Inferno (Book 4 The Kindred Series) (5 page)

Inside were a coffee pot, small mini
fridge, and microwave. There was also a little TV and radio. Devon
was fiddling with the TV, trying to find a channel, but receiving
nothing. He slammed his hands off the side of it; a loud curse
escaped him as he switched it off in frustration.

“Beating on it won’t make the cable
come back on.”

Cassie glanced over her shoulder as
Julian appeared in the doorway, smiling in wry amusement. His
platinum hair was still damp and disheveled from washing it in the
same sink that Cassie had used to clean herself up in. He had
slipped on a pair of jeans, and a flannel shirt that looked
completely out of place on him. Yet, he was still magnificent and
gorgeous. She shook her head at him as Devon turned, scowling
fiercely. “Thanks for the info. Have any more little tidbits of
advice for me?” Devon snarled.

“Now now, no need to be snippy,” Julian
replied lightly.

Devon’s scowl deepened as he rose
swiftly to his feet, his body shook with frustration and anger.
Cassie’s eyes widened, fear boiled through her as she glanced
rapidly between the two of them. Julian still appeared casual, but
beneath his calm exterior she sensed a rising tension inside of
him. They were both spoiling for a fight.

“Stop it,” Cassie warned, stepping
between the two of them. She was growing impatient with their
bickering and constant baiting of one another. Devon was the first
one to back down, turning away from them as the microwave beeped
loudly. Cassie’s mouth watered as he pulled the plate out, his eyes
latching back on Julian as he handed it to her. Cassie eagerly
seized hold of the plate, choosing to ignore them for the time
being.

“We found a storage area,” Julian
informed them. “In the cellar.”

Cassie blew on her steaming pizza. She
was very tempted to start eating it now, and to hell with the burnt
mouth, but Julian’s words enticed her almost as much as the pizza
did. “There’s a cellar?” she inquired, in between blowing on her
overheated meal.

“Yes, come on.”

Cassie glanced at Devon before
following Julian from the room and toward the back of the store. A
large mat had been pulled back to reveal the wooden planks of the
floor. In the middle of the planks was an open trap door with a
single metal ring at the end of it. Everyone was gathered around
the trapdoor, peering into the darkness below.

Cassie forgot about her pizza as she
stepped next to Chris. The harsh scent of mildew wafted up, but
nothing stirred within the dark. “I don’t sense anything down
there,” Chris said softly.

“I don’t smell any humans,” Liam added.
“There are rats though.”

Cassie’s nose wrinkled at the thought,
her stomach rolled and dropped. She didn’t mind most animals, but
rats that weren’t in a cage bothered her. “Well then, let’s go
down.”

Julian pulled out a flashlight and
flicked it on. Light pooled from it, splashing down a set of steep
wooden stairs. Turning, Cassie placed her pizza on a shelf, more
curious about what was beneath than her food. She followed Chris
down, using the thin wooden rail as her guide, and praying that the
stairs would hold their weight as they shook beneath her, feeling
more wobbly than supportive.

The basement floor was hard packed
dirt; the scent of mildew was stronger down here. Cassie covered
her nose against the harsh smell as her stomach turned over. Julian
played the flashlight around the room. The beam bounced off the old
rock walls, a beaten down oil heater, and pallets loaded down with
more feed. Sitting on top of the bags of feed were half a dozen
rats, they paused only briefly in their eating to stare at them
through the beam of light. Their eyes were bright red, their noses
twitched as their tails thumped softly against the bags of grain.
They squeaked their displeasure, a few of them disappearing into
the dark while the braver ones refused to give up their
meal.

Cassie took an involuntary step back
from them. “Guess that’s dinner,” Julian said softly, turning the
beam away from them. Cassie groaned in disgust, her stomach twisted
even harder at the thought. Julian glanced back at her, his eyes
bright in the flash of light. “Sorry princess, but it’s
true.”

Cassie shot him a dark look, he merely
grinned annoying back at her. Devon took hold of her hand,
squeezing it gently as he pulled her a step closer to him. “There’s
nothing that we can use down here,” Chris said.

“And it’s creeping me out,” Melissa
muttered.

Melissa turned and hurried back up the
steps, nearly bolting through the open door. Cassie was just as
eager to follow her. She stepped back into the store, eagerly
gulping down the fresh air. Luther glanced over from his position
by the window, his glasses flashing in the small bit of sunlight
that filtered through the thick curtains that had been drawn
against the day.

“Anything?” he asked softly.

Cassie shook her head as she hurried
back to her pizza. The rats had grossed her out, but they hadn’t
diminished her appetite. The others eventually filed back out,
filtering slowly throughout the store. Though she sensed their
exhaustion, she knew that their curiosity about what had been done
to them was far stronger. She licked the lingering remnants of
spaghetti sauce from her fingers, trying to stall for some more
time. She was not ready to get into the details of her ordeal, not
ready to relive the nightmare that she and Julian had endured. It
was inevitable though, they wanted and deserved answers, and she
would rather get it done sooner rather than later. Turning to face
them, she braced herself for the onslaught of their
questions.

Devon stood stiffly by her side, his
shoulder brushing against hers as she moved. He seized hold of her
hand, squeezing it gently for reassurance. Chris had taken up
position on the other side of the door. Though he stared out at the
street, Cassie knew his attention was focused on her. Liam and
Annabelle were standing close together, Liam’s arms wrapped around
Annabelle’s waist as he held her against his chest. Melissa and
Luther watched her questioningly; Melissa’s onyx eyes sad and
caring. Dani was sitting with her back against the counter, her
head bent, and her red streaked hair falling forward. She looked
even more uncomfortable than Cassie felt.

“Are you ready to tell us what
happened?” Devon inquired softly.

Cassie swallowed heavily, her gaze
darting nervously around the room again. They all stared at her
inquisitively, except for Julian, who was scowling at the floor
with his arms folded over his chest. Julian lifted his head slowly,
meeting her panicked gaze briefly before giving her a small nod of
encouragement. She took strength in his steady, calming presence,
knowing that she would need his help if she was going to get
through this.

Licking her lips nervously, Cassie
decided to just plunge in. She quickly filled them in on her
capture and imprisonment. She didn’t talk about the torture she had
experienced in there. She kept everything simple and short. She
couldn’t look at them as she spoke, but remained focused on the
ground until she finished, hating the anticipatory silence that
filled the room when she was done.

“What did they do to you in there
Cassie?” Chris asked gently, his gaze keen and inquisitive. Though
his strange looks were not as common as they had been, every once
in awhile she would catch him staring at her oddly.

She shook her head, unable to look at
Chris again for fear she would start crying, and never stop. She
didn’t want him to know of her suffering, didn’t want any of them
to know about it. She wanted to keep them safe from it, sheltered
and protected. She didn’t want Chris to know how much she had
changed, how much she had been hurt, or the physical and mental
torment that she and Julian had endured. He was too good to have to
bear that burden with her.

They all were.

She turned away from Chris, ignoring
his question as she focused on Dani. “Why did you turn on us?” she
asked quietly, unable to keep the hurt from her voice. She had
brought Dani into her home, thought of her like a sister, and she
had betrayed them all.

Dani glanced up at her; her gold
flecked eyes were red and swollen from lack of sleep. The hostility
within the room notched up a level as everyone focused their
attention on her. “I didn’t want to,” she whispered miserably.
“But…” she shook her head, her voice trailing off as a sob broke
from her.

“My brother went to The Commission
after he left town, he told them about you, all of you.” Her gaze
lingered briefly on Devon before turning toward Julian. Julian
glowered back at her, his hands fisted, his shoulders ramrod
straight. Dani turned quickly away from the hatred and malevolence
in Julian’s gaze. “He was my brother; I had to help him when The
Commission sent him back.”

They all stood silently, staring at her
expectantly, but she didn’t continue. “There’s more to that story!”
Julian spat, taking a fierce step forward.

Dani winced as she bit on her bottom
lip. “Easy Julian,” Devon warned in a low growl.

Julian glared at him for a moment
before turning his attention back to Dani. “Either tell the truth,
or I will get it from you. All I have to do is touch you, sort
through the memories and pick out the ones I want. For the most
part it can be painless, and the person need never know that I was
there. But I vow that what I will do to you, will be anything but
painless.”

Dani gaped at him in horror; her eyes
flew wildly around the room. Though Cassie wanted to feel pity for
her, there was none. She couldn’t summon the strength for
forgiveness and mercy, not for Dani. “I’ll destroy you if I get
into your mind,” Julian growled. “I’ll make what they did to us in
that place look like it was a day in the park!”

“Julian,” Annabelle hissed, reaching
for his arm in an attempt to calm him.

Julian shook her off, taking another
step toward Dani. “This bitch put us in that hell hole, and one way
or another she is going to tell us why!”

“Julian,” Cassie said softly. Though he
had shaken Annabelle off, he didn’t shrug off her grasp as she
seized gently hold of his arm. His reddened eyes slowly turned back
to their electrifying blue as his gaze met hers. “It’s
ok.”

He stepped back nodding slowly, though
he still hummed with anger. Devon’s hand tightened on Cassie’s, his
eyes questioning as he studied her. He wanted to know what had
happened in there, wanted to know what had been done to them, and
just how close her bond with Julian was. He wanted more answers
than Cassie had already given him. She just wasn’t ready to give
them to him yet, if ever. She turned away from him, stepping in
between Julian and Dani before Julian did grab hold of her. Cassie
felt no forgiveness toward Dani, no sympathy, but Julian would hurt
her, and they may need Dani later on. Her other friends would be
safe around Julian, but Dani was fair game.

“Why did The Commission send your
brother, and you, after us? Why would they even come after us?”
Cassie inquired.

Dani glanced wearily up at her, the
tips of her lashes were wet with unshed tears. For a moment Cassie
was afraid that Dani wouldn’t speak, and that they would need
Julian to drag the answers from her, but she finally did. “Because
of you.”

Cassie blinked in surprise at Dani’s
soft words. Her gaze flew toward Devon as he stiffened angrily, a
low growl emanating from him. The hair on the back of her neck
stood on end, the resentment in the room notched up to a whole new
level. Cassie glanced between him and Julian, whose eyes were a
bright red again. She was growing fearful that between Devon and
Julian she may not be able to keep Dani safe, and alive. She held a
hand up, warding Devon back as she focused her attention on
Dani.

“What do you mean?” she asked
softly.

Dani glanced wearily at the hostile
group surrounding her. Using the counter, she rose slowly to her
feet. She looked braced for an attack. Cassie’s eyes widened at the
girl’s behavior, her heart trip hammered with the knowledge that
she was not going to like what Dani had to say. “When we were
younger Joey and I came to this town. Before our Guardian was
killed in The Slaughter, he told Joey about this town, and to come
here if something ever happened. The Commission took us in, kept us
with them after The Slaughter, and helped us to survive until we
were ready to go out on our own. They also taught us about our
heritage.”

Cassie stared at her, a growing feeling
of unease and queasiness moved through her body. They were just
beginning to scratch the surface of Dani’s betrayal, and already
Cassie wasn’t sure she wanted to hear anymore. Dani had lied to
them from the beginning; she and Joey had led them all to believe
that they had been completely on their own after The Slaughter.
That no one had helped them as they had struggled to survive on the
streets. Cassie didn’t know why Dani had kept this a secret, but
she was certain she wasn’t going to like the reasons behind
it.

“Why did you lie to us about your
childhood?” Melissa asked softly.

Dani licked her lips, shifting
nervously as her gaze settled on the door. She looked as if she
wanted to bolt. “When The Commission eventually sent us out in
search of other Hunters and Guardians they told us not to let them
know about this town. At least not until they knew if we could
trust them. There was no way of knowing how The Slaughter had
affected people, and how they now felt about The Commission. They
never suspected anything like what we discovered with you and
Devon; no one ever thought a Hunter and a vampire would fall in
love. It was unthinkable. Unheard of.