Cassidy sat in her chair atop the apartment building looking off in the distance, feeling the world around them to see how close the Vampires were now. A few weeks had passed, and she knew they were still out there, but this had become a standoff, a long game, not a simple flash in the pan attack, and every day, as more Guardians arrived from the settlement in Roatan, the Vampires became more nervous. She could feel it rolling off of them, but she could also hear it in their chatter.
LIGHTS was planning an attack now, an epic one, and Holland knew it. Cassidy spent too much time in the Vampire queen’s head. She always knew when she was there, but she couldn’t hide her thoughts. The ancient creature was prepared to throw everything she had at the ones who had taken her lover from her twice now, and in her mind, she believed she’d find a way to wipe all of them from the Earth, even the Guardians.
She was no closer now than she had been when they’d first taken Paul, however. When Cassidy entered Dr. Hines’s demented mind, she never stayed long. But she needed to make sure his experiments weren’t working. And so far he hadn’t come up with anything solid.
Tara—their own little experiment—was amazing, and Cassidy felt that training with her was definitely making her a stronger Hunter. She knew her sister and Elliott would undergo the same process soon enough, which made Cassidy nervous, but if they could do feats similar to what Tara and Aaron could do, then wiping out Holland’s forces would be child’s play.
Having had a taste of battle, Cassidy felt invigorated, ready to face the demons again. Ever since she’d realized what her sister was, over a year ago, she’d longed for the day to come when she’d also be allowed to fight the creatures of the night. The thrill of decapitation hadn’t left her, and she trained daily for her next chance to join the fray. She knew it would come soon enough.
The Guardians who agreed to come and help, the ones who had been in retirement for decades, even centuries, had done so with the understanding that the Retransformation serum would make them human again as soon as Holland and her forces were destroyed. And now that Dr. Morrow was certain it would work, more arrived every day. Cassidy had even met Alexander Hamilton.
“Your mom said you needed to be home by eight,” Brandon reminded her, causing Cassidy to open her eyes. Having her parents on base was actually comforting. She felt like a child again, to a degree, something she didn’t realize she’d ever miss. Of course, she didn’t get to spend quite as much time with Brandon now, but that was okay, too. He was always on her mind—and in it.
“All right. I guess we can go,” she replied with a heavy sigh, looking out into the darkness one more time.
“Still couldn’t find anything else about Heather then?” He reached for her hand and pulled her up to standing.
“Not this time.” No matter how hard she searched, she couldn’t find out any more information on the Hybrid Mina had introduced to her at the RV park. All she had was an image in her head and a name—Heather. She refused to give up, though. If another like her had come before, Cassidy wanted to learn everything there was to know about her.
Brandon’s fingers fit perfectly into hers, and she was certain he was the one for her—for right now--possibly forever. They were young, though, and she wasn’t willing to make any promises. She was glad that Dax was dating Tara. They made a cute couple. Any feelings he’d developed for Cassidy seemed to have dissipated now that he realized she had a boyfriend.
“Do you think your mom will let you come over and watch a movie tomorrow night?” Brandon asked as they headed down the stairs.
“I don’t know. It’s a school night. And I did get a B on my last math quiz.”
“It was a B+. You still have an A in the class.”
“True. We’ll see.” She couldn’t blame him for not understanding what it was like to have parents who monitored your studies closely. Elliott trusted him to do his work and checked in occasionally, but that was it. His mom had never paid any attention at all to Brandon’s classes, and now that she was in rehab, she was even more distant. But that was okay because she was fixing herself, and Cassidy had faith that someday she’d meet the woman Elliott had fallen in love with. Brandon would be meeting that woman for the first time, too.
Before he pushed open the door that led to the hall outside of her new apartment, the one she’d moved into with her parents recently, Brandon stopped her. “I want to kiss you goodnight. And I don’t need your mom spying on us through the peephole again.”
Cassidy’s face reddened. “You don’t have to ask to kiss me, Brandon. Any time you—”
She didn’t get a chance to finish the sentence before his lips were on hers.
* * *
“So we are in agreement then?” Aaron asked, surveying the other three faces at the table. “Tomorrow, Jamie will administer the Retransformation serum to Sam and Laura?”
Cadence nodded. “Now that Laney’s back from South Africa, I think it’s time to do it.”
“And then we’ll transfer them to federal prison,” Hannah nodded.
The full explanation of how that was possible wasn’t needed; Cadence had taken Aaron’s word that it was easily done. If Elliott held credentials from the Center of Disease Control, then she had no doubt her fiancé could convince the judicial system that these two had been convicted of whatever he’d wanted to charge them with. It didn’t really matter that there had been no trial. They were both guilty, and everyone knew it. Laura’s charges had been for attempted murder, which meant she might actually go free one day. But Sam had been charged with murder, and since the person he’d murdered could identify him, having a trial seemed like a waste of time. He’d die in prison, probably sooner rather than later.
“Okay. I’ll get on it. Bright and early,” Jamie said, slamming his hands down on the table as if putting a period on the statement. “Now, if the rest of the committee will excuse me… I have a date.”
A smile spread across Cadence’s face as she thought of Jamie taking Ashley out. They couldn’t leave headquarters because Aaron had decided it wasn’t safe for Hunters to go beyond the walls under the circumstances, but it didn’t matter because Jamie made a mean lasagna. “Have a great time.” She reached out and grabbed his hand and he smiled at her, clearly grateful for the suggestion. Ash was no Ellie, but she was a beautiful girl with lots of redeeming qualities, which Cadence could see much more clearly now that the woman was no longer interested in her fiancé.
Hannah bid them goodbye and headed out the door with Jamie, leaving Cadence alone with the man she loved. His worried expression was constant now as he moved people around and tried to keep on top of things. Holland was relentless, they both knew that, and she would stop at nothing when it came to getting revenge for Carter, for the second time.