Repercussion: The Clandestine Saga Book 3 (7 page)

              She spent much of the remainder of the day in training and trying to escape her funk. She was excited about the hunt, as always, and part of her was also intrigued that she would have the opportunity to see Cale again, though she wasn't sure what that was all about.

By the time she climbed on her bike around 2:45, she was finally starting to feel a little better. Dressed in a deep purple cat suit, despite the high temperatures, she was hopeful that the hunt would go well, though she had her reservations. The Reno team just didn't seem to be on board. Hopefully, Cale had been successful at convincing them to trust Cadence's judgment. As she neared the Exxon parking lot they had agreed to meet in, she was beginning to regain her usual optimistic attitude.

              That all changed when she realized the black Lamborghini Aventador parked in the shade of the tree line near the old gas pumps did not belong to the Reno team. She stopped her bike so abruptly, it almost spun out. Meaghan and Aurora were following close behind and had to take evasive action to avoid her as well. "Holy shit," she mumbled.

             
"Why is Aaron here?"
Meaghan asked, stopping just inside of the parking lot and behind where Cadence had screeched to a halt.

             
"I have no earthly idea,"
Cadence replied. Realizing she couldn't leave her bike where it was, she started moving again, heading over to where he was parked. Aurora and Meaghan knew better than to follow and they chose other discrete locations to disembark.

              As she approached the car, he got out. She dropped her kickstand, removed her helmet, stood up, crossed her arms, and said nothing. However, seeing him standing there in front of her after all these months, dressed all in black as usual, that confident, yet unassuming expression on his face, she realized she was still in far deeper than she had imagined.

              He waited until he was right in front of her before he said anything. He didn't intend for it to be a showdown, however, so once he was over the initial breathlessness her presence caused, he simply said, "Hi."

              Cadence still said nothing. Attempting to ascertain the nature of his visit without asking, she contemplated the possibilities. She could come up with nothing.

"I was just in the neighborhood," he offered, a sarcastic smirk on his handsome face.

She snickered, she couldn't help it. Obviously, that was not true. Finally, realizing she would have to actually speak to him eventually, she said, "Did you drive or do you just have a legion of those sitting around?" referring to the car. It appeared to be exactly the same make and model as the one he had driven in Iowa and his preferred vehicle in Kansas City as well.

              "No, I flew," he confirmed. "It's a good car," he explained. "Fast..."

              "Unassuming?"

              The grin was back. "Absolutely."

"Why are you here?" she asked, cocking her head to the side and shaking it slowly in disbelief.

              There were a number of explanations he could have offered, but none of them were easy, and none of them would have been acceptable. Finally, he said, "I'm just here to observe. I promise not to interfere."

              "Does Cale know?" she asked, thinking her new friend might be very embarrassed to see their boss on site, as if he couldn't handle it himself.

              "He does now," he replied, nodding in the direction over her shoulder.

              She turned to see two vehicles pulling in behind them. One was the same BMW from the night before. The other was an Enclave similar to the one she had ridden in with her teammates before. Cale stepped out of the driver's side of the BMW, confusion plastered all over his handsome face. Cadence couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Turning back to Aaron, she said, quietly, "You're an asshole."

              "It's my job, Cadence," he said, folding his arms, not giving any indication that her comment had affected him at all.

              She didn't acknowledge his explanation verbally, choosing instead to send him the bird via an emoticon through her IAC. It was the first time she had given him access in months. Unlike everyone else, he could not force hers on. She spun on her heels and approached Cale, hoping to say something to him before he reached Aaron. The rest of his team had piled out of the cars and stood, mouths gaping, looking for their immediate boss to explain what the Guardian Leader was doing there.

              Cale was slowly heading in their direction, and Cadence stopped just in front of him, blocking his path.
"He was here when we got here,"
she said only to him.

             
"Why?"
Cale asked, tones of nervousness and embarrassment coming through even through the IAC.

             
"I'm not sure,"
Cadence admitted.
"But I'm fairly certain it has more to do with me than you,"
she replied.

              He didn't seem to know what to make of that. He slowly nodded his head and took another step forward, as if he expected her to slide out of his way.

              She didn't, which left him less than an inch from her now. Uncrossing her arms, she reached out and squeezed his bicep reassuringly. He gave her a small smile and then stepped around her. She glanced over her shoulder, wondering if Aaron would care at all about the physical contact he had just witnessed. If he did, it didn't show. He was leaning against his car, waiting for Cale to approach. Shaking her head, she joined her girls who were standing off to the side, away from the rest of Cale's group.

              "How's it going, Cale?" Aaron asked as the doctor got within a few feet. He offered his hand, which Cale accepted, the questioning expression still on his face. "I just happened to be in the area, and I heard that you had a pretty significant hunt going on tonight, so I decided to stop by to observe."

              Cale nodded and then finally spoke. "All right," he said. "I wish I would have known you were going to be around. I feel like you should know the plan."

"It's okay. I'll get up to speed pretty quickly," Aaron assured him.

              Continuing to nod, Cale asked, "What do you need from me?"

              "Nothing," Aaron assured him. "Just do your thing."

              Still feeling quite skeptical, Cale turned back to his team. He began giving directions, reminding them of their assignments. Once he was done, the team began to head out on foot the half block to the location.

              Cadence glanced at Aaron and saw the look of confusion she expected. "
Why
?" he asked simply, and she immediately gathered his meaning.

             
"Noise,"
she replied. She could see him shaking his head. She shrugged her shoulders and followed Cale's directions.

              Aaron hesitated a moment. He had given his word that he wouldn't interfere, but he was also not about to take an unnecessary risk, nor was he prepared to watch Cadence take one. There was little he could do to protect her in the last few months they had been apart, short of constantly praying and checking in with his fellow Guardians who were at her location. However, if she was in danger tonight, his vow not to interfere would quickly go out the window. Once the brigade of infantry closed in on their location, he made the decision to move his car to the site. There was a freeway nearby that made plenty of noise. There were also cars passing by on streets outside of the mark. The noise factor just didn't make any sense to him.

              Cadence tried to ignore him the best she could, but it was difficult. When she heard the engine, she glanced in Cale's direction. She could see a hint of his reaction in the tightening of his jaw, but he said nothing. The noise was not a problem; it was the undermining that was the issue, and Cadence didn't blame him for being upset. She sent him a quick message, "
Focus. We've got this."
He turned and gave her a small smile. They were standing outside of the warehouse now, the rest of the teammates taking their positions outside of the building before Cadence and Cale entered. The familiar feeling of tangling dragons in her stomach confirmed that Cale had been right in his predication that the Vampires would be home. They were definitely here.

              Cadence had access to Aaron's IAC, and she could see that he had remained in his car, which was angled in front of the warehouse, nose toward the street, as if he was anticipating a hasty exit via vehicle out the front of the building. It was smart--in fact, it was exactly what she would have done if she had been in charge. But she had conceded that in the discussion they had, had the night before. She was hopeful that there would be no escaping and it would be an unnecessary precaution.

              She took a moment to go over the photos she had taken the night before as the team got into place, which was actually more for Aaron's benefit than her own, though she wouldn't admit it. She was armed with two Glocks, both in holsters on her hips. She decided the Beretta, their other typical weapon of choice, would be too cumbersome under the circumstances. Once she realized everyone was in place, she pulled a Glock out, and clicked the after-market safety off. She was just waiting for Cale to give his signal.

              Aaron had been paying careful attention as Cadence flipped through the pictures.
"You going to light that second story?"
he asked her directly.

             
"No,"
she replied shortly, eyeing Cale.

             
"Because...?"

             
"Stop interfering!"
she shot back. He didn't say anything, but she realized he was no longer sitting idly in the car, and the promise of quiet observation had gone out the window.

"You ready
?" Cale asked, not seeming to pay any attention whatsoever to Aaron who was now accessing the small trunk of his sports car.

Cadence nodded at Cale. He gave the signal, and she approached the front pedestrian door. This time, rather than kicking it in, she turned the knob slowly, easing it open, and slipping inside, Cale following. Even though she was the first through the door, he immediately stepped in front of her to shield her, his Glock drawn and ready to fire. While she appreciated his aggressive approach at guarding her, he was impeding her line of sight, and she felt constricted. She changed her IAC view so that she could primarily access what he was seeing in order to compensate.

She had been hopeful that the bloodsuckers would be obvious when they entered, but she was having trouble locating them, even with her night vision, which meant they were either currently dormant--or hiding. She slowly began to make her way across the room, hardly making a sound, knowing she would feel it when she was close. Cale attempted to stay in front of her at first, but he couldn't possibly anticipate her every move, and ended up running into her a few times before she finally said,
"It's all right, you can follow me, at least until we find them."

              He didn't seem to like that idea, but he complied. Just then, a creaking sound caught her attention. She put her hand out, intending to tell him to freeze. Cale bumped into her hand, and she grabbed him to steady his movement so that she could listen. She heard it again, this time a bit closer. Suddenly, the lid burst off of the crate directly in front of her, raining shards of wood down on them. She threw her arms up to protect her face as Cale leaped between her and the Vampire who exploded out of the box, firing what seemed to be a heavy duty machine gun.

"They have machine guns?"
she asked in disbelief. She had never seen a Vampire use heavy artillery before. In fact, most of them didn't even use guns at all.

             
"Apparently,"
Cale replied.

             
"Shit!"
Cadence spat as she slid behind a crate nearby. She felt incredibly lucky that she hadn't been hit. It didn't appear that Cale had been either, though if he had, the bullet would have simply bounced off. It still would have been painful, but it would have done no harm.

As soon as she had her composure, Cadence ducked back around the corner, utilizing her own IAC view again, and firing in the direction where the Vampire had been only a few seconds before. He was no longer there, but she could see two shapes making their way up the stairs. Behind her, she heard what sounded like more crate lids flying off. "Cover my six!" she yelled to Cale, as she stood and gave chase to the Vampires headed for the stairs.

              She heard Cale firing behind her but did not hear any return fire. As she reached the stairs, she could clearly see the outline of what appeared to be a small, female Vampire cresting the top of the steps. She fired, and the figure dropped, falling backwards right towards her. She fired again, and by the time the body reached her, nothing was left but ashes, which rained down in her face, causing her to temporarily close her eyes. She had no idea where the other Vampire that had made it up the stairs had gone, and she could only hope that Cale had some idea where the other three were.

              Once the air cleared a bit, she began to climb the stairs.
"Stay down!"
she distinctly heard Aaron say through her IAC, and she immediately jumped backwards toward the platform at the bottom of the stairs, landing with a thud, her knees on the bottom step. Just then, the second story exploded in a flurry of bright orange and purple flames. She was low enough to the ground that the smoke didn't affect her, but she could feel the heat from the blazing inferno above her.