Kindled

  Julian’s eyes were a bright blazing red, his face twisted in fury. “I don’t give a damn what you become,” he snarled. “Without it, we are going to turn into lab rats in here! They are going to poke and prod at us until they are satisfied, and then they are going to kill us. So princess,” he spat. “You need to tap into that little ability of yours, or we are both going to rot in here. And from the sounds of it, what they plan on doing to me is nothing compared to what they want to do to you!”

  Cassie stared at him with wide, horrified eyes. Her gaze darted back to the thick metal door on the other side; she desperately searched for some way to escape this horrendous situation. But what could she do if she was tranquilized? What help could she possibly be if she couldn’t tap into the rage that helped to fuel her strength, and agility, to higher levels?

  She turned back to the vents, studying them for a moment. The ceiling was a good twelve feet high; even if she stood on the bed she wouldn’t be able to reach it, wouldn’t be able to attempt to block the vents somehow.

  Cassie glanced back at Julian. His strong jaw was clenched tight; a muscle jumped wildly in his cheek. His eyes were once more their chilly ice blue, the bands of nearly white around his pupils was back in place. His gaze was locked on hers, determination blazed from him. His normally spiked white blond hair hung limply against his sharply refined features. Even though he was a brutal murderer, and a vicious bastard, she couldn’t help but admire his harsh beauty. He was a creature that was used to getting and taking whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it. He was not used to being caged like an animal.

  “How long have you been here?” she asked quietly.

  His mouth twisted into a snarl, his fangs extended slightly as he turned now blood colored eyes toward the darkened window across from her. “Too long,” he growled. “Over a week now, maybe even two.”

  Cassie gaped at him in surprise. They had been worried about him hunting in their town, and he had been locked in here almost the entire time. “But how did you get here?”

  “Same way as you I suppose, that little bitch Grounder of yours.”

  “Dani?” Cassie squeaked, her thoughts turning instantly to Annabelle and Chris. Were they ok? What had Dani done to them? She did not believe that they were in here with her; Dani had said that they had been taken care of. But what exactly did that mean? Had she hurt them, or simply left them incapable of trying to defend Cassie?

  Cassie shuddered, fighting hard not to shed the tears of frustration, terror, and anger burning her eyes. They had to be ok; she needed them to be ok. But as of now, there was absolutely nothing that she could do about it, other than hope that Dani still had enough decency in her not to hurt innocent people. Cassie didn’t know how likely that was considering the fact that Dani had so easily turned on her.

  “How is that possible, Dani was with us?” she whispered.

  “I didn’t say she was the one that took me,” he mumbled. “I’m just assuming that she had a hand in it. They knew where I was hunting, knew what my ability was, and knew how to take me. Her brother has one hell of an ability too.”

  Cassie’s eyebrows shot up, her eyes darted nervously toward the glass. She hoped that they weren’t listening to them, but she highly doubted it. “Joey? What can he do, and how do you know he’s her brother?”

  “Yes, Joey,” he rumbled. His eyes were intent upon her. “How do you not know what one of your own can do?”

  Cassie glowered at him, her hands clenched on the thin blanket upon the cot. “We didn’t all keep in touch after The Slaughter,” she retorted sharply. “Hell Chris and I didn’t even know what we were until we were thirteen, and there is no way to know how many Hunter’s are left out there, never mind what they are capable of.”

  “Ahh The Slaughter,” Julian sighed softly, his eyes became distant and fond. Cassie’s temper prickled; a slow rippling flowed through her at the joy she sensed beneath his words. Joy at the fact that he had helped participate in the event that had nearly decimated her race, and destroyed her parents. “Good times.”

  “Screw you!” she spat, launching to her knees as a burst of rage flowed through her. “Screw you, you ass!”

  Julian’s eyes narrowed upon her, a small smile quirked his mouth. Cassie’s hands fisted at her sides, she wished the glass wasn’t between them because she desperately wanted to punch him, wanted to pummel that smug look off his face. “Angry now princess?”

  Cassie wanted to feel the flash of rage, suddenly wanted to lose control because she was fairly certain she could rip this glass apart to get at him if she did. But though she wanted it, and though she felt the slow slither of it coiling within her, the full force of it would not come forth. Helplessness and frustration filled her, burying the anger beneath the tidal wave of self pity that threatened to consume her. Cassie slumped back, her head bowed as she folded her hands before her.

  “What have they done to me?” she whispered.

  Julian sighed, his hands slid down the window as he knelt before her. She lifted her head to meet his steady gaze. She had expected to see smugness still in his gaze; instead there was understanding, and compassion. Cassie was taken aback, her eyes widened as he continued to study her intently.

  “They’ve drugged you princess, and like me, you are unable to fully break through the effect of those drugs. I was hoping that you would be different, because you are different, but apparently they have taken that fact into account.”

  He sat back on his heels, running his hand wearily through his disordered hair. His gaze went slowly to the window behind her. Cassie glanced sharply up at the vents wondering what they were pumping into the room; she was suddenly very tired and weary. “How did they get you?”

  “That little bitch’s nut job brother…”

  “Joey,” she supplied, stifling a yawn.

  He scowled down at her, folding his thickly muscled arms over his broad chest. “You call him what you want to, and I’ll call him what I want to. Nut job has telekinesis, the ability to move things with his mind,” he elaborated at her confused look. “Three of them took me down with electricity, and one with a drugged dart. Then nut job pinned me down like a damn bug while the others came forward to drug me even further. Freaks.”

  Cassie quirked an eyebrow at him, she was unable to stifle her next yawn. “It’s a war remember, you were just enjoying reminiscing about the near destruction of my race. This war has been going on for over a thousand years. I thought you, of all people, would enjoy it.”

  His eyes darkened, his hands pressed flat against the glass once more. He leaned toward her, his nose nearly touching the glass as he stared at her. “War’s result in blood and death. If they had killed me that would be understandable, honorable even, but this is a bloody freak show! This is not war; this is a bunch of madmen who have lost their minds.”

  Cassie stared sleepily up at him; a shiver worked its way through her at his words. He was right, they were madmen. And it had been madmen and scientists that created the Hunter line to begin with. Cassie’s fingers dug into her arms as she tried to keep herself under control and free of panic.

  “Just like they did before,” she mumbled her eyes darting fearfully back to the shadowed glass.

  “Yes,” Julian agreed softly. “Just like before, except now we are the ones trapped in these cages like rats.”

  She couldn’t help but give him an amused look. “So you would rather be dead then?”

  “Wouldn’t you?”

  Her smile slipped swiftly away. A shudder tore through her at the mere thought of what they might do, of what they were going to do them. And she was fairly certain that even her worst fears didn’t begin to scratch the surface of what these monsters intended for the two of them. She had never truly wanted to die. There had been a brief period, after her grandmother’s death, where she had considered her life nearly over, and she had not been frightened by that fact. But, she had not truly wanted to die, no matter how much she had thought sh
e did. But now, well now she found that she might end up vastly preferring death to their current circumstances.

  She had only one hope.

  “Devon will find us,” she whispered.

  Julian snorted in disgust. “Keep dreaming princess.”

  She rounded angrily on him, her hands fisted as she glared furiously up at him. “He will come!” she retorted.

  He stared at her for a moment longer before bending down to look her in the eye. “I have no doubt that he is looking for you princess, it is only a matter of how is he going to find you?”

  Cassie stared silently back at him, her mouth parting slightly. She had no idea how, and she didn’t want to think about the how, she just wanted to believe that he would. There had to be a way, someway, it was the only hope that she had, and if she lost it she was going to go crazy in this small cell. Swallowing heavily she forced herself to defiantly return his steady stare. “Devon will find a way,” she insisted. “Maybe Liam…”

  He quirked an eyebrow again, his full mouth curved in amusement as he shook his head. “Liam talks to animals, not much help there. In fact, my ability was probably the only hope that they did have, and I’m not going to do them a damn bit of good in here.”

  Cassie’s nostrils flared as she exhaled sharply. Her sudden lethargy was forgotten as fear and distress rolled through her. “It’s not like you would have helped them anyway,” she muttered.

  He offered her a small smile. “Don’t be so quick to judge princess, I’m full of surprises.”

  She blinked at him in shock, twisting on the cot in order to ease the crick in her neck that her position was causing her. “You would have helped them?” she demanded disbelievingly, resting her hands on the windowsill as she knelt before him.

  He grinned at her in amusement, flashing all of his white teeth as he winked devilishly. “If I thought it would be fun I would have.”

  Cassie was baffled by his behavior and cavalier attitude. The Julian she knew was ruthless, monstrous, and a cold hearted killer. This Julian was nothing like that one. This Julian seemed almost light hearted and carefree, which seemed completely out of sorts with their environment and horrendous situation. Cassie shook her head, trying to rid herself of the confusion swirling through her.

  “I don’t get you,” she said softly.

  He dropped onto the bed beneath his window and propped his arm on the sill to study her. “That’s the way I like it.”

  Cassie glared back at him. “You told Isla about my grandmother, you sent her there to kill her!”

  Another surge of anger somehow managed to burst past the drug induced lethargy clinging to her. It didn’t come raging out of her like it did the night she’d killed Isla, but it coiled through her chest like a serpent unwinding from a rock. Then, whatever they had shot her up with, and whatever they were pumping into her room, took hold of her again. It was almost instantaneous; the anger rose up and was swiftly doused.

  Cassie gazed helplessly around, feeling trapped and claustrophobic, pathetically helpless, and suddenly very lethargic again. She blinked, trying to clear the fog from her mind. She didn’t want to go to sleep. If she fell asleep, she wouldn’t see them coming for her. If she fell asleep, they would get to her again. Cassie shuddered in terror, instinctively drawing her knees up against her chest in a poor attempt to soothe herself in some way.

  “I didn’t send Isla after your grandmother.”

  Cassie turned slowly back toward him. She struggled to clear her hazy mind, barely grasping hold of what they had been talking about. She shook her head as the tendrils of clouds continued to move in, slithering through her brain. She closed her eyes, just needing a moment to gather her thoughts.

  “Hey! Hey!” Cassie’s head snapped up at the loud banging. She started in surprise at her surroundings, having briefly forgotten about the horror that surrounded her. “Hey!” Her head whipped around, her eyes widening as Julian slapped his hands against the glass one more time. “Stay awake! I’m talking to you!”

  Cassie blinked dazedly at him, trying to pull herself out of the mist surrounding her. She managed a small nod, focusing blearily on him. “I’m awake.” Her voice sounded thick, groggy, her tongue felt funny, too heavy.

  “I did not send Isla after your grandmother.”

  Cassie frowned at him, her eyes narrowed slightly as he touched upon that awful subject. “Then how did she know who my grandmother was?” Cassie demanded her words slightly slurred due to her strange tongue.

  Julian’s eyes burned into hers. “I may have known about your grandmother, and I may know many other things about you, but I can assure you that it was never your grandmother that I was after.”

  When Cassie remained staring questioningly at him, he continued. “It was you.”

  She glared at him, her hands dug into her legs in an attempt to keep herself awake. She was slightly unnerved by the fact that he knew things about her, but then she had known for a long time that he did. Just what exactly, and how much, did he know about her? “You told Isla about my grandmother though,” she growled.

  Anger spurted through her when his mouth quirked in amusement. “No princess, I didn’t. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out about your grandmother, or you. Even Isla, who had many admirable attributes but not too much in the way of brains, was able to put two and two together.” Cassie’s scowl deepened at the mention of Isla’s attributes. “I told her to stay away from your grandmother.”

  “Why would you do that?” she demanded.

  He tilted his head to the side, studying her carefully. “I didn’t want to poke the bear, not yet anyway.”

  Cassie blinked at him in stunned surprise. “Excuse me?”

  “I wasn’t ready to disturb the hornet’s nest I sensed inside of you. But Isla didn’t care about my warnings, or heed them. She was too bent on trying to get her revenge.” His eyes drifted toward the glass behind her. “She paid for that.”

  “Is that why you tried to keep Devon from getting to me that night, so that Isla could get what she deserved? Or me for that matter?” she accused fiercely, not believing what he was saying to her at all.

  Julian sat back slightly on his heels. She could almost see the wheels turning in his brain, trying to decide what he did, or did not want to reveal. Finally, he shrugged and leaned forward again. “No, I intervened because I had to be certain, and no matter how much I had advised Isla against it, she did give me the opportunity I needed to observe you,” he said softly.

  Cassie frowned, moving closer to the window as she strained to hear him better. The fog in her mind seemed to clear as she became riveted upon what he was saying. “Had to be certain of what?” she whispered.

  “Of what you are, of course.”

  Cassie’s mouth parted slightly, her hands slipped away from her pants. “What do you mean?”

  “When I touched you that first time, I learned that you believed you have no powers.”

  “I don’t have any powers,” she inserted sharply.

  Julian’s eyes were hard when they met hers; the white band around the pupil momentarily grew larger. “Then how do you explain a single Hunter being able to take out a vampire that was nearly an Elder?”

  Cassie bit on her bottom lip as she recalled the hatred and fury that had suffused her the night she had killed Isla. The awful feeling, and loss of control she had experienced, had been overwhelming. It had nearly buried her beneath the monster inside of her. Though, as much as she’d hated the feeling, and the pain that had accompanied it, she almost wished that she could bring that monster out now. Almost. It had been awful, and vicious, and nearly destroyed her. And no matter how much she hated their current situation, she hated the creature inside of her more.

  “Whatever is inside of me, it’s not a power,” Cassie broke off, her gaze darted worriedly toward the mirror across from her once more. “It’s a curse. It’s a… it’s something awful,” she finished on a whisper.

  “They wi
ll tell you that it is something awful,” Julian hissed. “But they created your race, so they created you.”

  Cassie swallowed heavily as she shook her head. “I’m confused,” she breathed.

  Julian heaved a large sigh. Turning, he rested his shoulder against the mirror, his head dropped to the glass. Cassie realized that whatever they were pumping into the rooms was having an effect on him too. “When I first met you, I wanted to hurt you, not because of what you are but because I wanted to hurt Devon. Though I am very certain your blood would be an amazing treat.” Cassie glared at him as he offered her a roguish grin that had probably melted many hearts in his long life. Despite herself, Cassie couldn’t hold her anger at him. She didn’t know if it was the drugs, or the bizarre fact that she almost liked this strange Julian. “It was a challenge to get to you, and I love a challenge.”

  “I see,” she murmured.

  “I am what I am.” He showed no remorse for the things he had done to her, and her friends, but then she had never expected any from him. It wasn’t in his nature to show regret. “But when I touched you and saw what was inside of you,” he shrugged. “You are a danger Cassie, to everyone around you, but you are also a force of power. I wanted to see how that power could be used, and what it was capable of. I knew you could beat Isla, if you unleashed that power…”

  “And if I hadn’t?”

  He shrugged again. “Then you would have been killed, but I had to see what would happen.” She knew she should be annoyed by his nonchalant attitude, but she couldn’t find it in herself to be. It was Julian after all, and although she didn’t really mind this Julian, he was what he was and there was no changing that. “And Devon had to see what you could be capable of. Though I think he suspected what was inside of you before that night.”