by ID Johnson
She scooted her chair back up closer to where it had been before Jamie started poking around in my mouth. “Well, as you know, Giovani sucked me up into a helicopter. Then, he and Zabrina followed. They took me down inside of this tunnel system where they had Gibbon caged. He was… awful. Just… a huge brute, an animal. They put me in a cage with him, wanting us to fight.”
“That sounds terrifying,” I said. “Did you have to fight him?”
“I did,” she nodded. “But Gibbon just wanted out. The detective, the one Giovani had kidnapped from the hospital?” I nodded that I knew who she was talking about. “He was there, lying on the ground, and I thought he was dead. But… he helped me. Zabrina had the keys, and when she got close enough to the cage, the detective tripped her. I grabbed her, and managed to decapitate her.” I smiled. I couldn’t help it. “So the keys were on the ground. When I had another chance, I picked up some of Zabrina’s ashes and tossed them in Gibbon’s face, which gave me a chance to get the keys. Once I had the cage open, Gibbon tossed me out.”
“He threw you?”
“Yeah. Hurt like….” She stopped herself. “It hurt really bad. He broke my knee again, too,” she admitted, looking down at it. “I promised Jamie he could fix it for real this time.”
“Good,” I said. “So what happened to Giovani?”
“Well, when I killed Zabrina, he started crying like a little baby. Then, when the cage was opened, he sort of cowered in the corner. Gibbon ran off down the tunnels, and that’s when Giovani decided he could take me. I was almost unconscious, hanging over the side of the hospital bed they’d brought Gibbon in on. Shane was about to beat down the door. So, Giovani wasn’t sure what to do, and I capitalized on that. I jumped on his back, wrapped that cord that he had tied around my wrists around his neck, and got rid of him.”
A flood of relief washed over me, hearing that Giovani was also gone. “Did someone get Gibbon?” I asked.
Cadence slowly shook her head. “He made it out of the tunnel, after beating the crap out of Christian. Aaron trailed him, but he disappeared in the river. Cale’s choppers couldn’t track him either.”
“So he’s still out there.” Chills went down my spine. Gibbon was one bad dude.
“Yeah, he is. But we’ll get him. Right now, don’t worry about any of that. You need to regain your strength, and then we’ll have to figure things out. No one on our team got seriously hurt, thank God. And Brandon told us about the Vampire that had trailed you from KC.”
“You know, then, that the poem Giovani left was about me?” I asked.
Cadence nodded. “We figured it out just a few minutes too late.”
I dropped my eyes. “Cadence, I know I shouldn’t have ever gotten on that train. It was reckless and stupid. Someone could’ve ended up dead because of me.”
“Yeah, they could’ve,” she agreed. “And it was almost you.”
“It could’ve been you, too,” I reminded her. “I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself.”
She leaned forward and brushed my hair back from my face. “I told you. Don’t worry about me. I’m fine. But you… Cassidy… I know I don’t say it enough, but you are one of the most important people in the world to me—okay former person—whatever you are,” she joked. “Too soon?”
I giggled. “No,” I assured her.
“If something would’ve happened to you, I never would’ve forgiven myself. Mom and Dad trusted me to keep you safe, and I didn’t do that.”
“This isn’t your fault,” I reminded her.
“It is to a point,” she disagreed. “When I tell them what’s happened… they’re going to flip out. They’re going to be upset at both of us.”
I knew she was right. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s going to be very hard for me to convince them to let you come with me again after this.”
“What else could possibly happen to me?” I asked, but I wasn’t sure I wanted an answer.
“Not to mention… Brandon is in big trouble, too, you realize? That boy will clearly do anything for you. You have to be responsible with that kind of power.”
I raised an eyebrow at her, not sure I understood what she was getting at. “So Aaron’s mad at him?”
“Aaron won’t have any choice but to discipline him. I’m not sure what that will look like, but it probably won’t be rainbows and unicorns.”
I understood what she was saying. “But it was my fault.”
“He should’ve stopped you, or at the very least, he should’ve called us.”
She was right. It was my idea, but he’d gone along with it. Tears filled my eyes. “I’m really sorry.”
“I know. And you’ve said that. So has Brandon. It’ll be fine… but it could’ve been really bad.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “When I first Transformed, I could never understand why Aaron did some of the things he did, why he gave certain orders, and he finally explained to me that it wasn’t my job to understand why. It was my job to do what he said and let him worry about the why. He has all sorts of information I didn’t have at the time; he probably still does. I had no idea how hard this job was until I was assigned to do it. My first hunt, I did something reckless, too, and it almost cost me my job. Not following orders on that hunt is what angered Sam and what eventually led to Sierraville.” She had tears in her eyes now. “If I had listened, Elliott might still be alive.”
“You can’t blame yourself for that, Cadence,” I said, squeezing her hand. “I don’t know all of the details, but I know what you’re getting at, and that’s quite a leap.”
“Maybe, but my point is, you have got to follow orders, or people can die.”
I nodded. “I understand.”
Cadence smiled at me, wiped at her eyes, and then leaned over and kissed me on the head. “I love you, Cass.”
“I love you, too. Thank you for sacrificing yourself for me.”
“I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” she assured me. Cadence stood carefully on her injured leg. “I’m going to send Brandon in for a few minutes so you guys can chat, okay?”
“Thanks,” I said, watching her head to the door. I really was incredibly lucky she was safe. I had the coolest big sister in the whole world.
The door had barely shut before it opened again and Brandon was sitting next to me on the bed. He certainly hadn’t slowed down his speed on my account. “How are you?”
I smiled at him. “I’m okay,” I assured him. “I’m sure I’ll have my moments of anger and confusion, but for now, I’m happy to be alive, glad Cadence is okay, and that she got Giovani and Zabrina.”
He nodded. “Me, too. Cass… that was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen in my whole life. I mean… seeing you lying there, looking like you were dead. And, before that, when you were shaking. Or that silent scream. When that Vampire had her mouth open right by your neck….”
He seemed to be recounting all of the horrors in reverse. “Listen, Brandon,” I said, cutting him off. “I know this was awful for both of us. And I want to tell you how sorry I am I talked you into this.”
“No, Cass—”
“Let me finish,” I insisted. “I know you’re going to tell me you made your own decision, but you wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for me. But, please, accept my apology. And I hope whatever Aaron does to you it won’t be too bad.”
“Apology accepted,” he replied, though I could tell it never crossed his mind to hold this against me. “He just told me I’m on probation for the next sixth months, and if I so much as sneeze without his permission he will squash me like the tiny bug that I am.”
I almost laughed, not that the message was funny but that I believed Aaron had said just that to Brandon, in his calm voice that makes you feel like you’re floating around in the ether. “That doesn’t sound so bad.”
“As long as I take my allergy medicine.”
I did laugh that time. I had a feeling he didn’t even take allergy medicine. “I also want to
say thank you. Thanks for coming after me and for staying with me.”
Brandon only nodded. I thought I saw tears in the corners of his eyes.
“Even when I couldn’t say anything, I knew you were there, and that made it easier for me.”
“I never left you. The whole time, I was right here.”
I believed him. I couldn’t help but smile. Then, taking a deep breath, I thought about what my sister had said to me, about power. “Listen, Brandon, this is all gonna get really weird for me as I start to figure out what I am now. And you’re a brand new Guardian. I’m sure things will be hard for you, too, as you complete your training, get your IAC, all of those things. You’re going to meet a ton of new people. My parents may never let me go to KC again. I hope we get a chance to know each other better, that we can chat on the phone from time to time, or text each other, whatever, but I think we’re both going to need some space, too, to figure all of this out. Don’t you think?”
Holding my breath, I waited for him to answer. It took a moment. “Yeah, totally,” he finally said, though his eyes said something completely different. I remembered on the train when I thought he was going to kiss me, and my heart broke a little bit. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I couldn’t go where he wanted me to go just yet. That didn’t mean it would never happen. For now, I needed to figure out who this new version of Cassidy Findley was and make sure I could love her before I loved anyone else.
“So… I think we should fly back,” I said, leaning back against the pillows. “What do you think?”
“I think, you’d better make sure you go to the bathroom before you get on the airplane,” he replied. “And, make sure Aaron’s not mad at you because my understanding is that he has a tendency to throw people right out the window.”
I laughed, glad to see he wasn’t so upset that he couldn’t joke around with me. “If that’s the case, you are the one who’d better be careful,” I warned him.
“True. I will sit in the back with my mouth closed the entire flight,” he nodded.
“I don’t think you can go five minutes without telling a story, let alone a whole flight.” I jabbed him in the arm playfully for emphasis.
“Ouch,” he said, rubbing his arm. “Careful. You’re a lot stronger than you were before.”
“I am?” I asked.
“Yeah. And… you’re probably right. I’ll be talking to someone.” He let out a sigh. “Guess I better make sure I have on a parachute.”
I laughed, but as Brandon continued to talk, another sound entered my mind. It was a strange sensation. It was like murmuring in the background at a restaurant. Nothing was understandable, but I could hear multiple voices, fading in and out, which made it very difficult to concentrate on what he was saying. Instinctively, I put my hands up to my ears.
“Cass, are you okay?” he asked, leaning forward, alarmed.
“Uh, yeah,” I said, as the voices faded. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m just tired.”
“You sure that’s all?”
“Uh-huh,” I assured him. “You were saying?”
Brandon started his story again, and I tried to focus, but this time, it wasn’t the voices that interfered, it was the realization of what I’d been hearing. It crossed my mind that maybe I was going crazy, but then I remembered something I’d learned in all of the research I’d done before I knew what Cadence was, before I knew about any of this. The voices I heard inside of my head weren’t my own. They belonged to other Vampires.
A Note From the Author
Greetings, Readers!
Thanks so much for reading How Not to Be a Vampire Hunter! I hope you are really enjoying Cassidy’s story. If you are, please consider leaving a review. I’d love to hear your feedback so I can decide how many more books to write in the series. Book 4, My Life as a Teenage Vampire Hunter, is finished, and you can find it here. After that, I’ll be taking a break from Cassidy to write Book 6 in The Clandestine Saga (Destruction), and Book 3 in A Vampire Hunter’s Tale (Elliott’s story!) If you’d like for me to write book 5 in The Chronicles of Cassidy after that, let me know with your reviews!
I won’t be linking my grownup books here since this series is primarily written for teens, but if you want more of the LIGHTS team and are old enough to handle more mature material, check out the other two series set in this world. Transformation starts with the Eidolon Festival from Cadence’s perspective. Aaron is a backstory about everyone’s favorite Guardian Leader. You can find them on Amazon with a quick search of the title and my name.
Thanks again for your continued support!
