Repercussion: The Clandestine Saga Book 3 (2 page)

              "Me, too," Laura said, though she wasn't necessarily thinking of the same person Sharon was. "We have another favor to ask, if you don't mind."

              Sharon's eyebrows went up. "What would that be?"

              Laura exchanged glances with Sam, and he began to explain. "We have found that it might be in our best interest to let Aaron and the LIGHTS team know, from time to time, what we are doing--give them bits of information. But now, we can't communicate with them ourselves. We've enlisted a few Hunters and Guardians to help with this. Would you be willing to pass on information once in a while, without letting them know we are the source?"

              "Oh, I don't know..." Sharon began. "I don't think I'd be up to contacting him directly."

"No need for that," Laura assured her. "There are other Guardians you can communicate with. We'll provide you with a list of contacts you can talk to who will hand your information on in turn, without revealing you are the initial source."

              After a few moments of thought, Sharon said, "All right. I guess I can do that, too."

              "Wonderful," Laura said. Not only would she be a lifeline for them, she would also serve as one more voice to confuse the chatter, one more noise to filter, one more notch in their belts.

             
Four months later…

              "I really love this song," Aurora shouted over the blaring bass line and reverberating beat of the drums. "What's the name of this band?"

              "The Kursk," Meaghan replied, her hands over her ears. "I like them, too, but it's way too loud in here. They need to turn the stereo down. How in the world are we supposed to carry on a conversation over this racket?"

              Cadence Findley smirked at her friends. Over the last few months, she had been on dozens of missions with these two, taken out well over thirty Vampires, and had plenty of adventures under her belt. Now, they were in Reno getting ready to meet with the leader of the local branch of LIGHTS (The Lincoln International Guardian and Hunter Training Station) about a problematic group of Vampires he was hopeful they could help with. Despite Cadence's agreement that this was a great song, the volume was up way too loud, and any kind of meaningful conversation was going to have to take place outside of The Risky Business and their apparent need to shake the pink neon light fixtures off of the walls.

              "When Dr. Ryan gets here, we can ask him if there's a better place to talk nearby," Cadence agreed. "But, bear in mind, Meaghan, my dear, you're the one who picked this location."

              Meaghan tossed her long dark-brown hair over her shoulder and took on a bit of a pouty expression. "That's only because I had heard such awesome things about this club. I had no idea it was designed to push people straight to Starkey!"

              Cadence laughed, only getting the hearing aid joke because her now deceased ex-boyfriend Jack's grandfather had used one of their more compact models.
"At least we can talk through our IACs if we have to,"
Cadence reminded them, utilizing the computer they each had implanted in their eyes. The Intelligence Assistance Communicator was a microscopic device that allowed them to send messages directly to each other's minds without speaking. They were also able to use it to gain visuals, which were especially crucial while battling their fanged nemeses. There were some other features, such as a newsfeed that kept them up to date on what was happening globally and the ability to record, pull up Internet data, and utilize night vision.

"Are you kidding?" Meaghan shouted, ignoring Cadence's remark. "This music is so loud, I think mine has shaken itself loose!"

              Aurora was in mid-sip when Meaghan's comment hit her, and she spewed watermelon vodka across the table, hitting her friend directly in the face. "Oh, no!" the red-head shouted, grabbing a cocktail napkin and starting to dab at Meaghan's eyes. "I'm so sorry! It's just--they're practically welded in, you know. Nothing's getting these suckers out...."

              Meaghan's expression was one of pure horror, similar to those Cadence had seen her make while in the throws of hand-to-hand combat. "Are you kidding me?"" Meaghan asked, not even wiping the drink off, her hands flailed open. "We are minutes from meeting Dr. Cale Ryan, one of the hottest Guardians on the face of the planet, and I have a frou frou drink all over my freaking face!"

              "Wipe it off!" Cadence exclaimed, swiping at Meaghan's pretty face a little more sharply than Aurora. "It's not like you aren't wearing a pink shirt," she added. "I think you'll live."

              Meaghan shoved the helping hands away, the look of dismay on her face. "Cadence Tallulha Findley..." she began, adding in a middle name when she really had no idea what was correct, "you've never seen Dr. Cale Ryan. You cannot stand there and say it's no big deal. Do you have any idea what your eyes are about to behold? This guy makes what's his face look like a ... a... okay, well, Aaron's hot, too, so like a different hot guy... but still... just you wait."

              Snickering, Cadence crossed her arms and shook her head, her long brown waves flickering back and forth. One of the reasons she was so drawn to Meaghan in the first place was because they had so very little in common. Meaghan had taken a while to learn the skills associated with being a Vampire Hunter while Cadence had come by it very naturally. Meaghan was overly focused on looks, guys, that sort of thing, while Cadence really didn't pay too much attention. Her friend was a little ditzy and needed a lot of direction, whereas Cadence was extremely intelligent and intuitive. Nevertheless, Meaghan was now one of her best friends and she was very glad she had invited her on this adventure. "All right, Meaghy. I'm sorry. Aurora didn't mean to spew her drink at you. Now, where is this guy? Isn't he late?" she asked checking the time on her IAC.

Meaghan didn't answer, however. Her mouth was hanging open and she was staring off in the distance over Aurora's shoulder. Cadence glanced in the general direction to see a tall blond, muscular man in a light colored suit crossing toward them. His eyes were a pale blue and a smile crinkled around them in such a way that the crowd of people naturally parted in front of him, turning to gaze upon him in awe and wonder. "Is that...?" Cadence began.

"Uh huh," Meaghan replied, still not closing her mouth.

Just then, he reached their table, and stepping between Cadence and Aurora, he gently placed his hand on the red-head's back, his other hand resting softly on Cadence's upper arm, and said, "Cadence, Aurora, Meaghan, I'm so sorry we're a bit late. I hope you haven't been waiting too long."

              Cadence felt her knees weaken a little at the sound of his voice and his touch. He had what sounded like a British accent, something she had not been expecting. She had always been partial to men with accents. Shaking her head, trying to clear her thoughts, she said, "Oh, no. It's... fine. We having a drink. Are. We are... just having a drink." She closed her eyes tightly, feeling like an idiot, shook her head again, and then met those pale blue eyes, hoping he wasn't laughing at her inability to formulate a complete sentence.

              "Oh, good," he said, as if he didn't notice her lack of syntax. Just then, Cadence realized he wasn't alone. "These are my teammates Nick and Phoebe." A tall, thin man who looked to be in his mid-twenties stepped forward, offering his hand to each of the girls. His dark hair was slicked back oddly, but he had a friendly smile. Phoebe was just a bit shorter than Cadence and had long dark hair, which was swept back in a tight ponytail. She also had a welcoming smile and waved at them without offering her hand.

After the introductions, the doctor continued. "It's really loud in here. What would you ladies think about going across the street to the diner? We can usually find a spot in there to talk discreetly enough or use our IACs without them shaking loose if necessary."

              Cadence caught Meaghan's eye at the last remark, and she had the expression of "I told you so" on several counts. "Sounds good," she replied, hoping the night air might actually help clear her mind a bit, too. Dr. Ryan's reputation had preceded him and was very accurate, indeed.

              Seated in a large booth in a relatively quiet diner, Cadence could still feel her ears ringing. Meaghan was physically rubbing her temples, while trying not to ogle the good doctor too noticeably. She couldn't help but snicker at her friend next to her. Only Meaghan could try to make a migraine look sexy.

              "Basically, the reason we wanted to meet with you," the Guardian doctor was explaining while waiting for the waitress to arrive and take their order, his voice hushed, just in case the other four or five patrons cared to eavesdrop, "is to get your take--possibly your assistance-- regarding a band of marauding Rogues we can't seem to get a good handle on."

Just then, the perky little waitress bounced over and took their orders. Everyone had some version of coffee and nothing else, which should have been easy enough to remember, but she wrote it all down, and then bounded back to the counter. Cadence was a bit thankful for the interruption because it gave her a moment to think. Perhaps this time her thoughts would come out more articulately. "That's our area of specialty," she said, an air of confidence in her voice.

"So we've heard," he replied, that smile creeping back at the corners of his eyes. "We really appreciate the time you've taken to come here to assist us."

              "It's no problem," Aurora chimed in, a shy smile on her face. She, too, seemed to be slightly in awe of the doctor. Aurora was more a tomboy than the other two, but she also seemed to appreciate a well-built man. "We've covered most of the country in the last four months," she added.

              "I hear you were the ones responsible for taking out Sobi in Maine," Nick remarked, a tone of amazement in his voice.

"We did!" Meaghan admitted. "That was the toughest kill I've ever been a part of, but we got it done. Sobi, had been terrorizing regions of the northwest for centuries. She didn’t go down easily. It took everything we had to finally destroy her. In the end, I was the one who ripped the head right off of her eloquent neck. Even after that, she was still pristinely beautiful.” Meaghan reminisced. “Cadence and Aurora kept her claws and fangs in check while I ended her.”

Hearing Meaghan talk reminded Cadence of her personal battle with the legendary Barbarosa. She was happy to let Meaghan have the kill this time, however. Nevertheless, thinking of Barbarosa drew Cadence mentally away from the conversation momentarily. Her mind wondered to the Guardians who worked out of the primary LIGHTS office, located in Kansas City. She had been part of that team when she took Barbarosa down. Kansas City was the headquarters for the entire network of Guardians and Hunters who were operating across the globe. It wasn't until Cadence had gone off on her own that she found out LIGHTS actually had regions, with leaders and teams operating only in those jurisdictions. She had been a Vampire Hunter for almost eight months now and still felt like she knew very little. She had a few friends at the Kansas City office, and it was often difficult to keep her mind on the present whenever a reference was made to one of them. She had been with her good friend Elliott the night Barbarosa had gone down. Her thoughts were on him when she realized that Dr. Ryan was addressing her specifically.

              "Have you handled anything like that before?" she heard him say. He smiled at her, clearly realizing she hadn't caught the first part of the sentence before he repeated himself. "A large warehouse... with lots of containers and other areas to hide."

              "Oh," Cadence exclaimed. "We have...." Just then, the waitress reappeared, not quite so energetic with a full tray off coffees balanced on her hand. She handed them around, checked to see if anyone needed anything else, and then promised to be back to check on them before recapturing her pep and traipsing away.

              Once she was gone, Cadence recovered her train of thought. "We did a warehouse job with the Denver team a few weeks ago. It wasn't a large warehouse, but it was fairly good sized. We took out, what, eight?" She looked at her teammates, who were nodding before she continued. "Yeah, we took out about eight Vampires there. And you have how many?"

"Only five," Dr. Ryan began, sipping his coffee. "But these are some badass goons, I'm telling you," he clarified. "I mean, I don't know anything about what you encountered in Denver, but these ghouls will take the head off of a child and not blink twice."

              Cadence's forehead crinkled. She had the feeling he wasn't speaking metaphorically. "And why do you think you need to get them on their own turf and not when they are out and about?" she asked. She wasn't a huge coffee fan, usually preferring hot chocolate, but it was June, and even though they were both hot beverages, the latter wasn't as acceptable, for some reason. So, she took a quick sip of the hot, bitter beverage and tried not to make a face as she sat the cup back down.

              Dr. Ryan must have noticed her expression because she saw a flicker of a smile before he answered her question. "We've tried that a couple of times before, but they tend to want to start taking out innocent by-standers. We've seen them mow down cars, shoot in crowds of people, even throw individuals down escalators at us."