The Budapest office was small compared to what Cadence was used to, but it was in one of the older, but kept-up, parts of town, and she’d enjoyed looking at the architecture as they made their way in from the airport. The only downside was that Elliott had insisted on singing, “Budapest” by George Ezra over and over again, likely because Aurora mentioned she hated that song. Since he basically only knew the chorus, it got annoying really quickly. But he was driving, and Aaron was the only one close enough to turn the radio on. A threat to slap any hands that reached for the knob kept the rest of the team at bay, so the Guardian’s serenading had to suffice until they were no longer “miles from Budapest.”
After a quick greeting with the local team members, Cadence and Aaron had spent an hour or so going over the situation with Mila, just the three of them. The Area Leader’s insight was helpful, even if she didn’t know much about Daunator himself. She had enough information about the one outstanding crony they were aware of and what it took to kill the black creatures that the conversation went on longer than it should have. By the time she finished, everyone from the other areas had arrived, and Aaron sent out a message that they would all meet in the conference room in about ten minutes. Cadence had taken advantage of the reprieve to check in with Jamie, who’d been using his time to examine the creature Eliza and Sergio had brought in from their last hunt. Not only was she curious to see what he’d discovered, her headache was back, and so was the nausea. It wouldn’t do to go into battle feeling like she was about to toss her cookies.
She waited for Jamie to acknowledge her knock on the door before she opened it. Peeking inside, she saw her friend standing in front of what appeared to be a large dog cage atop a table, the black creature inside, sitting cross-legged, its fangs exposed as it hissed at the doctor. As she got closer, she could see it was actually a woman dressed in an outfit Cadence assumed might’ve been popular in this area of Europe a hundred years ago. Rather than bright colors and patterns on the skirt and a white shirt like she would’ve expected, every single thread was jet black.
“Hey,” she said, sidling over to him as he made a few notes on a clipboard. Behind him, there were several microscopes and other tools Cadence couldn’t name. “How is it going?”
“This is fascinating,” Jamie admitted looking up from his writing. “I’ve taken a few tissue samples and ran some tests. It seems that they really are part Vampire, part demon. I have no idea how Daunator discovered he could make them, but I don’t think there’s ever been another Vampire capable of such a feat.”
“I hope none of the others ever learn,” she said, folding her arms and glancing at the cage before looking away. There was something so human about the way the creature was staring at them, despite its bared fangs and evil hiss, she didn’t like seeing it pinned up that way. “Listen, I hate to take up any of your valuable time, but I’m not feeling well again, and I was hoping you wouldn’t mind giving me another blast of your healing light.”
Jamie’s forehead scrunched up in concern. “Sure, I don’t mind, but that’s weird. Whatever it is making you feel ill, I should’ve wiped it out last time.”
“Yeah, well, maybe it’s a bug or something. Or maybe I’m just anxious.”
He continued to stare at her in such a way that made Cadence even more uncomfortable than the red eyes glowing at her from her left. “How many days have you been feeling like this?”
“Just a couple,” she said quickly, wondering why he was acting weird. “Maybe it’s something I ate.”
“Maybe.” Jamie cleared his throat but didn’t move his hands. “Would you mind if I checked something else?”
Now it was Cadence’s turn to make a face. Her eyebrows shot up. “What are you talking about, Jame? You’re scaring me.”
“Sorry. I don’t mean to. It’s just... I don’t want to alarm you, but I think I might know what it is. But I want to make sure before I say anything.”
“Is it Ebola?” Cadence asked, making him laugh. “Because I really don’t have time for that. Or the Bubonic Plague.” She wasn’t serious, but the way he was acting, she was beginning to think he was going to tell her she had something very wrong with her.
“No, neither of those. Would you mind hopping up on that table over there? Sorry it won’t be very comfortable, and we do technically have another pair of eyes, but I won’t be too invasive, and this isn’t exactly my office.”
Cadence was beginning to regret coming, but she nodded and did as he asked, lying flat on her back on the one table in the room that wasn’t covered with clutter. She imagined whoever used this space kept this table for meetings. It definitely wasn’t as comfy as Jamie’s examination room.
He paused to put on latex gloves, and Cadence’s apprehension shot up even higher. “Are you afraid I’m contagious?” she asked, tipping her head up to look at him.
“No, but I also don’t want to do any healing until I see if what I’m suspecting is the case, not that that would be possible if it is.”
His answer was confusing and not at all comforting. Cadence took a deep breath and looked up at the white plastered ceiling. His hands on her lower abdomen were fine until he pressed down a little bit. She winced.
“Pain then?”
“Just a little.”
He made that “uhm hmm” sound doctors make when they are thinking and then pressed in a few more spots. “Cadence, do you mind if I use my x-ray vision to check something?”
“Does it involve what color underwear I’m wearing? Because I can just tell you.”
Once again, Jamie laughed. “No, and I won’t be looking that low, I promise.”
She trusted him. “Okay.” It would be weird to think of her friend seeing her undressed, but he was staring intently at her lower abdomen, not any lower than that, and when a small smile crossed his face, his head began to rock back and forth. Cadence didn’t feel any better.
“All right. You can sit up.”
