Transformation: The Clandestine Saga Book 1 (29 page)

              Jamie was doing what he could to assist Stormy but she wasn’t in dire need of his assistance for certain.
“I’m on it,”
he shot back to Aaron and headed toward Chantal.

              Elliott was able to take out quite a few Vampires from his location after all, especially since the crowd had dissipated. Now that the number of Vampires was diminishing, he ascended to the roof of the building so that he could make sure no reserve forces were about to infiltrate the location and to begin to ascertain how best to go about the clean up process. In situations like this, it was never easy. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people had now had an experience either inside or outside the club. Generally speaking, the best way to convince the masses that they had seen nothing paranormal was to utilize the media and he was hopeful that, when those sirens he could hear off in the distance reached them, they would be accompanied by a news van or two.
“Clear on the exterior,”
he reported before making his way down to the street level to begin the second half of his assignment.

              Cadence had reached her destination.  Holland stood across from her in the center of the room. A few fallen bodies scattered the floor around them, but for the most part, the area was clear.  Holland had increased her height, stretching to a seven-foot tall towering specter. Her arms had lengthened and her teeth were bared.  Still, Cadence was not frightened. She had full confidence in her ability to take this bitch out once and for all. “Are you ready to end this?” she asked, tossing her Glock aside.

              In response, Holland tossed the top of her had back, opening her jaw almost 180 degrees and roared. Cadence could feel a rush of warm air bellow through the space between them, filling her nostrils with the stench of death and the rusty smell of blood.

              She removed the two Berettas, discarded them, and tossed her jacket as well.  She could see Aaron shaking his head off to her side, but she knew what she was doing. The rest of the room was almost clear of Vampires, just a few more meeting their demise in the darker corners of the club. Holland’s entire family-clan had been eliminated and she was more than pissed.  She had nothing to lose.

              Holland made the first move, stepping forward and swinging her claws at Cadence’s head.  Cadence was able to dodge her with no problem. However, when Holland swung her other arm around, she did so quickly and it caught Cadence a bit off balance.  She stepped backwards, recovered her balance and used Holland’s disproportion to her advantage, delivering a swift kick to her stomach. With her elongated skull, it caused the Vampire to become top heavy and she reeled to the side. Holland wasn’t stupid, however. Recognizing that her attempt to frightened Cadence with her appearance was working to her own disadvantage, she quickly brought her body back together, regaining her more human form.  Cadence wasn’t expecting this tactic, and she had to reformulate her plan of attack.  She only had a second, however, before Holland threw herself at the Hunter, the force of her body causing Cadence to fall on her back. Cadence used both legs to kick Holland off and she went shooting into the air, landing about fifteen feet behind where she had been standing. This just provided Holland with more of a running start.  This time when she launched at Cadence, however, the Hunter was ready. Just as Holland was about to land on top of her again, Cadence sidestepped and kicked out her leg, sending Holland tumbling to her right.  She hit the ground hard this time, and Cadence took the opportunity to jump on top of her.

              From Aaron’s perspective, this was excruciating. His entire purpose in life was to protect Hunters and the one that he wanted to defend more than any other wouldn’t allow him to assist at all.  He knew that, if he needed to, he would shoot Holland without hesitation, despite any protest onlookers might make regarding a fair fight. He wasn’t going to let anything happen to Cadence. Period.

              Right now, it didn’t matter, however. She was winning. Cadence held her knees against Holland’s hips and chest. Though Holland was attempting to claw her off of the top of her, she was unable to land any blows in her present position. Cadence was attempting to gain a forcible enough grip on Holland’s head that she could sever it, but she was having trouble doing so because of Holland’s sharp claws.  They were like razor blades and could easily slice Cadence’s arm open or removed a finger.  Holland was able to catch Cadence when she was adjusting and didn’t quite have her balance yet. The Vampire used her feet as leverage and pushed up, knocking Cadence off of her and to the ground. Holland threw herself at Cadence, and though she didn’t have time to jump up, she did spring her legs out, catching Holland, sending her flying through the air.  She landed on one of the tables, shattering glasses and bottles and spraying bits of glass into the air. 

              Despite the glass, Cadence heaved herself at Holland, pinning her down on the floor.  She had her by the throat now, putting all of her pressure against the ancient bones in her slowly elongating neck.  Holland attempted to claw at her again with her fingernails. Cadence pinned her left arm down with her knee.  She caught Holland’s right hand with her left and began to squeeze. Holland could not scream because of the pressure Cadence had on her neck.  Within a few seconds, Holland’s tendons began to pop and tear. Twisting seemed to help and Cadence pulled up, ripping the top portion of Holland’s arm off and tossing it away.

              Holland’s last attempt to save herself was to mutate her mouth, attempting to grow her teeth long enough to swing the top of her head down at such an angle as to catch Cadence’s arm, but she was very conscious of the breaking ligaments in her neck. Now that her left hand was free, Cadence was able to apply even more pressure around the Vampire’s throat. 

              As much as Cadence hated Holland, held her partially responsible for Drew’s death and for changing all of their lives forever, she looked down into the eyes of the monster beneath her and realized she was causing her to suffer excruciating pain. It was over; Cadence had won. There was no reason to prolong it any more.  Keeping her left hand firmly planted on Holland’s throat, she reached back with her right hand, drew the Glock from her leg holster, placed the gun against Holland’s chest directly above her heart and pulled the trigger.

              Despite the damage to her throat, Holland still managed to shriek.  It was ear shattering. The same breeze Cadence had felt from her mouth earlier blew past her again, the stench almost too much for her to bear, as Holland’s body turned to ashes beneath her.

              It took Cadence a moment to realize it was over. Slowly, she stood and dusted herself off. Surveying the room, she saw that only Hunters and Guardians remained, lest one lone Vampire cowering in the back behind Sabin and Genevieve. Sebastian had survived unharmed. 

              Chantal had been the only Hunter casualty and Jamie had been able to cauterize and heal the veins where she was bleeding out, which saved her life. There wasn’t much they could do about her arm, but at least she would live.

              “That was agonizing,” Aaron said, wrapping his arms around her. “I didn’t know how much longer I could stand to watch that. Thank God you didn’t attempt to decapitate her.  As strong as she was, that could’ve taken all night.”

              Cadence laughed.  “Well, a wise man once told me, ‘If you have the shot, take it.’ So I did.”

              He realized everyone was staring at them, and it was the only thing that prevented him from leaning down and kissing her.  She was staring into his eyes and he realized that it really didn’t matter what anyone else said or thought; he was falling in love with Cadence, and he wanted her to know.

              Cadence momentarily leaned her head against his chest, taking a moment to recover from the excursion of battle. She closed her eyes and took some deep breaths, content to let the world melt away for a moment. She was completely safe and secure now, with Aaron’s arms wrapped around her. After a few moments, however, she realized everyone, including Christian, was staring at them.  And the police had to be near by now. It was time they made a hasty retreat. She smiled up at Aaron and stepped away from him, intending to gather up the guns she had thrown off before the fight.

              As Cadence stepped back, Aaron caught a flash of light out of the corner of his eye.  He only had a split second to react and his gut response was to throw himself on top of her. As he did so, he felt the sharp sting of metal enter his side. He fell to the ground on top of Cadence.             

              Eliza had been one step too late.  She had seen what was happening unfold from where she stood, directly across the room from the group by the stage.  When she realized what was happening, she took off, hurdling her body at Sebastian and Sabin.  He had gotten one shot off before she knocked him to the ground.  Though he was attempting to beg her to spare him, she immediately drew her weapon and sunk a silver bullet right into his heart.

              Sabine was stunned. She had no idea what had just happened. She stood shaking, watching Eliza destroy Sebastian and trying to process what had just occurred. They had completely trusted Sebastian and would have never thought he would go Rogue.

              Cadence was fine, but she quickly ascertained that Aaron was not. She was confused. If Sebastian had shot at her, Aaron should be unharmed because a Vampire cannot kill a Guardian, but the blood spreading across the club floor was a clear indicator that he was not. “Aaron!” she screamed. “What? How did this happen?” He was looking at her, still conscious though he was fading fast. “No!” she pleaded. “You’ve got to stay with me!”

              She felt hands on her shoulders and realized Jamie was there. He was weakened from healing Chantal, but he had some energy left. He just hoped it was enough.  Eliza ran over with towels from the bar and Jamie applied pressure to the bullet hole, which was located right under Aaron’s ribcage on his left side.

              Cadence cradled his head in her lap as Jamie continued his work. Jamie was fading almost as quickly as Aaron was and Eliza wrapped her arms around Jamie to give him the support he needed to stay upright. 

              Aaron thought the bullet might have went through his lungs because he was having trouble breathing, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t speak. He could feel the warmth from Jamie’s hands spreading through his body, and the pain began to subside.  Nevertheless, if his lungs had truly collapsed, it would take a considerable toll on Jamie to fix that, and he wasn’t completely confident that Jamie had enough strength left.

              Stroking his hair and holding his hand, Cadence fought back the tears. She refused to consider the idea of losing Aaron. Without him, how could she possibly go on? “Please, stay with us. Don’t leave us,” she said, wiping at her tears with the back of her hand.

              He kept his eyes trained on hers and she felt like, as long as they didn’t break that connection, he would be forced to stay. 

              Jamie was giving it everything he had, but he could feel himself starting to lose consciousness. If that were to happen, he would be able to do no more.

              There was a sound at the door as Elliott entered the room expecting to announce that they were all clear. Everyone was convinced they had just been shooting a movie about vampires and everything was fine. He was unsure as to why the room was so quiet until he realized everyone was staring at the situation in the middle of the dance floor. It didn’t take him long to realize what had happened.

              Christian caught him at the door, holding him back, even though he knew Elliott wanted to go to Aaron’s side. He needed some room and there were enough people in the immediate vicinity for now. “Wait,” he said, “Just wait.”

              Elliott understood and took a step back. “What the hell happened?” he asked.

              “Sebastian grabbed Sabine’s gun and used her hand to fire it. So, no matter who it hit, that bullet was lethal,” Christian explained.  “Rather ingenious, though he still ended up losing his life.”

              “And Aaron threw himself in front of her, not realizing it?”

              “Actually, I’m pretty sure he would have done it whether he realized it or not, but yes, he dove to protect her,” Christian recounted. He knew that, should he have been in the same position, he would have done the same, and even though he did not envy Aaron in taking the bullet, he was a bit jealous watching Cadence attending to their leader now.

              Elliott shook his head, absently kicking his toe into the floor. “Where is he hit?”

              “I’m not exactly sure, but I think it’s right under his rib cage,” Christian replied.

              “Lungs?” Elliott asked, a grimace of concern on his face.

              “Appears so,” Christian replied, his arms folded across his chest.

              Aaron continued to stare into Cadence’s eyes. He suddenly felt like the air was flowing into his chest again. Jamie was just barely hanging on and Eliza had helped him lean forward so that Jamie’s head was now resting right over Aaron’s lungs. His hands were still applying pressure to the wound, but the bullet hole was no longer painful and the bleeding had stopped.  For the first time, Aaron started to think he might actually recover. He opened his mouth again and this time, he was able to speak.  “Cadence?” he said softly.