Inferno (Book 4 The Kindred Series) (28 page)

Anger and hatred blazed through Devon
at the thought of what Zane would do to Cassie if he got his hands
on her. He would make her time with Patrick beneath the school look
like a vacation. Zane would torture her until there was nothing
left of her, bleed her almost to death before bringing her back to
do it over and over again. He would make sure that she stayed alive
for years in order to continue doing so.

Devon gazed upon Zane, the oldest
Elder, and the one that ran the show. The one that mistakenly
believed he still possessed more power than Devon. The one that had
no way of knowing that Devon already controlled him like a puppet.
A small, cruel smile curved Zane’s mouth as he turned his gaze ever
slowly from Devon to Cassie.

“Delicious,” Zane purred.

Devon pushed her back a step, squeezing
her tight between him and Julian. Between the two of them, Zane
would never get at her. Hopefully.

CHAPTER 15

Cassie could barely breathe against the
two bodies pressed tight to her. But then she thought she wouldn’t
be able to breathe anyway through the shock, horror, and fear
rolling through her. She was no dummy; she knew who these people
were, knew what they represented. She knew what they had come here
for, and what they would do to all of them. Devon and Julian may be
Elders, and there may be two other vampires, four Hunter’s, (if
they could untie Joey there would be five of them, but she didn’t
think they would make it to him in time), and a Guardian present,
but she knew that they would not be a match against eight
Elders.

They were no match against eight of the
monsters that had killed her parents. Hatred and anger tore through
her; she trembled with the ferocity of it. Ever since she had
learned the truth of what she was, ever since she had learned that
The Elder’s had organized a large group of vampires to destroy the
Hunter line, she had desperately wanted revenge. And now was
finally her chance for revenge, but there were so many of them and
they were so powerful. At least they would be able to take a few of
them out (of that she was certain, because she would be sure to do
so), before they were completely overrun.

“Delicious.”

Cassie’s eyes narrowed on the one that
had uttered the word with such reverence. Disgust rolled through
her, but so did anger. She studied the man carefully. He radiated
power, hunger, and maliciousness even more so than the others. He
also sported a bit of a tan. She recalled Devon telling her that he
had known one other vampire that could walk about in the sun; this
was most definitely that man.

His eyes were light ochre brown, so
light in fact that they appeared almost golden in the moonlight,
like honey. His dark blond hair was streaked with natural lighter
blond highlights. The highlights had been caused by the light of
the sun, a light that he never should have known again, that Devon
never should have known again, but did. He looked like a
Californian golden boy with his wavy hair falling over his forehead
and his clean cut good looks.

His dark nature was very evident, as
his was his thirst for blood, and it was more than apparent that he
was no golden boy. He was not as tall as the other men about him,
but he bore an aura of power that made him appear even larger, even
stronger. Even more formidable and intimidating.

“Zane,” Devon murmured his beautiful
eyes hooded and dark as he stared hard at the other man.

Zane, somehow that name fit the man
perfectly. It was wild and untamed, yet strong, deceiving,
mischievous and dangerous. Everything she knew that he was. He
appeared a little older than Devon, as if he had been turned in his
mid to late twenties, maybe even early thirties instead. Not like
it mattered when they had been turned, they were all over five
hundred years old now, she realized with dismay.

Devon’s gaze snapped toward the others
as they all shifted amongst the shadows. They moved eerily together
like one smooth, flowing unit. A unit that was acutely in tune with
each other, as acutely in tune as a hive of bees or a flock of
birds. They had been together for so long that they no longer
needed to speak in order to communicate with each other, but simply
picked up on the others motions and movements.

They were completely freaky, and
utterly frightening.

Cassie wanted to press tighter to Devon
as her skin began to crawl, but she would not reveal her fear to
them. She would not give them the satisfaction of knowing that they
had unnerved her. She glanced over the rest of the group. They were
staring hungrily forth, their eyes as bright and eager as wolves.
Cassie met their gazes, not backing down from their ravenous, nerve
racking stares.

“Devon.” Zane’s full mouth curved into
a half smile, his long fangs flashed in the dim moonlight. Cassie
briefly wondered where all the Halflings had disappeared to; they
almost would have been handy to have around right now. She had a
feeling they would go after this crew with a vengeance.

A cool breeze drifted through the
trees, the clicking of their skeletal branches was eerie in the
oddly silent night. No one moved as each group sized the other up.
“Sleeping with the enemy?” Zane inquired softly.

Devon shifted again, his muscles
rippled as he bristled with anger. “You know I won’t let you near
her,” he growled.

“Then we have a problem,” Zane said
softly. “Their kind kills ours. Their kind was never meant to walk
this earth; they are an abomination that should have been
eliminated years ago. It is only fate and misfortune that spared a
small percentage of them.” Zane’s head tilted to the side as he
studied her like a bug, but with an air of confusion. “We cannot
continue to allow these creatures to roam the earth.”

Cassie’s eyes widened, her mouth parted
slowly. Julian’s hand brushed against her waist, touching
reassuringly upon her for a brief moment. “It doesn’t matter what
you want Zane. It never has, not to me, not to us, in case you have
forgotten. You never ruled over us.”

Zane’s honey eyes narrowed slightly as
anger flashed briefly through them. “You think you’re all grown up,
but you’re forgetting that you’re playing with the big boys again
now.”

“You think that there aren’t enough of
us to take you down Zane?”

Zane’s gaze darted disdainfully over
everyone. “No.”

Cassie’s pride prickled, her shoulders
straightened. She went to step out from around Devon, but Julian
grabbed her shoulder, holding her firmly in place. “Stay,” he
growled in a low voice.

She turned to glare at him, but he
would not meet her gaze as he remained focused upon the strangers
still half hidden within the shadows of the forest. Devon subtly
backed her up even tighter against Julian. “You know there is a
good chance that I can take you, and we will take at least some of
you with us. Are you willing to risk losing a few of your cronies?”
Devon snarled.

Zane’s mouth quirked in a small smile.
“Temper temper Devon, you never learn. You still won’t listen to
me, you just do what you want to do, and believe what you want to
believe. You would think a half a millennium years might have
tempered that tendency a little. It will get you killed one
day.”

Cassie bristled over his words. No one
was going to take Devon from her. No one. “What do you want Zane?”
Julian growled.

“I may want them all dead, like they
deserve to be, but we are not here to fight you. Not unless, or
until, it becomes necessary.” Zane’s gaze came back to Cassie, his
head tilted slightly to the side as he studied her carefully.
“Without her, there is no you.”

Devon’s hand snaked back, he seized
hold of her arm so fast that she didn’t see him until he had
already grasped her. A small gasp of surprise escaped as he pulled
her firmly behind him, burying her against him. She blinked in
startled surprise at his broad back, the only thing she could see
now. Her nose was smashed against him, she could hardly breathe.
“You’ll never touch her!” he snapped, his tone so fierce that the
hairs on Cassie’s neck stood up at the same time that her blood
turned to ice.

A trembling took hold of her; terror
began to creep through her. But she was not frightened for herself,
or even for her friends right now, she was scared for Devon. Scared
that he would snap and do something reckless and dangerous.
Frightened that he would do something that she could not stop him
for doing. “Devon,” she whispered, her fingers curling into his
shirt as if that would stop him from doing something crazy, as if
she could hold him back if he went after Zane.

His only acknowledgement of her was a
small tightening upon her arm. “Easy Devon,” another murmured from
the shadows. “Though Zane is not making it clear, we are not here
for that.”

Cassie turned toward the man that had
spoken, her eyes widened upon his overwhelming, burly figure. He
was by far the largest man she had ever seen, even though he had to
be over five hundred years old, and people were shorter back then.
She could only imagine what people had thought about him back then
as this man was massive! He was well over six and a half feet tall,
with shoulders so broad that they blocked out the trees behind him.
His legs were the size of full grown tree trunks, his arms nearly
as big.

His unruly brown hair curled around his
broad, heavily bearded face. Though his hair was brown, his beard
was a bright red. His eyes were some strange mixture of his hair
and beard, a deep brownish red that shone in the light of the moon.
In fact, those eyes looked almost kind, almost impish. Though she
knew what he was, and what his presence here meant, she could not
envision him being cruel or vicious. In fact, if that hair and
beard ever went gray, and despite his massive size, she could
easily picture children sitting upon his lap telling him what they
wanted for Christmas.

“Then what are you here for?” Devon
demanded.

The giant of a man glanced at Zane,
disapproval obvious in his gaze. “To make sure the Halflings within
this town do not escape, and that they do not become known amongst
the world. They’ll endanger us all if they do.”

“We are also here for the girl,” Zane
interjected sharply, shooting the giant a dark look. Cassie’s
fingers dug uselessly into Devon’s shirt as the rage within him
notched up a little. She could not stop him; she would not reach
him if he went after them.

“Zane!” the giant hissed, obviously
becoming aggravated by his friends hostile attitude.

“Enough Bernard,” Zane ordered briskly.
“Devon must know the whole reason why we are here, and what must be
done.”

Devon’s one hand was fisted, and though
he still held her arm, she was able to twist herself slightly away
from his back. His eyes were a fiery red as he glanced toward her
before trying to push her behind him again. Before Devon could
successfully shove her aside again, she managed to turn and meet
Zane’s amused expression head on.

“And what must be done?” she demanded,
tilting her chin defiantly.

He grinned at her, his long fangs
flashing brightly in his tanned face. “You must be changed, of
course.”

Cassie’s breath exploded out of her,
she nearly fell over from the shock the words caused her. The
silence that followed was so profound that she could hear one of
the few rabbits left in the woods scurry back into its hole. The
silence was so profound that she could hear the soft breaths of the
people behind her. Even Devon, who had seemed so close to the edge,
remained frozen, unmoving, paralyzed by the words that Zane had
just issued.

Cassie was the first to recover her
aplomb, the first to know how to respond. “Ok.”

Whereas Zane’s words had stunned
everyone into silence, her single word caused an explosion of
flurry and reaction so intense that she almost covered her ears to
block out their protests. The only ones who did not start shouting
their disapproval were Julian and Devon. They remained completely
silent as they stared at her as if she had sprouted two heads, as
if she were some alien from the planet Jupiter.

The Elders remained silent, watching
intently as everyone that had been standing near the store
completely forgot about The Elders. They rushed forward, their
voices jumbled loudly together in their urge to be heard over
everyone else. They approached steadily, each voicing their
opposition. The only one that held back was Luther, he was also not
screaming as he moved slowly toward them. His gray eyes were sad;
the expression he wore was resolved, and slightly frightened.
Throughout everything they had been through, she had never seen
Luther frightened; she had not thought that it was
possible.

Cassie could not tear her eyes away
from his face. She could not look away from the man who had been
like a father to her for the past four years. He looked as if he
had lost her, or was terrified that he was about to. Cassie knew
what her decision meant, knew what the consequences of it could be,
but she no longer cared.

She had always known that they would
come to a crossroad, that one day the choice would be forced upon
them. But lately she had begun to fear that it would happen because
Devon could no longer control himself and took her by force. If
that happened he would always hate himself, even if she did come
through the transformation unscathed. But if the choice was taken
from them, if they were forced into it, then he could not blame
himself, and the tension, misery, and instability he had been
living with could be eased.