Chapter 145

Getting from the airport in Kansas City back to the headquarters building was a lot easier than getting out of California had been. When the cargo plane touched down, Ashley already had several SUVs waiting to take the team--including all of the prisoners--back to the LIGHTS headquarters building.
They’d been gone for less than twenty-four hours, but it felt like a week. As soon as they arrived, Cadon headed into the building where the conference room was. It was the same location where his sister had disappeared into the portal right before they launched their attack on Alcatraz.
The only person who’d gotten there before him was Jamie, and when he walked into the building to see him passionately kissing his wife, Cadon wanted to back out the door. He thought maybe he could go unnoticed, but Elliott walked in right behind him, and he certainly had no qualms about letting the couple know they weren’t alone. “Damn!” Elliott said, his hand coming down hard on Cadon’s shoulder. “Makes me wish I had myself a woman. How ‘bout you, Cade?”
Cadon couldn’t think of an answer to that question, so he just stood there, awkwardly.
“Sorry,” Jamie said as he pulled away from Ashley. “We were just….”
Elliott started to sing a song from the 1970s. Cadon wasn’t sure of the name, but he thought it might be called, “Reunited.” It didn’t help the situation any.
“No worries,” Elliott said, once he reached the part of the song he didn’t know the words to. “So… how has it been going, Ash? Did anything exciting happen while we were gone? Did anyone come falling through the portals or anything?”
“No, nothing exciting,” she said. “Only some stragglers coming in from other parts of the country, wanting to join back up now that we seem to be having success.”
“And how did the feign in New York City go? Did Margie manage to take out the Vamps in Grand Central Station?”
Ashley’s eyes were unsteady as they flickered from Jamie to Elliott to Cadon and back again. “Actually, Margie never launched her attack there. She got called back to Australia. At least, that’s what she said.”
“Seriously?” Cadon asked, feeling betrayed.
Ashley nodded. “Yeah, she said she had to pull out and go home.”
“That’s what he said,” Elliott said, nudging Cadon in the shoulder. Cadon raised an eyebrow at him, not sure why that was funny. Elliott cleared his throat. “Well, I’ll be damned. I guess we know where we’re headed next, huh, Jamie?”
“Don’t ask me. I’m not in charge.” The Healer looked at Cadon.
Cadon didn’t want to be in charge anymore either. “Let’s just get settled down here first, and then we’ll see what we need to do next.”
“Is that you stalling until your sister gets back so that you can ask her what you are supposed to do?” Elliott asked, folding his arms and shaking his head at Cadon as if he was disappointed.
Cadon shrugged. “I don’t know, Elliott. I will admit that being in charge was not exactly what I thought it was going to be.”
“Your dad made it look a hell of a lot easier than it was, huh?” Elliott asked.
“To say the least,” Cadon replied. “I have no idea what he was thinking when he put me in charge.”
“Are you kidding?” Jamie asked, turning around to face Cadon but looping his arm around Ashley’s shoulders. “You did a great job, Cadon. You got us out of there without losing anyone, and we managed to blow up all of the Vampires, so, I think it’s fair to say you know what you’re doing, buddy.”
“I think it was more a case of beginner's luck,” Cadon said with a shrug. “At any rate, if anyone else wants to lead next time….”
Before anyone had the opportunity to tell him they were confident in his ability to lead, Dax came in behind them. “Sorry to interrupt, but Cadon, one of the Hunters we just rescued from Alcatraz is asking to speak to you.”
“To me?” Cadon asked, surprised.
“I guess they didn’t get the memo yet that you’ve resigned,” Elliott teased.
“What’s that?” Dax asked, confused.
“Nothing,” Jamie said, waving his free hand. “Cadon is still in charge.”
“Who is it?” Cadon asked, wondering what this might be about. Maybe someone wanted to yell at him for handling the situation poorly.
“I’m not sure what her name is. We got everyone settled on the second and third floor of the apartment building. She’s in room 206.”
“Are those rooms even livable?” Cadon asked, turning to look at the others.
“We did a lot to get them ready while you guys were gone,” Ashley replied.
‘We weren’t gone that long,” he reminded her.
Ashley shrugged. “We’re fast.”
Cadon was stunned. He hadn’t left that many people behind. They really must’ve picked up some new recruits. It was good to hear that so much progress had been made while they were away. He wondered if that meant he actually had an apartment to go home to that night.
“All right,” Cadon said, reluctantly. “I’ll go see what she wants.”
“See you later, kid. Nice job,” Elliott called.
“Thanks,” Cadon replied in a mumble.
He walked outside where the sun was setting. The air was certainly fresher here than he remembered it, probably because when he used to live here, there were a lot of factories and other pollutants around. The traffic alone could’ve caused a substantial amount of smog. Thanks to the Vampires, the environment was much better. People couldn’t make pollutants if they were dead.
A lot of people were walking along the streets, headed from one building to another. He saw construction trucks, people wearing overalls and carrying paint cans, and even carpet movers. He wondered if Ashley had found a way to actually hire outside companies to come in here and fix these buildings up. He’d had no idea that there were even businesses like that up and running anymore. Perhaps they’d just gotten themselves back on track with the shift in power from the Vampires to the non-Vampires.
Cadon went into the apartment building and headed up the stairs, not wanting to take the elevator for fear that he might get trapped there. He headed up to the second floor and found the room Dax had mentioned. Room 206. He knocked on the door and waited.
When the door opened, Cadon found himself looking into familiar purple eyes. “Cadon?” Mallory said.
“Hi,” he said, just as surprised as she was. “Uh… Dax said that someone wanted to talk to me, but--”
“Hi, Cadon,” Mallory’s mother said. Annastasia gave him a friendly smile. “Come in, please.”
“All right,” he said, stepping inside.
The scent of drying paint hit his lungs. The place was beginning to come together. The carpet was new, and there was new furniture in the living room and kitchen area as well. Annastasia gestured for him to sit on the couch, so he sat down while she took a seat in a chair, and Mallory stood across the room.
“Mallory, why don’t you join us?” the mother called.
Mallory looked uncomfortable but slowly made her way across the room and sat down on the other end of the couch, leaving a large space between Cadon and herself.
“How can I help you?” Cadon asked.