As much as Cadence hated Holland, held her partially responsible for Drew’s death and for changing all of their lives forever, she looked down into the eyes of the monster beneath her and realized she was causing her to suffer excruciating pain. It was over; Cadence had won. There was no reason to prolong it any more. Keeping her left hand firmly planted on Holland’s throat, she reached back with her right hand, drew the Glock from her leg holster, placed the gun against Holland’s chest directly above her heart and pulled the trigger.

Despite the damage to her throat, Holland still managed to shriek. It was ear shattering. The same breeze Cadence had felt from her mouth earlier blew past her again, the stench almost too much for her to bear as Holland’s body turned to ashes beneath her.

It took Cadence a moment to realize it was over. Slowly, she stood and dusted herself off. Surveying the room, she saw that only Hunters and Guardians remained, except for one lone Vampire cowering in the back behind Sabin and Genevieve. Sebastian had survived unharmed.

Chantal had been the only Hunter casualty, and Jamie had been able to cauterize and heal the veins where she was bleeding out, which saved her life. There wasn’t much they could do about her arm, but at least she would live.

“That was agonizing,” Aaron said, wrapping his arms around her. “I didn’t know how much longer I could stand to watch that. Thank God you didn’t attempt to decapitate her. As strong as she was, that could’ve taken all night.”

Cadence managed a laugh, though she was still dazed. “Well, a wise man once told me, ‘If you have the shot, take it.’ So, I did.”

He looked into her eyes, and bit his bottom lip. Cadence wondered if the fact that everyone was staring at them was the only thing that prevented him from leaning down and kissing her. He looked like he wanted to. Staring into those blue eyes, she realized that it really didn’t matter what anyone else said or thought; she was falling in love with him. By the looks of it, there was still a chance he felt the same way.

Pushing those thoughts aside for a moment, Cadence momentarily leaned her head against his chest, taking a moment to recover from the excursion of battle. She closed her eyes and took some deep breaths, content to let the world melt away for a moment. She was completely safe and secure now, with Aaron’s arms wrapped around her. After a few moments, however, she realized everyone was still standing around staring at them, including Christian. And the police had to be nearby now. It was time they made a hasty retreat. She smiled up at Aaron and stepped away from him, intending to gather up the guns she had thrown off before the fight.

As Cadence stepped back, she caught a flash of light out of the corner of his eye. Aaron must have seen it, too. He only had a split second to react, and his gut response was to throw himself on top of her. They both tumbled to the ground, Aaron landing on top of her. She knew she was safe, but she had no idea what had happened.

The next thing that registered was Eliza shouting. “I was one step too late,” she said. “Damnit!” From her IAC, Cadence could see that Eliza was wrestling with Sebastian, Sabin standing nearby, clearly in shock. Eliza drew her weapon and shot Sebastian right in the heart.

“What… what happened?” Genevieve asked, this time in English. She came flying up behind Sabin.

“He grabbed Sabin’s hand and fired a shot,” Eliza explained, still breathing heavily.

Sabine was still stunned. “We completely trusted Sebastian. I would have never thought he would go Rogue.”

Cadence was a little shocked but otherwise fine. She took a moment to catch her breath as she listened to the conversation, but she was ready to get back to her feet. Aaron still had her pinned to the ground, however, and it took her a moment to realize why.

Confusion set in; if Sebastian had fired a shot at her, Aaron couldn’t be hurt. A Vampire couldn’t injure a Guardian. Yet, as she unwedged herself and rolled over, the warm red blood oozing across the dance floor said otherwise. Panic beginning to set in, she turned him over. “Aaron!” she screamed. “What? How did this happen?” He was looking at her, still conscious though he was fading fast. “No!” she pleaded. “You’ve got to stay with me!”

She felt hands on her shoulders and realized Jamie was there. He was weakened from healing Chantal, but surely he had some energy left. She just hoped it was enough. Eliza ran over with towels from the bar, and Jamie applied pressure to the bullet hole, which was located right under Aaron’s rib cage on his right side.

Cadence cradled his head in her lap as Jamie continued his work. Jamie was fading almost as quickly as Aaron was, and Eliza wrapped her arms around Jamie to give him the support he needed to stay upright. The rest of the team kept their distance, but they were watching intently. She could feel their eyes.

“How are you doing?” Jamie asked Aaron weakly.

“I… think it might have hit a lung. I can’t talk. I tried….”

“Okay, don't try then.” Jamie had also switched to the IAC. “Do you feel anything at all?”

“I feel… warm.

“Oh, God,” Cadence mumbled.

“No, that’s good,” Jamie explained. “That means I’m healing him.” Back to Aaron, he pointed out, “Of course, if you actually have a collapsed lung, that will take its toll on me. Hopefully, I can patch it.”

“It doesn’t hurt as much now.”

Cadence was glad to hear that, but she still wasn’t convinced he wasn’t feeling better because he was dying. Surely, Jamie would save him. She reached down and grabbed Aaron’s hand, refusing to consider the idea of losing him. She ran her fingers through his hair. Without him, how could she possibly go on? How could any of them? “Please, stay with us. Don’t leave us,” she said, wiping at her tears with the back of her free hand.

He kept his eyes trained on hers, and she felt like, as long as they didn’t break that connection, he would be forced to stay.