Several minutes of continuous blasts from the Vampire’s taloned hands had left Daunator weak, and Cadence was grateful when he let out a growl and took a step backward, dropping his fists to his sides. Now would be the perfect time to take advantage of his loss of energy and go in for the kill.
But Christian’s hand was on her shoulder. “He’s bluffing. Don’t trust him. He doesn’t need a break. He’ll spit you up and chew you out if you go in now.”
Cadence stared at him for a moment, wondering if he even realized what he’d said had been backward, before she demanded, “Let go,” pulling away from him, undeterred by his warning or his confusion.
“I’m serious. Listen, Cadence. This isn’t going to work. You’re never going to be able to get past the lightning bolts he’s throwing.”
“Do you have a better idea?” She glared at him, seeing Daunator recharging and knowing her chance to move in while he was catching his breath was about over. At least Elliott was back up again, that was something. She’d been a few seconds from finding a way to back away from Daunator when his familiar voice came over her IAC telling her he wasn’t gonna die this time.
“I do have a better idea. You cover me, and let me get in there and plant my grenade. I can’t shoot when you’re so close to him, but you can shoot with me up there.”
“What? No way. I’ll kill you. I’m a Hunter and you’re a Guardian. Have you forgotten how this works?”
“No, I remember. But you can’t kill me, Cadence. And besides, you’re a good enough shot you probably won’t even hit me anyway.”
“What do you mean I can’t kill you, Christian? I’ve seen a Hunter shoot you before, and you had to have surgery to fix it.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t die. And Scarlet’s right there this time.”
“You didn’t die because Camilla hit you in the arm!”
“Use this.” Christian thrust a Glock in her hand. “It’s silver nitrate but no titanium. It won’t do as much damage to him as the titanium would, but I just need you to distract him. We’ll both close in, he’ll think you’re the bigger threat, and I’ll plant the grenade. He can’t kill me, and neither can you.”
“But I can.”
“Damnit, Cadence, would you just listen to me for once in your life?!” He ran a hand through his dirty blond hair. “No, you can’t!” He lowered his voice, and through barred teeth, growled, “I’ve been through the portal.”
Cadence was confused, and without a few seconds to consider what he was saying, she asked, “What? The Blood Moon?”
“No, the other one!” He grabbed her hand that held the gun, and Cadence noticed he had silver bands on his wrists now, the same as hers, so he had found the other pair he’d brought with him. “Get in there and shoot that son of a bitch so I can get the grenade in him. Then, he should implode. And if he doesn’t, then we’ll try again. But this has got to work.”
Cadence could hear a desperation in his voice as she registered what he was saying. “You’ve been through the Blue Moon Portal?” It seemed impossible. They knew there’d been a third Guardian to pass through, but never in a million years would she have guessed it was Christian. He always seemed so cynical of the entire legend.
But his head tipped back and forth slightly as he acknowledged that it was true. “And that’s what I brought back with me.” He gestured at the Vampire in front of them. Daunator was ready to fight again, and he wasn’t waiting for them to announce that they were also ready. Instead, he raised his hands, and Cadence and Christian both took a deep breath.
She had no other plan. Other than standing there and deflecting his blasts all day or until someone else came up with something. Which wasn’t really a plan either. Without a word, she turned and opened fire on the Vampire, hoping the clip Christian had inserted into the Glock would last long enough for the Guardian to do what he had to do.
Daunator didn’t like the bullets flying at him at all, especially as she took a few more steps closer to him. He raised his hand to bring his fire at her, but Cadence used her free hand to block him. She didn’t have to hit the ball of energy directly; as long as the bracelet was close, it would draw the power in and send it away. While she kept Daunator busy, Christian moved in, and Cadence said, “Scarlet, can you get over here. I’m about to shoot Christian, and I’d just as soon not kill him.” Whether that was possible or not, she wasn’t willing to take the chance.
“I’m a little tied up,” Scarlet answered from a few yards to her right, close enough to still hit Christian with her powers if he was injured, but not close enough for Cadence’s liking. “But Cale is on the way.”
“Great,” Cadence muttered under her breath, thinking if anyone could reach them, Aaron would’ve been there a long time ago. Cale was better than no one, though, if he could make it through, and with Scarlet still within blasting distance, she kept the Glock engaged as Christian used the bracelets he had on to negate the few blasts Daunator sent his way.
The Vampire was torn between the two of them, which Cadence imagined was Christian’s vision when he came up with the plan. The bullets she was firing had little effect on Daunator, but they did keep his attention as he attempted to move away from her aim, his arms so engaged in swiping at the pesky trajectories he didn’t have quite enough time to shoot fireballs in her direction.
Approaching footsteps registered but didn’t distract as Cadence shifted so that she was aiming at Daunator’s head instead of his chest area. A bullet landed right between his eyes, leaving a trail of smoke out the back of his head. He growled in rage, and Christian moved a few steps closer. He’d have to make a cut before he could actually implant the grenade, so this assault may take more than one try considering Daunator would likely throw the Guardian far across the field as soon as he made contact with the Vampire.
She’d hoped it was Aaron behind her, but it wasn’t. Cale shouted over the Glock. “What if you hit Christian?”
“That’s why you’re here!” she shouted back, firing a few more rounds at Daunator’s head. “He says he can’t die!”
“What?” Cale had his Glock out as well but wasn’t firing. There wasn’t enough room for him to shoot around Christian with Cadence already engaged.
“That’s what he says!” They were about to find out. Christian ducked to his left and then dodged to his right, crossing her line of fire, and she nicked him in the shoulder. “Damn.” Cadence pulled up, shifting to her left, pushing Cale out of the way, and firing another round as she assessed the situation.
Cale hit Christian with his blue light, but even before the healing power hit its mark, it was apparent the bullet hadn’t done much damage, save a hole in Christian’s leather jacket. The Guardian latched on to Daunator’s arm and springboarded himself up into the air, his knife drawn. The Vampire fought back, flailing his arm out in an attempt to knock his assailant off, but Christian was determined and extended his knife, catching the Vampire mid-chest and dragging the blade down, before Daunator flung him thirty feet into the air. Christian went crashing to the ground near where Scarlet was battling a woman who looked like she’d just stepped out of Night of the Living Dead.
Daunator wasn’t happy. Before Cadence could completely react, he turned his attention to her and Cale, sending the Healer careening into a boulder and catching Cadence’s leg on fire. The searing heat bit into her flesh, causing her to double over in pain. But the Vampire wasn’t done with her yet. Another ball of energy came her way, and Cadence forced herself to reach up and block it as the pain spread from her calf up toward her thigh. She’d have to get the fire out soon, or else it would eat her leg away. Cale was pulling himself up but hadn’t noticed yet, and Scarlet was too far away now, having assumed Cadence would be fine with the other Healer.
“Cale!” she screeched as another blast from Daunator almost lit the top of her head. The doctor’s eyes enlarged as he finally realized what was happening and sent a pulse of blue light toward her. The fire went out as her leg began to heal, but the damage was deeper than the first injury to her shoulder, and she knew it would take more than what Cale could do from a distance. Jamie might’ve been able to heal her completely, but he was busy. She’d just have to find a way to fight on and ignore the pain.
Christian was up again, moving back toward Daunator, which gave her a second as the Vampire turned his head to give his attention to the Guardian. Christian’s bracelets deflected Daunator’s blows, and Cadence took the opportunity to move further around Daunator’s side before opening fire. Now, he’d have to turn his back to Christian in order to address her.
As she continued to shoot, she checked her IAC and realized Aaron was in trouble. There wasn’t much she could do to help if she was to continue to keep the Vampire engaged while Christian implanted the grenade, but her backup was out of commission, and Cale still hadn’t figured out a way to be useful, something that would’ve come instinctively to her husband if he’d been the Guardian to reach her.
Christian launched himself up into the air again, landing on Daunator’s shoulder and wrapping his legs around his midsection. With a roar, the Vampire turned away from Cadence, and she followed her gut, propelling herself at him as well. She latched onto his right shoulder, ignoring the blazing irritation in her leg, and pulled her knife. Two or three gashes in his head later, Daunator flung her free. Cadence landed on her feet atop the large rock structure he’d been aiming for as Christian went flying the other direction. But there was definitely something different about Daunator now as he turned back to face her. His eyes were red and glowing, as usual, but so was the rest of his face. Christian hit the ground one more time, the Guardian proclaiming, “I got it!” and Daunator’s flesh began to crawl with flames.
