Chapter 321
The Guardian stood up as soon we entered the room and came around the table to greet us. The hug Margie gave her brother was a little awkward, like she wasn’t sure she wanted to touch him, and I remembered Jamie had told me that they didn’t get along very well.
“Cadence, this is my sister, Margie,” Jamie said as she stepped forward, taking Margie’s outstretched hand.
“Pleased to meet you,” Margie said, and I could tell by Cadence’s reaction Margie had quite a grip. I braced myself, hoping she’d be a little more gentle on me.
“You as well,” Cadence managed, shaking out her hand once Margie had let go.
Margie greeted Aaron and Elliott, whom she’d obviously met before, and then it was my turn. I thought the tips of my fingers might explode, she squeezed my hand so tight. I didn’t even have time to look at Brandon’s face to see if he was in as much pain as I was since I was trying so hard to return the blood flow to my hand.
“Cadence, this is Grant, also from Perth,” Jamie said, and a tall man with a full, dark beard stepped around the table to shake my sister’s hand. I could tell he was taking it easy on her, but I decided to pass on another handshake and just waved.
“Glad to have you with us,” my sister said, and it seemed like she meant it. Grant looked like he would be a force in the field. He was tall and muscular. His eyes were a shade of violet I’ve never seen on a person before, and as I took my seat, I was also glad he was with us. It seemed like he could end a Vampire or two.
Becky looked lost and confused. She twirled her dark brown hair around a finger, waiting for all of us to sit. My chair was between my sister and Brandon, and Aaron was all the way down at the other end of the table between Jamie and Margie with Elliott between the Healer and Brandon, and I thought it was odd that Cadence wasn’t sitting next to the Guardian Leader, but I thought maybe there was a reason for that, like she wanted to show she was his equal and didn’t have to rely on him.
We all waited for Becky to say something, and after a few awkward seconds, she said. “The movie theater is here,” and pointed with her finger to a spot on a map projected behind her. Talk about low tech…. “This is where all of us were when Paul disappeared.”
We were quiet for a second, waiting for her to continue. She didn’t. So Aaron asked, “And where was Paul?” It was a softball. She’d be able to answer that. Maybe then she’d get herself together.
“On top of this building,” Becky said, pointing at the tallest structure on the map, which was situated across a parking lot and across the street from the movie theater. “We spent hours walking through the neighborhoods, expanding our search out five miles in total in every direction. All of the empty buildings were cleared, and none of the residents seemed suspicious at all.”
“We even pulled footage from surveillance systems to make sure. There was nothing to be found.” That was Jeb, a Hunter. He looked tired as he ran a hand through his dark blond hair.
“So I don’t know how we can extract him when we don’t know where he is.” Tears sprang to Becky’s eyes, and I realized I understood what was wrong with her now. She didn’t know how to run this meeting because we were supposed to be discussing his extraction, a task she thought was impossible.
Aaron was sympathetic. “Well, we hope that Cassidy will be able to get a better location on him now that she’s in the vicinity.”
I turned my head to look at him as he spoke but then turned back to Becky, trying to look confident. I could do this. I was pretty sure I could do this.
She must’ve been questioning the same thing. “Is that something you can do?”
she asked me.
With a meek, hopefully reassuring smile, I said, “I can.”
My sister grinned at me, proud of my confidence, I assumed, and then turned back to Becky. “I think it would be best if we get a location first and then determine exactly what personnel we use in what capacity.”
That wouldn’t work, and I was about to let my sister know all of her well thought-out plans were about to go down the drain. I took a deep breath, trying to decide how to tell her what I needed, but Becky spoke first. “What do you need in order to find him?”
I chose my words carefully, trying not to look at my sister. “Mostly quiet,” I began. “It would help if I could go up on the rooftop.”
Cadence turned back to look at me, her forehead knit together. “This rooftop?”
Unwilling to let my confidence waver, I replied, “No, the one he disappeared from.” It was for the best, I knew it. It was the quickest way to find him.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Cadence said, her eyes wide as she looked down the table to Aaron and met his gaze.
I didn’t turn my head to look at him; I only prayed that he would trust me enough, that he understood my methods better than my sister, or at least didn’t let his emotions interfere with what was best for Paul.
“If we all go with her, and it’s just for a few minutes, it should be okay.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. Had he just said I could go? I kept my eyes locked on Becky and wondered if my sister would protest.
Of course, she did. “What if Carter shows up while we’re there?” I was aware that Melbourne now knew we were dealing with Carter and Holland, though they didn’t know about the portal or how they’d gotten back, so no one reacted to her question.
“I’ll be fine, Cadence,” I assured her, trying to keep my voice calm. “I’m a Hunter, remember?” She needed to let me grow up.
“You haven’t even finished your training.” I turned to look at Elliott who looked just as cross about Aaron’s decision as Cadence did.
“Close enough,” I said with a shrug. I turned back to my sister. “Come on. Every minute we sit here talking about it is more time for Paul to have to suffer.”
That got their attention as Becky winced, and Cadence’s expression told me she knew I was right. I wasn’t just putting myself in harm’s way for no reason. I needed to be where Paul had been if I was going to reach him.
With a deep breath, Cadence turned to face the other Hunter. “Can you give us directions, Becky?”
“Oh, I’m coming with you,” Becky said, already out of her seat.
The rest of her team concurred, and my sister said, “Then let’s load up,” and we all filed out the door.
“You sure about this?” Brandon asked me through his IAC.
I didn’t really have an answer for him, other than I knew it was what we needed to do if we were going to help Paul. “We’ll be fine,” I said, but I had an uneasy feeling in my stomach, like things weren’t going to turn out quite the way I’d hoped. He took my hand, and we headed back the way we had come, Becky giving orders as we went. It seemed like she was more confident hunting than talking about hunting, and I was eager to see how this might go down. One thing was for sure, I had an opportunity to redeem myself for what had happened with Bonnie, and I didn’t want to do anything to mess it up.
