But what else could he be, but human?
She scanned him rapidly, feeling slightly sick. “Who are you?” The words popped out in a choked whisper before she could stop them.
The hands on her arms tightened briefly as his body hardened subtly. A look of resignation filled his eyes and Cassie had the gut sinking feeling that she had somehow managed to push him away from her. “Did he hurt you?” he asked, the words coming through clenched teeth but carrying no hint of anger.
Cassie shook her head, trying to clear it of the stunned fog that clung to her. “No,” she managed to whisper. “No, I’m fine,” she said with a little more conviction.
His gaze ran over her, but it did not warm. “Let’s get you to class.”
Panic tore through Cassie. This was not the Devon she knew. This was not the man that gazed at her warmly, and touched her reverently. This man was hard and cold and distant, and she was the one that had caused this change in him. He had been trying to protect her, and she had pushed him away with her confusion and doubts. She may not know as much as she would like about him, but he was new to town, and part of the fun in a relationship was supposed to be getting to know the other person. Wasn’t it?
Her gaze darted to where he had pinned Mark against the wall, lifting him as if he weighed no more than a feather. The strength it had taken was amazing, startling. It was a strength she had never seen in a human being before. She turned slowly back toward him, tilting her head to study him as her doubts slowly started to build into full fledged panic.
Who was he? What was he?
He gently took hold of her arm, but she could feel the cold distance that lingered in him. Slowly, she looked toward Melissa and Chris. Melissa’s head was tilted curiously to the side, her dark eyes intense. Chris stood stiffly, his arms folded over his chest. He gave Devon a brief nod of approval, one that Cassie instantly recognized as a “guy” thing. Chris found nothing wrong with what had just happened, he was just impressed that Devon had stood up for her, and that he had beaten Mark in their brief encounter.
Cassie rolled her eyes at Chris as she heaved a sigh. She would never understand men, and their vast amounts of testosterone. “Come on Cassie,” Devon urged, though his tone was gentle she could still hear the tension in it.
She followed him slowly out of the cafeteria, so lost in her own thoughts, and doubts, that at first she didn’t notice the whispers and glances cast their way. Slowly, they penetrated her haze. Every student they passed shot them looks while whispering behind their hands. Cassie frowned fiercely; her pride shoved aside her hurt and confusion as she straightened her shoulders and determined to ignore all of their gossip.
CHAPTER 17
Cassie played idly with a blade of grass, pulling it lazily from the ground before letting it drop back down. She was tired, achy, and more than a little chilled. The sudden drop in temperature that had started earlier in the week, had made the night far cooler than she was prepared for with her light windbreaker. She huddled deeper into her coat, knowing that it was not only the night that chilled her, but also the events of the day.
She had seen Devon only briefly at the end of the day. He had still been cold, detached, and not completely himself. He had not mentioned coming over to his place again and neither had she. She had needed to get away from him for a little bit, to clear her mind, but it was not working out as well as she had hoped.
She tried not to think about the distance that had lingered around him, or the doubts that continuously plagued her now. She tried to keep herself focused on the here and now. But her mind would not cooperate as it kept jumping back to the tenderness and wonder of last night. Then she would recall her extreme lack of knowledge about him, and the strange strength that he had possessed today and her stomach would turn and her mouth would go dry.
She shuddered, huddling deeper as she flipped her collar up. “It’s not that cold out,” Chris muttered, his gaze rapidly scanning the cemetery.
Cassie shrugged absently before she returned to picking at the grass. She wanted to get home as soon as possible; she hoped that Devon would come to her room again tonight, but she was doubtful that it would happen. Her heart lurched in her chest, her pulse pounded in her ears as excitement and desire tore through her. No matter what had happened today, no matter her doubts and confusion, she desperately wanted to see him again. She did not care about anything other than seeing him, and easing the distance she felt between them now.
It was unreasonable, unnatural the way she felt. Her concerns should slow her down, should make her warier of him, but they didn’t. She cared more about seeing him than she did about the possibility that there might be something wrong with him. That there may even be something truly deadly, and off, about him.
Cassie shivered again, huddling deeper into her light coat, hating the chill in her bones. Melissa threw aside the English essay she had been working on. For a moment Cassie thought that something had arrived. That a fight was finally about to ensue, and Cassie was spoiling for a fight. Then, Melissa pinned her with her intense, steady gaze.
“Ok, what’s up?”
Cassie blinked in surprise. “Nothing,” she answered automatically.
Melissa gave her the ‘I’m not an idiot look,’ and lifted her dark eyebrows almost to her hairline. “Come on Cassie, we all know you better than that. Something’s on your mind and it has you pretty upset. Now spill.”
Cassie glanced quickly over them, noting the inquisitive looks that Chris and Luther gave her. Heaving a big sigh, she tossed away the remaining blades of grass she had picked and climbed swiftly to her feet. Though she felt as if she might be betraying Devon by talking with them, she knew that Melissa and Chris were the two people that would have the most insight into him.
She paced slowly back and forth, not sure how to begin. Finally, she just decided to jump in. “What exactly have you seen about Devon?”
Melissa stared at her in surprise, her dark eyes becoming turbulent and distant. Shaking back her black braid, her eyes focused on Cassie once more. “Aside from his arrival, I’ve seen nothing else about him.”
“What did you see about that then?” Cassie demanded, a sense of urgency filling her.
Melissa tilted her head curiously. “Not much Cass, I just saw him coming, and I saw brief glimpses of the two of you together. I knew that he was coming for you.”
Those last three words caused a chill to run down Cassie’s spine. Coming for her, he was coming for her. But why? What did he want with her? Cassie shuddered, feeling like a turtle as she tried to pull all of her exposed skin into her jacket. It was a poor attempt at trying to hide from the world. “You saw nothing wrong with him though?” she asked softly.
The three of them exchanged surprised, wary looks, before focusing their attention on her once more. “No Cassie, not at all. I would have warned you if I had. Why are you asking this?”
Cassie chose to ignore the question as she turned to Chris. “And what did you feel from him?” she asked softly.
Chris looked briefly confused before shaking his head. “Not much,” he admitted slowly. “I told you I can’t really read him.”
Cassie absorbed this information slowly, not knowing what to make of it. Chris could get a glimpse of everyone. He was one of the main reasons she had never dated Mark. Chris had sensed something off about him, although Mark had never done anything wrong, never acted badly in any way before today. His doubts about Mark had been spot on though.
“Why is that?” she asked softly, the chill in her becoming an ice storm that seemed to freeze the blood in her veins.
Chris shook his head, looking thoughtful and distant. “I don’t know Cassie, I really don’t. For the most part there is an impenetrable wall around him that I can’t pierce, and believe me I have tried. That guy is a challenge that I would love to master, but I can’t.”
She swallowed heavily, trying to huddle deeper into her jacket, but there was nowhere for her to go. There was now
here for her to hide anymore. Chris’s words only caused her doubt, and confusion, to escalate higher. What did that mean? How did a human keep Chris at bay? Unless, of course, he really did possess the same ability as Chris, and somehow it did keep Chris blocked out.
Then, she caught something that he had said. “For the most part?” she inquired softly.
He nodded, folding his arms over his chest as he leaned against a white oak. The leaves were still mostly green in the tree, almost black in the dark night, but a hint of color had made its way into the outer leaves. That hint of color was now the shade of blood. Cassie’s stomach rolled with that realization.
“There is one thing that he can’t keep blocked out.”
“What’s that?” Melissa asked eagerly when Chris did not continue.
Chris’s gaze pierced Cassie. “His feelings for you. He can’t keep those hidden, they radiate out of him like a lighthouse beacon calling home the ships. It’s why I kinda like the guy. I know that he cares deeply for you, and he would do anything for you. I have to like someone like that.”
Warmth swept through Cassie, slightly melting the iceberg that had enshrouded her. “Really?” she whispered hopefully.
“Yes.”
Tears burned the backs of her eyes, but she would not shed them. Not here, not in front of them. Her doubts and fears lingered, but Chris’s words had warmed her to the tips of her toes. “Why are you asking this Cassie?” Luther inquired softly.
“I was just wondering,” she tried to bluff.
It was more than obvious that he didn’t believe her. “You never just wonder, now what is going on?”
She paced restlessly back and forth, not sure how much she wanted to say. Sighing heavily, she spun to face them. “Didn’t you find the incident in the cafeteria today odd?”
Chris’s face darkened with anger, Melissa nodded eagerly. “I cannot believe Mark said those things to you! I was going to punch that guy myself if Devon hadn’t got there first!” Chris spat.
“He was wicked quick to defend you.”
Melissa’s eyes took on a dreamy look. Cassie sighed loudly; apparently Melissa had decided to jump on the “I love Devon” bandwagon also. But that was not what frustrated her right now. Was she the only one that had noticed something off about what had happened today? And just how quick had Devon been? The last time Cassie had seen Devon, he had been across the cafeteria, and then suddenly he was there, tossing Mark around like a rag doll.
“Another reason I like the guy,” Chris muttered.
Luther studied them all carefully before piercing her once again with his intense gray eyes. Nothing ever slipped past Luther, and he often saw far more than she wanted him to. “There is more, isn’t there?”
“Yes.” Taking a deep breath, Cassie decided to just plunge in. She needed to unload some of her confusion, doubts, and burdens on someone. And she trusted these three with her life. “I’ve come to care for him, a lot.” That was the understatement of the year, but she did want to keep some things to herself. “And I realize that I know nothing about him.”
“Well, he’s new,” Melissa defended. “It takes time to get to know someone.”
Cassie licked her lips nervously, turning she began to pace again. “I know that, I understand that. What I don’t understand is how he sensed that evil presence the other day…”
“What?” Melissa interrupted sharply.
“He knew that it was there, even before we did. I felt it in him, felt the tension that took hold of him moments before we even felt it. He knew it was there…”
“There are humans with special abilities,” Chris interjected.
“Yes, I know that, but this was different Chris. I don’t know how to explain it, but it was. It got me thinking about how little I really do know about him. Then today, in the cafeteria, the strength he displayed. What human could do that?”
They exchanged quick glances. “Some humans are very strong.”
“That strong Melissa?” Cassie demanded sharply. “He lifted Mark with one hand, and Mark is not exactly a light weight. One hand!” Cassie realized her voice had taken on a slightly hysterical pitch, but she could not rid herself of it.
Silence met her. Their gazes became distant. “What are you trying to say Cassie?” Luther asked gently. “Do you think he might be a Hunter also?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I’m talking to you guys about this. But wouldn’t you know if he was?”
Luther frowned, shrugging absently. “I don’t know. I would like to think so, but things are so different now. I can look for Hunter’s, but there is no guarantee that I will know them when I find them. Melissa had a premonition about yours and Chris’s location. You were easy enough to find as I had met your mother once, and you look a lot like her. However, even with the few premonitions Melissa’s had about other locations, I have never found another Hunter. I don’t know if I would recognize him if he is one.”
Cassie digested this slowly, she supposed that would make sense, but it still did not ease the anxiety clutching at her. “He said that his parents had been killed, but he didn’t say how, maybe they were actually killed during The Slaughter. But if he does have Chris’s ability, wouldn’t he be able to sense us? Wouldn’t he come to us? Wouldn’t he want to be with people like him, instead of on his own?”
“He may not know what we are,” Melissa said gently. “If he is keeping Chris blocked, then Chris may be doing the same thing to him.”
“Maybe,” Cassie muttered, still not completely convinced.
“I don’t understand where you’re going with this,” Melissa said gently. “What do you think he is?”
Cassie threw her hands impatiently up as she resumed anxiously pacing once more. “I don’t know!” she exclaimed in exasperation.
“You don’t think there is something wrong with him, do you?”
Cassie frowned, biting her bottom lip gently. “I… no… I don’t know,” she finished lamely.
They inhaled sharply, their foreheads furrowed with doubt and confusion. “No Cassie, I would have seen that,” Melissa said, though her voice was hesitant and not quite as confident as normal.
“And the way that he feels about you.” Chris shook his head, stepping away from the tree. “No. No one can feel that strongly about someone if there is something wrong with them. What he feels is very pure and it’s… well I have never felt anything like it before. I know that I’ve never felt that way about anyone. It’s amazing Cassie, that’s the only way I can describe it, and it’s the only thing that gets through.”
Tears burned her eyes again. “Really?” she breathed.
He gave her a lopsided grin, his shaggy hair falling into one of his sapphire eyes. “Would I lie to you?”
She managed a wan smile. Though they had managed to ease some of her fears, she could not shake the doubts that clung stubbornly to her. There were just so many things that she didn’t know. Though, she did know that all she really wanted was for him to come to her room again tonight. Maybe if she talked to him she would feel better about this whole situation.
A flash of movement amongst the trees caught her attention. Her head snapped to the left, her eyes narrowed as she searched the shadowed woods. Though Luther had not wanted them to come out here tonight, they had insisted upon it. Some of the stories in the paper had led Luther to believe that there was an Elder out there; today’s news had led them all to believe that there was also a young vampire on the Cape again. Two bodies had been found, mauled with little or no blood left in their system. It had taken a lot of persuasion, but Luther had finally conceded to let them come to the cemetery in the hopes that it would wander this way. The monster needed to be put down before it did anymore harm.
“It’s out there,” she whispered.
Luther straightened, his eyes narrowing sharply as he scanned the woods. “Is it The Elder?” he demanded sharply.
Cassie shook her head as Chris answered him. “No.”
&nb
sp; Another flash turned Cassie to the left. She braced her legs, setting her shoulders as she prepared for the imminent attack. It did not matter that they outnumbered the creature; it would still come for them. It would wrongly think that they were easy targets, and a buffet that it would want to partake in.
The woods exploded in a flurry of violent motion. Leaves exploded outward, scattering across the grass of the cemetery. The creature rushed them in a blur of motion that would have been imperceptible to the human eye, but Cassie picked up on it instantly. She braced herself, clenching tighter to her stake as she bounced on her heels in preparation.
Though her thoughts had been focused upon Devon during training, she found all of her doubts, worries, and concerns melting away. Years of breeding and training took over as adrenaline coursed through her, and anticipation for the fight consumed her. The monster went for Chris first, running in a headlong charge. Chris braced himself, turning slightly to dodge out of the way as the monster reached him.
Swinging out, Chris caught hold of him as he slammed a fist into the things shoulder. The young vampire, a man, grunted loudly as he staggered forward beneath the force of Chris’s blow. Though he was off balance, and caught by surprise, he was still hungry, and volatile. His reddened eyes latched upon Cassie, his lips pulled back in a snarl as he caught scent of what he thought would be the easier prey.
Cassie grinned at him invitingly, welcoming the fight, needing to rid herself of her pent up, frustrated energy. It snarled as it lunged at her, its hands curled into claws as it aimed for her neck. A small chuckle escaped her; the thing was stupid that was for sure. It did not stop to think that it might be outnumbered and that a retreat should be considered. Instead, all it could think about was blood and feeding, and destroying life.
It launched itself at her, leaping into the air, its hands outstretched as it looked to devour her. Thrusting her hand up, she used the palm of her hand to smash upward. His head snapped back, his blood red eyes rolled back in his head as his teeth bit into his chin. Blood spilled down his face, but he did not completely slow in his rush. He seized hold of her arms, his hands tightening in a painful grip as he dragged her eagerly forward.