The sound of Cassidy’s alarm had her heart beating out of her chest again. She reached for her phone to turn it off, and it fell on the floor. Frustrated, she used her powers to stop the noise and bring her phone back to her outstretched hand before she slammed it down on the mattress next to her.
She’d been dreaming, though she had no idea what it had been about. All she could remember was feeling miserable, like she had been buried alive and was left all alone in the cold, hard ground to rot for eternity. There was nothing pleasant about the sensation that her nightmare, whatever it had been, left crawling all over her skin. She literally flew out of bed and went directly to the bathroom to turn the shower on so that she could try to wash away the unsettled sensation, whatever had caused it, before it sank into her skin.
After taking care of a few other important morning matters, she went back into her bedroom and picked out an outfit. Her mind was busy, reminding her of everything that had gone on the day before. Eliza and the creatures. The dream she’d sent her sister which didn’t seem to work since Cadence had never contacted her. Christian wandering around in the forest. And Brandon.
Her boyfriend had dumped her.
That had never happened before. Although, in fairness, she’d never really had a boyfriend before. There had been Liam White, a guy she’d had a crush on forever back in Shenandoah, but he’d never been her boyfriend. When he’d asked Lucy to a school dance, Cassidy had realized he’d just been using her as a study partner. That had been the worst she’d ever felt about a guy. Until now.
She grabbed some black leggings and a short-sleeved red tunic and her underwear and tossed them on the bed so they’d be ready when she got out of the shower and headed back to the waiting warm water, hoping it would make her feel better.
It didn’t, so she ended her shower quickly, wrapped a towel around herself, and headed back to her room to get dressed. A few minutes later, clothes on, with some semblance of makeup applied, and a protein shake in her hand, she sat down on her couch and turned her IAC on.
She had messages from Eliza but nothing from Christian, her sister, or Brandon. Eliza was worried about the creatures and wanted to know if Cassidy had any ideas what they might be. She was also concerned about Christian because he hadn’t checked in with her in a while.
Cassidy sent her a quick message to let her know she’d check with him, but she hadn’t been able to find any information about the black creatures using just her IAC. She’d considered asking Heather if she had ever seen anything like them but wanted to make sure it was okay with Eliza first.
“Yes, whoever you think can help.” Eliza had answered quickly, and Cassidy added it to her list of things to do.
It lost its position as a priority, however, as soon as she dropped in on Christian. Her first warning that something was terribly wrong was when she had to fight through the same inky blackness that surrounded Daunator even to find him. At first, she’d hoped that it was just his proximity to the monster that made it seem like he was caught in the goo, but the moment she actually made contact with him, she found out that wasn’t the case. “Christian? Where are you?”
“Oh, hey, Cass. Nice to hear from you. I’m in a hole. In the ground.”
“Seriously?”
“I believe so. It’s kind of hard to tell for sure since I can’t even see my hand in front of my face, even with my X-ray vision. But yeah. The bastard has me trapped down here and won’t show himself.”
So many questions came to mind, she wasn’t even sure where to begin. So she started with, “How did you get there?”
“I told you. I fell. It’s a hole. He opened it up, and I fell in.”
“Okay. When? How long have you been there?”
“You know, even though it seems like an eternity, it’s only been a few hours. Six and a half, to be exact. It’s kind of like being in the portal except I can’t see anything.”
“And I can talk to you.”
“You can. But my IAC isn’t capable of getting messages down here. I guess I’m too far down in the ground.”
That did seem odd. “Maybe Daunator is blocking the signal.”
“I guess that’s possible. I only turned it on for a second. Anyway, I keep shouting for him to show himself so that I can fight him. But so far he’s declined.”
“Christian... you need to let us come and help you now. You’re not going to be able to get out of there on your own. And if Daunator decides he doesn’t want to fight you, you could be trapped down there for a really long time.”
“No, Cass. You can’t tell anyone where I’m at. Not yet. You’ve gotta give me a chance to do what I came here for first. If the rest of the team decides on their own that it’s time to move in on him, that’s one thing. But it will take them plenty of time to figure out a strategy, especially since Aaron’s not even back yet, is he?”
“No, not yet,” she admitted.
“So just keep your mouth shut for a little while longer while I figure this out, okay? Then, if I decide I can’t get out, I’ll let you know.”
Cassidy thought this was a bad plan. But then, she’d thought Christian was being stupid from the very beginning, so why stop now? “Fine. So... you’re just going to hang out in the hole for another couple of days or a week? Won’t you get hungry? Or thirsty?”
“I don’t eat much. But I do have a few snacks with me and a half-full canteen.”
“What about using the bathroom?”
“It’s a hole in the ground, Cassidy. It’s perfect for that.”
She squirmed a little bit just thinking about it. “What about your smokes?”
He was quiet for a moment. “You know about that?”
“I think everyone with a nose knows about that, Christian.”
“I have a few left.”
Physically shaking her head, even though he couldn’t see her, she said, “I don’t like this. It could be a long time before we can come and get you. Maybe I should send Eliza in after you.”
“No, Cass. It’s too dangerous. I’m still not sure if Daunator can kill Guardians or not, and I don’t want anybody getting hurt coming after my stupid ass.”
“Well, at least you admit you’ve done something stupid....”
“I didn’t mean that this was stupid, I just meant stupid in general.”
“Okay—but if Daunator can kill Guardians, what’s stopping him from killing you?”
She could almost hear him sighing in her head. “I told you. I can’t die.”
“I don’t think that’s what you said.” She went back over their conversation in her mind. “But if it is what you said, I took it to mean he can’t kill you because he’s a Vampire and you’re a Guardian. Did you mean something else?”
“Yes.”
Cassidy waited, assuming he would say more. When he didn’t, she asked, “Care to elaborate?”
“No.”
Frustrated, she remembered why she hated this guy so much. “Listen, Christian, I’m going to need to know why it is you think Daunator can’t kill you because otherwise I’m going to contact my sister and tell her you’re in trouble.”
“You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone!”
“That was before you ended up in a hole in the ground in the middle of a mountain with no one to hear your screams—except for me!”
“I’m not screaming!”
