Inferno (Book 4 The Kindred Series) (18 page)

“We will deal with them
then.”

He sighed, cupping her cheek gently
with his hand. She leaned into him, smiling softly as she stared
innocently down at him. “What if I lose you?”

“You’ll lose me anyway if I stay
mortal. I think my body can handle this Devon, I’m almost positive
that it can. You won’t lose me, I won’t allow it.”

He couldn’t help but smile at the
fierce conviction in her voice, the intensity in her face and eyes.
“I’m sure that you will do whatever you can, but…”

She shook her head; her eyes twinkled
as she grinned down at him. “No buts, we’ll get through it, look at
how much we’ve already gotten through. This is a small hurdle
compared to the others.”

He smiled at her in amusement, tugging
lightly on her hair as he wrapped it around his finger. “Is that
so?”

“Very much so.” His grin faded as he
stared at her beautiful features, and bright, hopeful eyes. He
wanted nothing more than to keep her by his side forever, but he
didn’t want to risk the danger such a thing represented to her.
“Besides, since I am your mate then everything has to be completed
right?”

His hand stilled on her, his chest
constricted. “That is the way that it is supposed to be, but this
is a special case Cassie. We may never be able too.”

Her eyes darkened, her eyebrows drew
tightly together as she frowned at him. “We will,” she said
forcefully.

“Are you willing to give up children? A
family?”

She snorted softly as she shook her
head. “I gave up hopes of children years ago Devon, when I found
out what I was. And my family is here, with us. Just because we
don’t share blood doesn’t mean that they aren’t my family. Hell,
the one I do share blood with is the one that I don’t consider
family.”

Pain and anger resonated in her voice,
but there was also a steel rod of strength hardening her jaw and
resonating from her eyes. “But you could have children; you don’t
have to give up that dream.”

She shook her head forcefully, her
frown deepened as her eyes narrowed. Her jaw clenched slightly, her
nostrils flared as she eyed him angrily. She was one of the most
stubborn people he had ever run across, and right now that streak
was blazing brightly. There would be no talking her out of this
right now he knew that, just as he knew that he didn’t really wish
too. He only had her best interests at heart, but he also wanted
and loved her more than he had ever loved or wanted
anything.

“No,” she whispered. “I would rather
have you.”

He managed a sad smile for her, knowing
that she deserved to have children and a normal life, but a normal
life had never been her destiny. Even before he had walked into it,
her life had been chaotic and uncertain. But she still could have
children, and she would make an amazing mother. “You share my
blood,” he said, trying to distract himself from his turbulent
thoughts.

Cassie shivered, her lips parted
slightly. He recognized the desire that blazed fiercely through her
and reacted to it instantly. “Yes,” she whispered.

He tugged on her hair, pulling her down
to him. He claimed her mouth savagely, wanting so much more,
wanting all of her. Taking her blood on a regular basis helped to
keep the beast within him under control, but he wondered if it
would always stay that way. Or if eventually the beast would want
more, as the man did.

A loud crash downstairs tore him away
from her. Wood splintered as glass shattered. Devon tossed the
blankets from them, leaping easily to his feet as a cry of surprise
and horror echoed up the stairs. “Stay here!” he ordered
briskly.

He didn’t have time to make sure she
obeyed his command as he hurried swiftly forward, easily dodging
the low ceiling. He ignored the stairs as he jumped down, landing
gracefully upon the floor. The front of the store was still secure;
Cassie’s father was tied to the chair, his eyes wide with terror.
Another crash sounded from the back as Devon bounded forward,
oblivious to the fact that he wore no shoes, or shirt.

CHAPTER 9

Cassie leapt down the stairs behind
Devon, landing silently upon the hardwood floor. Her father’s eyes
were bulging out of his head, panic evident on the hard lines of
his face. “Let me out of here!” he gasped.

“Stay quiet!” she hissed.

She moved swiftly forward, her blood
pumping fiercely, a strange thrill of power pulsing through her.
She was primed for this fight, ready for it, determined to win. A
loud crash resonated from the back, shaking the floor beneath her
feet, but she hardly felt it as she honed in on her enemy, her
prey. Passing by the racks of hunting equipment, she grabbed one of
the knives they had placed there earlier. It was a wicked looking
foot long Bowie, with a gleaming, well honed blade.

She felt oddly tranquil, oddly focused
as she strode toward the chaos she could hear radiating from the
back room. She stepped into the fray, her mind and instincts
rapidly taking in the scene. Five of the creatures had burst
through two of the back windows, glass lay scattered across the
floor amongst the broken bits of wood that had been used to try and
blockade the windows.

Annabelle and Liam were fighting off
one, Julian was engaged with another. Devon had one, and Chris and
Melissa were methodically beating on the fourth, while Luther and
Dani were battling the fifth. Cassie strode into the fray, aiming
straight for the one that Chris and Melissa were struggling with.
Another one leapt through the window, squealing with delight as it
spotted her, Cassie lifted her eyebrow as it raced at her. She
braced herself for its attack, eager to take out some of her
frustrations on something.

The fight was short and brutal. Cassie
ducked away from its initial rush, thrusting the blade upward as
she drove it into the creature’s chest. It howled in pain, falling
back as it clawed at the wound she had just delivered. Cassie felt
no sympathy, held no remorse as she pulled the blade free and drew
it swiftly across the monsters throat, driving it deep.

Her mind seemed to turn off as she
moved swiftly away from the mutilated monster, heading for her next
victim. She barely heard Devon calling her name, trying to reach
her through the red haze of annihilation pumping through her as she
turned toward the next monster. However, her world was no longer
filled with thoughts of the living, and the people she loved; it
was consumed with death and destruction once more.

She moved easily, flowing swiftly
through the motions of battle, drawing on her training and
abilities to help push her through. To keep her going, fighting,
moving. She blocked out everything else as she drew on thousands of
years of intuition and breeding as she hunted down her next
victim.

***

Devon shoved aside the creature he had
been fighting with, struggling to get at Cassie as she spun
beautifully, moving with the easy grace of a ballerina as she slit
the monsters throat. For a moment he was mesmerized by her beauty,
her grace, the speed and confidence with which she
struck.

But it was only for a moment, and then
he realized that it was not natural. The way she was moving, the
speed of it, Christ she was almost as fast as he and Julian. And
she seemed to be twice as deadly at the moment. Devon snapped out
of his stunned daze as one of the creature’s grabbed hold of her
arm. Terror took over him as she battled the last creature within
the room. He hardly had time to move before she slammed her elbow
into its jaw, snapping its head back. With the things throat
exposed, Cassie drew the blade swiftly across its neck before
plunging it deep into the creature’s chest.

She flinched slightly as blood
splattered over her. Devon’s chest clenched tightly, terror filled
him as she reached up with trembling fingers to wipe some of the
blood from her cheek. The room was eerily quiet after the battle,
the hushed silence thick in the night. Cassie held her hand in
front of her, staring at the blood on her fingers as she rubbed it
slowly back and forth between her thumb and index finger. Melissa
flinched at the sharp sound of Cassie’s knife clattering onto the
wooden floor.

She spun suddenly, her hair flailing
around her as she stormed out of the backroom. Devon burst into
motion, pushing Liam aside as he bolted after her, greatly afraid
of what she might do. She did not flee outside like he had half
expected, but instead turned the corner toward her father. Devon
cursed loudly, shoving a shelf out of his way in order to get to
her faster. He no longer cared about noise as it bounced loudly off
the ground, its contents crashing and rolling across the
floor.

Devon caught up to her as she stopped
before her father, her eyes a vivid red, her body shaking as she
lifted her blood stained fingers toward him. Devon froze, his body
going numb with horror.

“What did you do to me?” she whispered
in a hoarse, desperate voice that broke his heart and caused
tentacles of ice to encase him.

The man simply stared at her, his gaze
focusing on the trembling fingers she held before him. A single
drop fell from her tips; the soft splat on the wood was loud in the
quiet that filled the room. The others shuffled in slowly behind
him, remaining perfectly silent in the darkened room.

“What did you do to me!?” Cassie
screamed causing everyone to jump slightly in startled
surprise.

Her father lifted his head slowly; his
eyes gleamed as a small snarl curved his lip. “What needed to be
done.”

Devon felt the snap that radiated out
of her, the fury that blazed from her. The hatred that suffused
her. It thundered through the room, filling it with the pulsating
power of her rage. Her hands fisted tightly, and for a moment Devon
thought she was going to hit him. Then, like a sucking vortex, the
rage seemed to go back into her. The trembling of her body eased,
her hands unclenched. “You’re not worth it,” she whispered. “You’re
not worth anything.”

He quirked an eyebrow, a small smile
curved his mouth. “It seems you may be one experiment that
succeeded.”

“Son of a bitch!” Julian snarled,
taking a step toward him.

Cassie held up her hand, warding him
away. “Maybe I am,” she agreed softly.

She turned away from him, her red eyes
landing upon Devon. There was a bleak hopelessness in them that
tore at his soul. He took a step toward her.

“If you won’t do it, I will.” Melissa
stormed out of the shadows, striding easily across the store.
Before Cassie could stop her, Melissa reached out and slapped
Cassie’s father, hard. The slap resonated throughout the building,
Derek’s head snapped to the side. “You deserve worse,” Melissa
muttered.

Shock filled Devon as Melissa took a
step back; her hands fisted in anger as she glared at the man in
the chair. Derek’s head came slowly back around, a trickle of blood
formed in the corner of his mouth. Then the smell of that blood hit
him. Cassie’s burst of rage was nothing compared to the one that
instantly suffused him, and ripped free of Julian.

CHAPTER 10

Cassie gasped as Devon’s eyes flared a
fierce shade of red and his fangs elongated almost instantly.
Hatred blazed out of him as he took a step forward. Terror tore
through Cassie, she had no idea what was going on, or what had
caused such a violent reaction in him. She turned to Julian, who
had the same stunned look on his face that Devon had had. Then that
look also faded into murderous rampage as he snarled
loudly.

Cassie spun as Julian charged forward,
picking up a shelf and heaving it out of his way. Melissa’s face
was suffused in horror; she retreated swiftly away from the two of
them. Derek’s eyes widened in terror, he bounced up and down on the
chair, strangled sounds of panic escaping him as he tried to get
away from Julian’s onward charge.

Cassie cried out in fear. She didn’t
know what had happened, what had caused this strange reaction, but
Julian was going to kill him, and she couldn’t allow that to
happen. She lurched forward, but Devon reacted faster than she did.
He jumped in front of her, blocking Julian from killing her
father.

Julian reached out to push Devon aside,
but Devon grabbed hold of his arm, holding him back. “Get out of my
way!” Julian snarled.

Cassie’s heart flipped with panic, her
stomach felt as if it plummeted straight to the ground. She had no
idea what was going on here, no idea what had set them off, but she
was fairly certain they were going to end up fighting. That they
may even kill each other. “Wait! Stop!” she cried.

She took a step toward them, but Devon
held up his hand, his furious eyes briefly snapping toward her.
“Stay there!” he barked.

Cassie started in surprise; he never
talked to her like that, he never raised his voice to her. Her
shock was short lived though as anger and frustration rose swiftly
up inside her. She took a step toward them, refusing to be
intimidated by either of them, even though they both looked about
ready to rip her father to shreds. Though she knew that neither of
them would ever hurt her, they were acting crazy right now and she
had no idea why. Luther moved swiftly, grabbing hold of her arm as
he pulled her swiftly back.