Chapter 76: Chapter 76

The Cliffs of Moher were breathtaking, especially with the first streaks of sunlight coming up, kissing the velvety green grass with hints of gold. Ireland always seemed like a magical place to Cadence, though she’d only been there once before. Standing on the edge, gazing down at foamy waves breaking against jagged rocks seven hundred feet below her as a light breeze blew through her hair, she couldn’t help but hope the enchantment worked in her favor, and when the portal opened, her husband would be returned to her at last.

“They’re here,” Cassidy said, purposely making her voice sound like the little girl from Poltergeist. Her approach interrupted Cadence’s solace, and she shifted slightly to look at her sister who stood a little too close to the edge for Cadence’s liking, despite the fact that Cassidy could float. “Dang, that’s a long way down.”

“Where are they?” she asked, knowing her sister was talking about their Vampiric welcoming party.

Cassidy gestured back across an open field. There were no trees here to hide their approach, nor were there any rolling hills or other kinds of distractions. They likely would’ve had to walk in the same way Cadence’s team had, so at least there shouldn’t be any surprises, like at Stonehenge.

Even if there were, Cadence was ready. She’d taken Kaycia’s team with her, and with the addition of the Irish forces under Moira, a tall woman with orangey-red hair, LIGHTS was ready. Likewise, the team in Iceland had eyes on the location Ward had thought might be a portal opening. Confirmation from Sloan, the Hunter Leader there, had come in a few moments before Cadence lost herself in the sheer drop off. They had company as well, but so far, no one had seen Holland.

“Maybe she just flew back to Hungary or Australia,” Cassidy said. “Do you think she could go that far?”

“I don’t know,” Cadence admitted. “But if she tried, someone would see her. We’ll just watch for dragon sightings on the evening news.”

Cassidy smirked, letting out a small giggle, but they both knew that wouldn’t be a good thing. Cadence hoped Holland wouldn’t be so stupid. At this point, she had to be desperate. Her numbers were dwindling, and so were her options.

“How’s Brandon?” Cadence asked while simultaneously checking that Hannah was moving people into position to face the coming onslaught. Through Hannah’s IAC she could see there couldn’t be more than twenty Vampires headed their way. Once they saw how outnumbered they were, chances were they would break, especially if Holland didn’t show up and force them to fight. These were either newly turned babies or previously Compliant Vampires who probably didn’t want to be there. Piece of cake.

“Brandon is good,” Cassidy said, nodding her head up and down while her face turned a little pink. “He gave me Alex’s phone. He said there’s a message on there for me, but I haven’t looked at it yet. I’ll wait until this is all over.”

Cadence wasn’t sure what to say to that. She’d lost enough friends to sympathize with her sister’s position and understood that Cassidy had also lost people she cared about. Knowing that Alex had wanted to move on didn’t necessarily make it any easier to accept. “I hope whatever it says, it gives you some peace of mind.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

The sisters stood there in silence for a few moments, and they both stared out at the wide ocean in front of them. The waves were angry, crashing against the craggy rock structures that jetted out of the sea with a fury Cadence had felt many times, particularly at Holland and Carter. She’d be happy to see the queen show up if it meant she could end her, but something told Cadence it wouldn’t be that simple.

“What about Cale?” Cassidy asked, drawing Cadence back to reality. “Why is he really here?”

She swallowed hard, not really wanting to talk about it. But this was her sister, so she may as well be honest. “I’m pretty sure he still has feelings for me.”

“Oh.” Cass absorbed that for a while. “Did he say something?”

“Yeah—something.”

“What about Morgan?”

“Apparently, he really is finished with her, which I think is a good thing because I’ve never been a fan, though that might make Reno a little difficult to deal with for a while. I don’t know. I guess portals make good confessionals—for the people left behind.”

Cassidy nodded in understanding. “Assuming Christian comes out of there, what are you going to do about this? I mean, you’ll have to transfer him, won’t you?”

The hopefulness in her sister’s voice was understandable. “That’ll be up to Aaron. Who knows what agreement they might reach while they’re in there together. And Christian did redeem himself a little by jumping in with Hines.”

“True, but that wouldn’t have been necessary if he wouldn’t have been such an asshole in the first place. Do they know?” She looked over her shoulder in the direction where Elliott and Jamie were talking with Ashley and Cale.

“I’m not sure. Probably. Aaron likely figured it out thirty seconds after he realized he was in a portal.”

“Well, if Elliott beats the crap out of Christian, I doubt Jamie will put him back together. I’m surprised neither of them said anything to him before Christian flung himself into the portal.”

“I think we’re all just trying to end this part of the problem. Then, we can go back and look at what we could’ve done differently.” There was a vibration in Cadence’s pocket, and she knew that was the alarm she’d set to tell her it was five minutes until 6:00. The portal would be opening soon.

“You need me to keep up a shield, right? Anything else?” Cassidy asked, watching as Cadence fidgeted with her phone without taking it out of her pocket. The electricity in the air was potent, and it had nothing to do with the portal.

“I think that’s all.”

“Seems so odd the moon isn’t even visible, yet this is where the moon portal will open.”

Cadence hadn’t thought about the fact that they couldn’t always see the moon when the portal opened, but it was true. “I don’t think the portal is directly related to the moon. It’s just a trigger or something. Maybe it only matters when someone’s trying to force it open during the blood moon.” It had been up at Stonehenge, but not directly overhead, and she had no idea where it was when Brandon, Dax, and Heather came through.

Cassidy looked across the sky before her eyes returned to Cadence’s. “Well, if this works, hopefully we’ll never have to worry about it again.”

Cadence agreed. With a deep breath, she turned to look behind her. People were falling into place. It was an expansive area, and there wasn’t a surefire way to know where the portal would open, but she was standing near the coordinates Ward had given her from the work he’d done with Christian. It would be great if the portal opening was back away from the cliffs themselves. It was a long fall, no matter whether a person could die or not.

“Ah, the Cliffs of Insanity,” Elliott said, walking over and taking a quick peek down. “Where are Inigo and Fezzik when you need them?”

“In a movie,” Cassidy reminded him, patting him on the arm before moving away toward where the Vampires were approaching. Cadence wanted her close enough to easily throw the shield, though far enough behind a line of Guardians she’d be fine. It was a risk with Cassidy because she was unpredictable, but Cadence thought she’d stick to her one job this time.

She wanted Elliott and Jamie with her. The Healer needed to be there in case Aaron or Christian were injured, and after Elliott had caught her when she fell at Stonehenge, she decided he’d be good to have around if the portal opened as high as Ward predicted it would. It shouldn’t be quite up to the height that Brandon and the others had fallen from, but it wouldn’t be near the ground like last time, either.

“Think it’ll work?” Elliott asked as Jamie headed over to their other side. Ashley and Cale also moved into position.

A fan of The Princess Bride herself, Cadence recognized his quote an answered with her own. “It’ll take a miracle.”

“Inconceivable.” Jamie snuck his comment in as he fell into position, leaving all three of them laughing, though on the inside Cadence felt like Holland’s dragon was trying to claw its way out. This needed to be over soon.

“Don’t worry, kid. He’ll get out. If that thing opens again, he’ll find a way.”

“What if something happened to Hines?” Cadence would’ve never thought the Vampire’s health would be of such importance to her, but she was just as concerned that he would die as she was about Christian’s survival.

“They won’t let that happen. As long as those demon hunters have that baby demon to chase, they’ll be fine. And the other demons’ll leave ‘em alone, too. It’ll be all right.”

“Okay.” She didn’t feel okay, though. Not even a little bit.

Elliott tensed up beside her before Cadence even noted a slight popping and whirring noise. It was like he felt the portal opening before it announced itself, and she assumed there were subtleties she’d missed because she hadn’t been inside of it for so long like he had. A glance in his direction confirmed he was good, and then she looked up, trying to figure out where it was opening.

It took her a moment to see it. The sky was lighter now, and the opening itself was small, though growing. A wave of static against the cloudy sky, the opening vibrated and stretched, hanging in the air at least a hundred feet above her head and only ten or twelve feet from the sheer drop off. If the Guardians fell straight down, they’d land on the ground, but if their momentum was carrying them at all, Cadence imagined they’d end up in the Atlantic.

“What’s that?” Ashley’s voice sounded in her IAC, and Cadence turned to look out across the sea. Behind them, the Aron Islands were visible off in the distance, which Cadence had thought fitting. But above them, a small dot appeared to be drawing closer, and even from here Cadence could tell what it was.

“That’s a dragon,” Cadence murmured. But Holland was too late. The portal was already opening. She expected the Guardians to come flying out at any moment. Across the field of green the first line had already opened fire on the Vampires, and most of them were scattering, like Cadence imagined they would. Hannah and Moira’s orders were simple—take no prisoners, destroy all of them. Obliterate Holland’s forces before she had a chance to regroup.

Holland was closing in fast, and Cadence desperately wished she had some sort of a rocket launcher so she could blow her out of the sky. But someone else would have to worry about the queen for now, and she felt reassured when Cale said, “We’ve got her, Cadence. You do your thing.”

She returned her sights to the portal, which was as wide now as it had ever gotten in Stonehenge. The clock was ticking, and there was no sign of anyone coming out. Cadence took a few steps nearer to it; Elliott followed, standing as close to the cliff edge as he could without falling over himself. He took a stance like he was playing center field, and Cadence would’ve probably giggled if she wasn’t starting to feel like something was wrong.

The portal seemed to be acting differently than it had the last time. It was shifting and quaking violently, and then rumbling noises drowned out the usual sparking and popping noises. “What is that?” she asked Elliott.

“I honestly don’t know. I’ve never heard that before,” he admitted.

“Me neither,” Jamie called out from his spot a few feet away. “It sounds like... an earthquake.”

“Do you think....” Cadence couldn’t finish the sentence. Was the cave system within the portal falling in on itself? Was that even possible?