Cadence had received a text message that morning from Aaron, checking to see how she was doing and asking if she felt up to meeting him at 10:00 for training. Thoughts of how her night had ended had her feeling just fine, and she was out the door by 9:30. This morning was a little different than the day before, however. They were joined by another Hunter, Meagan, and her trainer, Shane, the guy Aaron had been talking to in the gym the day before. Meagan, a shorter brunette with wavy hair and an infectious smile, had been at LIGHTS for almost six weeks, and she was preparing for her first observation hunt the next night. Aaron explained that, if Meagan could successfully spar with Cadence, there was a possibility that she might be ready to go on an observation. This in spite of the fact that Cade
Cadence laughed aloud and concluded that the IAC might be a great way to mess with people.“There are a few other things that you need to be aware of. You’re going to need to know how to do a Full Pause, which is the same as a Full Off, only you’re going to think Pause instead of Off. However, that’s going to be problematic for you because I can’t push you out of Pause the way that I can everyone else. I can’t push you out of Off either,” Aaron explain
Watching the hunt had been extremely valuable to Cadence. She was able to observe how the other Hunters and Guardians talked to each other, how they accessed each other’s visuals to determine where they needed to go and to coordinate their plan of attack. Aaron had allowed her full access to his communication screen, and she was actually able to see him firing off directives to his team members like a rapid-fire machine gun. He was sending out orders faster than she could read them. Of course, no one was actually reading most of the messages; they were sent directly into the receivers’ brains, including her own, but it was still incredibly impressive to see how fast they came.
Just before she was about to start, Cadence got a request for visuals from Aaron. She contemplated ignoring him since it was sure to make her more nervous, but she decided to go ahead and turn it on knowing that, if she wasn’t successful this round, his feedback would be invaluable.She entered through a black door and was given instructions to stand on the X. There was a clock counting down above her and a gentle female voice stating the time remaining. As the woman approached zero, Cadence’s nervous sensation became excitement. She waited for the woman to say, “You may begi
The brief meeting held before the hunt was an essential part of the task. If the directives were not given, if all of the members of the team weren’t clear, if the objective wasn’t stated accurately, the entire mission could be thrown off just from poor planning.Aaron liked to arrive early if possible so he could prepare his materials before he presented them. He wasn’t always able to do that, particularly if the location was far away. But tonight’s location was just a few blocks from LIGHTS, in downtown Kansas City, so he had plenty of time to prepare.
They walked outside to an assortment of dark-colored vehicles. Shane was directing everyone into the proper rides for his or her location. He told Meagan and Cadence they would be riding with him, and in fact, they would be staying with him at all times.Cadence looked around for Aaron and saw him standing near his motorcycle talking to Sam. She noticed Sam seemed to be gesturing at her and Meagan, and she wondered what in the world he could possibly be talking about.
Shane and Meagan had recovered from the spray of glass, and as Henry took off running, he ran right by all three of them. “Aren’t you going to chase him?” Cadence asked Shane.“No, I told you, this isn’t my hunt. We are all three just observing.”“But, he’s getting away,” Cadence pleaded. This was a Vampire who had killed children. How co
Even as her finger pulled the trigger, she began to dive across the room. Initially, her goal had been to catch the baby; she hoped to grab her before she fell out of the window to the sidewalk below. However, as she flew through the air, she realized Aaron had burst through the door and was diving for the child. Cadence shifted her focus midair and reached for Henry’s head instead. As Aaron dove under her, she forced her momentum upward, grabbing Henry’s skull and giving it one swift crank to the right. Not only did she break his neck, but just as had happened with Carter before, as she pulled, the Vampire’s head came off in her hands.
Despite having such a small window of time to return for debrief, every single member of the team was punctual. No one dared be late when Aaron was this angry. The three Independent Hunters were noticeably missing, however. Cadence’s IAC was still tuned to the rest of the teams, and Elliott mentioned that the Independents were extremely angry at both Cadence and Aaron and had been mumbling about seeking vengeance. The Leader said nothing in response to that comment, and Cadence wondered if it was something she should be worried about.Right now, she had other concerns. Aaron stood at the