Chapter 451
“Go on,” Lucy said, waiting for me to explain what Christian had figured out about the portal openings.
It really was pretty smart. “Christian, Hannah, and Ward also used the latitude and longitude of all of the openings they’d figured out from the cell phones as well as the ones they figured out from the book. When they listed all of that information, they discovered that the portal is opening in a pattern from one location to the next, south to north. So it doesn’t matter how far east or west the location is at all—it only matters which one is directly north of the last portal opening.”
“They don’t know where it opened at noon, though, because there was no cell signal,” Tara reminded me.
“Right—the portal is also rotating as it opens, so sometimes it opens way up in the sky or way down below the ground or the ocean. They think the last opening was super high, but the next one might be closer to the ground, but maybe still too high for a signal.” They both looked disappointed at that, and so was I. “But the one after that will be in Rome.”
“The Colosseum?” Tara asked.
“Exactly.”
“Will it be low enough for them to get out without shattering into a million pieces?” Lucy asked.
“I sure hope so. But we would have to get our booties to Rome awfully quickly to be there for the opening if we are going to toss someone in so they can all get out. I bet Cadence waits for the next one they can identify.”
“Which is where?” Lucy asked.
“Stonehenge. And then, it’s that place in Iceland I mentioned. Although, Ward isn’t sure on that. He thinks it might be The Cliffs of Moher, in Ireland, instead.”
“Is there any way to know for sure?” Tara scooted her chair back slightly and folded her arms.
“I don’t know. It won’t matter if everything goes as planned at Stonehenge. But if it doesn’t, we’ll have to figure it out.”
“I sure hope they put some people on the ground in Rome just in case they do try to come out there.” Lucy turned back to the computer and got back to work.
I agreed. “They’ll have to with Holland’s rejects on the ground. If they don’t, the Guardians will be jumping out into a fight with no help if they decide to come out in Rome.” It was a scary idea, especially if we weren’t able to get another message to them the next time the portal opened.
“Do you think the team in Rome could handle throwing someone in? Maybe they could go on a quick hunt and find a random Vampire and toss them in, just to get this over with.” Tara’s voice sounded hopeful. I hated to be the one to shatter her dreams.
“Nah, Cadence wouldn’t go for that. Too much of a chance to boggle it and give away our plans. I don’t know what Holland could do to keep us from following through, but Cadence won’t want to take the chance on giving it away.”
Tara ran her hand down the length of her face. It was obvious she was exhausted, like the rest of us. “I just wish I knew when this nightmare was going to be over. I know I haven’t been dating Dax for that long, but I’ve never heard him in such anguish before. Reading those texts was heartbreaking. I miss him, but I’m also scared for him. Especially after what happened to Alex.”
I didn’t know how to respond to any of that. Of course, I understood what Tara was saying, even though Brandon had stayed pretty strong the whole time. But she was right. They had to be scared and upset.
“How are you doing with that?” Lucy asked, her voice soft and her fingers still. “You must miss him already.”
“I do. I did before... before he died.” I didn’t have time to start crying again, so I tried not to dwell on it. “It was what he wanted.”
She nodded and gave me a sympathetic smile, or was it an empathetic one? She had just lost her dad, after all.
“We’ll make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.” Tara was doing her best to sound confident, but I knew she was scared. Of all the Guardians who had disappeared, Dax was the newest and least experienced, therefore, the most vulnerable.
“Jamie’s still in there,” I reminded her. “And Elliott and Aaron won’t let anything happen to him either. I’m sure of it.” I didn’t have to pretend to think that was the case. I knew the three of them well enough to understand they absolutely wouldn’t let any harm befall Dax or Brandon. So long as the three of them were breathing, they’d get those kids out of there alive.
Our conversation was abruptly interrupted when Cadence was in my head. “Go home and pack up, Sis. We’re getting on a plane.”
“Where are we going?” I couldn’t help but be excited, no matter where it was. It felt like I was finally doing something that would help Brandon.
“I don’t know.” That wasn’t the answer I expected. “But it’s going to be a long ride.”
“Tara coming, too?” I asked just as the flight orders came across in a separate message from Hannah. I could tell before Cadence answered that my friend had also gotten that message because her face lit up.
“Yep. All girlfriends and mothers allowed.”
That meant Amanda would be on the plane, too. “Aurora?”
“I’ve gotta take my second.”
“Amanda and Aurora on the same plane? Elliott will be so thrilled when he gets back.”
“Just go pack!” She was gone.
“Why are you two so smiley?” Lucy asked, looking from my face to Tara’s and back again.
“We are flying to Europe to get our men,” Tara replied, and I felt a little bit like a tramp for being included in that statement but laughed anyway.
“Oh. How nice for you,” Lucy replied, her typing suddenly becoming a little more forced.
“You have an important job to do here.” I patted her on the back and stood up.
“Yep. You two go on ahead. I’ll just be here. Looking at Europe on this screen....”
“At least it’s a big screen,” Tara noted, stooping to give her a hug. We headed to the door.
“Be careful!” Lucy shouted. We both stopped and turned to look at her. “Seriously. I mean it.”
“We will be.” I smiled and then followed Tara out into the hallway, relieved that we were finally moving in the right direction.
