Inferno (Book 4 The Kindred Series) (36 page)

Devon nodded, his hands tightened on
Cassie’s back. “The first chance they get.”

Cassie shuddered, her eyes closed as
she clung tighter to Devon, knowing that these may be the last
moments she had with him. Her heart was breaking, terror filled
her, but she shoved it all fiercely aside. If she started to break
now then they would never survive this, and the most important
thing right now was to make sure that the creatures in this town
were destroyed before they could wreak havoc upon the
earth.

“All of you need to be prepared to
defend yourselves as soon as this is over. You also need to be
prepared to run, to flee when this phase of the battle is over,”
Devon told them.

Though Cassie didn’t protest, she had
no intention of leaving him behind.

***

Devon kept Cassie behind him and
Julian. He knew she bristled at it, knew that she wanted free of
the two of them, but he was not about to let such a thing happen.
He was going to make damn sure that she survived this night. Beside
him he could feel Julian bristling, wanting to reveal what he had
glimpsed from Matthew, but unable to do so.

Julian glanced back at Cassie, his
eyebrows drawing tightly together as he studied her carefully. She
met his gaze, her beautiful eyes troubled as she watched him. “It
was about me, wasn’t it?” she breathed, her voice so soft that
Devon barely caught her words.

Julian was silent for a moment before
he turned away, his hands fisted at his sides in frustration.
Cassie reached for Devon, clinging to his hands as she grasped hold
of him. Small tremors of fear shook her delicate frame. His own
terror matched hers; he needed to know what Julian had seen. He
could not take the chance of losing her.

“Julian.” Julian remained still,
unmoving. “Julian!”

“Shh,” he responded softly, his gaze
flickering toward where the others were gathered not far
away.

Frustration filled Devon, he wanted
nothing more than to grab hold of Julian, drag him from here, and
demand to know what he had learned. But he could not do so. It was
obvious that Julian did not want The Elder’s to know about what he
had learned. A shadow moved amongst the woods, drawing Devon’s
attention sharply that way.

He was not fooled into thinking this
would be an easy battle, even with The Elder’s on their side. He
was not fooled into thinking that the remaining creatures would all
come at once, or that they would not have a plan of their own.
Though Devon was fairly certain that Zane’s only true plan was to
attempt to lure the creatures out and slaughter them as best he
could.

Devon turned suddenly. Dani issued a
small cry of surprise as he pulled her roughly forward. Bending
close to her, he pressed his lips to her ear. “There isn’t a
Grounder amongst them, they might not know what you are, don’t use
your power until they are the only ones left standing.”

Dani’s gold flecked eyes were wide as
they darted fearfully toward the group of Elders. She nodded
mutely. Devon released her abruptly, defiantly meeting Zane’s
curious, amused gaze. The head Elder was far too smug for Devon’s
liking. Another shadow drifted through the forest, moving rapidly
amongst the trees as it hunted them.

He turned his attention to Cassie, who
was watching the woods intently. “Remember your promise,” he
reminded her.

Her attention remained riveted upon the
forest as she nodded. They stood upon the street in front of the
mercantile, away from the area that Robert had destroyed in his
attempt to kill Cassie. They were out in the open, exposed to the
stalkers in the forest. They carried no visible weapons, relying
upon their strength and powers to help them get through
this.

The first one burst from the woods,
drawing their attention toward it as five others suddenly emerged
behind it. They raced forward, oddly silent as they barreled down
upon The Elder’s who were closest to them. Melissa spun suddenly,
turning back toward the building as ten more of the monsters
emerged from inside. Devon didn’t know how they had gotten into the
building, but he was certain that they had always known how to do
so.

“I love you,” Cassie whispered, seconds
before they were besieged.

CHAPTER 20

Power surged through her; Cassie felt
the influx of it as the thrill of the fight, the eagerness for the
kill descended upon her. The fear inside of her was buried as
adrenaline pulsated to the forefront. Her body surged with the
rushing strength that filled her veins. She felt the change come
over her, knew when her eyes turned red.

She braced herself, bending slightly in
preparation to launch herself at them. The others had already
descended upon The Elder’s who eagerly embraced them in battle.
Before the monsters could reach them, before Cassie could leap
eagerly into the fray, Julian spun on Devon. Grabbing hold of his
arm, he pulled Devon roughly toward him.

“Matthew is insane,” he hissed. At
Devon’s wide eyed, confused look, Julian hurriedly continued,
trying to get it all out before the fight was upon them. “He has
seen what could become of Cassie, but he has not told anyone yet
because he almost hopes it will happen.” Cassie’s mouth went dry,
her heart thumped wildly in her chest. Julian looked crazed,
terrified as his gaze darted toward her. “It’s not good, none of it
is good. In fact, if what he saw comes true it could be very bad
Devon, we need to get out of this somehow. We need to get Cassie
away from them.”

Cassie gaped at him in shock, she
forgot briefly about the creatures rushing toward them as Julian’s
words sank in. The broken, crazed man had seen something that had
to do with her! Something that had terrified Julian, something that
put her in danger, put all of them in danger. Something that
sounded as if it was going to stop her from being able to make the
change.

Her gaze darted toward Devon, panic
tore through her. They had finally gotten here. The decision had
been taken out of both of their hands; the choice had been taken
away from them. Consequences be damned, she was going to join him
finally, because that is what The Elder’s had decided for them. But
now, whatever Julian had seen from Matthew had left him so torn and
horrified that he was shaking before them.

Cassie wanted to reach out to him,
wanted to touch him and assure him that Matthew was wrong, that not
all premonitions came true. Melissa was living proof of that. But
she could not do that here, not now when they were about to be
attacked.

“Julian…” Cassie broke off as Julian’s
ice blue eyes swung slowly toward her. She could see the love in
his steady gaze, but she could also see the stark terror that
filled him. His hard, handsome face was pinched tight with worry;
his platinum blond hair fell around his chiseled features. “Oh,”
she breathed.

Her heart hammered; disbelief and pain
filled her. She had wanted to join Devon so much, and for so long
it had been constantly denied her. And now, now that it was almost
upon them Julian had seen something from Matthew that had
completely unraveled him. And it was because of her.

“We will discuss this later,” Devon
interrupted sharply. “Now is not the time.”

Cassie was torn away from the horror of
what Julian was saying, and back to the horror of what was
unraveling rapidly before them. The fight was upon The Elder’s
already, the creature’s eager to destroy and feast upon
them.

Cassie braced herself; she widened her
stance as her hand tightened around the stake in her hand. The
weight of the crossbow strapped to her was reassuring. Watching the
rushing horde barreling toward them, Cassie decided to sheathe the
stake and go immediately for the crossbow. She loaded it swiftly,
and with the ease of someone that had done it hundreds of times.
Lifting it high, she took aim at the one in the lead, the one
closest to Chris.

She squeezed the trigger. The arrow let
loose with a reassuring rush of feather and air that sped swiftly
toward its target, hitting home with a reassuring thud. The sound
of it all and the resulting satisfaction of the kill would have
made her smile, if it hadn’t been for the monsters that scrambled
easily over their fallen brethren.

Cassie swiftly reloaded as the first
one reached Annabelle and Liam. They fell back slightly from the
weight of the creature as it clawed and spit at them. Cassie had
attributed more reason to them, but they appeared now to be in the
midst of a blood frenzy that made them crazed and
volatile.

Raising the crossbow, she took aim at
the one barreling toward Luther. She fired, but was slightly off
target as it slammed into the creature’s collarbone, knocking it
back and slowing its progress but not stopping it. Cassie swore as
she scrambled to grab another arrow, but it was too late. They were
on top of them; there would be no more clear shots. She tossed the
crossbow aside and grabbed hold of her stake.

But the attack did not come from the
way that she had been expecting, the way that she had been prepared
for it. Instead, it burst free of the woods on their left hand
side. Cassie caught the flurry of movement at the last moment. She
spun wildly, terror pounding through her as she realized that no
matter how prepared they were, or how strong they were, they were
outnumbered and nowhere near as crazed and frenzied as these
creatures were.

The first one from the attack on the
left was upon her immediately. Red eyes filled her vision; the
stench of putrid flesh filled her nostrils. She wanted to recoil
from the monster that filled her senses, rocking her with its
repulsiveness. Hands seized hold of her, claws curled around her
upper arms as it jerked her forward. It had once been a man, but
clearly was not anymore. Years of training took over as she managed
to rip one arm free of its grasp. She drove her fist straight into
its nose, snapping its head back as its nose shattered beneath the
force of her fierce blow. Blood spurted over the both of them, but
it did not slow Cassie as she slammed her fist into its cheek,
staggering it backward.

Taking advantage of the fact that it
was off balance, Cassie leapt forward, knocking the creature back
even more. She twisted the stake in her hand, spinning it around as
she drove it forward. The creature howled, its fingers clawed at
the wooden protrusion jutting out of its chest. Cassie ripped it
free, shoving the creature back. It fell upon the ground, withering
and making strange gurgling noises until all its movements finally
ceased.

She didn’t have time to study the
creature, didn’t have time to take in what she had just done as
another one grasped hold of her, knocking her back. She stumbled
beneath the force of its weight, nearly falling over. Devon’s shout
of anger filled her ears as the creature managed to claw one of her
arms open, spilling her blood. Its eyes widened upon her, its
nostrils flared as the scent of her blood caught its attention,
exciting it completely.

Its frenzy increased, its misshapen
jaws snapped eagerly as it pulled her closer. She was distinctly
reminded of the shark from Jaws as it snapped at her again, the
flesh stuck in its teeth clearly visible. Cassie staggered, trying
hard to keep her balance against its eager, frantic
aggression.

She kicked out, not finding much
satisfaction in her connection with its shin. There had not been as
much force behind the blow as she would have liked. It lurched at
her again, shoving her back. Devon was suddenly behind it, his eyes
a fiery blaze as he seized hold of the things head, jerking it
roughly to the side. The loud snap of its neck echoed through the
night. It howled; its arms flailed as it tried desperately to claw
at its distorted head. Devon’s ruby eyes briefly met hers; she
turned away, not wanting to watch what happened next. She tried to
block out the sickening sounds of bones breaking further as flesh
was torn from body.

Her eyes rapidly took in the scene
before her, anger boiled swiftly up. Her friends were being pushed
back, herded further away from the store. Chris’s nose was
bleeding, his shirt was torn open to his belly button, and more
blood marred his chest. Melissa’s hair had been ripped free of its
braid; it hung in a tumbled black mass around her shoulders. Liam
and Luther had been swamped by a group of three creatures, they
were fighting them off, but Luther was bleeding from a cut on his
cheek, and Liam was losing ground. Annabelle and Julian were just
finishing off two of more of the Halflings. Chris, who was closest
to her, was braced to defend himself against one that was advancing
upon him.

Cassie looked rapidly around, but none
of them seemed to have noticed that she was standing alone. Not yet
anyway. She spun toward Devon, who had been swamped by three of
them. It was him that seemed to need her help the most right now.
She jumped forward, clinging to her stake as she threw herself back
toward the fray.

One came charging out of the mass. It
was a woman, or at least it had been. Her mouth was wide; her jaws
snapped up and down so hard that her long fangs sliced into her
lower lips. Blood trailed down her chin, soaking what was left of
her shirt. Cassie spun, slamming her fist hard into the woman’s
cheek. Her head snapped to the side, but she dove forward, wrapping
her arms around Cassie’s waist.