Aaron’s first instinct was to run toward Elliott, but with Aurora still firing, doing so would be a suicide mission. Instead, he turned toward the Hunter, wondering how he might get the gun away from her before she decided to take him out as well. The fact that Jamie was behind him and was also vulnerable was another concern. He knew Daunator had to have infiltrated Aurora’s mind—as angry as she had been at Elliott the past few months, she would’ve never actually shot him from her own choosing. So, any decisions she was making were not her own, and despite the fact that she’d never had anything negative to say about the Guardian Leader or the Healer, that didn’t mean she wouldn’t take them down.
He got some help, right when he needed it. Cassidy—just as outraged as he was over what Aurora had done—pulled the Glock out of the redhead’s hand with her powers. She also managed to get the Beretta strapped to her back and knock Aurora across the battlefield, into a large rock. She would still be a risk, but at least it would give Aaron and Jamie a few minutes to see how Elliott was doing. Meanwhile, the black creatures continued to crawl in their direction. Cassidy was floating nearby and was doing her best to keep them away, but they needed help.
“We’ve got a Guardian down. Any other Guardians in the vicinity, get over here, but use caution.”
“What the hell?” Margie barked in his head, but if she said more, Aaron didn’t hear. Aurora had hit Elliott in the head and chest, and there was blood everywhere. Carefully, he kneeled next to him and flipped him over as Jamie’s blue light hit before the Healer arrived.
Elliott was breathing, which was a relief, and as Jamie’s light enveloped him, his eyelids began to flutter. “That bitch...” he mumbled.
“How are you? Are you okay?” Aaron checked the wounds and could see they were closing up as Jamie shot one of the black creatures Cass had missed and dropped to his knees on the other side of Elliott.
“Dad!” Brandon’s voice cut through the noise of Cass’s wind, the snarls of the creatures, and the gunfire.
“I’m okay,” Elliott said through is IAC. “It’d be nice if you could keep these damn cockroaches off of us while Jamie patches me up, though.”
Brandon didn’t pause long after his initial glimpse of the blood, and when he and Shane moved in front of them, cutting off the creatures that were closest to their location, it made Jamie’s job a little easier. He had Elliott’s shirt open and both hands hovered over bullet holes.
“He’s gonna be fine,” Jamie assured Aaron. “He was already healing before I got here.”
“Blue Moon Portal?” Aaron asked, his heart finally beginning to regain its normal pattern. There was no way he could watch Elliott die again.
“I’m assuming so.” Jamie’s light continued to shine on the wounds until the only trace of them was the spilt blood.
Behind him, Aaron could see Margie and Grant securing Aurora to a tree with handcuffs. “Grant doing okay?” he asked Margie.
“Yeah, so far. A few seconds before this happened, he said he thought Daunator was trying to mess with him, but he was able to push him off. Guess he doesn’t hate me like Aurora hates Elliott.”
Aaron was glad to hear the other Hunter was still himself, but now that Aurora had been compromised and put out of commission, he was leery of letting Grant do something similar. The fact that Elliott was probably only alive because of the Blue Moon Portal was an advantage no one else would have. “Be careful, Margie. Daunator might try twice as hard now that he sees how quickly he can work.”
“I know. I will be.”
He had to leave it at that. Jamie had Elliott sitting up now, and the burly Guardian was wiping blood off of his head with the back of his hand. “You okay?” Aaron asked again.
“Never better,” Elliott replied, more strength in his voice than before. “I guess that answers the question about whether or not I can die.”
“Yeah, well, I’d just as soon never test it again,” Aaron responded, getting to his feet and offering Elliott a hand. He grabbed hold, and Aaron hoisted him up. After a swift pat on the back for both of them, Elliott seemed ready to fight again, and Jamie began to work his way through the black creatures, on his way to an area nearer the drop off on their right where a few Guardians were engaged with one of the Vampires. There had been five bloodsuckers. Now, Aaron only saw four and imagined that meant they’d at least gotten one of them. But the others were doing a great job of holding his team off from allowing any other Guardians to reach Cadence, and as Aaron turned to take her in, he could see that she was in a standoff with Daunator, the bracelets Christian had given her doing a good job of keeping her safe, for the most part, but she wasn’t making any progress. He needed to get there. Now.
With Brandon and Shane making good headway on the remaining demon creatures, and Elliott and Cassidy picking up where they’d left off, Aaron could see a path clearing in front of him. He dropped the crossbow he’d brought with him from Christian’s lab, having seen a message from Cadence earlier that said it wasn’t a good idea to use it, and skirted around a battle between Shane and three or four of the black monsters, hoping to dodge the ones still making their way down the mountainside instead of engaging with any of them. Ahead of him, Cadence continued her battle with only Christian’s help, and for the most part, he was only standing around.
To his left, he heard the approach of hurried footsteps and turned to see Eliza also heading that direction. She was several feet away from him and not capable of moving as quickly as he was through unimpeded territory, but without a clear path, he had to slow considerably, and she soon fell in step beside him as both of them placed their feet carefully between the holes Daunator’s minions had made.
Eliza wasn’t his first choice when it came to personnel, but she was better than no one, and at least she’d had experience fighting Daunator’s creations, if not the Vampire himself. She said nothing as she ducked beneath the flailing arm of one of the creatures, stepping between two others, and he was glad she didn’t feel the need to talk because once she started, she had a tendency to never shut up.
Cadence and Christian were conferring a few feet away from Daunator now, the Vampire seeming to appreciate the reprieve as he refueled for another round of blasts. From the looks of it, Daunator’s power wasn’t a bottomless pit, like the holes in the mount. Rather, he had to replenish at least a little from time to time in order to be at full capacity. That might work in their favor.
They had about fifty yards to go before they’d reach Cadence. Aaron saw the Vampires flanking Daunator shift so that they were headed in his direction. Since other teammates had them engaged, it would be difficult for them to stop him. Even though he didn’t recognize any of them, he had an idea that they knew exactly who he was, and so did Daunator.
The Vampire’s eyes fell on him as Aaron knocked one of the black creatures out of the way with an elbow. Cadence and Christian were done talking now and were moving back in, and the Vampire seemed ready for another round. But Aaron had other matters to attend to before he could be of assistance. As he closed the gap between them, the ground beneath his feet began to shake even more violently than it had been before giving way. Without Cassidy nearby to help, there wasn’t much he could do but reach out a hand for the top of the shaft as he suddenly found himself pitched into a hole so deep all he could see was blackness beneath him—and a hand reaching in his direction.
