keep this professional? The three that got out should be able to give us some useful information. In the meantime, the fact that there were Vampires on the ground tells us Holland is doing everything she can to thwart our efforts. So we need to be on our toes, all right?”
Cassidy gave Ashley another long, narrow look before she turned and sat down. Ashley ran her hands down the length of her face and bent over at the waist, her head between her knees. On the other side of the plane, Tara was giggling, which made Cadence want to slap her. She was certain the girl was talking to her boyfriend, and she couldn’t blame her for being happy that Dax was out of the portal, but tact was clearly not her strong suit.
“Can I call Brandon?” Amanda asked.
“He doesn’t have his phone on him,” Cassidy replied without looking back this time. “He left it with Aaron. And Dax’s phone is almost dead.”
“I’ll get a number from Lex, the Hunter Leader, and you can call him soon, okay?” She gave Amanda a smile that she hoped was reassuring, but she knew the woman was still worried about Elliott, as was Cadence.
As she stood to return to her seat, she caught Christian’s eyes inadvertently. He looked relieved, like he’d actually come up with something to help solve the problem he’d created, and she nodded at him in thanks. He wasn’t the only one who’d worked out this solution, but he’d done a lot. Maybe it didn’t make up for getting his teammates sucked into a portal to begin with, but it was something.
Cadence sat down next to Cassidy, and her sister reached out and took her hand. Cadence could feel the relief washing off of her slender frame, and she was happy for her sister, even if she still felt miserable herself. It was no surprise that Aaron hadn’t come out with the others. He’d be last. She’d known that all along. That was the only reason she had Dr. Hamish Stewart on the plane. Getting the doctor into the portal and still leaving time for Aaron to get out would be tricky, particularly if he didn’t get her text about the plan until it was unfolding for some reason. She’d mentioned it before, in her last text, so he should have some sort of an idea what she had in mind, but getting everything into place and executing such a complicated extraction in the span of thirty-six seconds wouldn’t be easy. They’d need more than luck. They’d need a miracle.
* * *
Aaron read over Cadence’s texts a few more times before he finally handed Brandon’s phone back to Elliott. They’d all read them, mulled them over, and decided they had about one more day in there—if Cadence was able to pull off what she’d mentioned. Throwing a Vampire into the portal in time for all three of the Guardians to get out didn’t sound likely, especially since they’d have very little indication as to which tunnel they’d need to run down, and the demon hunters were prowling the middle landing area pretty intensely. More had come in the last time the portal opened, and while Aaron couldn’t be sure how many of them there were in the portal now, there had to be close to a dozen. The walls seemed to be closing in on the Guardians as they stayed low and tried to get out of the way. At least they didn’t have to worry about the demons themselves anymore—for now.
