Kindled (Book 3 The Kindred Series) (30 page)

   Chris inhaled sharply as Devon’s blood red eyes narrowed
up
on them. Annabelle straightened her shoulders
, but Chris could feel her fear. “Where is she?” Devon growled, his eyes flaring to the color of a glowing ruby.

  
“Devon, you need to calm down,” Annabelle said softly.

   He too
k a step into the room. “
Who
took
her?”

   “Devon…”

   “Who Annabelle!?” he bellowed so loudly that the windows shook.

   Annabelle jumped slightly, pushing Chris back as she moved
away
.
“That is what we need to figure out,” she said softly. “But I believe it was The Commission.”
   Chris glanced sharply at her. He did
n
’
t want to be associated with anything
,
or any
one
,
that may have had
something
to do with Cassie’
s disappearance
.
U
nfortunately The Commission was
something that he
could
be associated with
.
Devon was irrational right now; he might very well blame Chris for Cassie’s disappearance.
“How long ago?”

   “Devon look, we need to figure this out. If you could just calm down, we may
be able to trace her location. Her blood is inside of you.
” Chris glanced shar
ply at Annabelle, shock riveted
him. Cassie had allowed Devon to feed from her? He didn
’
t know why he was so surprised; it ma
de
sense for them to want that connection after all. He just hadn’t suspected that it had happened already. “
I
know you have fed from her. I
can smell it
,
and sense it
,
in the power radiating from you.

   “That power is also making you even more irrational now. You just need
to calm down,” Annabelle cont
inued softly, her tone conveyed
a
reason
ing
that didn
’
t appear to be reaching Devon.

   Another blur
caught Chris’s attention moments before fresh foots
teps
hit the porch. Liam appeared behind Devon, his silver eyes instantly latch
ed
upon Annabelle. Though Chris had been afraid to move even an inch, Liam
strode
swiftly past Devon
as he
hurri
ed
to An
nabelle’s side.
Chris
could sense the
ir
longing
for each other
, but
they did not touch as Liam
reached
her
side
.

   “We, all of
us
, we can find her Devon,” Annabelle continued gently. “With all of our gifts…”
   “Before they hurt her?” Devon growled. “Can we find her
before
they hurt her?”

   Annabelle glanced
sharply back at Chris, her eyes caring but fearful. “We can find her. If she is still alive, we can find her. And she is alive, right Devon?”

  
Chris could read the truth in the softening of
Devon’
s features. Reli
ef flowed through Chris
; his shoulders slumped as joy suffused him. Cassie was alive. His best friend had not been lost
,
yet. There was still time to get her back. Hopefully before she was hurt too badly, or Devon went completely insane.

   Headlights filtered over the windows, tires crunched
in the snow
. Doors opened and slammed, running footsteps sounded over the driveway and then up the steps. Melissa an
d Luther burst through the door, skidding to a halt when Devon turned rage fueled eyes on them. Luther shoved Melissa back a step, Liam moved instinctively closer to them.

   “Devon please come in and sit down,” Annabelle coaxed. “Please.”

  
Devon
didn
’
t move. He
remained standing
like an opposing avenger sent straight from
the
depths of hell. Chris only prayed he would not turn that wrath upon them, though he still appeared very close to doing so. “No,” he growled
. “Tell me what happened here.”

   Annabelle looked helplessly around. “At least let me turn on some lights. Let us get comfortable, so we can try to formulate a game plan.”

  
Devon remained unmoving, his face hard, his eyes on fire. Annabelle moved slowly away,
hedging toward the light switch by Devon. Liam bristled slightly beside Chris, but didn
’
t move to go after her as she neared Devon. The lights flared on, causing everyone to blink in su
rprise. “What happened?” Liam
inquired
, glancing around the living room.

   Chris slowly
took in
the room, noting the rope on the floor by the chair where he had been tied. He glanced at the bowl of soup he had eaten shortly before utter blackness
had claimed him
.
A bowl of soup that
Dani
had made
for
him.

   “Dani happened,” he muttered in horror, Annabelle’s words
completely
sinking in
for the first time
. He hadn
’
t known what to mak
e of her
statement
earlier, but now,
with nausea twisting through his belly, he completely understood what she had been trying to say. “
Dani
did this.”
   “Yes,” Melissa said flatly
.
D
isgust, anger, and frustration darken
ed
her face. “Yes she did.”
   Chris frowned at her, sensing more behind her words. “You had a vision?”
   Melissa nodded briskly. “Too late though,
they’re almost always t
o
o late!
” she spat.

   “But what exactly did she do?” Chris demanded, his frustration getting the best of him. “I was playing the video game, and next
thing I know I was waking up tied t
o a freaking chair!
And why?
Why
did she do this?”
   “I think there was something in your soup,” Annabelle answered. “Some kind of drug, you were out cold when I got down here.”
   “And where were you?” Liam asked quietly, the tension in his voice belying his soft tone.

   Annabelle ducked her head slightly
;
her long lashes f
e
ll to cover her e
yes. “Upstairs,” she admitted
. “Dani came into my room
,
and we were talking. She was saying that she was scared, confused,” Annabe
lle’s delicate forehead furrowed as she tried to recall the conversation. “I remember giving her a hug, and then nothing. I was tied to my bed when I woke up, the hair on my arms still slightly singed.”
   “She electrocuted you,” Liam growled.

   Chris took a small step away from him, not liking the a
nger rapidly building inside
him
either
.
They already
had
one very pissed off vampire to deal with, they didn’t need another one. Annabelle nodded. “I believe so.”

   Liam let out a low growl. Annabelle went to him, taking hold of his hand as she turned toward Melissa. “What did your vision show you?”

   Melissa shot an anxious look at Devon, who was watching her intently
,
h
is eyes
cold
and fu
rious. Chris was certain that Devon
had already heard the answer to this,
but was not going to stop her from the retelling.
“Dani
tasered
Cassie.
I saw her go down, and then four men came out to retrieve her.”

   Devon swore furiously, spinning
on his heel
he paced anxiously
away. Melissa and Luther took that
as their chance to slip by him and join the others in the living room.
“The men?”
Chris asked softly.

   “Were out in the daytime, they were human. I am almost positive they were part of The Commission.”

   Devon swore again, his pacing becomi
ng more agitated. “Why would Dani
do this?” Chris asked softly.

   “I don’t know,” Luther answered.
“Maybe it has s
omething to do with her brother
,
but
I don’t know. We have no idea what happened to her
,
or what she did
,
before we met her.”
   “I know what will happen to her when I’m don
e
with her,” Devon snarled
, stopping in the doorway again.

   The hair on Chris’s arms stood on end
. He had seen Devon out of control, wild. It had always been when Cassie was threatened, but this was… w
ell this was different. Devon
would
destroy Dani;
if he found her
he
would
kill her
. Chris wasn’t too fond of the girl at the moment either, but what Devon would do to her was something that he didn’t eve
n want to imagine, or see
.

   Then
,
suddenly, those malevolent red eyes were locked upon him, staring him down. “You didn’t sense anything from her?” Devon growled.

   Chris swallowed heavily
.
“No, nothing like this.”

   “What
did
you sense
then
?”

   Chris glanced quickly at Melissa and Luther; they were both watching him intently. “Fear,
confusion,
” he said slowly. “
I sensed no betrayal in her, no animosity, nothing
deceitful or mean
.
”

   They all stared hard at him for a moment. “How could you not?”
Devon demanded
.

   Chris took a deep breath, trying to puzzle that out for himself. “It’s stronger when I touch a person. I can always read their emotions and inner personality better that way.
But now that I think about
it
, I have
n’t
touched Dani
in a long time
.
I never questioned it at the time, never even thought about
the fact that I have
n’t
, but
now
I realize
that she must have
stayed away from me
on purpose. Also,” he broke off, worried
about
how Devon was going to react to his next words
,
but knowing that he had to continue.

   “Yours and Cassie’s emotions have been running so high lately that it
’
s
been
hard for anything else to get through. Especially here, Cassie was a jumbled mess of confusion, loneliness, and hurt
while she was
here
. What I sensed from Dani was nothing compared to that.
”

  
Devon stared hard at him, a muscle jump
ed
in his clenched jaw. For a brief moment Chris was afraid that Devon was going to fly across the room and rip his head off. Chris knew he was quite capable of doing it.
S
wallow
ing
heavily
, Chris
took a small step back, knowing that it would do him little good.
If Devon wanted to get a hold of him, he would.

  
“I thought you could block out
people’s emotions
,” Melissa said quietly.

   Chris looked helplessly at her. “Not when
the
y’re
so strong like that,” he said softly. “
Their emotions get
through anyway
, no matter how hard I try to block t
hem
out
.
And in all honesty, I trusted Dani; I never sensed any animosity or ill will from her before. I never thought to search her anytime
recently; there was no reason to doubt her.
”