Inferno (Book 4 The Kindred Series) (35 page)

“I know,” she whispered. “But why does
he hate you so much? He’s your brother, he should have protected
you. He should have helped to defend you. You were a helpless
child.”

Devon was silent for a long moment, his
eyes dark and distant. “Robert was always twisted, like my father.
I didn’t see it as a child because I couldn’t see anything past my
father, but Robert was always cruel too. It was a long time later
that I thought back on those days with a different eye and suddenly
realized the things I had missed. The servants were afraid of
Robert. At the time I thought it was because he was going to be the
future master, but now I know that it was more than that. He
terrorized them. He hit them when they messed up, beat them if he
saw fit, took the women whenever he wanted, as my father did. But I
never saw the joy, the absolute ecstasy that he took in it, not
until after.

“My mother was also afraid of him. She
tried to protect me, to shelter me from them, but I recall times
when she would tremble in their presence. Tremble in the presence
of her own child. She wanted nothing more than to get me out of
that house and as far from them as possible. Unfortunately, once I
was free I ran wild with it. I should have taken more time for her,
should have opened my eyes sooner to what was going on in that
house, but I could see nothing past my own pain and terror. It was
a long time before I finally did, and by then it was too late for
my mother. She withered swiftly away once I was gone; I think her
fear just ate at her until she finally died.”

Cassie choked back a sob as she shook
her head. “That’s not your fault. You couldn’t have stopped it, you
couldn’t have stayed there. If you had…”

“They would have killed me,” he said
when she could not finish. Cassie recoiled from his words, hating
the truth in them, hating that he’d had to suffer so badly. No
child should have to go through what he had. No wonder he had
wanted to keep the truth about his brother hidden from her, no
wonder he had tried to keep her as shut out of his past as
possible.

“I’m glad that you did, but you didn’t
have to show me,” she managed to choke out.

He played idly with a strand of her
hair, twirling it around his finger. “Yes, I did. You need to know
Cassie, that no matter what they say, we cannot trust them.
Especially Robert.”

She was silent for a moment, her
fingers lightly stroking his solid, bare chest. “I
know.”

“If they had truly come in peace, and
for the reasons they say, they would not have brought Robert with
them.”

The thought of Devon’s brother was
enough to make her blood boil. She wanted to kill him herself, and
if she got the chance she knew that she would. Just as Robert would
do the same to her. “The change, what is it like?”

Devon’s hand stilled on her hair.
“Cassie…”

“It has to be done Devon, whether they
force it or we chose it, it must be done. I think I should be
prepared for it.”

He was silent for a moment before
nodding. “The pain is very intense, but hopefully I will be able to
take some of yours onto myself by keeping hold of a piece of your
mind.” Cassie shook her head in protest, not wanting him to do any
such thing. “Yes Cassie that is going to happen no matter what you
say. It doesn’t last long; the longest I’ve seen is an hour. Mine
was only twenty minutes.”

Cassie nodded; she could handle the
pain, no matter what she would not allow Devon to take it on for
her. “Ok, that’s not bad.”

She managed a wan smile for him. Though
she was looking forward to joining him completely, to being with
him forever, she did not relish the thought of dying. He was
thoughtful as he watched her. “I will make it as painless as
possible for you.”

“I’ll be fine,” she replied.

He simply nodded, though she knew that
he was not giving into her wishes. He kissed her softly, drawing
her closer against him once more.

CHAPTER 19

Cassie sat silently, trying to peak out
from behind Devon, but he stood firmly in front of her and had no
intention of moving even a little bit. She bit back a sigh of
impatience. The testosterone level in the room was running high,
tension was pulsating, and she was greatly afraid that one of the
strong, super powerful men in this room was going to
snap.

And she was afraid that it was going to
be Devon, as Robert had already managed to nearly send him into a
rage the minute that he had walked into the room. He had taken one
look at Cassie and his eyes had lit with maliciousness. “Well don’t
you smell interesting. Looks like someone is a woman now, does that
finally make you a man Devon?” he had inquired softly.

Cassie’s face had flooded with color;
her body had burned with the heat of embarrassment that had flooded
it. She had been unable to meet any of the startled gazes directed
her way. Julian had grabbed hold of Devon, holding him back when he
had been about to pounce on his brother. Cassie was certain that
Devon would have killed Robert if he had gotten his hands on
him.

Devon had held back from destroying
Robert all these years because Robert was his brother, and to Devon
that still meant something, but Cassie realized that it didn’t
matter anymore. Not if it meant her safety, and her life. Nothing
mattered more to him than that. Robert was now fair game, and it
seemed Robert had finally realized that fact as he had remained
silent ever since those first few comments.

“How do we draw them out?” Zane
inquired softly.

“They’ll come to us,” Devon answered,
thrusting his arm behind him when Cassie tried to move to get a
better view. She frowned fiercely at his back, but he didn’t bother
to look at her in order to get the full force of her
displeasure.

“They’ll lay a trap if we allow them
too.”

“Outside will be better,” Luther said.
“In the open where we can see them coming, and where they will have
less of a chance to divide us.”

Zane was silent, his gaze moved slowly
toward the boarded windows, then around the store. “Yes, perhaps
you are right. There is no room for movement in here. We draw them
out into the open and with all of us…”

“They will not be a part of this. There
is no need for them to be,” Devon interrupted.

Anger spurted through her as Chris,
Melissa, Dani, and Luther spun on him. “You can’t leave us behind
again!” Cassie interjected sharply. Devon turned slowly toward her,
his emerald eyes blazing with intensity and anger. His jaw was
clenched tight, his nostrils flared slightly. “Not after last time,
and you will need us.”

“I’ll make sure that you are kept
somewhere safer…”

“Like hell!” Chris interrupted Devon
sharply.

“There is no need to discuss this. They
will be involved,” Zane said forcefully.

“Zane!” Devon hissed.

Zane shook his head, causing his golden
hair to fall across his forehead. “I want to see what they can do,
what they are capable of.” Zane’s honey eyes landed upon her, a
spark of amusement filled them. “I especially want to know what
your little sweetheart is capable of.”

Cassie glared at him as she folded her
arms over her chest. Devon was trembling with anger, his hands
fisted, and the corded muscles in his arms stood out sharply. “I do
not want them involved in this!”

“It doesn’t matter what you want. We
had an agreement, and this is going to be part of it. No matter
what happens these creatures must be destroyed, and I will take all
the help that we can get on this. Also, I need to know what she is
capable of, how strong she is. She killed Isla; we have to know if
she is capable of killing us too.”

Devon glanced sharply back at her, fear
evident in his gaze. Cassie stared silently up at him, wide eyed
and terrified. He had told her that they could not trust them, but
she had still been holding out hope that everything would work out,
until now. Julian bristled beside Devon, his ice eyes troubled and
hooded as he glanced briefly back at her.

“That wasn’t part of the arrangement,”
Julian replied coldly.

“It was an unspoken part,” Zane replied
lightly. “And it is a part that will be carried out. Now, where
should this battle take place?”

Cassie’s heart thumped loudly, she
stared silently at Devon’s back as Zane and the other Elder’s
hatched a plan. She was acutely aware of the fact that her side
remained completely, and frightfully silent.

“It is settled then.”

Cassie’s head shot up, she peered
around Devon’s back as Zane folded his hands before him, a pleased
look on his face. Devon remained stiff before her, his back ramrod
straight. His gaze was hard upon Robert, who was smiling softly
back at him. Julian took a step closer to her, his shoulder
brushing briefly against hers. She glanced fearfully up at him. She
had thought that he would hate her, or at least not want to be near
her after what had happened last night between her and Devon.
Instead, he stood loyally beside her, his faith in her
absolute.

When he glanced down at her, she saw in
his gaze an understanding that left her breathless. Without
thinking, she seized hold of his hand, enfolding it tightly in
hers. She knew what he might see, knew that images of last night
may very well be flooding him and tormenting him further. But she
also wanted him to see how much she did care for him, how much she
loved and appreciated him, and everything that he had done for
her.

His hand tightened around hers. He gave
her a brief nod, a small smile played across his mouth. How he
understood, and still cared for her, was something that she didn’t
understand, but she knew that he did, and that he would not abandon
her, or Devon. She turned back to the others, still clinging to
Julian.

The Elder’s gazes were fixed upon their
joined hands, they were smirks of satisfaction. “This is far more
entertaining than even I had imagined,” Robert purred. Anger and
hatred boiled through Cassie. Devon glanced briefly back at them,
but he showed no signs of a reaction as he spotted their entwined
hands. “Maybe we should just allow them to kill each other over
her.”

“Now now Robert, what fun would that
be? Come along now, we have some disdainful creatures to hunt,”
Anastasia said softly, her mouth curved into a cruel smile as she
stared hatefully at Cassie.

The Elder’s chuckled softly, exchanging
a small smile before they slipped outside to stand by the door.
Cassie found herself able to breathe much easier as their
disgusting presences were finally gone. Devon turned swiftly toward
them, grasping hold of her shoulders. “You are to stay near me. For
once in your life, do not do anything foolish. For once in your
life, please listen to me Cassie. Please, for me, do
this.”

She bit on her bottom lip, fighting
back the tears that clogged her eyes and throat. “I will,” she
vowed, knowing she would do anything to ease his
worries.

Julian squeezed her hand tightly,
releasing her to Devon. She stepped into Devon’s arms, burying
herself against his chest, savoring in what may very well be their
last moments together. She didn’t see Matthew until he was upon
them, a tall shadow of a broken man, a wraith that had moved
silently away from the others.

Cassie started in surprise as Devon
swung her away from the creature, a hiss of fury escaping him as
his fangs sprang instantly forth. But Matthew didn’t come at them;
instead he seized hold of Julian’s arms. “My son, you should not
covet another man’s mate. Though they have not sealed the bond, you
know that it is wrong to do so.”

Julian’s eyes widened in surprise, he
jerked away from Matthew, throwing up his arms to dislodge the man.
Matthew stared silently at him, his hands folded before him; his
light brown eyes distant. “I am sorry my son, but you must walk a
different path then the one you have chosen.”

“Don’t touch me again you crazy freak,”
Julian snarled, his eyes flashing a ruby color.

Matthew bowed his head, as he nodded
briefly. “Julian,” Cassie whispered. She reached for Matthew, a man
that had been beaten down and broken by the cruelty of his fellow
vampires. Julian seized hold of her hand before she could grasp the
wraith.

“Don’t touch him!” Julian barked. “You
do not want to take the chance of him learning anything about you
Cassie.”

Cassie recoiled as Matthew retreated
toward the others. Zane’s eyes were narrowed upon him, his gaze
intent and questioning, but he said nothing as Matthew rejoined
them. Julian watched them go, his eyes troubled and distant. He did
not turn back to them though as he moved stiffly toward the
door.

“Devon…”

“I know,” he said softly.

They both watched Julian as he slipped
out the door, the weary slump to his shoulders revealing the fact
that something had just passed between him and Matthew. And
whatever it was, Julian didn’t like it.

She glanced over as Chris, Melissa,
Dani, and Luther moved to join them. Annabelle and Liam hung back,
hugging each other tightly as they whispered softly to one another.
“They’re going to turn on us,” Luther said softly.