Chapter 551
After Aaron finally moved forward, I followed, staying back a little bit. I didn’t want to see her like that. I had never seen a person’s body after they’ve fallen that far, but I could imagine what it was like.
Only when I finally did take a few hesitant steps around the trees, Brandon’s hands on my shoulders, she didn’t look like I expected her to at all.
Cadence was lying flat on the ground with her hands folded over her abdomen, sort of like Snow White. Her feet were out straight, and her hair was blown out around her. She looked absolutely beautiful. And still. So very, very still.
Jamie was doing chest compressions, and when it was time to breathe, Aaron did that for my sister. Some sort of automatic pilot must’ve turned on for him because his movements were very robotic. Jamie would say thirty, and Aaron would breathe into my sister’s open mouth twice before Jamie started counting again.
Tears were rolling down my cheeks. I couldn’t stop them. I couldn’t think about what it would mean if Jamie couldn’t bring her back. I couldn’t help but think about it either. The conversation I’d had with him a few weeks ago, and then gone over with Brandon, too, was haunting me. Jamie wasn’t a miracle worker.
Behind me, other people were arriving. There were footsteps and whispers. Sobbing. I didn’t want to turn my head to see what was happening, so I didn’t. But Brandon did. “Aurora’s crying,” he said, just so I’d know who it was. “Christian is pacing, mumbling a little bit. The other two Healers are whispering to each other. Everyone else is just sort of watching.”
“Thanks.”
“She’s gonna be okay, Cass,” he said, and my head rocked up and down. It was nice of him to try to be so confident.
Elliott was standing near my sister’s boots, his hands in his jacket pockets, and Heather came up between us, her face scrunched up, like she was concentrating really hard. I didn’t ask what she was doing. I already knew. She was reaching.
“Cass, you got anything?” Elliott was asking, looking around Heather like she wasn’t even there. “Anything at all.”
I didn’t want to try. I knew her IAC had gone out the second she’d hit the ground. I had a feeling she had no conscious thoughts at the moment because I couldn’t even sense her life force in the universe. But Elliott had asked, so I would try.
I swiped the tears off of my cheeks and felt out. Different people have a different vibration to them, a different feel. My sister is usually easy to find because we’re related. She’s also very direct.
I couldn’t find her anywhere, no matter how hard I tried.
But there was something going on, something I couldn’t explain. I looked at Heather again, and now I understood that expression. “No,” I said to Elliott. “It’s only... something else.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
I couldn’t blame him for being confused. “I don’t know. I can’t describe it. I’ve never sensed it before. It’s like a conscious mind with no thoughts.” The sensation was troubling. It was almost like what I would’ve expected from one of the black creatures in their last transition between being a human and becoming whatever it was Daunator had turned them into.
All eyes were on me, and I supposed they were all thinking I was going to tell them it was my sister, that she was still around just not in her body, or something. Heather cleared that up for them. “It ain’t her, though. I can feel it, too. But whoever it is, it ain’t Cadence.”
“No, you’re right, it’s not. But it’s weird.” I couldn’t remember ever picking up on anything like it before. And for a moment, I almost felt like it was actually two streams of empty consciousness. I couldn’t make heads or tails out of it, though.
Aaron had been staring at me, but when I said I was sure it wasn’t Cadence, he looked away, back at her, and Jamie continued to count.
“Breathe, Aaron,” Jamie said, and I realized he wasn’t telling him just to breathe for Cadence but to breathe for himself, too. Whatever it was I’d just picked up on coming from my sister, Aaron knew what it was. He and Jamie were whispering about it. I wanted to ask what was happening, but I didn’t dare interrupt what they were doing. It was far more important than satiating my curiosity.
Heather was still searching for my sister, so I let her do that for a few minutes while I concentrated on breathing myself. I could see how Aaron had managed to forget to do that. I couldn’t imagine living in a world without Cadence in it.
Six minutes had passed since Jamie started CPR. I wondered how long he would keep working but imagined it would be a long time before he gave up. Time ticked by. Jamie counted, Aaron breathed, and I prayed. I put my hand over my mouth to muffle the sobs when I couldn’t keep them in anymore. Brandon’s grip grew tighter, and I was glad for his strength. Elliott was mumbling now, mostly curse words and threats to the universe and God and whoever else might be in charge of things, of what would happen if they didn’t fix this.
As the minutes passed, reality began to set in a little, and I thought about having to call my parents and tell them what had happened. I thought about how badly I wanted to rip Christian’s face off again for letting her get so close to Daunator. I thought about Aaron sitting alone in their apartment with a photo album from their wedding, her ring in his hand. I thought about how sorry I was that I hadn’t reacted fast enough to keep her from falling.
“Cadence, sis, come on! Please! Open your eyes! I’m so sorry I couldn’t catch you! Please—just come back to us! Your body is fine now. Everything works. Jamie healed it for you. Please, Cadence. Please come back.”
