Cadence handed her phone to Ashley behind her and then headed for the cabin. I didn’t really need to know what the texts said because Brandon was out of the portal now. I assumed there must be a reason why only three of them jumped, but if Elliott and the others were in danger, now wasn’t the time to clue me in on this. Ashley started sobbing behind me; maybe I needed to know after all.
I turned to look at her. “Jamie’s still in there,” she said between gasps.
“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. Are you watching the fight?”
“What fight?” She wiped at her tears with the back of her hands. “There are demon hunters in there now, and they sound terrifying.”
“Brandon and Dax are under fire at the Colosseum. Brandon’s leg is shattered from the fall.”
“At least he’s out.” She wasn’t really listening to me, so I decided to turn around and focus on Brandon. I did wish Jamie had come out with them. If he had, he’d be able to fix Brandon’s leg without any effort at all. And the demon hunters did sound scary. But the fact that my boyfriend was in severe pain and there were Vampires closing in surpassed any feelings of dread I had about what was happening in the portal.
Brandon glanced down at his leg, and I could see bone. I tried to keep my revulsion to myself. I wasn’t sure what Amanda knew, but I heard Hannah speaking to her quietly and imagined she was telling her what was happening. Probably not about that bone sticking out of his leg, though. I could taste bile rising in the back of my throat. Where was a Healer when you needed one?
“I’m guessing some of these people are on our side?” Heather was asking Brandon. I was having a hard time paying attention though because I received an urgent message from Lex at that moment.
“Cassidy—are you in Brandon’s head? I need visuals. I’m not exactly sure where he’s at, and I’m pinned outside of the walls.”
I had never spoken to Lex before, but now was as good a time as any to get acquainted. “I’m with him. I’ll let him know.”
I took a deep breath. This wasn’t exactly what I thought my first words to him would be. “Brandon, you need to accept visuals from Lex,” I told my boyfriend in as calm a voice as I could muster. “He’s trying to get in contact with you. They’re on their way to you.”
“Okay.” Even the one word answer sounded pained.
I kept Lex on and saw he was able to get through the wall now, but Brandon was a long way off, and there seemed to be more Vampires than people dressed in black on the field. I prayed he’d find a way to hurry over to where Brandon was sitting, and that he had a good Healer.
Despite the situation, Brandon came back to me. “Hey, baby. How’s it going?”
The amount of cheese in that question would’ve been enough to keep a year’s supply of Elliott’s Cheetos covered. I had to giggle, so I covered my mouth because no one else could possibly know what was funny. “Just great,” I replied as a bullet came whizzing a little too close to his head for my comfort. That had to be a stray from one of us because none of the Vampires were armed. “Listen, I’m gonna let you concentrate on not getting caught in the crossfire, babe, okay? I love you.”
“I love you so much.”
I stayed with him, watching as the black uniforms finally seemed to catch up with the vicious bloodsuckers. They were the sort that had no regard for their own welfare, clearly powered by Holland, and they were nearly unstoppable as they launched themselves at Guardians and Hunters alike. Bullets weren’t doing much. Brandon needed a shield.
Throwing a shield from this far away would be nearly impossible for me, especially since I wasn’t grounded. I know it sounds silly, but I was moving so fast through space and time, I felt as if I’d have to keep adjusting my tactics to keep them covered, if I could even establish one at all. It’s not easy throwing one at this great of a distance. I closed my eyes and concentrated the best I could, but I wasn’t getting any traction. When I returned my attention to the battle, I saw Heather had one of Brandon’s knives and was making short work of a woman with long, red hair.
“Brandon, do you think Heather could throw a shield?”
He didn’t answer me. Instead, he reached up and grabbed her jacket. “Listen, you need to set up a shield.” His voice conveyed the urgency of the situation. He had encountered enough of these super powerful Vampires by now to understand the difference a shield could make.
Heather was confused. “A what?”
“A shield,” Brandon reiterated. “Cass does it all the time, so I bet you can, too.” Her forehead was still crinkled, but she was listening. “You just need to use all of your energy and concentrate on blocking any signals coming in from Holland. I don’t know exactly how Cass does it, but she does it with her mind.”
I wished I could explain it to him, or that Heather had an IAC so I could try to talk to her. But she was skeptical. “With my mind? You think I can set up some sort of a protection from some Vampire I ain’t never heard of with my mind?” Her accent was thick, way thicker than even Elliott’s, but I understood her. Too bad she couldn’t understand Brandon.
“Yes, I do.” He paused to shoot a Vampire that was bearing down on them. It slowed, but didn’t stop. “Just try Heather. Concentrate!”
“But that thing’s comin’ right at us!”
“Yeah, and they’ll continue to do so unless you can set up a shield!”