With the addition of Brandon, Dax, and Heather on the plane from Rome to Southampton Airport, it was a little louder at first, but then it died down as the teens turned to cuddling masses, though Cadence could still hear Heather and Aurora talking about the portal. Part of Cadence wanted to know every detail, but the rest of her thought it was too ghastly to think about it and would wait to hear it from Aaron when he got out in a few hours.
She was sitting by herself in the front of the plane and had been for most of the first two hours of the three hour trip. It would’ve been easy to fall asleep if she wasn’t so concerned about how this might go. There was still no sign of Holland, but Cadence could feel it in her gut that the Vampire Queen would make an appearance and try to wreck their plans. She likely hadn’t meant for Dax to be sucked into the portal to begin with, who knew what her thoughts were on Heather, and as much as Holland probably thought it would hurt the sisters to have Brandon gone, he wasn’t a main objective. She’d want the remaining three Guardians to stay in there. With them out of the way, it was the bitch’s best chance at getting Cadence and Cassidy. So she’d come with everything she had, and there was no doubt in Cadence’s mind she knew by now exactly where they were headed, even if it meant infiltrating the minds of Cadence’s own team members to find out.
“You’re awfully quiet,” Cale said, sliding into the seat next to her. “Going over everything again?”
“Something like that,” she admitted, turning to give him a small smile though she wasn’t sure she needed the distraction of conversation right now. “She’s going to be there.”
“That’s okay. We’ve got every LIGHTS member in Europe either already on sight or on their way.”
“That’s not quite true.” She hadn’t brought in everyone, but there would likely be over a hundred Guardians and Hunters available when they landed in England. “Margie and Grant arrived a little while ago, though. She’s half an army by herself—even before she got the second dose of Transformation serum.”
“See, it’ll be fine.” He smiled, and it looked genuine, though it didn’t quite meet his eyes.
Cadence glanced over her shoulder at Heather who was still talking about her experience inside of the portal. “I just hope they can hold on until the damn thing opens again.”
“I’m sure they will,” Cale said, running a hand through his blond hair. It was longer on top than normal, and Cadence actually liked it that way, though she had no idea why the thought had even entered her mind. “Jamie will keep them alive.”
“And what if Jamie comes out and someone else stays in there?” Cadence asked, keeping her voice low. Ashley had stopped crying about an hour ago, but she was pretty sure that was because the woman had fallen asleep. “From what Brandon and Dax have said about these demon hunters, there seem to be a lot of them in there, and they’re even worse than the demons.”
“You’re worried that Aaron will send the other two out and be stuck in there alone?” Cale clarified.
“Yeah. If I can’t get Stewart in there for some reason, he won’t be able to get out. Then what?”
“Then... we get him out in Ireland. Or Iceland, whichever place opens next.” Cale seemed nonchalant, but she could tell he had the same concern she did.
“I wish Ward knew for sure which it was. I’d hate to be waiting at the wrong place.” If it came to that, Cadence really wanted to be there when Aaron finally did come out—and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to trust a B team in the second location to get a Vampire through the portal if she couldn’t do it herself on take one at Stonehenge.
“Listen, Cadence, we’ll get him out. He’s a survivor. He’ll be fine.” Cale’s hand was suddenly on her knee, squeezing, massaging.
Cadence looked down at it and then up at him, not sure how she was supposed to interpret that. He patted her a few times and then drew it away, but he placed it on her shoulder, not in his own lap where it belonged. “Cale....”
“I just wanted to tell you, Cadence, if anything does happen to him.... If for some reason we can’t get him out—though I’m certain we will—I’ll be here for you. I just... wanted you to know that.”
She didn’t know what to say. The ring on her finger was heavy enough to make itself known without her eyes even shifting to find it. He didn’t wait for a response anyway. With another solid pat on the shoulder, the handsome doctor got up and retreated to the back of the plane.
Cadence didn’t allow herself to think about what it might be like if something happened to Aaron inside of the portal. If they did manage to get a Vampire in there, and he still didn’t come out, she’d have to go in herself to see why. There was no way she’d be able to leave him in there, not knowing what had happened to him. Even the thought that Alex’s body would be left behind made her sick to her stomach, though Brandon assured her Alex had wanted it that way. He wouldn’t want to have slowed them down. She’d also noticed Brandon handing over Alex’s phone to Cassidy and wondered what in the world the soldier had said in his final words to her sister. If Cass had looked at it at all, she hadn’t reacted, and Cadence imagined she’d wait until they’d retrieved the rest of the Guardians to read that message because it had the potential to mess her up pretty badly. And none of them needed any distractions right now.
“Cadence—we’ve got eyes on a BMW that might have Holland inside, though it’s hard to tell.” Lucy’s voice in her head sounded chipper and excited, like they weren’t headed to Armageddon, and she figured that might be partially because the teen was still sitting at home in Kansas City and not on the plane. “We’ll continue to track it.”
“Perfect, Luce. Where’s it at now?”
“Barreling down the highway from the tunnel exit toward Wiltshire. So... yeah. If it’s her, she’ll be there soon.”
“Great. Nice work. Keep me posted, and keep your eyes open for anyone else who might be her. She’s a slippery one.”
“Got it, bosslady,” Lucy said with more enthusiasm than Cadence had heard in her voice since her father was killed.
The Hunter Leader for London was running things on the ground, getting everyone into position, and Cadence let her know what Lucy had found out only to discover Lucy had already passed that information on to Kaycia. “We’re set,” the enthusiastic, petite woman with dark curly hair said in her British accent. “If she shows up here, she’d better bring everything she’s got because my troops are hungry for a fight.”
Cadence was glad to hear it. Because the closer they got to landing in Southampton, the more her stomach turned over. There was definitely going to be a fight. Cadence just hoped they were able to achieve their primary objective, extracting the Guardians from the portal. Then, she’d start working on her second objective—ridding the world of Holland once and for all.
