Kindled

  Devon broke off, shuddering as a trace of humanity slipped through the fear and rage boiling inside of him. Chris sensed his overwhelming pain, the terror that was consuming him. Without Cassie, Devon would not survive, and yet Chris sensed no fear for Devon’s own life, or his own survival. He only cared about Cassie’s. For a moment his eyes turned green again, and then the red shuddered back into place and the fury blasted against Chris once more.

  “There has got to be a way!” Melissa cried. “There has to be! We can follow her trail until Devon loses it and then we’ll just have to…”

  Melissa broke off, looking helplessly at Chris as tears slipped down her face. Chris understood her helplessness, her complete and utter lack of power. “Liam, what ability do you have?” Luther demanded.

  Hope spurted through Chris as he turned swiftly to Liam. They didn’t know what he was capable of, what ability he may possess that could be of use to them right now. Liam shook his head; his gaze darted briefly to Devon. “I can communicate with animals, which does us little good in this situation.”

  Chris started in surprise, it seemed like a handy little gift to him. “Can’t we just talk to them; won’t they be able to tell us where they took her?”

  Liam frowned, shaking back his brown hair. “They may be able to tell us for a little bit, but to find enough of them that have seen something…”

  “Would take far too long,” Devon interrupted sharply. “We need something quicker and easier.”

  Devon emitted a low growl as he paced to the door and then back again. Chris stood silently, trying to piece everything together, trying hard not to let his panic, and Devon’s emotions, get the best of him. He needed to think, they had to figure something out before it was too late.

  “Julian,” he said softly.

  “What?” Melissa asked in surprise.

  “Julian,” Chris rushed out, hope blazing through him. “Julian can find where she is. All we have to do is give him something of Dani’s, and he will know everything that she knew! He can tell us where to find them!”

  Stunned silence met his eager outburst. “Why would he help us though?” Annabelle asked quietly.

  “Because we’re going to make him,” Devon grated out, his hands fisting, his eyes still the color of blood. “We need to gather some of Dani’s things.”

  Before anyone could respond Devon turned and bounded rapidly up the stairs. Chris listened as he threw open doors before finally finding Dani’s room. “I’ll go help him before he tears the place down,” Liam said softly, swiftly disappearing from the room.

  “What if this doesn’t work?” Melissa inquired.

  “It has too,” Luther answered. “It’s all we have.”

  “Did Devon run the whole way here?” Chris asked, more to divert the conversation away from the doubt than out of any real curiosity.

  Luther shook his head. “He got out of the vehicle about thirty miles back. That’s probably where he picked up her scent.”

  “If we don’t find her, this will get ugly,” Annabelle whispered. “And I’m fairly certain that all of us together will not be enough to take him down.”

  “No, we’re not,” Chris said softly.

  Melissa squeezed his arm gently, her dark eyes worried and lost as he met her gaze. “We’ll find her, I don’t care what it takes we will find her. Julian will help us.”

  Chris nodded, wanting desperately to believe her, but unable to bury the doubts blazing through him. He listened as Devon and Liam pounded back down the stairs. “Let’s go,” Devon ordered briskly.

  “Wait, Devon.” Luther held up a hand, taking a step forward to intercept Devon before he could leave. “I think that we should split up. Liam and I should stay here; we should search for the animals. It may be a long shot, but it is one that we need to pursue.”

  Luther broke off, his unspoken words hanging heavily in the air. If they could not find Julian, than Liam may be the only hope they had, no matter how small it was. Devon remained silent for a moment, his shoulders stiff with fury. “Fine.”

  Annabelle looked about ready to protest as her eyes darted longingly toward Liam. Liam gave a brief shake of his head, halting her words. “It will be for the best,” he said softly. “Luther can drive while I search the forest, and he can find us places to stay during the day.”

  “It’s settled then, let’s go.”

  Before anyone could say anything more, Devon stormed out of the house. “Liam,” Annabelle whispered.

  He shook his head; he reached out to seize her hand and squeeze it tight. “You must stay with him Annabelle, you may be one of the only people that can keep him calm, that can reach him, and I must go. We have to find her before he begins to truly destroy things, and people. I will be fine, now go on.”

  Tears shimmered in Annabelle’s eyes as she stood on her toes to kiss him softly. Chris turned away, leaving them to enjoy their brief goodbye. He followed silently out the door behind Melissa and Luther. Devon had already disappeared into the forest, leaving them to follow behind.

  CHAPTER 15

  Cassie woke slowly, a soft moan escaping her. Her entire body ached; her mouth was as dry as a bone. She could hardly get her eyes open, and once she did, the light burned them so bad that she instantly clamped them shut again. Her groggy mind struggled to process what little bits of information she could pick up on. She was lying on a bed, a small one, probably a cot. The sheets were cool, there was only one pillow.

  She knew she was far from where she was supposed to be, and that was about all she did know.

  Slowly she forced her eyes open again, blinking against the bright light that flared harshly from the fluorescent light in the ceiling. The walls were concrete, white. Half of the wall across from her was taken up by a giant piece of one way glass. She blinked at the glass, her skin crawled at the realization that there was probably someone on the other side, watching her.

  Gathering her shaking arms beneath her, she managed to shove herself into a sitting position. Her eyes darted swiftly around the small, sterile room. Her heart lurched painfully in her chest; her skin was coated in a thin layer of sweat. She realized almost instantly that she was in a prison room and that she was the prisoner.

  Turning slowly, Cassie’s heart thumped even harder at the sight of another, smaller window behind her. There would be absolutely no privacy in this room. Her attention darted to the door next to the glass across from her. She knew it would be locked, but she wasn’t about to just sit here.

  Shoving herself to her feet, she stumbled slightly, almost falling over. She crashed into the wall, wincing as pain lanced through her bruised shoulder. Sucking in a deep lungful of air, she tried her hardest to ease the dizziness and nausea rolling through her. For a moment she feared she was going to vomit, or pass out. She fought fiercely against the darkness trying to pull her under; she most certainly didn’t want to be unconscious in this place again.

  It took a few minutes before she felt steady enough to move again. She passed by another door that was cracked open to reveal a small bathroom beyond. Shuffling past the bathroom she reached the main door. She grabbed hold of the handle, not at all surprised to find it locked. Frustration and fear tore through her as she yanked desperately at the handle, panic and a crushing sense of claustrophobia descended over her.

  A small cry of aggravation escaped as she slammed her hand against the door, resting her forehead on the cold metal as she tried to gather her shaken wits. She didn’t scream for help, for she knew no one would come, or at least no one that she wanted to see. Standing on tiptoe she stared out the small window in the center of the door.

  There was a long hallway outside, bright light bounced off the white linoleum floors of the hall. She saw no movement, sensed no sign of a human presence out there. She tried to summon her rage, to gather the vast strength that had helped her to destroy Isla, and might help her get out of this. But it did not come surging to the forefront. In fact, it seemed buried inside of he
r, trapped by something that she had no control over.

  She recalled the shot they had given her. There was a foggy, drugged feeling still clouding her mind. What had they done to her? What had they given her? And what the hell was she doing here?

  “You’re awake.”

  Cassie jumped back, nearly falling over as she stumbled away from the door. Her gaze darted wildly around the room as she tried to pinpoint the source of the voice. Her gaze landed on the speakers she had not noticed beneath the larger mirror. Light suddenly flooded on behind the mirror, revealing the man that had spoken to her. Cassie’s mouth dropped, shock riveted her as she recognized the man on the other side as Dani’s brother, Joey.

  She moved slowly away from the mirror, her calves brushing up against the back of the small cot. Her mind was spinning with a million questions, none of which she could actually form into words. Another man moved in to stand beside Joey, Cassie vaguely recognized him as one of the men that had come onto the porch to retrieve her.

  “Where am I?” she managed to choke out. “What do you want with me?”

  The strange man stepped forward, hitting a button to allow him to speak. “You are a danger to people, and to your race; we could no longer allow you to be free.”

  Cassie’s mouth dropped, panic slammed heavily through her. She glanced wildly around the room as she tried to understand exactly what was going on, and just how bad her situation was. She was very afraid that she hadn’t even begun to grasp the true depth of this awful situation. “So you plan on keeping me here to keep others safe?” she demanded.

  The men exchanged a look. Joey’s auburn hair was the color of blood in the bright light of the fluorescents, his light brown eyes distant. The man at his side remained impassive. His face was a mask of indifference, his hair neatly trimmed, and graying at the edges. His dark blue eyes were as cold as granite. It was the look of speculation and curiosity in his gaze that frightened her most. He stared at her as if she were a bug, something to be picked and prodded at, something that he wanted to torture and dismantle.

  Cassie fought to keep her composure as a crushing sense of doom threatened to descend upon her. “No, we have other plans for you,” the man answered.

  Swallowing heavily, Cassie fisted her hands as she fought the shaking that was trying to rattle through her. “And what would those plans be?”

  “You’re a fascinating specimen Cassandra.” Cassie shuddered at the word specimen, her stomach twisted with nausea. “There is a lot of power and ability in you. You did kill Isla after all, and she was almost an Elder. We want to try and harness that power, try and use it to our advantage. We do need an advantage desperately. The only problem is that you have no control over your abilities.”

  Confusion swirled through her as she gazed wildly back and forth between them. “You plan on teaching me how to control it?” she managed to grate out.

  “No, because we cannot control you,” he said flatly. “We plan on trying to harness it, on trying to learn from it.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “We are losing the war; we need all the weapons that we can get. You will be one of those weapons. We just need to learn how to use you. We need to learn how to make The Hunter race even stronger, and you may very well be the key to that. Your blood may be our way to do so.”

  Cassie’s legs gave out as she slid onto the small cot that was now her bed. “You’re supposed to be the good guys,” she whispered.

  “We are, but in every battle innocent lives must be lost. And you are not an innocent Cassandra, consorting with the enemy and all.”

  Her head shot up, her eyes widened in horror. “Devon is not the enemy!” she snapped. “He is one of the good guys. He’s saved my life numerous times and he is a good man!”

  “He’s a monster,” Joey growled, disgust twisting his features. “And you’re a disgrace.”

  “At least I didn’t run!” she snapped, anger giving her strength as she leapt to her feet. “I stayed and fought the battle. I stayed and fought the war! You ran and hid like the coward you are!”

  Joey took an angry step forward, but could go no further than the wall before him. “You’re a damn whore!” he spat at her.

  Cassie glared fiercely back at him, her hands fisting as some of the anger she had been searching for came to the forefront. The man rested a hand on Joey’s shoulder, pulling him back a step. “You allowed the vampire to feed from you, but I am assuming that you did not take any of his blood.”

  Cassie glanced sharply at the man at Joey’s side. “I’m assuming that this exchange did not occur because the vampire was afraid of what it may do to you.” Cassie clenched her jaw, refusing to say anything more as she turned her gaze to the ceiling, taking note of the strange vents above her. “I also wonder what his blood would do to you.”

  Her gaze snapped back to him, terror tore through her, melting her resolve not to speak again. “You leave him alone!”

  Joey groaned in disgust as he rolled his eyes. “Quick to defend your lover.”

  Cassie glared at him, her teeth grinding tightly. “We don’t need him,” the other man said softly. “We have something just as good.”

  A cold chill washed through her and she was almost forced to sit again as her legs buckled slightly. She would not give them the satisfaction of seeing such a weakness in her though. She absolutely refused to let them see her cower in fear. “What do you mean?” she choked out, terrified of the answer.

  The man reached down and flipped another switch. A wash of light flooded from the window behind her. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she felt a set of eyes burning into her back. A shudder tore through her. Her mouth was completely dry as she turned slowly, dread pulsed rapidly through her.

  Julian was standing behind the glass, his arms raised above his head as he grasped hold of the top of the windowsill. His handsome face was hard, his eyes a violent shade of red as he stared murderously at the men behind her. Slowly, his gaze shifted to her. Cassie remained immobile, shock riveted her as his eyes turned slowly back to their startling ice blue color. Oddly though, the nearly white band around his pupils remained a violent shade of red. It was a startling effect that robbed her of her breath.

  “Hello princess,” he purred.

  Cassie’s breath exploded out of her, terror and confusion left her numb as she began to tremble all over. What the hell was Julian doing here? And just what the hell did they expect to have happen? She could hardly tear her gaze away from him, frightened by the power and anger she sensed rushing out of him, frightened by his strange presence in the same hell that she was trapped in. There were endless possibilities about what his presence here meant, and none of them were good.

  Ever so slowly she turned back to her captors. “Julian is also an Elder with some amazing abilities from what I understand,” the strange older man informed her with a calm reasoning that shook her. For the first time, she began to understand that the man was truly crazy.

  She couldn’t find words, could barely even find her breath. Unwillingly, she slid back to the cot, her legs unable to hold her any longer. “You plan to experiment on us,” she whispered.

  “We plan to do a lot with you. Now I would suggest getting some rest, you’re going to have a very active day tomorrow.”

  Her head snapped up as the light flashed off. Joey and the man disappeared from view. Bowing her head, her hands clenched upon the bed as she gasped for air, trying to get some oxygen back into her tortured lungs. “Don’t breathe too deep.”

  She turned slowly toward Julian, trying hard not to shed the tears burning her eyes. “What?” she inquired dumbly, unable to think past the confusion and fogginess clouding her brain.

  He lifted a dark eyebrow; a small scowl twisted his hard mouth. His muscles flexed and bunched as he leaned closer to the window, his electric eyes blazed with anger and frustration. “Don’t breathe to deep; they pump something into these rooms, some kind of tranquilizer. Thou
gh I don’t particularly need air, it still gets into my system. It also comes in the blood they give me, as I imagine it will come in your food, two things that we both need in order to survive.”

  “Oh God,” she moaned, dropping her head as she began to rock slowly back and forth, trying desperately to soothe herself.

  “There is no God here, only men trying to play God. Don’t fall apart on me princess, we’re going to need you to get out of here.”

  She looked up at him in surprise. “Me?” she croaked

  He nodded. “Well I can’t do it alone, and with that nifty little getting pissed off and destroying things trick you have, I’m thinking between the two of us we can escape.”

  Cassie shook her head, trying hard not to completely fall apart. Trying hard to keep her wits through the horror and confusion beating against her. Was she really having a conversation with Julian about joining together in something? Was this truly happening to her?

  Cassie blinked, trying hard to rid herself of the awful fogginess, and surreal reality surrounding her. Though she wanted to deny it, she knew that this was very real, and that she was in a lot of trouble. As was Julian. And if it meant having to help him to get herself out of here, then she would do whatever it took to get back to Devon, and her friends again. She would do anything she could to escape the madmen that now held her life hostage.

  “I can’t…” she broke off as she inhaled a shuddery breath. “I tried getting mad already, and I can’t. It must be something that they gave me, or are still giving me,” she whispered, her gaze darting to the vents in the ceiling. They were too small for her to crawl out of, but apparently just big enough to constantly pump a stream of tranquilizer into her. “Plus, even if I could get mad, I can’t control it. I become something else, something dangerous and volatile. Something that has no reason or rationality, you don’t want that thing coming out. There is no way to know what the consequences of it happening would be.”

  Julian was silent for a moment, and then a loud crash sounded from behind her. Cassie jumped in surprise, whirling as he smashed his hands against the thickly layered glass again. It rattled in the frame, but held firm beneath his fierce blast. Cassie stared at the glass, wondering just how thickly layered it was, and what they had used that could keep a vampire at bay.