Ashes (Book 2 The Kindred Series) (33 page)

Shifting uncomfortably, Devon’s hands
tightened on the wheel as sorrow swelled within him. He had to get
his mind off of his thoughts; he would go crazy if he didn’t. He
may very well snap if he continued to sit here and obsess over his
misery. He could still take her, he could make her stay with him,
and the monster inside of him was very tempted by the notion. The
man knew that it would be the worst thing he could ever do to her.
She would hate him, she would never forgive him. He would lose her
forever.

You could keep control of her mind, a
little voice inside him whispered. Keep her as yours, make her love
you again.

Devon shuddered, excited and disgusted
by the thought. Yes, he could do that, but it wouldn’t be his
Cassie, and though he could make her love him again it would never
be the same. It would never be the love that she had so easily and
trustingly given to him before. It would be a forced love and it
would be fake. He would rather live without her than force that
upon her.

A Toyota Camry rolled slowly by.
Devon’s breath froze as Luther swung into his driveway, parking the
car. Devon’s eyes narrowed as he searched the shadowed interior,
relieved to discover that Melissa was not present. Luther sat in
the car for a few moments, his hands gripped tight to the wheel,
his head bowed in grief. Devon wanted to wait for him to emerge,
but he was restless, and he had waited long enough.

Thrusting the door open, Devon made his
way swiftly across the street at an easy, loping run. Luther’s head
shot up in surprise, his eyes widened when Devon tapped on the
driver’s side window. Quickly rolling down the window he stared at
Devon through bloodshot, slightly swollen eyes. The bright grey of
them was highlighted by the glasses perched precariously on the tip
of his nose. It was apparent that he had been crying, but his eyes
were dry now.

“Devon,” he said softly.

“I need to talk to you.”

Luther sighed heavily, dropping his
head slightly. “I can’t change her mind Devon, I wish I could, but
I can’t. God how I wish I could,” he muttered, his gaze drifting to
his closed garage doors. From what Cassie had told him that was
often where they held their training practices. The garage was full
of a wide array of exercise equipment, and weapons.

Devon swallowed heavily, his muscles
constricting briefly in his chest. “I’m not here for that. Changing
her mind won’t happen.” Devon didn’t add that he truly wanted to
believe that it was for the best anyway, not when his soul felt
like it was being crushed.

It took a moment for his words to sink
in; Luther’s gaze came slowly back to him, his eyebrows drawn
questioningly together. “I don’t understand. Why are you here
then?”

“There are some things that have been
bothering me, about Cassie. Even before all this happened. I would
like to discuss them with you.”

Luther’s eyes darkened, worry creased
his brow. Devon felt momentarily guilty about adding more to the
man’s troubles, but he was the only one that might have answers for
him. “Um, yes, yes of course.”

Devon stepped back as Luther thrust his
door open, dropping his keys. Devon bent swiftly, instinctively
grabbing hold of them before they hit the ground. Luther’s eyes
widened, his mouth parted slightly as he met Devon’s gaze. Fear
briefly flashed through his eyes. Though Devon was slightly wounded
by the fear, he understood it. He was frightening, and without
Cassie he was highly unstable, and Luther knew that. Luther also
had no way of knowing why Devon had arrived on his doorstep. Devon
slowly handed the keys back, managing a small, reassuring smile in
an attempt to ease the man’s fear.

“Thanks,” Luther murmured.

He slid from the car, moving swiftly
down the brick walkway. Balancing the screen door open, Luther
unlocked the door and thrust it open. “I hope you don’t mind if I
pack a few things while we talk. I think it best if Melissa and I
stay with Cassie for a bit.”

He said all of this as he disappeared
inside, flicking on light switches as he moved swiftly down the
hall. Devon stopped at the doorway, unable to go further as Luther
disappeared around the corner, still talking. Leaning against the
door jam, he wondered just how long it would take the distracted
man to realize that he was not behind him.

Not that long as Luther’s head
reappeared in the hallway, a questioning look on his features. “I
can’t come in unless I’m invited,” Devon reminded him
softly.

Luther looked completely flustered as
he hurried back down the hall. “Oh of course, where is my head?
Come in, come in.”

Devon stepped easily through the
doorway as Luther went in the opposite direction he had gone in
before. Devon shook his head, slightly amused by the scatterbrained
way Luther darted about. He followed Luther down another hall as he
threw on more lights before stepping into a large study that was
stacked floor to ceiling with books. At least twenty bookcases
lined the walls, but even they were not enough to hold the vast
quantity of books. The excess books had spilled onto the floor,
parts of the couch, and the large desk in the middle of the room.
Devon could not even begin to guess at the number of books that
filled the room.

Most appeared to be rather old in age,
their bindings faded and their pages yellowed. They had a musty
scent that was neither pleasant, nor unpleasant, but simply hung
heavily in the air. Other than the light on the desk, and one
overhead, no other light spilled into the room. That was largely
due to the thick drapes drawn over the two windows behind the desk.
Drapes that probably stayed closed at all times in order to keep
the books protected from the light of the sun.

Seeing the room, Devon knew that he had
come to the right place. If Luther didn’t know what was happening,
then surely one of these books could explain it. “I just need to
grab a couple of volumes.” Luther was searching the shelves as he
spoke, his finger running swiftly over the bindings. “What’s on
your mind?”

Devon would have preferred to have
Luther’s full attention, but it was more than obvious that the man
was disconcerted and out of sorts at the moment. Besides, he didn’t
think it would be long before he did have Luther’s undivided
attention. He began to speak, telling Luther about all the bits and
pieces that he had picked up about Cassie. The better than normal
hearing, the above average eyesight, her exceptional healing
ability. The immense speed and strength she possessed that far
surpassed that of Chris and Melissa, or any other Hunter Devon had
ever seen.

All of which had been explained by the
fact that she didn’t possess special abilities, like most Hunter’s.
Whereas most Hunter’s powers had been filtered into extrasensory
powers, Cassie’s abilities were more centered upon fighting and
killing. It was a fact she hated, but could not deny. And though
the others were also above human in their strength, speed, and
healing, they were not nearly as strong as Cassie’s. In fact,
Cassie’s abilities were so acute, they almost bordered on being as
finely honed as his. Something that should not have been possible
considering that she was very much alive, and he was
not.

And then, finally, there was the red he
had seen in her eyes at the morgue, the red that had brought him
here. It was a flash of red that never should have been present in
her amazing eyes. Not unless she was a vampire, or unless there was
something else going on within her. Something that none of them
knew about, maybe even something that had never occurred in the
history of Hunter’s before.

And the thought of that scared the hell
out of him, even more so than living without her for an eternity.
He could keep her safe from the dangers of the outside world, but
he was greatly afraid that there may be something he could not keep
her safe from.

And that was herself.

“What are you saying?”

Luther had slid onto the corner of his
desk, one of the few spots not covered in books. Clutched loosely
in his hand, seemingly forgotten, a book dangled from his
fingertips. Devon had been right; he did have Luther’s full
attention now. “What happened to the other Hunter’s like Cassie,
the ones that didn’t have any abilities?”

Luther frowned as he slipped off his
glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose wearily. “I don’t know.
There were only a handful of them over the years. I suppose, like
all Hunter’s, they met their end while fighting. Do you suspect
something different?”

Devon ran his hand through his hair as
he began to pace restlessly. There was far too much pent up energy
inside of him, he didn’t know what to do with it all. The more he
paced the more restless and caged he felt. “I suspect that
somewhere along the way something did happen to at least one of
them.”

Luther sat silently for a moment,
unmoving on the edge of the desk. “Like what?”

“Her eyes were red Luther.”

“The lights maybe.”

“I know what I saw,” Devon growled.
“Something is not right; she’s not like the others.”

“No, she’s not, but that doesn’t
mean…”

“None of the others,” he interrupted
harshly. “I’ve come across many Hunter’s in my time, but none like
her. You need to find out what happened to the others that didn’t
possess any abilities. I think the extra power that should have
gone into developing an ability like Chris, Melissa, and Dani’s has
gone somewhere else.”

Luther gaped at him for a moment before
sliding his glasses on. His eyes were wide behind the lenses as he
blinked rapidly at Devon. “You think it’s manifested in a different
way?”

“Yes.”

Luther dropped the book on the desk,
leaning slightly forward as he pinched the bridge of his nose
tightly in thought. “I think you may be right.”

Devon stopped pacing, turning sharply
toward him. Shock coursed through him, he had wanted Luther to
believe him, but he now realized that he had fully expected to be
turned away. “You do?”

Luther nodded. “Yes, the power inside
of Cassie is far stronger than the others. It’s much stronger than
even she realizes. I’ve feared for awhile that it may be too much
for her to handle, though it never occurred to me that it might
manifest in the way that you are suggesting. But we can’t be
positive that your theory is correct either. Not until we find out
about the others like her, and then we’ll go from
there.”

“You want my help in this?” Devon
asked, unable to keep the shock from his voice.

Luther managed a wry grin. “Well I
doubt that you’re going anywhere until Isla and Julian have been
taken care of.”

“No,” Devon answered firmly.

“Good. She may not want to admit it
right now, but Cassie needs you, and hopefully by the time this is
all settled she will come to her senses about that.”

Devon frowned, folding his arms over
his chest as he studied the smaller man. “You don’t blame me for
bringing Julian and Isla here?”

“No.” Luther slid off the desk, pulling
his glasses off to clean them again. “I don’t blame you; the three
of them would have come up against monsters such as these
eventually. The only difference is that they would be dead without
you. This wasn’t your fault, Cassie will realize that
soon.”

Though Luther said the words, he did
not sound convinced of them and neither was Devon. They both knew
that she was stubborn, and right now she was also lost and angry
and devastated. “Until that happens, I have a feeling that you will
need something to keep you busy.” Luther gestured around the room.
“We’ll start here; I know a fair amount of these books, but
certainly not all of them. If the answers aren’t here, then we’ll
look elsewhere. I don’t want the others to know about this though.
There’s no need to worry them when we’re not certain if there’s
even anything to find.”

“I understand.”

Devon glanced at all of the books; they
would definitely keep him preoccupied. Even if they didn’t keep his
mind completely off of Cassie, at least he would have a mission,
something to do, something to accomplish. He needed answers soon,
he had a feeling that it wouldn’t be long before they ran out of
time and the answer slapped them all in the face. Hard.

CHAPTER
23

Chris sat stiffly in the chair, his
head slightly bowed, his hands clasped firmly before him. His
knuckles were white, he wasn’t even sure he could open his fingers
he had been holding them tight for so long. But he was greatly
afraid that if he unclasped them, he just might fall apart. His
head was killing, throbbing with the pulsating emotions pounding
against him.

The worst of which was Cassie and
Devon. Cassie remained immobile beside him; her head held high, her
chin tilted slightly up. The large, dark sunglasses she had taken
to wearing were firmly in place. He would like to think that they
were hiding her tears, but he knew better. She had not cried yet.
Not in front of them, and he was fairly certain not at
all.

The solid wall of anger and hate she
had erected around herself did not allow room for tears. It did not
allow room for anything else. Especially not grief. He turned his
head slightly toward her. He wanted desperately to reach out to
her, but knew that he would be rebuked again, just like he had been
a hundred times over the past few days.