Illumination: The Clandestine Saga Book Five E-Book

Johnson ID

• Herausgeber: ID Johnson
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

Death isn't always what it seems....
Cadence Findley would do anything in the world to bring back her friend, the one who was killed when a band of rogue Vampire Hunters ambushed her team six months ago. When her grandmother reveals the existence of a the Blue Moon Portal, a pathway that might provide a bridge for the lost Guardian to cross back over, Cadence is determined to use it.
Despite the fact that her fiancé, Aaron, warns her the portal is too dangerous and insists she never open it, Cadence develops a plan to do just that. Will she successfully access the Blue Moon Portal to open a door to the beyond, and if she does so, will Aaron walk away from her forever?
In the meantime, the savage Vampire created to destroy Cadence stalks the streets of Philadelphia. The LIGHTS team must work together to find him and bring his reign to an end. How many more innocent lives will this monster claim before he can be stopped? In the confrontation, will Cadence lose someone else she cannot live without?
 
The Clandestine Saga follows the story of Cadence Findley, Vampire Hunter extraordinaire, as she embarks on a quest to rid the world of Vampires. She is part of an elite team of Hunters and Guardians know as LIGHTS whose sole purpose is to protect humans from the creatures that lurk in the shadows.

Leseprobe

Illumination

The Clandestine Saga Book Five

ID Johnson

Copyright © 2018 by ID Johnson

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Cover by Sparrow Book Cover Designs

Created with Vellum

For my friend Patty who has been so very supportive!

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Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Epilogue

A Note from the Author

Chapter 1

Grandma Janette’s house had always been a place of solace, and even in this trying time when Gibbon was still on the run, Cassidy was recovering from her injury and trying to figure out her new reality, and Cadence was finding her place as the new Hunter Leader, sitting on her grandmother’s sofa, munching on a homemade chocolate chip cookie, flipping through her grandparents’ sacred photo album made things seem a little more like they used to be. That is, if one wasn’t to dwell on the fact that the pictures of her grandmother she was looking at were hundreds of years old.

“Now this one is my first daughter, Susan,” Grandma Janette explained pointing at a fading picture of a small girl standing next to a much younger version of the woman sitting next to her.

“Your first daughter?” Cadence echoed, setting the remains of her cookie on the armrest and dusting the crumbs off on her pant legs before carefully lifting the book up so that she could better see the figures in the photo. “What do you mean? I never knew you had another daughter!”

“Oh, yes, that was quite a long time ago,” Janette replied, looking off in the distance, as if trying to remember. “She was a sweet one. But she didn’t Transform, and well, we lost her, eventually.”

Cadence placed the photo album back on her lap and stared at her grandmother for a long moment, not sure what to say. “You never told me.”

Smiling, Janette turned to face her granddaughter. “Well, as you know, everything is quite complicated, and it really doesn’t make much sense to dump everything on you all at once, Lorraine.”

“Cadence,” she corrected, realizing she had accidentally been called by her aunt’s name. “I’m Cadence, Grandma,”

Shaking her head as if she needed to jar her brain back into working, Janette said, “Yes, of course you are. My memory’s not quite what it used to be, darling.”

“That’s okay,” Cadence replied with a smile, and then mumbling under her breath added, “I’ve been called worse.”

“What’s that, dear?”

“Nothing, Grandma. So… how many children did you and Grandpa Jordan have?”

“Well, altogether, six.”

“Six!”

“Yes. We were married for a very long time, Cadence. But only one Transformed, so after the first three passed on, I told your grandfather I didn’t want to have any more children. It was just too hard to see them age and then, well, pass away.”

“I can imagine. That had to be awful,” Cadence nodded, not daring to mentally put herself in her grandmother’s shoes. If she and Aaron ever had kids, she would force them to Transform, even if she had to make Jamie sneak into their rooms while they were sleeping and inject them with Transformation fluid without their consent. That was the best way to make sure that they didn’t die before she did. “So one of them did Transform?”

“Yes,” Janette acknowledged, “but that’s another part of my history I don’t really like to talk about, darling.”

Assuming something bad must have happened to that child, who would have been a Hunter like her, Cadence said, “Okay,” and flipped the page. The next picture showed her grandmother and grandfather standing next to a boy about twenty-three or twenty-four, all of them holding various weapons “I guess you want me to skip this page then?” she asked.

“That’s him,” Janette said with a sigh. “His name was Harold. Such a good boy. And a fast learner.”

Cadence could see a tear forming in the corner of her grandmother’s eye, and she started to turn the page, but Janette’s wrinkled hand caught her and they lingered a bit longer. “I wish I knew more about him,” Cadence finally said. “Did Aaron know him?”

“No,” Janette said, wiping the tears off of her cheeks with her free hand, “but Christian did. He can tell you all about my Harold.”

As Cadence continued to flip through the book, she found out a lot more about her Grandma Janette than she would have ever guessed. Not only did she have several more children than Cadence was aware of, she had dozens more grandchildren, most of which had never Transformed at all, and one who had re-Transformed back into a human decades ago and then passed away.

“Now, I do have some great-grandchildren who have Transformed,” Janette pointed out. So those would be your, umm, third cousins, I believe. There’s one who operates out of Washington State, named Phillip. This is him,” she said pointing to a picture of a man who looked to be about sixty, though in actuality he was probably much older.

“I think I’ve talked to him before,” Cadence replied, squinting at the picture. “He works with another guy named Clive, right?”

“That’s him,” Janette agreed. “Clive is also your cousin, but… I can’t remember exactly how. More distant.”

“Interesting,” Cadence muttered. “I wonder if they know that. They never mentioned it.”

“I’m sure they do. And then there’s Janice, who was named after me,” she said, pointing to another picture on the next page. This picture was older, so the woman looked younger than she would be today. She was dressed like a flapper and was carrying what appeared to be a machine gun.

“Where is she?”

“I think she’s in Europe somewhere now,” Janette replied. “I don’t think she’s working anymore.”

Cadence flipped through the next several pages, her grandmother continuing to give names and stories. Only a few of her distant cousins were still alive and operating. Cadence hadn’t interacted with any of the rest of them. One was actually a Guardian, so she knew she could find him and learn more about her distant family—if she ever traveled to Australia where he was now living.

“Now, this is the gal I wanted to tell you about,” Janette said, fighting a yawn.

“Are you tired, Gran?” Cadence asked, a little concerned.

“A little, darling,” Janette smiled. “Grandma’s getting old.”

Cadence didn’t say anything, only kept her eyes on her grandmother’s withered face for a few more seconds before returning to the picture in the album.

“Now, her name is Peggy Smithstone, and this picture was taken in the late sixties, I believe. She lives in Oklahoma—Norman, I think. At any rate, she is very important, and I think, when you have more time, you should hunt her down—well not, really, not the way that you hunt things down,” her grandmother mused, “but contact her. I think she has some stories you’d like to hear.”

The picture showed a woman in her mid-to-late thirties outside at what appeared to be a picnic or barbecue. Her hair was done up in a beehive and she was wearing a plaid skirt and button down white shirt. She had a nice smile, but she looked like she was caught in the middle of doing something. Next to her, only half in the frame, was a young man who couldn’t have been much more than fifteen or sixteen, and even though she couldn’t quite see all of him, Cadence thought he looked familiar. “Is that…?”

Her grandmother didn’t give her a chance to finish her question. “Peggy went through the Transformation process because her parents were very active. Her mother was a Guardian and her father was a Hunter. So she was a Guardian. But she found she didn’t like it—couldn’t stomach the carnage—and so she decided to go back into the real world and live a “normal” life.

“Well, Peggy married a man, and he knew her secrets of course. He was a human. And it turned out it was very difficult for Peggy to have kids of her own.”

“That’s sad,” Cadence interjected, wondering where her grandmother was going with this.

“You know we try to keep tabs on everyone as best we can, whether they’ve Transformed or not. It’s getting harder. So many are choosing not to Transform, not to tell their children.”

“Right,” Cadence nodded. She was familiar with this problem. Recently stepping up recruiting efforts had meant a lot of exploration into who could even Transform—who was of Hunter blood and who was of Guardian blood.

“Our team in Oklahoma found that there was a woman who was of Guardian stock that wasn’t taking very good care of her children. She’d never Transformed, thank goodness. We don’t need her kind around for eternity. Well, eventually we ended up taking her kids away—after a long investigation.”

“We can do that?”

“Oh, yes. Why not?”

Cadence just shrugged. It had never occurred to her that she might need to do such a thing. “So Peggy took her kids?”

“Yes, two boys. They were around seven and twelve by then, but Peggy was ecstatic. And she was a good mother, too. Although, when the boys got older, she had a bit of a falling out with the oldest one. Never got it resolved either, which is a shame.”

“This one?” Cadence asked, pointing at the young man half-in and half-out of the picture.

“That’s him.”

Hesitantly, Cadence asked, “Is that… Elliott?”

“Yes,” her grandmother replied. “And so… I think you should find Peggy and talk to her. Let her know she raised a good man.”

“Okay,” Cadence replied in a sort-of sing-song voice. “Why haven’t you done that, Grandma?”

“Well, Peggy wasn’t a big fan of your grandfather’s. He’d tried to keep her in when she wanted out, and it got a bit drawn out. Anyway, I think it would be best if you contacted her.”

Cadence shrugged her shoulders. She could do that. “Whatever happened to Elliott’s brother?”

“He died,” Janette answered, and it was the first time Cadence had heard her be so blunt about anyone passing all day long. “Got hit by a train when he was sixteen.”

“Oh, my God!” Cadence exclaimed. “That’s horrible!”

“Yes, it was. He hadn’t Transformed yet. It was awful. At the time, Elliott was about twenty-one. He’d recently Transformed, but he was still in Oklahoma. I think he blamed himself quite a bit. I think that’s part of what broke up his marriage, if I’m honest.”

Cadence needed a moment, and after she cleared her thoughts, still shaking her head, she asked, “Do you know what happened to his first two children? Hannah said she contacted them about the funeral, but neither of them or his first wife wanted to attend.”

“I’ve never seen a more bitter woman poison her children against an ex,” Janette said, crossing her arms with a humph. “Such an awful woman. I heard she had lung cancer a few years ago, but if Hannah contacted her, I guess she’s still kicking. His kids were living in Florida. It would be nice if you could try to contact them, too. Let them know they were wrong—their mother was wrong.”

Cadence remembered when she’d tried to talk to Amanda Keen about Elliott at the funeral and how she had been in such a hurry to back away without even speaking. She wondered how these people who were so close to her friend could have seen him so differently than she did. “Grandma, was Elliott different—before? I mean, he was awfully mean to me when I first met him. Was he like that to other people? Is that why he’s fallen out with so many people?”

Janette seemed to consider the question for a moment. “No, I wouldn’t say mean, honey. I think he was very stubborn at times, as we can all be. But with you, that was different, darling.”

“What do you mean?” Cadence asked, her forehead crinkling. After Elliott died, she’d had several discussions with other team members that had led her to believe there was a possibility that the only reason he didn’t want her on the LIGHTS team was because he didn’t want her to get hurt, but she didn’t have any firm evidence that this was the case.

“Turn to the back of the album, dear,” Grandma Janette instructed.

Cadence had a hard time tearing her eyes away from her grandmother’s tranquil face, but she did as she was instructed, and at the back of the book, she found a letter-sized envelope with the inscription, “Kid” written on it in familiar writing.

She was so shocked, she almost dropped the album.

“What is this?” Cadence asked, almost afraid to touch it.

“I found it a few weeks ago when I was looking through the album. It was New Year’s Eve, and I was filling a bit melancholy, missing your grandfather something awful, so I thought I’d have a look at some of the old photos. And that fell out.”

Cadence had spent New Year’s Eve in Philadelphia, hoping Gibbon would show his face, and taking care of a few minor inconveniences who got a bit frisky that evening and ended up piles of ashes. Returning her attention to the envelope, she carefully picked it up, sliding the album onto her grandmother’s lap. Cadence held it as if it were made of filament. “When do you suppose he left it?”

“I’m not sure,” Janette admitted, grasping her most treasured possession with both hands. “He came to visit about a week before the… what do you call it?”

“Sierraville Incident?” Cadence asked, referring to the operation during which Elliott had lost his life.

“Yes. He came to visit pretty frequently, especially if he was in Shenandoah checking on Cassidy. He missed you. A lot. We both did. So… he’d come and visit, and we’d sit and reminisce a bit. I guess he slipped that in while I wasn’t looking.”

With a deep sigh, Cadence carefully unsealed the envelope and pulled out a single sheet of notebook paper. She unfolded it and began to read.

Dear Kid,

If you are reading this, then something has probably happened to me. You’ve been gone on your “find myself” tour for about four months now, and I’ve been missing you a lot. I know I can get you on the IAC but that’s not the same as seeing your goofy grin or feeling your tiny punches in my arm whenever I say something out of line. The truth is, I’ve been feeling a little off lately, like something bad is about to happen, and while I’m not sure what it is, there are a few things I wanted you to know in case the “impossible” happens.

First of all, I’m really sorry that I tried to get you kicked off of the team. There were a few reasons for that. Yes, you were a distraction—a bigger distraction than we’ve ever encountered before. It was pretty clear to me from even before the Eidolon Festival that Aaron was completely hung up on you. I think I saw it a long time before he knew it himself. I was there when he handed you off to Hannah, and I remember why he did it, too, though I guess he had pushed those thoughts out of his mind. He was too close to the situation for other reasons then. Now, here you are, a beautiful young lady who clearly has feelings for him. While I couldn’t blame him for being distracted, I was trying to prevent it from happening.

I also didn’t want you to get hurt. I thought maybe he’d assign you to another team. It makes sense—if he was worried about being able to concentrate on doing his job all of those years before when you weren’t even around every day, why not just send you off to another area? I was hoping that the thing with Henry would get you re-assigned, not released. At the time, I was willing to take either one. You were bound and determined to get yourself killed. I still don’t know how you managed to survive those first few hunts.

Once Aaron almost died protecting you in France, I felt like I had to do something. You needed to go. But by then, I was starting to admire you quite a bit. I’d never seen anything like you. Of course, you know the rest. Taking out Barbarosa was enough to solidify Big E and Little C for life. (Okay—I just made that up right now, but I like it!)

The only problem was, it wasn’t much longer before I started to realize it was going to take something major for Aaron to realize what an idiot he was being. I felt like the universe was shifting in that direction, trying to get his attention. In a way, I think I kind of volunteered myself. I caught myself saying things like, “The two of you will get together if it’s the last thing I do,” more than once, and while it was kind of funny before we knew about titanium bullets and rogue hunters, I’m starting to realize I may have set myself up to take one for the team.

And I’m okay with that, so long as the two of you figure this thing out.

You are meant to be together; that’s clear to me and to everyone else in the world. Now if you would just accept that, you’d make everyone’s lives a bit easier.

I’m sure if something has happened to me that Cass is probably really upset, and I’m very sorry for that. She’s such a good kid. I was so honored to have the opportunity to look out for her for all of those years. Please remind her that I love her very much, and you can let her read this as well if you want to.

Also, I did try to contact Amanda, like you recommended, but I don’t think she’s interested in hearing from me. I do feel better about trying, though. So thanks for that.

I didn’t mean to write a damn book, but I guess I feel better knowing that, if something does happen to me, you’ll at least have a few answers.

All right. Hopefully, this has just been a waste of an hour-and-a-half (What? I’m a slow writer!) and none of this was necessary. But, if something does happen to me, remember that I love you very much. Hope to see you around some time, once in a blue moon.

Love,

Elliott

Cadence read the letter twice, tears streaming down her face as the sound of his voice filled her head. When she was done, she folded it back up, handed it to her grandmother, and began to sob uncontrollably.

Janette patted her gently on the back, “There, there, darling. It’s all right,” she whispered quietly. “I’m sure the last thing he would want is to cause you grief all over again.”

While Cadence knew that was true, it was still very difficult to get a grip on herself. It had been over six months since Elliott had died, and it still seemed like yesterday. Even though she hadn’t known him that long, she’d become extremely close to him very quickly. She regretted the time she’d spent away from him, trying to figure out who she really was now that she had become a Vampire Hunter, trying to decide whether or not she should continue to fight for Aaron or let him go. Elliott was right—if he hadn’t died, she would probably still be fighting with Aaron instead of engaged to him.

Eventually, she was able to get a handle on her emotions, and she excused herself to go into the restroom to wash her face and blow her nose.

Looking in the mirror, she hardly even recognized who she had become. Vampire Hunting had certainly made her more muscular. She looked more mature than she had just a year or so ago when she’d started this new adventure. Was that all the time that had passed? It seemed like this had always been her life, and yet, not that long ago, she was a college student, hanging out with her high school friends on the weekend. Now, two of those friends were dead, and she’d lost Elliott as well. Aaron had also died, though not for long. And she’d nearly been killed herself when Laura shot her with a titanium bullet in an attempt to take out Giovani (who was also now dead.) Her sister was some sort of half-Vampire, half-Hunter the likes of which no one had ever heard of before. So much death and destruction. Why had she chosen this life again?

Of course, there had been lots of moments that made it all worthwhile as well. She couldn’t count how many victims she’d saved just before a Vampire was about to strike. There’d been the sweet little girl in Oklahoma, when they’d taken Brandon on his first hunt. And the baby she’d rescued from Henry. If she hadn’t chosen to Transform, she wouldn’t know any of these people. She certainly wouldn’t be engaged to the most intelligent, talented, sexy guy she’d ever met. She wouldn’t be crying about Elliott because she would have never met him. But then, if she hadn’t joined the team maybe he’d still be alive.

And so would a hell of a lot of monsters.

Sighing, she dried her face off on a towel and tried to get control of herself. What was done was done. Now, she just needed to move forward. There was so much to do and never enough time to do it. Forcing herself not to think about Elliott anymore, she went back to the living room, happy to have received word from him but resolved not to let this distract her.

When she walked back in, she could see her grandmother reading the letter. She sat down next to her, and saw a tear wending its way down her wrinkled cheek. “Grandma? Are you okay?” she asked, quietly, placing her hand on her grandma’s knee.

“He knew….” she whispered, shaking her head. Finishing the letter, she inhaled deeply, folded it up, and slid it back into the envelope

“I guess so,” Cadence said, assuming she meant he knew he was going to die. Feeling that resolve starting to loosen, she steeled herself and took the letter from her grandmother.

“No, that’s not what I meant,” she said softly. Cadence turned her head to look at her grandma, curious, and she continued. “Yes, it does seem like he knew something was about to happen. That doesn’t surprise me. Guardians have intuition like no one else. You know that.”

Thinking of all the times Aaron had told her things she didn’t think he could possibly know, and then the exact event happened, or he told her something he’d pieced together somehow with very little information, she nodded.

“But this is something else—something very few of us were supposed to know about.”

Cautiously, Cadence asked, “What’s that?”

Grandma Janette took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “If I tell you, I’m certain Aaron will be very cross with me.”

“Grandma,” Cadence began, “if you and Aaron—and Elliott—have a secret, I think you should let me know about it.”

Janette opened her weary eyes and looked into Cadence’s. “Do you know what a blue moon is?”

Caught off guard by the question, instead of a revelation, Cadence wasn’t sure how to respond. “I… don’t know. It’s just an expression, isn’t it? Like ‘see you around’?”

“Sure. Usually. But a blue moon is a real thing, too. And sometimes people get confused and think it’s something it isn’t.”

“Grandma, I’m not following,” Cadence replied, scooting back against the couch.

“Some people think a blue moon is when you have an extra full moon in a season—and technically, that’s true. But it can also be when you have an extra full moon in a month—at least for our purposes. They are both very rare.”

“Okay…” Cadence said, confused, but doing her best to follow.

“For thousands of years, people have believed there was something magical about the blue moon. Some think it brings luck, wealth, or fertility. Others thought that sleeping with a blue moon’s light on your face could cause insanity. Perhaps there are some truths to those superstitions, though I doubt it.”

“And what does the blue moon mean to you, Grandma?”

Once again, Janette took a deep breath. Exhaling, she resituated herself so that she was turned toward Cadence. “When I was younger, I heard a story about a Guardian who had been summoned using the blue moon portal. He was accidentally killed by a Hunter, and the Hunter felt so terrible, he searched to the ends of the earth to find a way to bring him back. On the night of a blue moon, he took his friend’s remains out, on a cloudless night, and set them on the ground, coffin open. Just as he had been told by an ancient Guardian, a portal opened, and he was able to speak to his friend.”

“Oh, my goodness,” Cadence sighed.

“I never believed that was possible. Don’t ask me why. I mean, with all of the things you and I have both seen in our lifetimes, why not? Right? But… after your grandfather died, well I had to give it a try. I wanted to see him again.”

“And… did it work?”

“Yes,” Janette replied.

Cadence’s eyes widened. “You mean, you’ve been able to speak to Grandpa—after he died?”

“Yes, but only on these rare occasions when the moon is blue, the sky is clear, and the portal is willing to open. It doesn’t always work, darling.”

Cadence could hardly believe her ears. She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees, her head in her hands. “Why didn’t… why didn’t anyone ever tell me?”

“Well, I didn’t say anything because… I suppose there’s a reason Aaron didn’t want you to know, dear.”

“But… if there’s a way that I can see Elliott, talk to him again, why would he want to keep that from me?” Janette pursed her lips, her hands folded in her lap, and Cadence knew immediately there was something else, something she wasn’t saying. “Grandma?”

“It’s a portal, darling. You know what that means, right?”

“Are you saying—it’s a doorway?”

Janette nodded her head once.

Cadence jumped up off of the sofa and spun to face her grandmother. “It’s a doorway! He can come back?”

“Calm down, dear!”

Cadence ran her hands through her long brown hair, tangling her hands at the roots, and began to pull. “Oh, my God! Grandma! Why? Why would Aaron keep this from me? You’re telling me that Elliott could actually come back—walk through a portal from the afterlife—like nothing ever happened—and no one bothered to tell me?”

“Darling, it’s not that simple,” Janette replied, her voice still calm and even.

Twirling around to face away from her, Cadence shot back, “Seems pretty damn simple to me.”

“Cadence Josephine, watch your language,” Grandma Janette scolded.

Taking a deep breath and crossing her arms, Cadence tried to calm herself. “I’m sorry, Grandma,” she said, slowly turning around to face her. “I guess, I just don’t understand why Aaron wouldn’t tell me this. What in the world could possibly keep him from telling me that we can bring Elliott back? Is there any reason in the world that he wouldn’t want him to come back?”

“I think that Aaron will have to answer that question for you, sweetheart.”

Cadence couldn’t think of anything—not one thing—in the whole world that could possibly prevent her from bringing Elliott back if it were possible. And yet, she had to believe there must be something. She collapsed onto the sofa next to her grandma, careful not to jar her, and leaned her head back, staring up at the wide wooden beams of her grandmother’s living room ceiling.

It took her a few moments before she finally collected herself enough to turn her attention back to her grandma. “So… why didn’t Grandpa ever come through?” she asked quietly.

“Oh, he is quite happy over there,” Janette said with a smile. “One thing I didn’t tell you that’s very important is that, once a Guardian comes through, they can never go back. This old fellow I was telling you about, he decided he wanted to go back after a while, and nothing would kill him. Not even a Hunter’s bullet. Nothing. So… while it was possible for your grandfather to come back, I would die eventually, even if I didn’t re-Transform, and then we’d never be together. No, it’s better this way. I can still see him every so often, and he gets to stay on the other side.”

Cadence nodded; that made sense. Her grandfather had died before she was born, but her grandma was already very old, and Hunters knew they would die eventually—unlike Guardians which could live forever so long as a Hunter didn’t kill them. “Do you think that’s why Aaron didn’t want me to know? He was afraid I’d talk Elliott into something he didn’t want to do?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Janette said quickly. “I doubt he’d be too concerned about that. Elliott is capable of making his own decision.”

“Is there something else then?” Cadence asked, still unable to believe that Aaron would keep this from her.

“I told you, you need to ask him that.”

Realizing she’d get nothing else out of her grandma about this particular topic, Cadence nodded. “All right. Well, I better get on my way. I still need to stop by and check on Cassidy before I head home, and it’s already past noon.” Her grandmother gave her a nod and a smile, clearly happy not to have to say more. “Do you want me to put the album away for you, Grandma?”

“No, darling,” Janette replied. “I like to look at it more and more these days.”

“You miss Grandpa a lot, don’t you?”

“Oh, yes,” Janette said, tears forming in her eyes. “People say it gets easier with time, but not for me it hasn’t. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t miss him more.”

Cadence didn’t know exactly how that must feel, but she had experienced her own loss; she’d even lost Aaron for a few hours, so she could imagine. She reached over and hugged her grandma, realizing she felt even more frail now than the last time she’d been by to visit, which hadn’t been that long ago. “I love you, Grandma. Very much.”

“I love you, too Cadence, and I always will. Don’t ever forget that.”

While Cadence thought her grandma’s statement was a bit odd, she didn’t question her. Kissing her on the cheek, she slipped the letter into her jacket pocket, and made her way out to the driveway and climbed on her F4CC, planning to stop by and visit her family before she headed back to headquarters with a million questions to ask her fiancé.

Chapter 2

Cassidy was still at school when Cadence reached her parents’ home just a couple of hours later, but her sister would be back soon, and it gave her a chance to visit with her mom who had been a homemaker since Cadence was very young. Her father, who was an engineer, was still at work.

While Liz Findley was a bit ditzy at times and often didn’t know when to keep her mouth closed, she was an amazing mother. Cadence had never questioned how much her parents loved her. She’d been well taken care of growing up in their two-story home in Shenandoah, Iowa, never wanting for anything. Her mom was at every performance, every competition, every bake sale. She was also full of embarrassing questions.

“So—are you still using birth control?” Liz asked, taking a sip of her coffee, sitting across from Cadence on the couch in her living room.

“Seriously, Mother? You did not just ask me that!” Cadence declared, wanting to throw a pillow at her but knowing she’d definitely spill her drink.

“What? Can’t a mother inquire about grandchildren?”

“We’re not even married yet, Mom. Couldn’t you at least let us get hitched and then give us a few years? I’m kind of busy hunting down bloodsuckers right now.”

“Okay, okay. I just thought I’d ask, that’s all.”

“Well, don’t,” Cadence said, full-body shuddering.

Liz took another sip of her coffee and then asked, “Everything is going well, though? No major problems?”

She knew her mother was asking out of concern, not attempting to pry. Still, she wasn’t about to explain the situation with the blue moon portal to her mom before she asked Aaron about it. Finally, she just said, “Sure. Everything is great. I mean… we have our problems like everyone else. But we love each other a lot. We work well together. He hasn’t kicked me out for leaving the drain full of my hair—yet.”

Her mother chuckled, having first hand experience with that hair. “Good. Sometimes it’s hard to be with someone so much and not drive each other crazy.”

There was certainly some truth to that statement—especially when the person in question seemed to literally know everything, was always one step ahead of her, and was so damn good at everything he did. It could be a little unnerving at times when she was just trying to learn the ropes. “He’s perfect,” she muttered, shrugging.

“No one is perfect,” her mother reminded her.

“No, Mom. He is. Literally. Perfect.”

“And?”

“Sometimes it’s really annoying,” Cadence replied, letting out a deep breath she didn’t know she was holding.

Her mother’s chuckle turned into a giggle and then a full-belly laugh.

“What is so funny?”

“Nothing, dear. It’s just nice to hear that other people have issues, too.”

“You’re impossible, Mother,” Cadence said, shaking her head. “I’m glad I didn’t say there was an actual problem. You might tear your spleen.”

“Oh, come on, honey. Everyone knows you two are a wonderful couple. The universe put you together after all, and since when is the universe wrong?”

Cadence turned to look at her mother. “What in the world are you talking about?”

“You know, darling. The Guardian Leader and the Hunter Leader always end up together, right? It was… fate. I don’t know why I ever fought it to begin with. I guess I just wasn’t sure you’d end up with this position.”

While she was familiar with the pattern her mother was referring to, she hadn’t given it much thought. “You don’t really believe that, do you, Mom? That fate brought us together?”

“Sure? Why not?” Liz asked. “It’s always happened before. Why wouldn’t it now?”

For the second time that day, Cadence felt greatly unsettled. She wanted to question her mother more, but just then, they heard a car in the driveway, and a few moments later, her little sister, Cassidy, walked in the door.

“Cass!” Cadence exclaimed, jumping up to go hug her. “How was your day?”

Looking at her a little oddly, Cassidy shrugged and said, “Fine. How was yours?”

“Exhausting,” Cadence admitted. Cassidy hung her backpack by the door and then followed her older sister into the living room, sitting in a chair next to Cadence who rejoined her mother on the sofa.

“Sorry to hear that. Why are you here?”

“Nice to see you, too,” Cadence replied snarkily.

“I just didn’t know you were coming.”

“Well, Grandma called me last night and asked me to come over, so I did. She just wanted to talk about some old pictures. So I decided to come and see you on my way back home.” She decided to leave out Elliott’s letter and the whole portal bit just now. After all, she had no idea whether this thing really worked or why Aaron hadn’t told her about it, so it seemed like a bad idea to tell her sister and get her hopes up just to have to take it back later.

“How was school?” their mother asked, smiling at her youngest daughter.

Shrugging again, showing disinterest in a way only a teenager can, Cassidy said, “Fine.”

Having been the mother to two of these creatures, Liz probed on. “Did you have your Biology quiz?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you think you did all right?”

“I guess.”

“Geez, Cass! Who are you?” Cadence asked, picking up a pillow off of the couch and tossing it at her sister.

Cassidy’s reflexes were incredible now that she had Transformed and she easily caught it and tossed it back. Cadence barely caught it before it smacked her in the face. “I don’t know,” the teenager sighed. “I’m tired.”

“How is your eye looking?” Cadence asked, leaning forward.

“The same,” Cassidy replied. She was wearing a colored contact now to hide the steely gray eye, the only physical evidence that she was part-Vampire.

Realizing she was going to get nowhere, Cadence didn’t press her to take the contact out and show her, even though she really wanted to see it. Jamie, the team Healer, had been monitoring her closely, but none of them really knew what might happen once Cassidy was infected by Zabrina, one of the Vampires the team had recently terminated, and Jamie had started the Transformation process in an attempt to save Cass from becoming a Vampire herself. Cassidy had felt fairly normal when she’d come out of the coma the doctor had purposely put her under, but the gray eye was proof that everything wasn’t the same. She’d also reported having strange sensations from time to time and occasionally hearing voices, which Jamie had assumed were likely telepathic messages from other Vampires conversing nearby.

And occasionally, for no apparent reason, her fangs would drop.

Luckily, Cassidy had no desire or necessity to drink blood, human or otherwise. She had two years of high school left, and her family really wanted her to finish in Shenandoah, though Cassidy had argued that it would be better if she went to LIGHTS now to train. Cadence knew her sister could be a secret weapon in fighting Vampires—that she could potentially help them find Gibbon, who hadn’t surfaced since he escaped in October—but her parents wanted Cassidy to wait, and Cadence respected their wishes, especially since Cassidy had almost gotten killed the last time she went out on a Hunt. Not that she was supposed to be there, but nevertheless, Cadence was the one who had to sit down across from her parents and tell them that Cassidy was some sort of a Vampire/Vampire Hunter hybrid, and she didn’t know if her mother would ever recover. Once they realized she was mostly herself, both girls had been forgiven, but Cadence still felt responsible, so she didn’t press the issue of Cassidy coming to LIGHTS.

Cassidy did, however, and Cadence was fairly certain the reason for the attitude was the fact that she knew her sister would be leaving soon to return to headquarters, and she wouldn’t be allowed to go. She went a few times a month on the weekends and had spent a good deal of her winter break there, but that wasn’t enough. Cassidy wanted to be part of the action. And she also didn’t like being away from Brandon for more than a few minutes.

“Why are you really here?” Cassidy asked through her newly-installed IAC.

“I told you. I wanted to check on you,” Cadence replied.

“All right, well, I have a test tomorrow, and I need to go study.”

“You mean you need to go talk to Brandon?” Cadence asked, sending up a stream of hearts and kisses emojis.

Physically shaking her head, Cassidy got up out of her chair, “You’re such a moron.”

“Are you two talking through your eyes again?” Liz asked. “I really wish I had one of those thingies. Is that possible? Can normal people have those?”

“No, just abnormal people like me,” Cassidy replied, crossing her arms.

“Now, honey, you know that’s not what I meant,” Liz sighed as Cassidy held up one hand.

“God, when did you turn into such a teenager?” Cadence asked, also standing up. “Before you disappear, give me a hug. I’ll try to come back and get you this weekend.”

“Try hard,” Cassidy replied, half-heartedly hugging her sister. “This town is lame.”

“I’ll do my best,” Cadence assured her as she slunk off toward the stairs. Returning to her seat, Cadence asked her mom, “So… how long has this been going on? I don’t think I noticed her attitude at all when she was at LIGHTS.”

“Probably not, because that’s where she wants to be,” Liz replied, shaking her head. “She hardly comes out of her room anymore, and even though we have a ‘no technology at the dinner table rule,’ how can we possibly tell if she’s talking on that thing? It’s not like I can make her stop.”

“Maybe we should have waited to have it put in, but I was hoping that it would be a compromise. She could still know what’s going on and talk to Brandon whenever she wants but she could stay here and finish school with her friends.”

“I think she’s kind of stopped hanging out with a lot of them,” Liz said, leaning in closely, even though they could hear loud music coming from Cassidy’s room now. “She still sees Lucy and Emma, who know the truth of course, but that’s about it.”

“She’s not cheerleading for the basketball team?”

“No, she decided not to. Said it was ‘lame’.”

Cadence shook her head. “She didn’t even tell me that.”

“I guess she didn’t want you to question her about it. She’s still a child, Cadence. I hate to see her miss out on so much because of this… accident.”

“I know, Mom. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, honey, I wasn’t saying it was your fault.”

“I should have never trusted her to come back here by herself.”

“Well, what’s done is done. As much as we may regret what has happened in the past, there’s nothing we can do to go back and change it,” Liz shrugged.

Her mother’s words resonated for several reasons. “What if you could?” she asked. “What if you could go back and fix something that had gone wrong. Would you do it?”

Eyebrows furrowed, her mother asked, “What do you mean, Cadence?”

Turning more to face her, Cadence asked, “Mom, what if you had a way to fix one thing that had gone terribly wrong. Even if you knew there may be some consequences, would you change it? If you felt like the outcome would be better after the change?”

“Well… that’s a lot of ifs, honey,” Liz replied as she mulled over the question. “I guess it depends on how severe the consequences were and how much of a wrong it would right.”

“A major—huge—life-altering wrong, Mom.”

“Darling, is there something you want to tell me?”

Cadence let out a sigh. “No, Mom. I was just… thinking about the past and things I would like to change. Wishing I could change a couple of them.”

“I know it’s tempting to spend our time thinking about all of the things that have gone wrong and wish they were different, but those things can’t be changed, dear. Sometimes, it’s best to just focus on all that’s gone right. Accept that the past is the past and you can’t go back.”

“Right,” Cadence said, nodding her head. As much as she wanted to agree with her mother, clearly Liz did not have all of the information. For that matter, neither did Cadence. She realized she shouldn’t have even brought it up without being able to tell her everything, but her mother’s advice was usually very sound. This time, however, it just left her feeling even more unsettled.

“Are you going to stay until your father gets home?” Liz asked.

“As much as I want to, I need to get back. I have a few things I need to talk to Aaron about, and they honestly can’t wait,” Cadence explained.

“All right. Well, come back as soon as you can. Dad will be sad he missed you.”

Cadence loved her father dearly and really did want to stay and say hello to him, but a quick search of her IAC told her that the next blue moon—the kind her grandmother had been talking about—was only a week away. She had a lot of answers to gather and not a lot of time to find them. It was almost like Hunting a Vampire who didn’t want to be found.

Gibbon liked the dark. It was comforting. Like a warm, black blanket, he could crawl inside and shut the outside world off. A few weeks ago, after slogging through sewers and drain pipes for months, he’d come across this new dark place. Though there were lots of people walking around above him during the day, hardly anyone ever came down here, and at night, he was free to go out, do his bidding, and then come back here to be alone.

The outside world was frightening though, now more than ever, and a few times he had brought his prey down here with him, as if he were inviting a friend over for dinner. Of course, they never came willingly, and he supposed that was because they were smart enough to know when he grabbed them that the only one who would be eating dinner was him—and they would be the main course. Still, having his friends nearby was a bit of a comfort, despite the smell, and now that he had a few acquaintances in the corner, his new world seemed even more inviting.

Occasionally, his peace would be disturbed and some unknowing human would venture down here where they didn’t belong. He had added a few more heads to the dinner menu that way, and as he sat in the shadows in the darkness, he heard a familiar clang of metal on metal and knew someone was nearby.

Creeping out on all fours, an attempt to stay low and out of the light, Gibbon made his way to the heavy wooden door that blocked his new home from the long passage of pipes that led to a stairwell and the world above. Cracking the door just a bit, he saw a small boy wandering down the hall. He couldn’t have been more than eight. While taking a child was not something Gibbon preferred to do, this one looked curious, his sandy blonde hair hanging almost to his shoulders. His school uniform looked neat and pressed. This child must be greatly loved by his parents. Gibbon wanted to claim him and make those parents wish he’d never been born.

The child looked in wonder at each pipe, each pockmark in the concrete wall, and then his eyes fell upon the door. With bravery and curiosity, the boy began to approach. “Yes, come to me,” Gibbon thought. If he were to actually step through the doorway, it would make his job so much easier.

The child was only a few steps away when Gibbon heard footsteps on the stairs. “Noah? Are you down here?” a woman’s voice called. She sounded stressed but not angry.

At the sound of his name, the boy, only inches from the opening door, turned. “Coming, Miss Riggins!” he shouted, turning away.