The Cliffs of Moher were breathtaking, especially with the first streaks of sunlight coming up, kissing the velvety green grass with hints of gold. Ireland always seemed like a magical place to Cadence, though she’d only been there once before. Standing on the edge, gazing down at foamy waves breaking against jagged rocks seven hundred feet below her as a light breeze blew through her hair, she couldn’t help but hope the enchantment worked in her favor, and when the portal opened, her husband would be returned to her at last.
“They’re here,” Cassidy said, purposely making her voice sound like the little girl from Poltergeist. Her approach interrupted Cadence’s solace, and she shifted slightly to look at her sister who stood a little too close to the edge for Cadence’s liking, despite the fact that Cassidy could float. “Dang, that’s a long way down.”
“Where are they?” she asked, knowing her sister was talking about their Vampiric welcoming party.
Cassidy gestured back across an open field. There were no trees here to hide their approach, nor were there any rolling hills or other kinds of distractions. They likely would’ve had to walk in the same way Cadence’s team had, so at least there shouldn’t be any surprises, like at Stonehenge.
Even if there were, Cadence was ready. She’d taken Kaycia’s team with her, and with the addition of the Irish forces under Moira, a tall woman with orangey-red hair, LIGHTS was ready. Likewise, the team in Iceland had eyes on the location Ward had thought might be a portal opening. Confirmation from Sloan, the Hunter Leader there, had come in a few moments before Cadence lost herself in the sheer drop off. They had company as well, but so far, no one had seen Holland.
“Maybe she just flew back to Hungary or Australia,” Cassidy said. “Do you think she could go that far?”
“I don’t know,” Cadence admitted. “But if she tried, someone would see her. We’ll just watch for dragon sightings on the evening news.”
Cassidy smirked, letting out a small giggle, but they both knew that wouldn’t be a good thing. Cadence hoped Holland wouldn’t be so stupid. At this point, she had to be desperate. Her numbers were dwindling, and so were her options.
“How’s Brandon?” Cadence asked while simultaneously checking that Hannah was moving people into position to face the coming onslaught. Through Hannah’s IAC she could see there couldn’t be more than twenty Vampires headed their way. Once they saw how outnumbered they were, chances were they would break, especially if Holland didn’t show up and force them to fight. These were either newly turned babies or previously Compliant Vampires who probably didn’t want to be there. Piece of cake.
“Brandon is good,” Cassidy said, nodding her head up and down while her face turned a little pink. “He gave me Alex’s phone. He said there’s a message on there for me, but I haven’t looked at it yet. I’ll wait until this is all over.”
Cadence wasn’t sure what to say to that. She’d lost enough friends to sympathize with her sister’s position and understood that Cassidy had also lost people she cared about. Knowing that Alex had wanted to move on didn’t necessarily make it any easier to accept. “I hope whatever it says, it gives you some peace of mind.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
The sisters stood there in silence for a few moments, and they both stared out at the wide ocean in front of them. The waves were angry, crashing against the craggy rock structures that jetted out of the sea with a fury Cadence had felt many times, particularly at Holland and Carter. She’d be happy to see the queen show up if it meant she could end her, but something told Cadence it wouldn’t be that simple.
“What about Cale?” Cassidy asked, drawing Cadence back to reality. “Why is he really here?”
She swallowed hard, not really wanting to talk about it. But this was her sister, so she may as well be honest. “I’m pretty sure he still has feelings for me.”
“Oh.” Cass absorbed that for a while. “Did he say something?”
“Yeah—something.”
“What about Morgan?”
“Apparently, he really is finished with her, which I think is a good thing because I’ve never been a fan, though that might make Reno a little difficult to deal with for a while. I don’t know. I guess portals make good confessionals—for the people left behind.”
Cassidy nodded in understanding. “Assuming Christian comes out of there, what are you going to do about this? I mean, you’ll have to transfer him, won’t you?”
The hopefulness in her sister’s voice was understandable. “That’ll be up to Aaron. Who knows what agreement they might reach while they’re in there together. And Christian did redeem himself a little by jumping in with Hines.”
“True, but that wouldn’t have been necessary if he wouldn’t have been such an asshole in the first place. Do they know?” She looked over her shoulder in the direction where Elliott and Jamie were talking with Ashley and Cale.
“I’m not sure. Probably. Aaron likely figured it out thirty seconds after he realized he was in a portal.”
“Well, if Elliott beats the crap out of Christian, I doubt Jamie will put him back together. I’m surprised neither of them said anything to him before Christian flung himself into the portal.”
“I think we’re all just trying to end this part of the problem. Then, we can go back and look at what we could’ve done differently.” There was a vibration in Cadence’s pocket, and she knew that was the alarm she’d set to tell her it was five minutes until 6:00. The portal would be opening soon.
“You need me to keep up a shield, right? Anything else?” Cassidy asked, watching as Cadence fidgeted with her phone without taking it out of her pocket. The electricity in the air was potent, and it had nothing to do with the portal.
“I think that’s all.”
“Seems so odd the moon isn’t even visible, yet this is where the moon portal will open.”
