Heather laughed, bringing more smiles, but she seemed satisfied with that answer, so Aaron moved on. “Paul, Lex, and Margie will be with her to make sure she’s able to throw her shield if needed.” He looked at those three, certainly a trio that would be difficult for any enemy to reckon with. “Over here, we’ll have Hannah, Mila, Eliza, and Kaycia.” He pointed out the different places where he was positioning the teammates. Cadence had ended up inviting Kaycia and Moira once Aurora was allowed to come, despite the fact that they were Hunters. They’d earned it. The ladies would be close enough to each other where they could see and hear even without their IACs but they weren’t bunched together. “And on the other side, Moira, Cale, and Andor. That’s the first line. Beyond that, the rest of you will be waiting in reserve.”
After a pause to let that all sink in, he went over the positioning for the remaining Guardians—most of them brought in from other areas of Europe. He’d called in ten, hoping that would be enough. Scarlet, the Healer from Philadelphia, would be a part of this line, on the opposite side of the perimeter as Cale for better coverage. Brandon would also be in the second line, far behind where Aaron had stationed Heather. That way, if the Hybrid needed someone she knew and trusted, he’d be close by but hopefully out of harm’s way. By his expression, Aaron could tell Brandon wasn’t particularly happy because he wasn’t with Cass.
Aurora wasn’t happy either. She was positioned a few hundred yards behind Hannah where he was hoping his second could keep an eye on the Hunter. He’d done the same with Grant, keeping him near Margie but not close enough to interfere. Cale knew to keep an eye on Moira, and Mila would be watching Kaycia. Of course, putting any of the Hunters behind Guardians was also a risk, and he’d mentioned to the specific Guardians that they’d need to keep a close watch on the Hunters, just in case Skelton’s warning needed heeding. He’d assigned himself the same task with Cadence but wasn’t worried about her in the least.
“All right. I can tell by your faces that not only are you tired of hearing me talk, but some of you have questions. What are they?” Several hands shot up. “Aurora?”
“I was just thinking... I’m pretty far back there. I would really prefer to be part of the first line. I know we’re worried about Daunator taking over our brains, but I am the second in command of all of the Hunters....”
“Which is why you’re here and not at home on your couch watching TV.” Cadence’s tone was no-nonsense, and it took Aurora by surprise. She didn’t say anything else, and once Aaron’s eyebrows had dropped back into place at his wife’s change in disposition, he moved on.
Of course, Brandon’s hand was up. “Yes, Mr. Keen?”
“So... uh... I guess it’s a waste of time for me to ask to actually go with you guys? I mean... I work with Cass more than anyone else....”
Aaron smirked at the teen. “Nope. Not happening. Again, you were not initially on the list.”
“Right.” Brandon scrunched up his face in defeat, though Aaron wouldn’t be shocked at all to see the young man come charging from the rear if Cass got into any trouble at all.
“What else?” Aaron’s hands were deep in the pockets of his black leather pants as the few people with their hands up looked around, some of them debating whether or not to ask their questions. “Kaycia?”
“Thank you, sir,” the spunky brunette said. He could tell she was just happy to have been asked to come along. “I was just wondering, if Daunator does show up, will the extraction team move in on him? And then, what do the rest of us do?”
“Good question. With that, we’ll move on to the second plan.” Somehow, the woman’s smile grew even wider. “The extraction team will move in on him if we have Christian free. If not, that will be up to the first line, who will follow Hannah’s instructions.” He looked to his second, but it wasn’t necessary. She was with him. “But, we can assume that if Daunator shows up, he won’t be alone. I’d imagine if he calls out a thousand of those creatures and/or a group of Vampires, we’ll all be engaged.”
“I don’t think he has any more Vampires,” Mila said, her forehead puckered. “I think we’ve gotten all but one, and he shouldn’t be there.”
“He’ll have Vampires.” Elliott’s tone was much more convincing than anything Aaron could’ve said, so he let it stand.
“Anything else?” Aaron asked. Some of the hands from earlier were down now as the questions had been answered through other people’s inquiries and responses. But Jamie was gesturing at him, so Aaron acknowledged the doctor.
“I don’t have a question, but I was able to do some experiments on the black creature Mila’s team captured last night.” Aaron glanced in Mila’s direction and saw Eliza’s agitated expression at not publicly getting credit for being the one to actually bring the sucker in. “I’ve come up with a potential serum that might actually be able to turn these creatures back into people if they haven’t deteriorated too much. Of course, there’s no way to know for sure until I try it out, but using the Re-Transformation serum and a few techniques we’ve picked up over the years, I’ve come up with a formula I hope will work. So... I’m not saying don’t kill them if you are under attack, but if there are people in the ground who haven’t been completely changed over, I think there’s a chance we could save them.”
Aaron was surprised at what he was hearing. It made him wonder if maybe someday they’d be able to turn Vampires back into people as well. He’d always thought that was impossible because Vampires allegedly lost their souls when they were turned, but the idea was thought provoking at the very least. “Interesting. All right. Thanks, Doc.”
Jamie nodded, and Aaron looked around for more questions. Lex’s hand was up, so he acknowledged the Leader from Italy. “Would you mind talking a little about the special weapons we have? My team has never even had the titanium bullets, so I am curious.”
“Oh, yes.” Aaron smiled, thankful Lex had asked. He’d meant to mention some of the items they’d taken from Christian’s workshop. “Titanium is very dangerous. I know not all of you have used it before. As far as we know, the titanium bullets will allow anyone to kill anyone else, so the whole ‘Guardians can’t kill Hunters’ adage is wrong. You have to be careful where you’re aiming, especially considering we are basically positioned in a circle. We have recommended everyone bring a silver blade with them since sometimes that works better on the stronger Vampires than the titanium. We also have a few of Christian’s regular silver nitrate grenades, which we know are not dangerous to Hunters and Guardians but could be to the Hybrids, so be careful with those.
“Christian was also working on a new grenade. We’re not exactly sure what they do, but only Cadence and I have any of them. What else did we find?” He looked at his wife and wished he hadn’t deferred to her. It was meant as a way to draw her into the conversation, but she seemed so distracted, she didn’t even realize he was talking to her for a few seconds.
“Uh... some weird bracelets. We’re not sure what they do yet, but I have them.” She patted her leather jacket pocket. “And a crossbow that shoots molten silver nitrate.” A few of the guys gawked at the idea of such a weapon, uttering, “Cool,” and “Wow,” etc. Cadence looked back at Aaron, obviously wanting out of the conversation.
“Thanks. I have the crossbow. I probably won’t use it unless I have to, though. It seems pretty dangerous.”
“To Vampires,” Andor said, getting a chuckle from some of the others, particularly his teammates.
“I hope so, but until I see it tested a few times, it’ll probably just be along for the ride. Anything else?” Most of them seemed to be content with the answers he’d provided. “All right. We need to get in the air, so I’d ask that you all be ready to head to the airport in ten minutes. That’s not long, but anything you need to grab or do before we go, do it quickly. I’m sure I don’t need to reiterate how dangerous this operation will be, even if we only get to the extraction bit. I have a feeling Daunator will know we are coming, so everyone, be prepared.” He looked around the room one more time, catching eyes and nodding heads, and praying that no one got hurt.
The chances of taking this many teammates into battle and having everyone leave unscathed would’ve normally been unlikely, but the fact that there were only a few Hunters with them shifted the odds in their favor. Still, he couldn’t imagine leaving the battlefield without all of the Hunters, and as his eyes fell on his wife, who was still not quite herself, an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of his stomach like a rock sinking to the bottom of the ocean. Something was wrong; whatever it was, Cadence couldn’t let it distract her, not when her life was on the line as it was about to be as soon as they stepped foot on Klet. He’d have to find a way to keep her safe, no matter what.
