Inferno (Book 4 The Kindred Series) (3 page)

Though, he knew that he could not
expect her to be the same. He didn’t know what had been done to
her, but from the looks of her now, she had been through hell and
back. He inhaled deeply, anger spiking through him as he caught the
scent of her blood. It was not the same sweet scent that he
remembered. There was something different about it. Something tangy
and wrong. And beneath it all, he could smell Julian.

He tried to control his emotions, tried
to keep them hidden from her, but jealousy and rage were beginning
to fill him once more. What the hell had they done to her in there?
What had they given her to cause her blood to smell so off, and her
eyes to change without her losing control of herself? Why did he
smell Julian on her? Was it because they had been together, or had
something more been done?

He glanced at Julian, his eyes
narrowing slightly as he studied him. Julian remained impassive;
his face a mask of indifference, but Devon could sense the
underlying tension and pain running through him. Julian was trying
to be stoic, but it was obvious that whatever had happened with
them, Julian had also been changed by it.

Cassie’s fingers stroked lightly over
his cheeks, drawing his attention back to her. She smiled at him so
beautifully that he forgot all about the strange scent clinging to
her, and his worry over Julian. All he could think about now was
her, and how wonderful it was to have her again, to hold her again.
All he could do was hope that he could ease whatever torment she
had been through, and that she could forgive him for losing her in
the first place.

“We should probably get off the
street,” she said softly.

He couldn’t help but grin at her as he
pulled her close, kissing her nose gently. “Yes.”

He wrapped his arms around her before
stooping to pick her swiftly up. She didn’t make a sound as she
entwined her arms around his neck, snuggling closer. Her breath was
warm against his skin, her body fit perfectly against his as she
buried her face against him.

Devon turned back to the group standing
outside the SUV, watching silently. Melissa was crying softly,
Luther’s arm was wrapped tightly around her. Liam and Annabelle
were standing with their arms around each other. Chris had moved
slightly forward, his mouth parted in surprise, a questioning look
was on his face. Devon studied Chris for a moment, not liking the
confusion that filled his face. It brought his doubts and fears
about Cassie sharply back to the forefront.

Cassie lifted her head from his
shoulder, blinking tiredly. He could feel the utter exhaustion that
radiated from her. “You are coming with us,” she said softly, her
gaze not focused upon him, but on Julian.

Devon tensed, his hands tightened upon
her. “Cassie,” he hissed.

She looked up at him, her eyes dark and
worried. “He’s coming with us Devon,” she said forcefully. “He is
my friend and I will not leave him here.”

Devon couldn’t stop the fierce bolt of
jealousy and confusion that ripped through him. What the hell were
they doing together, and just what the hell had happened between
them, and to them, for her to want Julian to stay with her? “I’m
coming,” Julian replied firmly.

Devon glanced sharply at him, his
nostrils flared as fury boiled through him. Cassie may think that
they were “friends” but it was more than apparent from the look in
Julian’s eyes that he thought more, or at least wanted more. Devon
shifted her slightly, wanting to get her away from the want and
need in Julian’s eyes. Then Julian looked up at him, and though he
sensed envy in him, Devon didn’t sense any malice. Not like there
used to be.

“And her?” Devon growled, nodding at
Dani.

Cassie moved to look around him, her
body stiffened in anger and distrust. Julian turned toward Dani,
his eyes narrowed as animosity blazed forth. “She’s coming too, we
need answers,” Julian snarled bitterly.

Dani looked worriedly at all of them,
fear evident in her gold streaked hazel eyes. Then she looked
toward the woods and took a step closer to Julian. “I’m coming with
you,” she said softly.

“You didn’t have a choice,” Julian
assured her, his voice as cold as ice.

“Be nice,” Cassie said softly. “She did
get us out of there.”

“She also helped to put us in
there.”

Cassie bit on her bottom lip as she
nodded slowly. “Can we go please?”

“Anything you desire,” Devon assured
her, striding past the two of them. He just wanted to get her the
hell out of there, and somewhere safe. He wanted answers, and he
never wanted to let her out of his arms again. He strode swiftly
toward the rest of the group, not bothering to look back at Julian
and Dani.

CHAPTER 2

Cassie clung tight to Devon, refusing
to release him as she sat cradled within his lap. She was exhausted
but she was afraid to go to sleep. She was petrified that this
would all turn out to be a dream, and that she would awaken in that
cramped cell again. She shifted on Devon’s lap, her hand curled
tighter into his shirt as she pressed against him, trying to assure
herself that this was real, that he was real.

His chest was solid beneath her hand,
slightly cooler under his shirt. His hard muscles rippled against
her as he shifted, his hand entangled in her hair, holding her
close. But she still could not bring herself to believe that it was
real. She glanced up at the hard contour of his jaw, noting the
dark bristles that lined it. He had always been clean shaven, but
it was obvious that he was wearing a few days worth of growth
now.

He was just as magnificent as she
remembered though. Just as hard and handsome and wonderful. He was
her entire world, her everything. His presence filled the hole that
had been ever present since she had been ripped away from him and
placed in that horrendous cell. He made her complete. He was
everything good and right and just in her.

He looked down at her, his beautiful
emerald eyes warming with love as he shifted her slightly, pulling
her tighter against him to drop a gentle kiss on top of her
forehead. Cassie cuddled up closer to him, meeting his lips for a
brief, sweet kiss that she wished was so much more. She wanted out
of this cramped vehicle, and she desperately wanted some time alone
with him.

Not that she wasn’t grateful to see her
friends also, because she was, especially Chris and Annabelle, as
she’d feared that they were dead. Feared that Dani had done
something awful to them, but they were here before her, alive and
healthy. Tears filled her eyes as she stared at the back of Chris’s
blond head. He had always been her best friend, her rock, her
anchor in the world, but it was Devon that she needed now, and in a
way that she never had before. She had been kidnapped, tortured,
brutalized and changed in ways she didn’t even know. She needed his
goodness and caring and unconditional love more than anything right
now. She trailed a finger under his jaw, relishing in the very real
feel of his coarse hair against her skin. Loving the way his black
hair fell across his magnificent face, loving the way it outlined
the gorgeous contours of his refined features.

Reluctantly she turned her attention
away from him as the SUV made a right hand turn onto a strangely
deserted street. Her eyebrows drew together as she frowned in
confusion. Though it was still dark out, the sun would be coming up
soon. There should be at least a few people moving around. Some
lights should be on in the windows as people brewed their morning
coffee, showered, and dressed for work.

Her frown deepened as she sat slowly
up. Devon’s hands tightened briefly on her but when she made no
move to pull away he relaxed. “What is going on around here?” she
asked quietly as they drove down another deserted
street.

“We don’t know,” Chris answered, his
sapphire gaze worried and questioning as he turned toward her.
Cassie frowned at him. He had been staring at her strangely ever
since she had gotten into the vehicle. He had hugged her, had even
shed a few tears, but he had not stopped looking at her as if he
didn’t understand her, or even know who she was.

“Where are we going?”

“The General store,” Melissa answered a
small quiver in her voice.

Cassie frowned as she bit hard on her
bottom lip. “We’re staying here? We’re staying in this town?” she
demanded, unable to keep the tremble of panic from her
voice.

“It will be ok,” Devon said gently,
rubbing her arms as he tried to soothe her.

She turned back to him, her heart
hammering in fear. “No, those people are here! Those people and
those things are in this town! We can’t stay here! They’ll take us
back there if they find us! We can’t go back in there!”

She was nearly shrieking by the time
she was done, and shaking so fiercely that her teeth were
chattering together. “Cassie…”

“No!” she screamed. Clawing terror
seized hold of her. A sense of impending doom settled over her, her
chest constricted so tightly that she could hardly breathe. She was
gasping, choking, as she tried to get air into her tortured
lungs.

Devon kept hold of her as she tried to
get away; she needed to be free of the vehicle and the pressing
weight on her chest. Julian leaned over him, grasping hold of her
chin and pulling her head forcefully toward him. “Enough princess!”
he snapped as Devon released a ferocious growl that caused the hair
on the back of her neck to stand on end.

“Get your hand off of her!” Devon
spat.

Julian chose to ignore him as he
continued to hold onto her. “We are not going back there. I promise
you that much, we are never going back in there. They will never
touch you again. You need to keep yourself under control because we
have got to learn what is going on here. We need to know what they
were trying to do to us down there, and what they have done to this
town.”

Cassie bit her lip hard, fighting back
the wave of tears that filled her eyes. “Or what they did do to
us,” she whispered, thinking of her red eyes and the strange
control she’d had over herself earlier. Thinking of the shots they
had injected her with that had turned her veins a different color
as it seeped through her blood stream.

“Yes.” Cassie sat silently for a
moment, trying to breathe through the pressure that lingered in her
chest. Julian’s full mouth twisted into a small smile. “You
survived down there, you will survive this.”

Cassie nodded, a single tear slid down
her face as she set her shoulders in resolve. “You’re right,” she
whispered. “We need to know. And don’t call me
princess!”

He grinned at her, squeezing her chin
briefly before retreating to the far back of the vehicle. Everyone
stared at her in stunned silence, and then their gazes darted
briefly toward Julian. She could sense their confusion and
uncertainty, sense the questions rolling through them, but no one
said a word. She turned slowly toward Devon, hating the stunned,
wounded look in his eyes. She squeezed his hand tightly, looking to
reassure him and ease his fears, but she wasn’t sure she
succeeded.

Devon was her heart, but he was going
to have to accept the fact that Julian had become her friend, and
her savior, in a time when she had desperately needed both. He
would have to accept the fact that she and Julian had forged a
strong bond while they had been held captive, and that Julian owned
a piece of her heart now. A piece that still confused her, and one
that she didn’t understand. Julian was more than her friend, she
cared for him deeply. Their bond had become so strong that she
thought of Julian as good of a friend as Chris and Melissa, and she
needed him in her life as much as she needed them.

Though, she didn’t want Devon to know
right now about the fact that Julian had kissed her. He would
destroy Julian if he learned that, and she could not allow that to
happen. Especially since it had been her fault for allowing the
kiss to happen. At the time she had been confused about her
feelings toward Julian. She knew that Devon possessed her heart and
soul, but Julian had become a big part of her life, and she loved
him. But she could never love him like she loved Devon, and
although she had doubted that, Julian never had. He had simply
needed to kiss her, simply wanted the moment for
himself.

She thought back to Julian’s words
after he had kissed her. “I know princess, I know. I just needed
this.”

At the time she hadn’t known what he
meant by that. Had not understood what he had known, but she
understood now. Though she had been lost and confused, Julian had
known that she would always choose Devon over him. Julian had
understood that though she did love him, it was always Devon that
she belonged with, and to. And although it had happened once, both
she and Julian knew that it would never happen again.

Tears clogged her throat, she clung
tighter to Devon. It was not a secret that she would always keep
from him, and one day she would tell him, but she couldn’t do so
now. Now she needed Devon to trust Julian as much as she did. She
couldn’t lose Julian now, she had grown to trust him and love him,
and she needed him to help get her through all of this. She would
always need him she realized.