Chapter 434
“Ward?” Cadence echoed, staring at the man in disbelief.
“Forgive my tardiness, but when I got Miss Cassidy’s message, I diverted my flight so that I was headed here instead of to Iowa, not as easy as you might think.”
“Ward!” my sister said again. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.” I thought for a moment she might fling herself at him, but he didn’t exactly look like the sort of man a stranger hugs. She might’ve gotten him wrinkled.
“You as well, although I had hoped it would be under happier circumstances. But don’t you worry. Cassidy explained the situation to me, and I will do all that I can to help. I’ve never dealt with this exactly, but I can read Scottish Gaelic. And... I know our Aaron well enough to confirm what I’m sure you already know. He’ll find a way to get back to you.”
I could see that my sister was fighting back tears. Her head was bobbing up and down, but she couldn’t speak for a moment. If anyone knew Aaron as well as Cadence did, it had to be his old mentor and the man who’d been there when he Transformed. “Ward, I’m so glad you’re here.”
“I’m glad to be able to help,” he said with a nod, and Cadence ushered him over to the table to catch him up on everything that we knew.
It took a few hours for her to catch him up. By the time he was up to speed and done asking questions—he asked a lot, by the way, all good ones—the table was strewn with empty pizza boxes, and I felt like I couldn’t even look at another map of the Eidolon Festival.
“All right then,” Ward said, thoughtfully rubbing his chin. “It seems I need to get my hands on this book then, and see if I can decipher what it says. It’s in Kansas City you say?”
“Yes,” Cadence nodded. “Hannah and Christian have been digging through the archives all day, trying to see if they can find any other texts that might be useful. They have a couple, but this book that Christian read about the portal in seems to be the most useful.”
He nodded. “As much as I detest the idea of getting back on an airplane at the moment, it seems like the best option.”
“You can take one of ours,” Trina offered. “We have jets available. They go faster than an airliner, and you’ll have more privacy.”
It was really nice of her to offer. Of course, my sister could’ve just told her she was gonna let him use one of the DC planes.
Ward looked relieved. “Wonderful. I should very much appreciate it.” I knew the plane that had taken Hannah and Christian back to headquarters earlier had returned and was waiting at the airport for the rest of us. I just didn’t know when we’d be leaving, or how many of us there might be.
“I don’t have an IAC, so I’m afraid you’ll have to contact me through my mobile. Would you like the number?” I assumed Ward was speaking to Cadence, but when he rattled it off, I stuck it in my phone as well, just in case.
Job stood. “I’ll find someone who can drive you to the airport.”
Ward nodded and then looked at my sister for a moment. “I know this task must seem overwhelming, but you’re doing a fine job, Cadence. All of you are. We’ll just keep working until we have all six of the Guardians home at last.”
Cadence smiled at him, and so did I, but in the pit of my stomach, I had an idea that somehow that wasn’t what was going to happen. I couldn’t quite determine why I felt that way, but it was unsettling.
Job was back a moment later. “This is Leo. He’ll give you a lift.”
Leo was a short guy with blond hair and a nervous smile. I jumped in his head long enough to know he was a pretty new Hunter, just active a few months longer than me. Ward didn’t seem to mind his uneasiness. “Wonderful,” he said again. He stood and shook hands with each of us, and Cadence looked like she might cry again.
On his way out the door, he looked back over his shoulder and smiled at her, and she mouthed, “Thank you.”
It was nice to see someone so hopeful. In this situation, it was easy to feel despair. I could only imagine what Brandon was feeling like, trapped in who knows what with no way of knowing how he might ever escape. I imagined he was missing me at least as much as I was missing him. I glanced down at his shirt, wishing I could pull the collar up over my nose and take a deep breath, but with so many other people sitting around, I decided not to.
We returned our attention to the diagram and videos for what seemed like forever. Ashley wasn’t a lot of help. She mostly sniffled and pulled out her phone. Since she was sitting next to me, I could see she was on one of Jamie’s social media pages, looking at pictures. Around 3:00, she went and laid down on the floor and fell asleep. Everyone else contributed at least something, but the bottom line was, no matter how much we were able to deduce from what had happened, it didn’t really help us figure out how to get them back. That would be up to Ward, and he was on an airplane.
Around 5:00, my sister pushed her chair back and slammed her hands down on the arm rests. “I think it’s time we headed back to the B and B.” I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at her. What good could we do there? Granted, we weren’t getting anywhere now, but at least we were doing something. The thought of sitting around doing nothing was disparaging. “We need to get a few hours of sleep and then see if Holland sends her minions after us.”
