Chapter 647 - Sacrifice

The demon baby was running amok, leaving bleeding Guardians and seriously injured Hunters in its wake, and Cadence couldn’t help but compare the damn thing to that little psycho Bonnie. It tore through another Hunter, leaving the girl’s leg bleeding profusely, on its way to Cadence. It was hard for her to believe the mother would let her own child attempt to fight her battles for her, but then, Holland was just the sort of parent she imagined would’ve also left her kids alone in the car while she went inside to grab some more menthols despite hundred and ten degree weather--if she had been a human.

Despite the chaos unfolding around her, Cadence heard the distinct popping sound of the portal opening to her right. It fell in line with the demon child seeking her out, so she couldn’t pay too much attention to what was happening. She needed to fend off the beast while still managing to get Stewart into the portal, and once the opening began to take shape, she would have to act fast.

Which was a problem when the demon rushed at her, clawing at her neck.

“Cadence—be careful!” Cassidy shouted, but it was too late. The little monster already had its talons embedded in the flesh around her throat.

The Hunter Leader wasn’t playing, though. She grabbed ahold of the red demon’s arms and yanked down hard. This must’ve been the first time anyone had managed to get their hands on it, because it screamed, it’s rows of sharp, white teeth gleaming in the starlight.

“Don’t like that, do you, you little bastard?” she shouted in its face. The portal was open now, and the clock was ticking. As the demon lunched for her again, Cadence spun it around sharply so that its own arms were holding it hostage. Across the field, she heard Holland scream her name, but Cadence didn’t give a damn if it upset Holland to see her child manhandled. That’s what she’d get for letting the baby do her dirty work.

“A little help, Cass?” Cadence asked, and then, with everything she had, she tossed the screeching demon at the portal opening, just as she saw two familiar forms falling the six or seven feet to the ground. It clawed at the air, it’s little red legs frantically swinging back and forth, trying to control its own trajectory. It was no use, however. Cassidy had control of where the child was headed, and Cadence watched in satisfaction as it disappeared into the ether.

Holland screamed as if she herself had been swallowed up by the portal. The blood curdling sound filled the air and sent vibrations through everyone and everything, even more turbulent than the stones shaking or the portal opening itself. If she had been angry before, she was outraged now. She would be coming for Cadence herself now. She’d have to act fast to finish her plan.

Tossing the baby into the portal wouldn’t be enough, though. There were plenty of demons in the portal already, and those didn’t count. She needed to get Hamish Stewart in there next, or else, Aaron wouldn’t have a chance to get out.

She noticed Christian sprinting her direction out of the corner of her eye and figured he was on his way to help with Professor Vampire. Stewart was still floating nearby, still struggling. It would take more than just Cadence to get him in the portal. Elliott and Jamie were both up now, dazed, but with their weapons drawn as the Vampires breeched the center of the stone circle, moving in on the freshly returned Guardians.

“We need to hurry!” Cadence yelled to no one in particular. She moved to grab hold of Stewart, but a flash of fire stopped her, and she jumped back in shock, not knowing what had happened.

Turning around, she followed the stream of smoke back to Holland. She was still horrified at the loss of her baby, and it was obvious she’d purposely just disintegrated Cadence’s last hope of getting Aaron out of the portal. Hamish Stewart was a pillar of ash and no longer of any use to Cadence and her team.

“You stupid bitch!” Cadence screamed in Holland’s direction, but she didn’t have time to think about getting revenge. She had to find an alternative, someone else to throw into the portal. A quick glance in its direction told her it was closing. It didn’t seem possible she could get someone else in and still leave Aaron time to get out, but she couldn’t give up.

Not far from her, she caught sight of a familiar form and realized Hines was fairly close to the portal himself. He was defending himself against two of Kaycia’s Guardians who must’ve managed to steer him that direction whether they’d meant to or not. She took off heading toward his position, but Holland seemed to know what she had on her mind, and a bombardment of lightning bolts came flying at her head. Cadence didn’t slow her sprint, only dodged around them.

She wasn’t going to make it in time. Even when Heather let out a loud growl and launched herself between Cadence and Holland, forcing the Vampire to concentrate her efforts on the Hybrid instead of on the Hunter Leader, Cadence realized she was too far away from Hines to get to him before it was too late. The portal was making noises again as the air was being sucked back inside on its way to closing. “No!” Cadence shouted, trying to find the energy from within her weary legs to get there. She was going as fast as she possibly could, and it just wasn’t fast enough.

The portal was closing; she wouldn’t make it. Aaron would be stuck inside, alone, for at least another six hours, and she’d just tossed in a demonic baby to top it off. With all of her effort, she fought to get there, watching the portal close out of the corner of her eye.

Just as the seams came together, there was a flicker of motion in front of her. Out of nowhere, Christian launched himself into Hines, lifting the mad scientist up into the air, and as the portal closed, both of them disappeared into oblivion.

Cadence stood watching for a long moment, not able to believe what she’d just seen. It was enough time for Holland to sneak in a blow around Heather’s defenses, and it was only the extreme pain of a ball of fire hitting her in the shoulder that brought Cadence out of her stupor. Her entire arm was literally ablaze. She choked and sputtered against the agony as smoke filled her lungs, and she grasped her own flesh, trying to put it out.

As quickly as she was burning, she was completely healed. A soothing blue light surrounded her for a split second, and she was just fine again, though the left arm of her leather jacket had a gaping hole from where the flames had devoured it. She turned to see Jamie rushing by, on his way to help the other injured in the same way, and with a quick nod of thanks to her dear friend, Cadence set her sights on Holland.