Kindred (Book 1 The Kindred Series) (49 page)

  
“Delectable.”

   The word was hissed softly at her, the pleasure and malevolence behind it caus
ed
nausea to twist in her stoma
ch. She was enveloped by evil
.
T
h
e same evil
she had
felt before
at the beach
,
and then again at B’s and S’s
,
and the cemetery
.
The same evil that had been stalking them, toying with them,
and
hunting their community.
With an awful, crushing sensation descending upon her, she realized only to
o
late that she had been completely wrong. Devon may be a vampire, but this was the
real
monster.

  
This
was the creature that wanted nothing more than to destroy her
and her loved ones
.

   Instinct surged
forth
, all of her training blaz
ed
to life as his face twisted
in
to
a
vicious
snarl.
H
is teeth t
o
r
e
into his
bottom lip
as they sharpened to deadly, eager points. He would kill her, if he got his hands on her, he would kill her. She was no match for this thing. Not by herself, and not being caught off guard.

   She turned at the last second, ducking as he lashed out at her, trying to grasp her. A sharp cry escaped as his fingers snagged hold of her hair,
tangling tight as he pulled her back
ward. Cassie flung herself
at him, swinging her head forcefully back. A
spurt of satisfaction surged through her as she heard the rewarding crunch
of his nose beneath the force of her skull
.

  
Stars blazed momentarily before her eyes, the sharp pain in her he
ad blurr
ed
her vision
,
but h
is grip loosened. Throwing herself forward, she tore
free of
his grasp,
not caring that she
los
t
a handful of hair in the process. Relief filled her as she fell away from him, tumbling toward the ground in what
felt like s
low motion
. She had a brief glimpse of Devon, charging across the clearing, the look of fury on his face caus
ed
her blood to run cold.
She could see every detail of the ground; tell almost every color of the leaves beneath her. Her heart pounded, adrenaline pumped through her in mighty, heaving bursts.

  
It seemed as if she was falling forever, tumbling into an abyss that didn’t seem to have a bottom.
She was
just inches from the ground, inches from safety, when she felt it.

   Horror boiled through her, shock caused her heart to skip a beat. Her entire body
stiffened
against the pain that exploded
through her
.
The monster
had
grabbed
for her again;
he had
tr
ie
d
to
seize
her
once more
. But this time he missed her hair,
as
his
fingers
had
sw
u
ng further down
.
His nails
tor
e
into
her
, opening her flesh, spilling her blood
as they s
lic
ed
deep into her neck.

   She hit the ground, landing painfully upon her hip as she rolled away.
Disbelief
and terror filled
her as she fumbled numbly
at
the
vicious
wound in her throat. Blood pooled over her fingers,
it
cours
ed
swiftly
down her arm to fall soundlessly
up
on the ground. Devon stopped in his charge
at the monster
, his eyes widen
ed
as he skidded to a halt
near her
.
Astonishment filled his
eyes
as
they
met hers. He gazed at her for a long moment,
dismay
and fear blazing from him.

  
And then, to her
complete
horror,
the beautiful emerald of his eyes became
a violent shade of red as hunger blazed to fierce life within the
ir
bright depths
.

CHAPTER
22

   Devon froze
,
terror
filling him as Cassie
fell
t
o the ground
in a tumbled heap
. Her hand
shot
up in a vain attempt to staunch the flow of blood that poured freely from the
horrendous wound
in her neck. It was a mortal wound, he knew that at once. If she didn’t get help, she would die.

   Then, the scent of her blood hit him, slamming into him with the force of a sledgehammer. It knocked
his reason
from him, shoving aside all worry
and panic
over her safety
as hunger
and bloodlust
burst
through
him
. The scent of her blood in the open air was the most enticing thing he had ever come across.
He could almost taste
th
e
p
ower ooz
ing
from
her
as
blood
spilled
uselessly
,
and wastefully
,
on
to the forest floo
r
.
It was
a temptation
and treasure
unlike any he had ever come across
.

  
A
nd there was so very much power
in her
;
i
t permeated
the air
as
it
ran
in
tantalizing
rivulets across her creamy skin.

   Saliva
rush
ed into his mouth, his teeth grew heavier
and
sharper
as the driving urge to bite deep, draining her of all of that wonderful blood
,
seized hold of him. He took a step toward her, the bloodlust becoming a pounding frenzy inside of him. He knew
exactly
what she was
now
, knew the pleasure that
her blood
would give him
, knew the
strength
that she would give to him
.
He had not drunk from a human in so very long, and she was more than human.

 
She was s
o wonderfully much more
than human
.
There was nothing more
delicious
and powerful tasting than a Hunter.

  
He did not pause to think about the fact that the Hunter line was supposed to be extinct. Nor did he pause to wonder how he had not picked up on what she was before. All he
could think
about was
savoring every
last
drop as he
drain
ed
her dry
. All he wanted was to
eas
e
the firestorm of
thirst
that burned through his veins leaving them pain filled
,
arid
,
and
throbbing
.
 

   Her eyes widened in terror as he took another step toward her, his
body thrummed
in eager anticipation of the kill,
and
the fulfillment she would give to his
long
denied
body
. He could feel the weakening
of her body
overtaking her; feel the life force draining from her.
There was no way that h
e
c
ould allow such
a
waste
of power
to
occur
.

   “Devon,” she whispered, anguish and a sad acceptance fill
ed
her gaze. She closed her eyes, her hand press
ed
tighter to the
gash
as she
desperately tri
ed
to
stop the mortality
pouring from her open vein.

   “Scrumptious,
”
Julian whispered.

   Devon turned as Julian came forward
.
He
rush
ed
past
Devon
,
the frenzying scent of her blood t
a
k
ing
control
of him. Reality slammed back over Devon, crashing down with fierce brutality.
This was Cassie,
his
Cassie. He had sworn to protect her from this evil,
sworn to keep her safe no matter what the cost,
and
here
he was
about
to rip her precious life away from her.

  
Bursting back into motion
,
he
grasp
ed
hold of Julian’s shirt
,
ripping him backward. Julian
bellowed
with fury as he was flung ac
ross the clearing.
The thick canopy of a tree shook as Julian
bounced off of
it.
Julian
rebound
ed
quickly as he launched
back
to his feet
, a fierce snarl escaped
him.

   Rage blasted from
Julian
in thick waves. He t
o
r
e
back across the clearing,
heedless of the fact that he would have to g
et
through Devon to get to her. Julian slammed into him, throwing them both
back
ten feet.
The small pine they hit snapped in half, the jagged piece of it scrap
ed
down Devon’s back
and
ripped
into his skin.

   Julian
beat and
tore
at him, frenzied to get at her. Devon seized
hold of his throat, holding Julian away from him
as he squeezed tight
. Julian was lost to the throes of bloodlust, animalistic, wild and savage. His eyes were as red as laser beam
s
, his face twisted into a murderous snarl.
It was a state that a seasoned vampire rarely
let take
them
over
,
as it meant giving up all control. And loss of control could be dangerous
.
W
hen control was lost
,
a vampir
e could do anything, and often that was when the human population bec
a
me aware of the demons lurking amongst them.

 
A vampire
could be
lost to
the
bloodlust
for good
,
if they were not strong enough to pull out of it. At one point
a vampire that was lost would have
been destroyed by
T
he Elder’s, but now
except for Devon and Julian,
T
he Elder’s had little to do with the rest of the world
,
and remained locked away.
But the powerful scent of Cassie’s
blood had been to
o
much for Julian to handle
.
H
ell
,
it
had almost been too much for
him
to handle.