I set the papers down and rushed to the door. When I saw Cadence’s face, I was both relieved and irritated. “What the crap?” I asked, looking her up and down. She was so tan, she looked like she was born on the beach. Her hair was all wavy, and she had a glow about her like nothing I’ve ever noticed before. She should’ve been smiling and happy, returned from her honeymoon and reveling in wedded bliss. Instead, she looked just as worried as I felt. “Why are you here?” I asked, meaning why hadn’t she called me to let me know she was coming, but it didn’t come out that way, and I realized I needed to focus or she was going to think I wasn’t glad to see her. In actuality, the only time I ever remember being happier to see anyone was when Elliott was at my door after he died—and when I saw Brandon at the hospital after the portal.
“Hi, sis,” Cadence said, giving me a hug and ignoring my snarkiness. “How are you?”
“Okay,” I said, moving aside so she could come in. I had noticed that Aaron was with her, of course, but hadn’t given him any attention yet. I gestured for them both to have a seat and gave him a small wave, hoping he didn’t feel like hugging me. I wasn’t in a hugging mood. “Why are you back early?”
Cadence sat down on my couch, and I moved past her to sit down in my spot in front of the papers I’d just been staring at. Aaron sat on the edge of the recliner like he wanted to be ready in case he had to leap up for some unexpected reason.
Flipping her hair over her shoulder, Cadence said, “Honestly? I had a really horrible dream the other day, and I just couldn’t get it out of my head. It seemed dumb at the time, but I decided we needed to head back a day early, so we did.” The mention of the dream had my stomach knotting up before she even finished her story. “And then, I walked into Hannah’s office and saw my nightmare right there on the screen for all to see. It was the craziest thing ever!”
I understood her expression now. I felt terrible. I had assumed my sister would call me when she saw the dream I’d sent her, and I’d be the one to explain it to her. I had no idea she’d see it on the big screen before I got a chance. “Oh, yeah, about that....” I began, not sure exactly how to tell her what I had done.
“What do you mean, ‘about that’?” Cadence’s tone was alarmed to say the least as she stared at me waiting for an answer.
I didn’t dare avert my eyes to Aaron because he has a way of judging you in a very seemingly innocent way that is even worse than the teacher-look at school. Instead, I studied the threading on my sofa. “I sort of... sent that dream to you.”
Cadence’s eyes flickered to her husband and I hazarded a glance in his direction, assuming he’d be looking back at her and couldn’t put me in my place. He was, but I still felt really bad seeing them both rendered speechless by something I’d done.
Scooting back a little so she could turn to see me better, Cadence asked, “How is that possible?
“I don’t know,” I admitted, not looking at either of them again. “I’ve never done it before, and I didn’t even know if I could do it. Since you never called or used your IAC to get in touch with me, I sort of thought maybe you didn’t get it. But I guess you did.”
“Yeah, I did.” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. I let her get her thoughts together for a moment. My sister pressed her palm to her forehead and shook her head slowly. I guess I hadn’t realized just how powerful that dream would be. Maybe it was a supercharged nightmare because of the vividness of the imagery. Or maybe it was just the heinous cast of characters. “Of all the people, Cassidy.”
It took me a second to realize what she meant, and then I got it. Eliza. She was mad because I had used Eliza’s perspective. “No, I know. And I didn’t want to be involved with what’s going on because of her either. Except... I kind of needed to be.” Now was my opportunity to say to my sister what I’d been wanting to tell her for more days than I could count, practically since she’d left. It needed to come out not only convincingly but calmly, and I didn’t exactly have my wits about me. I took a deep breath and tried to explain. “Listen, sis, I’ve been trying to tell the others practically the whole time you two have been gone that I think something is going on with Daunator, but no one will listen.” I turned to Aaron now, seeing my sister contemplating my statements but not knowing what to do with them yet. He might. “Do you know how many missing persons there are in the areas around Budapest and Prague?”
He was shaking his head before I finished the question. “I haven’t looked at that yet.”
“Almost six hundred.” That seemed more shocking to them than the fact that I had put the dream in my sister’s head. Cadence fell back against the couch cushions, her eyes wide. “In less than two weeks,” I reminded them. “I was alarmed when we were at 450, but no one seemed to care.”
“Wait.” Aaron ran his hand through his hair, something I’ve noticed he does when he’s nervous or puzzled. I was going with puzzled this time. “Are you saying almost six hundred people have gone missing from Eastern Europe since our wedding?”
I knew it was hard to believe, but I had the paperwork to back it up. “Yeah. A lot of them haven’t exactly been missed yet, I guess, and the media is practically ignoring it, but they’re still gone.”
“What are your sources?”
I couldn’t blame Cadence for asking. It would be a much better situation if my numbers were off or I had simply lost my mind. But I was confident. “Same places Christian uses to check. Homeless shelters, newspapers, police reports, social media.”
Cadence nodded that I was correct, those were the normal places we would be looking into. Her eyes were still wide. “I guess Mila knows this?”
“She knows,” I confirmed, even though I hadn’t spoken directly to the Leader.