Cadence Findley stood on the balcony of her hotel room gazing out at the fading sun, dancing off the turquoise waters, as the sky turned pink and gold. The tropical breeze lifted her hair up off of her shoulders and could’ve lifted her spirits if she wasn’t so deep in thought.
They’d been in Fiji for twelve days and had had a wonderful time. Most of those days had been spent on the beach, relaxing and doing nothing much at all. But they’d also gone sightseeing, hiking, zip-lining, snorkeling, all kinds of great expeditions she’d never experienced before.
Now, watching the sun begin to fade beyond the horizon, an unsettled feeling began twisting in her gut, alerting her that something was wrong. She’d had the same sensation several times in the last few days but had managed to ignore it to the point that even Aaron didn’t seem to notice that something was bothering her. This time, it was more intense, and even though they only had a few days left in paradise, she was ready to go home.
He wouldn’t overlook it his time. Coming up behind her, Aaron slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to his chest. “What’s the trouble, Mrs. McReynolds? You look concerned about something. You didn’t make the mistake of turning your IAC back on did you?” He nestled into her hair, and for a moment, the feel of his breath on her skin made her forget she’d had any troubles at all.
But the feeling was still there. “No, I didn’t turn it on, but I’m thinking about it.” She turned to face him, and he adjusted his arm so that his hand didn’t have to leave her body. “I feel like something is wrong.”
“I’m sure everything is fine, Cadence. No one has called us or even tried to get us on our IACs.”
“Would we know if they did?”
“I would. Besides, if there was a problem, your sister could just pop into your head any old time she wanted to. You’re just anxious because we’ve never both been away this long before. Everything is fine.”
She wanted to agree but was finding it hard to. “We told them not to contact us unless the world was coming to an end. Maybe it’s not that bad, but it could be something equally harsh. I should call my sister.”
“No, you shouldn’t.” He took hold of both of her hands and stretched them out on either side of them, pulling her against him. “You should go to dinner with me in the fancy restaurant where we have reservations and forget that you’re a secret assassin out to rid the world of evil.”
Cadence couldn’t help but giggle at the glint in his eye. “Who are you?”
“I’m your husband, not some guy who stalked you for the first fifteen years of your life hoping someday you’d join his secret society and help him kick Vampire ass.”
“You’re definitely not that guy,” she agreed, grinning up at him. “He would’ve never turned his IAC off for almost two weeks.”
“Everything’s fine, Cadence,” Aaron repeated, letting go of her arms and wrapping his around her. The inches between them vanished as his lips lingered just in front of hers. “And if it’s not, we left capable people in charge, didn’t we?”
Cadence thought of all of the times she’d tried to convince him to let Hannah do more, and her head rocked back and forth slightly before his mouth was on hers, and every thought she’d had about home was swept away by the South Pacific breeze.
* * *
Christian’s private plane touched down at a small airport on the outskirts of Prague where the black SUV he’d asked for was waiting. The plane he’d chartered was paid for by his own funds and registered under an assumed name, a new one, not one of the many he’d used before, and all of the documentation he carried also had the same name, so if LIGHTS came looking for him, he wouldn’t be easily found.
He debarked quickly, eager to make sure none of his cargo was harmed by the baggage boys moving it from the plane to the back of the SUV. He was armed to the teeth, to put it mildly, and the last thing he needed was one of his silver nitrate grenades detonating at the airport. In his best Czech, which wasn’t very good, he warned them to be careful and waived American cash at them to insure they got the message. They did, and within a few minutes, he was all packed up and on his way, having dealt with customs in a similar manner to expedite the situation and keep eyes off of his bags.
He wasn’t exactly sure where he was going. He’d brought a tent and enough supplies to last a few weeks, though he hoped it wouldn’t take him that long to find what he was looking for. Aaron and Cadence were supposed to be back at headquarters Sunday afternoon, which left him about three days where he could be fairly certain no one would be looking for him. His chances of finding Daunator and destroying him in that amount of time might be slim, but if Eliza kept his goons busy in Budapest, then maybe he’d have a fair shot.
Rumor had it that Daunator liked the mountains outside of the tiny village of Cesky Krumlov, more specifically, Klet. So that’s where he’d start. A few conversations with Schmitz over the past week or so had given him only slightly more information about the monster since the old timer didn’t like to speak his name or think about him at all, but he’d said enough to let Christian know this was as good a place as any to being his adventure.
His IAC had different settings than everyone else’s, including Aaron and Cadence, though neither of the Leaders had any idea that was the case. He’d been able to set his tracker to show he’d arrived in Hawaii at the same time the flight he’d told Hannah he’d be on would arrive, and it would stay in the same location until he decided to change it. If anyone tried to contact him, he’d know and could decide how to respond. The only person who could really contact him without his consent was Cassidy, and she’d have to do that through her telepathy if he chose not to give her access via his IAC.
