Obliteration: The Clandestine Saga Book Eight E-Book

Johnson ID

• Herausgeber: ID Johnson
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

What would you do if the person you loved most in the world suddenly disappeared?
Cadence has trepidations about attending an Eidolon Festival a few days before her wedding, but Aaron insists it will be fine. The Vampire Queen has other plans, however, and when six Guardians go missing--including Aaron--Cadence has to fight to get them back. Will she figure out what Holland has done with her friends in time to rescue them, or have the bloodsuckers finally figured out how to stop LIGHTS once and for all?
The Clandestine Saga follows the story of Cadence Findley, Vampire Hunter extraordinaire, as she embarks on a quest to rid the world of Vampires once and for all. She is part of an elite team of Hunters and Guardians known as LIGHTS whose sole purpose is to protect humans from the creatures that lurk in the shadows.

Leseprobe

Obliteration

The Clandestine Saga Book Eight

ID Johnson

Copyright © 2019 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 good friend Kaycia who is not the Hunter Leader of England but could be.

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

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Epilogue

A Note from the Author

Chapter 1

The pounding of her heavy boots rang off of the marble barricade as Cadence Findley sprinted down the promenade, leaping between ornate columns every few feet, careful with each jump to situate herself so that the landing hit on the narrow top of the only barrier between her and a nice fall to concrete several stories below. The Vampires in front of her were not being quite as cautious, but they were being smart; by sprinting away from her up here and not on the walkway itself, they were preventing her from firing her Glock. After a missed shot had splintered the ferro of a gondola in the canal, she was leery of taking out any more Vegas landmarks.

“Just because they’re running up there doesn’t mean you have to,” Elliott Sanderson said in her head. He was serving as lookout, perched in the clocktower at the end of this passage. Cadence was hopeful the trio of bloodsuckers in front of her would run right past him, and maybe he could get the shot she was missing. She doubted her team would be that lucky.

“I know I don’t have to,” Cadence replied without opening her mouth, leaping around a corner. “But there are pedestrians in the way.” It was nearly 3:00 AM, and in most cities, that would mean they had a clear chance of taking down their prey without many witnesses, but not in Las Vegas where people were more likely to be up in the middle of the night than in the middle of the day—not that that was any better time for stalking the undead.

“The escalator’s right ahead of you,” Cadence’s fiancé, Aaron McReynolds, reminded her. “They might have to slow down when they get there.” He was busy himself, back at Madame Tussades where this had all began.

“Right.” She could see the escalators up ahead. But there were still marble columns that ran along either side of it, and she had a feeling this group wouldn’t give her any easy shots. The idea of sprinting ahead of them so quickly they wouldn’t even see her crossed her mind, but there was a chance they might detect her move and go back the other way. This direction, she had help further up the strip. Behind her, there was nothing but more strip before it faded into the desert. If they got out there, the chances of hunting them down that night would be nil to none, and since this was one of the last cells that had been working directly with Holland, they needed to be extinguished tonight.

One of the male Vampires, a tall one with long, greasy black hair, made a break for it by leaping off of the barricade and sprinting between a group of college-aged kids who seemed to be going out for the night. For a flicker of a second, Cadence had a shot, but she knew if she fired, there was a chance she’d hit one of the innocent bystanders, so she kept her finger from pulling the trigger. She heard Elliott curse under his breath, thinking she should’ve taken it. “Just exactly what kind of patching up do you want to do when I’m done?” Cadence asked, thinking the sort of interference he could clean up wouldn’t involve a human body count. As far as she knew, no one had accidentally hit a human in at least a hundred years, and she didn’t want to be the first.

The other two Vampires, a short girl with a punk rock hairstyle in shades of pink and red that plumed out of the top of her head like feathers, and a tall, broad shouldered man who might’ve been the rocker’s significant other, continued along the divider, but Cadence was done running at half speed. “Get ‘em out in the open,” Elliott suggested. “Maybe I’ll have a better shot.”

That was exactly what she’d been trying to do, so she didn’t respond. Whizzing through the kids who were actually her age or a little older but seemed like mere children, Cadence kept the other two in sight out of the corner of her eye in case they wanted to turn back. At the lip of the escalator, the first Vampire hesitated, not sure what was out there in front of him. Cadence slowed, too, just as the other two came even with her. They’d have to make a choice as well.

They saw her just as the barrier they’d been dancing across terminated into a wide open concrete area near a fountain. The tourists were a few yards behind them but closing quickly on the moving walkway. Vampire number one took off running toward the fountain as Cadence brought her weapon around, checking there was nothing behind the pair poised on top of the marble wall. She fired at the man first, thinking she could see the girl better with her hair, should she get away. He was hit in the shoulder, the titanium bullet leaving a gaping hole. He grabbed ahold of his wound and jumped backward off of the marble wall onto the concrete and started running, but Cadence knew the shot was fatal.

The girl’s eyes bulged. She looked back at the group of humans that had nearly caught up with them, though the sound of Cadence’s gun going off sent them backward a few steps, scrambling down the escalator the best they could, running into other families who were trying to make their way up. Elliott would have to fix all of this later. Even with a silencer on her gun, it was obvious shots had been fired. Luckily, no one near the fountain had heard anything.

Until what seemed like a meteorite slammed into the Vampire with the long black hair as he tried to cut around the fountain. Cadence glanced up, the overhang of the moving walkway actually swaying from the breeze her partner had created when he leapt from the tower. Tiny splinters ran through the pavement, ending at the lip of the escalator. “So much for not ruining anything,” she muttered just as the girl took off back the way she came. “Dammit.” She leapt over to the marble, thinking it would be easier to follower her there than to try to cut through the panicked people running into each other on the walkway.

As Cadence sprinted after the girl, a rush of tourists seemed to appear out of nowhere. “Where are all of these people coming from?” she asked over her IAC, not of anyone in particular.

“One of the shows just let out down the strip. Maybe from there,” Dr. Jamie Joplin, their resident Healer, who was further down the street from the Venetian, around Paris, Cadence thought, answered in her head.

“Are they all staying at this hotel?” Cadence barked back, but there was no answer that time. The people seemed to be in a rush, and she wondered if it had more to do with the fact that there were Hunters and Guardians with guns everywhere. Maybe Elliott’s descent had caused a panic, or maybe her shot at the Vampire a few moments ago had inspired the stampede. At any rate, she was having trouble keeping up with the smaller woman who wound her way through the people more quickly.

The doors that led back inside to the shops and the canal were just ahead of them. Cadence needed to reach the woman before she went back inside. Her gun wouldn’t help her now; there were too many people in the way. So she holstered it and ducked around a woman with two small children who should’ve been in bed ages ago.

The woman paused with her hand on the door and shouted, “Oh, my God! She has a gun!” The small crowd of people picked up speed and started running in every direction, many of them colliding with Cadence, the very person they should’ve been trying to get away from if they had any idea who the punk rocker was shouting about.

“Son of a bitch!” Cadence muttered just as the Vampire ducked back inside. She’d never had one of them try to influence humans to blockade her progress before, and it sort of made her feel bad that she was about to destroy someone so clever. Nevertheless, she had to. This cell had been part of the group Holland had organized to invade the Reno Area headquarters. Cale and his team had made short work of their allies, but this group had managed to hide out in a desert ghost town and had only come back to civilization a few days ago. Aaron had gotten his team on a flight within hours, and now here she was running back the way she’d come, chasing a Vampire who was just about out of options.

The canal was up ahead of them. This time of morning, there were no boats on the water at least, though there were plenty docked nearby, including the one Cadence had already accidentally destroyed. The Vampire glanced behind her and then looked around, trying to decide whether or not to make for one of the shops or try to find another group of people. Out of options, she did the one thing Cadence was praying she didn’t do and dove into the canal.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Cadence muttered, jumping in behind her. The water was cold and murky, and there were a few directions the girl could go. It took Cadence a moment to see her, up in the distance, swimming back the way they’d just come toward a waterway near the fountain. Resurfacing for a moment in order to draw in a deep breath, Cadence took off after her, hoping the woman was about to swim her way right into Elliott’s waiting arms.

“You shot Oprah?” Aaron asked through his IAC as he saw the Hunter he was working with, Aurora Howe, standing next to what used to be a wax figure in the form of the famous talk-show host.

“Not on purpose!” Aurora replied. “She... got in the way.”

They’d already taken out four of the five Vampires who’d decided a wax museum was the perfect place to hide, and Aaron was on the trail of the last one who seemed to think the famous villains special display area of the attraction was the best place to hide. He had to agree. He kept his footsteps light as he crossed in front of a replica of Jack the Ripper, noting it looked nothing like the man he’d thrown from the Brooklyn Bridge over a hundred years ago.

Up ahead of him, the Vampire sensed him coming and took off again, tossing over the form of another serial killer just as Aaron leapt up in the air, clearing it and landing a few feet away from the Vampire as he rounded a corner, headed back toward the escalators.

“Coming back your way,” he said to Aurora who should’ve recovered from her missed shot by now. At least her second bullet had taken out the Vampire she’d been aiming at.

The Vampire mistakenly jumped onto the elevator headed up instead of down, so when Aaron came around the corner, he had a split second to fire while the older man with a scraggily beard determined he was going nowhere. His shot grazed the Vampire’s abdomen, sending a trail of smoky ash pluming out as the creature rocketed himself backward off of the moving walkway. He landed at the bottom in a thud just as Aaron reached the opening of the escalator leading down. Rather than taking the traditional method, he propelled himself onto the center barricade, dropping down and sliding to the first floor as the Vampire regained his footing. It was too late for the bloodsucker, however.

Aaron holstered his Glock as he leapt into the air, grabbing ahold of the scrawny old monster from behind. The monster shouted in protest, but there was little he could do. He’d survived this long because he was a coward, hiding in the shadows while his cohorts took the brunt of the fight. Now, with his hands wrapped securely around the narrow neck, all Aaron had to do was twist, and the Vampire’s head popped off a few seconds before he turned to ash.

“Done!” Aurora exclaimed, rounding the corner.

Aaron sat back for a moment, catching his breath. “We might be, but Cadence and Jamie are still busy. And we need to get some locals in here to clean up this mess. Maybe see if they can fix Oprah’s face.”

“That was an accident,” Aurora reminded him, offering her hand. He took it and she pulled him to standing. “I like Oprah.”

“Who doesn’t like Oprah?” he replied, checking that all of his weapons were where they should be. Satisfied they hadn’t left anything behind, they started moving toward the exit, glad that at least the museum had been closed when the group they’d been chasing decided to take cover there. Cadence and Elliott had an audience to contend with, and so did Jamie and Ashley. For a moment, he wished he’d brought Brandon along to start the interference process because Elliott was still tied up, but there was nothing he could do about it now. “Let’s go pull the tapes. At least we can get rid of the video evidence.”

“Too bad Christian isn’t here to take care of that,” Aurora muttered, walking alongside him.

Aaron stopped. “Did you actually just say ‘too bad Christian isn’t here’?”

Aurora shook her head. “What is wrong with me tonight?”

Stifling a laugh, Aaron continued on his way. Christian Henry, the tech guru, had been left at home to help Hannah Robertson run things while he and Cadence were gone, or at least that’s what he’d been told. With each passing day, it seemed Christian got even more cantankerous, almost to the point that Aaron was willing to transfer him. Maybe he would’ve been better at pulling any video recordings they’d left around the strip, but Aaron would rather do it himself than put up with Christian any more than he had to.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t go help Cadence?” Aurora asked, following Aaron into a back office that had to be where they kept their surveillance equipment. Locks and alarms were no problem for them, and once inside, it only took him a second to see what he needed to do.

He had been watching Cadence the entire time through the IAC, a computer chip embedded in his eye, and knew she was making her way down one of the canals, the Vampire she was chasing only a few feet ahead of her as they neared the outer area where more gondolas were sitting, ready for early morning clients. “Nah, she’s got it.”

Chapter 2

Cursing herself for not spending more time in the pool, Cadence pulled her way through the water, trying not to swallow any more of it. Not that the few gulps that had found their way down her throat had gotten there intentionally, but the Vampire in front of her had a way of kicking out so that Cadence was splashed in the face with nearly every stroke. She’d be happy when this was over and she could make her way back to her cushy suite in the Bellagio. A warm shower was sounding really good about now.

They were outside now. The canal opened up in front of them into what resembled a large pool. Dozens of gondolas were parked out here as well, advertising the rides to anyone who might be walking by. The woman was out of options, and she knew it.

The water wasn’t too deep, so Cadence stopped swimming, coming to her feet, watching to see where the monster would make her move. Over in the shadows near yet another marble wall that ran through the walkway, she could see her partner waiting. While she was glad to have Elliott’s help, she was in the mood to ring the head off of this one herself, especially since she was pretty sure her new leather boots were ruined from the swim.

“Should’ve taken those off,” she heard Elliott say as if he was reading her mind.

“I would’ve if I’d had time.” She was glad her cellphone was waterproof. Anything else would dry out, though she thought it would be difficult to get the tight black jeans she was wearing off. Thank goodness she hadn’t been wearing a leather jacket. Denim would be salvageable.

The Vampire stood up now, glancing around, looking for an exit. There wasn’t one. To add insult to injury, a few ashes stirred in the breeze, and Cadence glimpsed the remains of the Vampire girl’s friend off in the distance, the one Cadence had shot earlier. He had made it further away from the escalator than Cadence had assumed he would.

With nothing else to lose, the Vampire turned, barring her fangs and throwing herself at Cadence.

“Ah, sure, now she wants to fight,” the Hunter muttered, stepping forward to meet her, no longer amused or thinking mercy sounded like an option. The Vampire was tiny but powerful, and when they collided, the water splashed up around them, rocking all of the gondolas, and grabbing the attention of spectators up on the walkway where Cadence had chased this same bloodsucker only a few minutes ago.

“Dammit,” Elliott mumbled before he stepped out of the shadows. Cadence was barely conscious of what he was doing as the Vampire’s claws came down, aiming for her left eye. A diatribe about the Venetian’s newest attraction, fighting merwomen, hit her ear as her hands slid up to wrench the Vampire’s hand down away from her face, taking her beneath the surface of the water so she could end her where none of the stunned members of the crowd could see.

She wasn’t going down easy. With her free hand, Cadence punched her in the head several times, causing ash to fly out into the water, making it more difficult to see. They sank to the bottom of the pool, and Cadence pinned the woman with her knee. The Vampire continued to buck and fight, trying to get free. Pink tinged the water from the wounds in Cadence’s face and hands, and with each pass of the Vampire’s claws, her skin was further shredded, but she was too hyped up on adrenaline to feel it presently. Grabbing ahold of her right arm, the one doing most of the swiping, Cadence pulled straight up and then out, breaking the limb free. She let it go, watching it float to the surface, hoping Elliott had an explanation for that. When it turned to ash a few seconds later, she prayed no one had seen it when it was in its human form.

The Vampire was shrieking in agony, a burst of bubbles hitting Cadence in the face with the exhale. Her lungs were beginning to burn, and she was tempted to come back to the surface to draw in another breath, but this needed to end now, so she pushed on, propelling her free leg around the monster’s waist so she could better position her hands around the woman’s neck. The creature’s colorful hair billowed around her as Cadence began to unscrew her head. With her newfound strength, since receiving the second round of Transformation serum, it only took her a moment before the head popped off. Cadence waited a second for the body to burst to ash and then shot to the surface, sucking in air as Elliott made an announcement that they had a winner.

She turned slowly to see dozens of people clapping, smiles on their faces. It had always been easy for Elliott to convince people to think whatever he wanted them to, but now that he had the second round of Transformation serum, it was even easier, and she imagined he’d already taken care of the people out by the fountain as well. Cadence gave a small wave to the crowd and proceeded to the side of the waterway where Elliott reached down and offered her his hand.

Tempted as she was to pull him into the water with her, she decided to leave that prank for another time, one where she wasn’t as exhausted, and let him yank her out of the water. “Do you think if I run fast enough I’ll dry off?” she asked, breathing in deeply.

“I’m not sure, but we can find out. Jamie and Ashley could probably use our help.”

Cadence checked her IAC and saw that he was right. She thought it was odd that Aaron and Aurora hadn’t headed that direction as soon as they had their marks, but now that they were done in the control room of the museum, they were actually on their way, too. “What were you guys doing?”

“Taking care of the cameras,” her fiancé replied promptly.

“What about Jamie?”

“What about him? He’s got this,” Aaron said nonchalantly.

Through her IAC, Cadence saw her friend scaling the side of the Eiffel Tower and wondered what in the world made Aaron think the Healer had things under control. She wasn’t about to leave things to chance. With three more Vampires between Italy and France, she took off in a sprint, Elliot beside her, dodging through people strolling down the sidewalk, between cars and around partiers, until she was standing beneath the hot air balloon, gazing up at Jamie and a Vampire several stories above her.

“Ashley’s inside with the other two. I’m gonna go help her,” Elliott said before taking off in a streak.

Cadence checked her IAC and saw Ashley sprinting past a French bakery in pursuit of a stocky, balding Vampire and one that didn’t even look to be a teenager yet. Above her, Jamie made a solid leap from one metallic rung to another closer to the Vampire who seemed to be going back up toward the landing. If she’d seen the interaction correctly before, the same Vampire had been on the landing, making his way down, when Jamie had stepped over the edge in pursuit. “What do you want me to do?” she asked.

“Stay there. In case he comes back down,” her friend replied, his voice showing he was putting a lot of effort into his climbing.

She watched him scale the side of the building, launching from one metal opening to the next, holding her breath. They were on the back side of the structure, so thus far no crowd had gathered to watch them, but she could only imagine the amount of interference it would take to dispel the idea that two men had been chasing each other around the outside of the Eiffel Tower. Her eyes flickered across the street to the Statue of Liberty and she thought of the Luxor as well. Better to end this here than go traipsing across the globe, sliding down the sides of pyramids. Worse yet would be a jump from a building as tall as the Stratosphere.

The Vampire was almost back to the landing. He held onto one rung, swinging back and forth, reaching with the other hand, trying to secure his placement. Jamie was closing in. Like Spiderman, he leapt across the void, landing near the Vampire and grasping one of the spiraling pieces of metal near the leg where the Vampire hung. Through Jamie’s IAC, she saw the monster pull back his lips, barring his fangs, and hissing in a frantic bid to save his undead life.

Undeterred, the Healer closed the distance. Rather than aiming for the building this time, he launched himself directly at the Vampire, grabbing ahold of the man’s waist, and pulling him straight down so that the monster had to let go of the metal. For a few seconds, they were both freefalling. Cadence covered her mouth, wondering if Jamie would be all right from a fall of that magnitude, but after twenty feet or so, he reached out and grabbed hold of the building again, the stop in momentum sending both bodies swinging violently. The Vampire lurched closer to the ground, but Jamie kept ahold of his pants with one hand. The bloodsucker rocketed back and forth like a pendulum and began to attempt to free himself from the article of clothing keeping him from escape.

Jamie was much stronger than the Vampire, however. Still holding onto the tower with one hand, he stretched his legs out and wrapped them around the monster’s waist, hauling him up so that the Vampire’s head was even with his bellybutton. The creature began to slash with his claws and even sunk his fangs into Jamie’s abdomen. Cadence watched in amazement as the physician healed himself instantaneously. There was nothing the Vampire could do at all to harm him. With his free hand, Jamie pulled his Glock out of his waistband and sunk a bullet into the back of the Vampire’s skull. It passed straight through him, landing in the bushes a few yards away from Cadence as bits of ash began to rain down on her. She stepped back now, seeing that Jamie did have it under control, thinking she didn’t need any more ash adhering itself to her soaking wet body.

Inside, Elliott and Ashley had already cornered the other two and taken them out. Elliott was in the process of explaining to a group of onlookers that it was all a new street show while Ashley raided a custodian’s closet for a broom. Jamie made his way back to the platform, noting he’d find the surveillance room, and Cadence breathed in the warm Nevada air, glad she was no longer affected by temperature or else she’d likely be sweltering, despite the hour and the fact that she was still drenched.

“See, I told you Jamie could handle it.”

She’d been aware her beloved was approaching before he came to be standing next to her, but she didn’t feel like telling him he was right, so she didn’t look his direction. Instead, she reminded him, “Ashley needed help.”

“Ashley got help. I’m not sure she needed it.” She turned and looked at him then, and he shrugged. “Interference help, I guess.”

They all always needed that. “We good?” she asked. “Where’s Roar?”

“We’re good. She headed back to the hotel. I didn’t see any reason for her to come over here.”

“Right. Since Jamie didn’t need any help,” she replied, trying not to sound too sarcastic. The feel of his fingers slipping into her hand made all the angst melt away.

“Why don’t we head back to our hotel?” His breath was warm on her neck, and little tingles of electricity pulsed down her spine in time to the flashing lights of the giant balloon beside her.

Cadence turned to gaze into piercing blue eyes and momentarily forgot she was soaking wet and covered in Vampire residue. “Sounds like a plan to me. You sure you’re not needed here?”

“Nah, the locals can take over now.” He pulled her closer, not caring at all that she would get his pants and leather jacket all wet.

She had met the locals earlier. There was no Vegas Area Leader because much of what happened in Vegas was perfectly acceptable. There were enough criminals for the Vampires to take out that they rarely bothered with Innocents. But there were Independent Hunter and Guardians who operated out of Sin City. Technically, they answered to Cale, the Reno Area Leader, but Aaron had wanted to handle this situation himself since this particular pocket was more sinister and larger than most, so Cale had stayed put. Cadence hadn’t minded the trip to Vegas at all. In the months since they’d taken out the four pockets in Kansas, the army Holland had been forming to take out the KC headquarters, they hadn’t seen much action. And who doesn’t love a trip to Vegas?

They turned and headed back toward the Bellagio, still hand in hand. Elliott protested them leaving without him, but it didn’t slow their steps. Keeping an acceptable human pace was difficult since thoughts of the activities that lay ahead of her were so enticing, but Cadence was tired of running for the night, so she let the anticipation build.

“This should just about do it for North America,” Aaron reminded her while they walked. “We’ve gotten every other major pocket. There’s just a few smaller groups we’ll still need to handle.”

“And we are going to leave the Compliants alone, right?” she clarified. It was a discussion they’d had on the way here. Since they’d taken out so many Compliant Vampires in the time between Melbourne and the annihilation raids, crime had increased in all of the major cities where they’d reduced the Vampire population. Aaron hadn’t been himself when he was making those decisions, and it hadn’t occurred to Cadence when she’d brought up the idea of totally wiping out the Vampire population that there would be consequences. She realized now that there had to be balance to the Ternion, which meant they couldn’t simply take out every single Vampire, though their actions had put fear into many who might’ve considered breaking the rules if they hadn’t started wiping out anyone and everyone who hit their radar.

“That’s the plan for now,” Aaron agreed. “We’ll see how it goes. Now that we’ve got fewer Noncompliants to worry about, we should be able to focus our energies on anyone who steps out of line.”

Cadence nodded and returned her focus to the sidewalk. It was hard not to look at him. With their wedding day approaching in less than a month, she never wanted to take her eyes off of him. She wished she didn’t have to worry about Vampires at all. But Holland was still out there, as was Hines and Danautor. The idea that they might live in a world where Vampires were not a problem was still a possibility. Unfortunately, the thought that she might eradicate all of the bad ones before saying her nuptials was not as likely as she’d hoped back when they’d originally come up with this plan. Holland was lying low, but she was still out there just the same, biding her time. For what, Cadence didn’t know, but she was certain she’d find out soon enough.

Despite the fact that she looked like she’d fallen into one of the famous Bellagio fountains, no one paid her any attention as Cadence and Aaron made their way to the elevator. Thank goodness anything was acceptable in Vegas. Even the other people on the elevator with them said nothing about her dripping all over the carpet.

Their room was on one of the upper levels, and with Aaron’s hand in hers, it seemed like it was taking forever. The idea of a hot shower—with him, of course—had her wanting to push everyone aside and take the stairs. Eventually, they made it to the right floor, and she pulled him toward their room. “Someone’s in a hurry,” Aaron mumbled under his breath as Cadence realized she no longer had her keycard. “I told you, you don’t need that thing anyway.” Somehow, he got the door open without removing his from his pocket.

“I still don’t know how you do that,” she said, pushing into the room.

“It’s magic.” He pulled her close, and Cadence felt her heart thumping in her chest. She was ready for a different kind of magic. His lips were warm and soft--and everywhere. When he finally pulled away, she found herself leaning into him, wanting more. “Why don’t you take off those wet clothes, and I’ll go turn the shower on.”

Incapable of speech at the moment, she only nodded and followed him to the bathroom with her eyes. This was the closest thing to a vacation they’d ever had, and she wanted to make the most of it, a sort of pre-marriage honeymoon.

By the time she worked her way out of the clingy, wet denim and made her way to the shower, Aaron was waiting for her, and all thoughts of Vampires and other work-related topics were rinsed away down the drain.

The view out the window from the bed was spectacular. Even though she had a remote to close the blinds, Cadence lay in bed for a while just watching the twinkling lights of Sin City, Aaron’s arm protectively around her. It was so late now, it was almost early, and she could feel her eyelids growing heavy. Thoughts of the upcoming wedding were keeping her awake, though, and she wished she could shut them off and get some rest, but there was still so much to do.

“You might sleep better with the shades drawn,” he whispered behind her.

“You’re right. I just... it’s so beautiful out there. Can you imagine having this view at home?”

“My view at home is always beautiful.” Cadence rolled over to look at him, not sure what he meant. With that crooked grin she loved so much, he added, “ I get to look at you.”

She scoffed. “Oh, stop or you’ll keep me up even longer.”

Aaron chuckled and kissed her softly on the lips, being sweet and not trying to instigate another round since he could plainly see how tired she was. He settled back down next to her, reached across for the remote, and closed the shades before she could protest. “Are you thinking about the wedding?”

“Always,” she replied with a sigh. The list of items to complete seemed to be growing longer, not shorter, as the day approached.

“It doesn’t have to be so complicated,” Aaron reminded her--not for the first time. “Just... delegate what you have left to do, and stop worrying about it.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” she muttered, even though she couldn’t imagine him ever doing that with anything important to him. Not that the wedding wasn’t important, but he’d made it clear months ago that he didn’t care where they got married, what kind of flowers, anything, so long as they were together forever. So she’d planned most everything herself, only consulting with him because she wanted to share, and while he’d given his opinion, she knew he truly couldn’t care less about the million details that were keeping her up.

“It is easy for me to say,” he admitted. “It would be easy for you to say, too, if you’d just do it.”

“I want it to be... perfect, though.”

“Nothing’s perfect—except for you.”

She rolled her eyes and ran her hand down his chest, careful not to get anything started again. She really did need to get some sleep or else she’d be spending her last full day in Vegas too tired to do anything. “I wish my mom had an IAC so I could remind her that she said she’d find those light blue crystals I wanted, the ones I saw at that craft store last month and decided I didn’t want.”

“But now you do want them?”

“Well, they match better than the other ones we picked out.”

“So text her.”

“I can’t. She’ll hear it and check her phone, and I don’t want to wake her up.”

“So make a note to yourself to text her in the morning.” His arm was still around her, but she could tell he was considering getting up in order to escape this conversation. She didn’t want him to leave her, though.

“I did.”

“Good. Then, don’t worry about it.”

“That’s easy for you to say.”

“I think we are talking in circles.” He smiled and kissed the tip of her nose. “Cadence, it’ll all be there for you to worry about in a few hours when you get up.”

He had a point. “I wish I could just turn my brain off.”

“Tell me about it.”

She pursed her lips then but didn’t comment on the fact that he could turn the voices in his head off if he wanted to. Granted, he’d probably still have dozens of rogue thoughts, like she did, but most of what was stirring in his brain originated elsewhere. “I’ll try not to think about it anymore tonight. I do need to get some sleep.”

Aaron leaned up so that he was on one elbow, his face hovering over hers. “You know, Cadence, if you’re that worried about the wedding, we are in Vegas.”

She cocked her head to the side and gazed up with him. “What do you mean?”

“I mean... I know you’ll still want to have your grand affair, but... would it take some of the pressure off of you if we were already married?”

Cadence stared at him for a long moment, her mouth slightly ajar. “What? Do you mean... get married while we are here?”

Aaron shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “Why not? That’s the most important part of all of this, right? We could get married tomorrow, and then, the planning for the other ceremony might not seem all that important to you. It’s just a thought. If you don’t want to....”

“No, it’s not that,” Cadence started as he settled back beside her. “It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s just—if my mom found out, she’d kill me.”

“How would she find out?”

“Well, Elliott’s not exactly good at keeping his mouth shut about most things,” she reminded him, although he had somehow managed to not tell his kid or Cass about his relationship—or whatever it was—with Aurora until just a few weeks ago. And that hadn’t gone over that well, so maybe he’d learned his lesson.

“Who says Elliott has to know?” Aaron asked as he began to run his fingertips up and down the flesh of her bare arm. “We don’t have to tell anyone.”

Cadence tried to concentrate on his words and not the sensation of electric pulses reverberating through her skin. “Don’t we have to have witnesses or something?”

“Nope. All we need is a marriage license. The chapels take care of everything else.”

That thought ruminated for a moment. It seemed so much easier than everything else she was trying to accomplish, and if none of their friends even knew, what were the chances her mother would find out? “Where do you get a license?”

“At the courthouse. The website says it takes about fifteen minutes.”

Even in the dark, with her excellent vision, she could see him clearly. “You checked the website?” Aaron shrugged but didn’t say more. “What do you need to get a license?”

“Just a picture ID that says you’re over eighteen.”

“You’re definitely over eighteen.”

He poked her in the ribs, making her laugh. “My driver’s license does not give my true age.”

“You think?” Hers didn’t either, though. It said she was older. She wouldn’t even be twenty-one until the end of September.

“Hey, it’s just a thought. I know you’ll still have the big wedding ceremony to plan, and we’ll have to fool everyone into thinking we aren’t married and all of that, but I’m ready to marry you, Cadence. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

His fingertips on her arm were causing all kinds of thoughts in her mind, but the realization of what he’d just said made her eyes misty. Cadence scooted even closer to him, nestling her head against his chest. “I’ll think about it, okay?”

Aaron kissed her softly on the top of her head. “Okay. But for now, get some sleep.”

Her eyelids seemed to weigh a hundred pounds. “’Kay,” she said, feeling sleep overtake her. Thoughts of everything she had to do were replaced with how lucky she was to have found such an amazing man who loved her more than anything. Not many people could say that, and even less could be certain that they’d get to spend hundreds of years together. As she drifted off, Cadence’s gratitude that she’d get to spend an eternity in this man’s arms brought a smile to her lips and pleasant dreams to her mind. Not even Holland could interfere with that.

Chapter 3

Voices from the balcony caught Cadence’s attention as her eyes opened to a bright, early-afternoon sun. She recognized them immediately. Aaron was trying to keep the volume down, probably because he didn’t want to wake her. Elliott sounded pissed about something, and his deep voice reverberated through the air like a bass drum.

Checking the time on her IAC, she saw that it was almost 1:00 in the afternoon. She had several missed messages, mostly from Aurora, which seemed odd at first, but then she realized if Elliott was here and angry, the two issues might be related. She also had some messages from her sister who was still upset she hadn’t been allowed to come to Vegas.

Deciding to ignore all of those missives for now, since there was something wrong with Elliott, Cadence put on a robe, made sure it was belted well-enough not to give away any of her secrets, and headed out to the living area where the balcony door was located.

They were headed back inside before she could even say anything. She caught Elliott mid-sentence. “I’m just gonna head home. I don’t need any more bullshit.”

“Are you going to take an airliner?” Aaron asked, following him in. He smiled at Cadence but was clearly concerned about his best friend and didn’t say anything directly to her yet.

“Nah. Those damn seats are so cramped. I’ll just rent a bike or something. Hey, kid,” he acknowledged Cadence but was headed toward the door.

“What’s going on?” she asked, looking from one of them to the other.

“Nothin’,” Elliott said dismissively, his hand already yanking the door open. “Just... be thankful you two have each other. And don’t be jackasses, no matter how mad ya get.” He was out in the hallway, still muttering to himself, and Cadence watched him go, confused.

Aaron followed him out the door, but she couldn’t hear what else he said. Maybe something about being careful, though that seemed like an odd thing to say to someone who couldn’t die. He could’ve meant be careful he didn’t do anything he’d regret, she thought.

She heard her friend’s footsteps echo down the hallway, and then Aaron came back in and closed the door. He stood there for a second, rubbing the stubble on his perfect jaw, his blue eyes looking in her direction but not quite at her. “What happened?” she asked again.

He sighed and ran a hand through his light brown hair. The beige shirt he was wearing was slightly wrinkled, and she was pretty sure he was wearing the same jeans he’d had on the day before, which told her he must’ve thrown them on in a hurry. It wasn’t like him to look even remotely disheveled, though she kind of liked it.

Before he answered, he crossed to the sofa and dropped down, and she moved so that she was perched on the armrest at the other end. “Roar’s pissed. He went to a strip club while she was asleep, and when he got back, they had a huge fight.”

“Oh.” Cadence wasn’t sure what else to say. She had to let that sink in for a moment. They were in Vegas after all, and while Aurora didn’t need as much sleep as Cadence did, she still had to sleep some. “Who did he go with?”

Aaron made a face, like he didn’t want to tell her. He glanced at her and then looked away.

“Not you?” she asked, her eyebrows knitting together.

“No,” he said quickly, and she felt her heart flutter in her chest as its pace returned to normal. “I was here with you. All night.”

She slid onto the couch next to him, not even sure why she was so relieved to hear that. Was a strip club really so awful as long as nothing happened? Still, she was glad he hadn’t left her in the middle of the night. His hand fell to her knee, and she tried to decide whether or not Aurora had the right to be mad until she realized he still hadn’t answered her question. “So... with who?”

“Some of the local guys,” he replied slowly before adding, “and Jamie.”

Cadence’s head whirled around to look at him as her mouth fell open. “Jamie?”

“Yes.”

“Jamie—Dr. Joplin?”

“Yes.”

Cadence looked away, her mouth still hanging open. Of all of the people she’d ever met in her life, Jamie would be the last person she could imagine going to a strip club—except for her mother, of course. “What does Ashley think about that?”

“Ashley didn’t mind. I think that’s one of the reasons Elliott’s so pissed. In fact, Ashley said, ‘Go, have fun.’ But then... Jamie asked Ashley first, and she probably knew there wouldn’t be anything to worry about. Jamie probably sat in the corner with his eyes on the ground the whole time.”

“Huh,” Cadence said, sinking back against the couch cushions. “Huh.”

“Anyway,” Aaron continued, gently rubbing her knee, “I guess Aurora’s pretty angry, and Elliott says he’s done with that.”

“Yeah, it sounded like he was pretty mad, too.” Even as she was speaking, another message from Aurora came through. She sent a quick message that she had just woken up and would be over as soon as she could be there. “What are we going to do about this?” she asked, turning to look at him again.

“What can we do? It’s really not our business.”

He had a point, but she hated to see either one of her friends upset. And then there was the fact that they still had to work together. “Maybe they’ll sort it out.”

“Maybe. I don’t know. It sounded like she was trying to make this into something it isn’t, or at least something Elliott didn’t think it was. I think he’s been clear all along that they’re not a couple, so she really shouldn’t be trying to tell him what he can and cannot do.”

“True,” Cadence agreed. “But she’s been more invested all along, I think.” She remembered a few times when Elliott had made comments about how it wasn’t really a relationship, and while Aurora had agreed, she’d seen in her friend’s eyes that she didn’t really feel that way. “I guess I better go talk to her.”

“Are you going to take a shower first?” Aaron asked as Cadence contemplated pulling herself up off of the comfy couch.

“Are you saying I stink?”

He laughed. “No, I was just thinking, if you are, I can order you some breakfast while you’re getting ready.”

“That would be great.” She leaned over and kissed him—quickly so as not to fall into anything else—before hopping up off of the couch and heading toward the bathroom.

“What do you want?” he called after her.

“Surprise me!” Cadence shouted back. One less thing to decide. She turned the water on and took care of a few other bathroom necessities before stepping into the warm deluge. Thoughts of what Aaron had mentioned to her right before she dozed off came back to her, and she realized she owed him an answer. Would she be willing to go ahead and get married while they were in Vegas, and if so, would that make things any less complicated? The idea of being his wife at last was comforting. But the thought of keeping the truth a secret for the next couple hundred years was not as appealing. As she ran her hands through her hair, washing away the suds from the shampoo, she hoped he wouldn’t bring it up again but thought that wouldn’t be the case. It was just one more decision she had to make, and that’s what she’d been trying to avoid.

Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, she was ready to go to Aurora’s room. She headed back into the living area to see a smorgasbord laid out before her. The aroma of fresh bacon mingled with orange juice and pastries, sending her stomach into a tailspin. “Good grief,” she muttered sinking down into a chair at the overloaded table. “Now that’s what I call a surprise.”

“Well, we don’t do this very often, so I wanted you to have everything you might want,” Aaron replied from his spot across the room on the sofa. He closed his laptop and came over as Cadence dug in, but she knew he wouldn’t eat anything. “After you get back from Aurora’s, what do you want to do today?”

They’d talked about various touristy sites they could visit but hadn’t pinned anything down. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I’d tell you to surprise me again, but something tells me we won’t have time for everything you might plan.” She bit into a crisp piece of bacon, and the flavor overwhelmed her taste buds. She hadn’t realized she was famished until she was faced with an endless supply of food. It dawned on her that if Elliott were there, he could easily put all of this away.

“Well, you think about it, and let me know,” he said, kissing her on the head before walking back to the sofa.

“Are you working?” she asked, wishing he could close his laptop. But then he’d have his IAC. It never ended. She’d already told him while they were in Fiji on their honeymoon neither of them would be utilizing their IACs and their laptops were staying in KC.

“Just checking a few things.” He said it as if it were no big deal, but she knew it was more than that.

She kept her comments to herself, though. Having been wedding obsessed since their last major hunt in April, she wasn’t one to tell him that he couldn’t pore over his work. Cadence popped the last bite of a muffin into her mouth and surveyed the table. Her stomach told her she’d had enough, but there were so many more pastries she wanted to try. Deciding they could wait until later and Aurora needed her, she wiped her hands off on a napkin, took another swig of orange juice, and crossed the room to kiss Aaron goodbye.

He closed his laptop as she approached, not in a secretive way but in order to signal she had his attention. “Good luck,” he said as she stooped to kiss him.

“Yeah, thanks. I’ll need it.” Being good friends with both parties during a break up—or whatever this was—was never easy. She thought back to when Kash and Drew had broken up in high school and the horrible aftermath of that fight. Cadence could do without another situation like that. “Has Elliott checked in with you?”

“Yeah, he found a place to rent a motorcycle, and he’s on his way back to Kansas City.”

She shook her head. Part of her had hoped he’d stick around so that he could talk it out with Roar after she’d had a chance to calm down. But it seemed like that wouldn’t happen. Maybe whatever this was between them was over now. Maybe that was for the better.

“All right,” she said, stalling long enough. “I’ll be back.”

He gave her a sympathetic smile, and Cadence headed out the door, praying she’d know what to say. She was never very good at making people feel better.

Aurora’s room was just down the hallway, so she didn’t have much time to think about her words before her friend opened the door, her eyes red, and her nose drippy. Cadence opened her arms, and Aurora enveloped her, unable to speak through her tears.

Cadence smoothed back her long red hair, still tangled as if she hadn’t bothered to brush it since she’d gotten up. She was wearing her pajamas and smelled a little like Vampire. But Cadence let all of that go and tried to make her feel better. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “Take some deep breaths. It’ll be okay.”

“It’ll... never... be... okay,” Aurora countered. She towered over Cadence, even though she had on shoes, and Aurora was barefoot, but at the moment, the Amazonian seemed like a little child.

Afraid her ribs might end up accidentally getting crushed, Cadence slipped out of her grasp and led her over to the sofa. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“He just... he never treats me like I matter, like he doesn’t even have to tell me where he’s going. And why does he need a strip club?” she shouted, tearing up again. “I thought that’s what I was supposed to be doing!”

Without knowing the intimate details of their arrangement, Cadence didn’t know how to respond to that, so she didn’t address it. “I think you just need to try to take some deep breaths and calm down, sweetie,” she said, patting her friend’s knee. “I’m so sorry you’re having to go through this.”

Aurora had a wadded up tissue in her hand that looked like it was the only one she’d ever owned, so Cadence looked around for the box and spied it on a desk across the room. She brought it over, and Aurora broke into another diatribe about everything Elliott ever did that was stupid or unfair, and how she’d tried to reason with him and gotten nowhere. Cadence just listened, biting back interjections that seemed unjust to her absent friend since that’s not what Aurora needed to hear right now, and after almost an hour of talking and crying, she managed to say a few things that got Aurora feeling slightly better, like maybe some time away from each other was for the best, and Elliott hadn’t had a girlfriend in a long time, so maybe he didn’t remember how to treat a lady. She didn’t say that she was confident Aurora wasn’t his girlfriend and that she needed to take a step back and think about that because she was pretty sure that had been Elliott’s argument when he’d tried to defend himself earlier, and he’d gotten nowhere with it.

“Why don’t you just spend the rest of the afternoon at the pool?” Cadence suggested, once Aurora seemed to have her crying under control. “It’s a nice day outside.”

Aurora seemed to be considering that suggestion when there was a knock on the door. “I’ll get it,” Cadence offered, figuring it was either one of their friends or room service. She pulled the door open and thought she was wrong on both counts. “Oh, Ashley. Hi.” She tried to keep her tone light. No reason to get into it with the blonde bombshell right now.

“Hey, Cadence,” Ashley said, also sounding like a Fakey McFakerson. “Oh, Aurora, you poor thing!” she gushed, coming past Cadence into the room with her arms open. “I heard all about it. Poor dear! Elliott is such a loser!” She wrapped her arms around the redhead, and within seconds, Aurora was bawling again. Cadence stood by the door for a moment with her arms folded, thinking of all the time she’d just wasted.

Aurora was compelled to go over the entire fight again while Ashley listened and bashed Elliott every second she got. Cadence kept her mouth closed most of the time. There was one time, when Ashley called Elliott a sad SOB that she had to interject, asking her to be a little less critical of their teammate. Ashley apologized, but the next chance she got to say something negative about Elliott, it came out of her pretty little mouth, and Cadence was left wondering if she’d always felt that way about her friend or if she was just trying to make Aurora feel better.

“I’ll tell you what,” Ashley said once Aurora had gone over everything again, “I have something that is sure to cheer you up.”

“What’s that?” Aurora asked, her eyebrows arching in curiosity.

Ashley dug into the bag she was carrying and pulled out three tickets. Cadence was too far away to see what they were, but an uneasy feeling settled into her stomach. “We are going to see Thunder Down Under tonight! Just the three of us!” She grinned and showed Cadence the tickets and then flashed them back at Aurora.

Instantly, Aurora looked a hundred times better. “Oh, my God!” she muttered. “I never would’ve considered going to something like that before. But you know what? Screw him. I’m going!”

“It’ll be just what you need,” Ashley replied, patting Aurora on the shoulder. “Give him a little taste of his own medicine.”

Cadence stared at the pair in confusion. Her fiancé hadn’t gone to a strip club the night before. Why was she being enlisted in this revenge trip? While she may have thought such a show could be fun a few years ago, now that she was happily engaged to the only man she ever wanted to see stripping, the thought of sitting through a show of that nature left her shaking her head. “I can’t go to that,” she said, hoping Ashley would let it be.

Of course, she didn’t. “What? Why not? It’s just a little fun. I’m sure Aaron won’t mind. If you ask him. Aurora probably would’ve let Elliott go last night if he would’ve been nice enough to ask.”

That had not been the problem; Cadence knew better, despite the fact that Aurora was nodding her head in agreement now. “Yeah, I just don’t think that’s my thing.”

“Come on, Cadence! Don’t be a prude!” Aurora urged. “Since you’re not having a bachelorette party, at least give us this. It will make me feel better.” She stuck out her bottom lip, a move Cadence had never seen her friend attempt to pull off before, and she truly did look pathetic.

“I don’t know....” Cadence really did not want to go. But she could tell it would mean a lot to Aurora, and she did feel sorry for the girl, even if she thought Aurora had a warped view of the relationship she’d had with Elliott. “I came here to spend time with Aaron.”

“And your friends,” Ashley reminded her. Cadence would’ve argued that Ashley was not her friend, but that seemed rude. Aurora certainly was. “Besides, you’ll be seeing so much of him on your two week trip to Fiji, you’ll get bored of him.”

Cadence couldn’t imagine ever getting bored of Aaron. But she could see she was getting nowhere. They didn’t have any plans for that night, nothing in stone anyway, just a few ideas they’d tossed around. “Let me ask him.”

“Okay, but you better not tell us he said no when he didn’t—because I will ask!” Aurora threatened.

Pursing her lips to one side, Cadence didn’t respond. That had been the idea. “Hey—whatcha up to?” she asked, hoping she wasn’t interrupting anything important.

“Not much. Aurora doing better?”

“She is. But... her and Ash want me to go with them to a show tonight. I told them I’d talk to you about it.”

“Oh, yeah? What kind of show?”

Cadence took a deep breath. “It’s, uh, called Thunder from Down Under.”

“What is that? Like Imagine Dragons or something?”

She was hoping he would just know, not confuse it with the name of a popular song. “Uh, no. It’s....”