She took a sip and was pleased to note that the beer didn't taste awful either. In fact, it had a pleasant burn as it worked its way through her system. She drained the entire mug before she even realized it was empty. Placing it on the table she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as she stared at the empty glass.
"That was actually good," she remarked.
Julian chuckled as he signaled for the waitress again. "I couldn't tell by the empty mug. Would you like another?"
Cassie briefly contemplated it. It had tasted good, and there was a pleasant warming sensation in her belly, but it wouldn't be a good idea if she got drunk tonight. It had been awhile since she'd had any alcohol, anymore might push her over the edge, and she wasn't eager to find out what would happen then.
She shook her head regretfully. "That's a shame princess; you should start embracing the perks of this life, instead of constantly being thrust into the shadows of it. You'll enjoy it more."
She already felt somewhat tipsy as he blurred a little before her. "I will," she told him.
Julian grinned at her as the waitress arrived at his side with another beer. Melissa shook her head; Chris was barely paying attention to anything other than his meatball sub. Cassie turned away as she tried to ignore the buzzing in her head.
The conversations swirled throughout the room, people laughed and talked merrily as food and drinks were handed out. A band came in the back door, carrying their equipment with them as they headed toward the stage in the corner. "What day is it?" she inquired.
"Friday," Devon told her.
"It's all so fantastically normal," she whispered.
"It is."
She watched as the band set up, fascinated by their assured movements as they brought their instruments out. She smiled when they began to test the sound, suddenly eager to hear what type of music they played. "We should probably get going."
Cassie's attention was brought back to the table as Chris threw his napkin on top of his plate and pushed it away. She didn't want to go back into the world and leave behind this little reprieve they had found. Devon threw money on the table before sliding out of the booth. He held his hand out to her and helped her out. She stumbled slightly and grinned up at Devon as he shook his head at her.
She tugged on his ears as she stood on tiptoe to kiss him. He took hold of her hand and led her through the ever growing crowd. People parted easily around them, the beat of the music became the pulse that she was missing. She moved closer to Devon and pressed his hand against her stomach as she pulled him back a step.
He turned to her, his head tilted as he studied her. They hadn't danced together since homecoming, since before her grandmother had been killed and everything had been almost normal in her life. She smiled flirtatiously as she tugged him toward the dance floor. He hesitated before slipping his arm around her waist and pulled her out to the floor. She ignored the lecherous stares of the men, and the obvious ogling of the women, as she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her cheek on his shoulder.
His lips were warm against her neck as he brushed a tender kiss over her skin. A shiver slid down her spine as her hands curved around the hard muscles of his biceps. She spotted Chris dancing with some girl from the bar, and Melissa with a guy that was ogling her like she was a piece of meat he planned on devouring. Melissa seemed to be contemplating the idea of kneeing him in the nuts.
Julian was standing by the bar with a beer in one hand and a shot in the other. He was talking to three women who couldn't have been more overt if they stripped naked. They were all concerned about her, but she wondered what would become of Julian when this was over, or if he would even survive those three women tonight.
"He'll be ok," Devon murmured against her neck.
"How can you be so sure?"
"You're his Annabelle." She pulled back to look at him as he continued to move her gracefully across the floor. "I've been where he is right now Cass, and he'll get through this because he loves you and he's my friend. He's accepted this, it's still tough on him, but he's accepted it."
She felt as if a boulder had been lifted from her shoulders. "I hope you're right."
"I am."
Julian managed to extricate himself from the three succubi and hurried toward the dance floor as the music stopped. He didn't even give the guy dancing with Melissa a chance to protest before he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her away. Cassie was struck by how stunning they looked together with his striking pale looks and her dark exotic ones.
"Don't get any ideas," Devon whispered in her ear.
"What?" she inquired innocently.
"Neither of them is ready for that Cassie. I know you feel guilt over Julian, but I never once blamed Annabelle for choosing Liam and he's not blaming you for choosing me. It took me over a hundred years to find you. Don't try to force something that may end up hurting them both."
"I won't," she promised.
She went to drop her head back on his shoulder when it hit her. She froze, a small gasp escaped her as she was sucked into a world that wasn't this one, or at least it wasn't this world yet. But it would be, and soon.
Cassie's hands clenched, she could still feel Devon, but she couldn't see him as the future world rushed up around her. The bar, it was still in this bar, but country music was playing and a woman was singing melodiously. The crowd was the same, the people moved easily and freely about as they enjoyed their night. But there was blood; she could smell it crisply, clearly. It filled her nostrils and caused her mouth to water in response.
Cassie's body jerked as she was ripped back to the present, thrust into a world that was solid and real. "There's something here!"
CHAPTER 12
Devon grasped hold of Cassie's face as she panted rapidly and her eyes became that alien shade of red. Her face was still slack, her eyes dull and glazed, but whatever she'd seen had enticed and aroused the demon inside of her. "What Cassie? What is here?"
She blinked and her eyes focused upon him. "Vampires, they're coming."
The hair on his arms stood up. "The Elders?"
"No, I didn't sense that kind of power. They're out back; they'll find someone to kill if they come in here." He pulled her against him and sheltered her against his side so that no one could see the bright color of her eyes. He parted the sea of bodies between him and the door that the band had arrived through.
A sense of urgency filled him as a woman began to sing a haunting melody that caused Cassie to shudder in response. He was passing the stage just as the backdoor opened. He would never get there in time, not with trying to keep Cassie sheltered from the crowd.
"Julian!" Devon bellowed above the noise of the country song.
Julian nearly blurred as he moved past them. There were a few surprised looks from the people around them, but there was nothing Devon could do about it right now. All he could do was hope that they chalked what they saw tonight up to the alcohol tomorrow. Julian barged through the door and knocked the vampire back before it could enter the building. A surprised shout escaped the vamp, but the sound was quickly cut off by the slamming of the metal door as they disappeared outside.
"Julian!" Cassie cried.
Devon pushed in the metal bar as he flung the door open. He didn't want Cassie out here, but he couldn't leave her amongst the crowd when he didn't know how stable she was. Cold air rushed over them as they stumbled into the night. He was a little surprised to find themselves in a dimly lit parking lot.
"There!" Chris thrust his finger toward the left.
Devon spotted Julian amongst a clutter of cars, fighting with two vampires. "Stay here!" he ordered Cassie.
He released her and rushed across the parking lot to help Julian. He jumped on top of an old Ford and raced across the hood before flinging himself onto one of them. The young male vampire grunted as Devon fell with it onto the pavement. Grasping the back of its head, he smashed its face into the ground. Though he didn't like to admit it, he relished
in the sickening crunch of bone, and the reassuring splatter of blood.
Jumping back to his feet, he was just in time to watch Julian smash the much younger vampire's chest in and rip out its heart. It stood in wide eyed surprise for a moment before crumpling to the ground. Devon's shoulders shook as he strived to keep himself under control. The bloodlust was running high, and thrumming wildly through his system as he met Julian's reddened eyes.
"There was another one," Julian growled.
A sense of impending doom settled over him. "Where?"
Julian didn't have to nod, didn't have to show him where, Devon already knew. He turned back toward where he had left Cassie, Chris, and Melissa but they were gone. "Son of a bitch!" Devon exploded.
He ignored the blaring alarms of the cars as he dashed across their hoods in pursuit of his increasingly frustrating mate.
***
"This way!"
"Cassie slow down! Wait! Cassie wait!" Melissa yelled after her.
Cassie couldn't wait though; she couldn't allow the vampire in front of her to get away. They may be her kind now, but she was also a Hunter and she wasn't going to allow any innocents to die tonight. She dodged the cars that skidded to a halt with their horns blaring as she sprinted across the street. One of the bumpers clipped her leg and she fell against the car. She rested her hand upon the hood as she tried to right herself after the impact.
"Cassie!" Melissa screamed.
She shoved herself off the hood and fled across the road. Angry shouts rang out from the drivers as she cleared the last lane and fled into the woods behind the vampire. He was faster than she had expected, but she was gaining on him. Leaping forward, Cassie snagged hold of the back of his shirt. The material gave way with a tearing that sounded like a gunshot in the still air. The vamp nearly tore free of her, but she had managed to give it a strong enough tug that it was knocked off balance. Cassie grasped hold of its shoulders as she spun it around.
The creature snarled as it lunged at her with hooked fingers and razor sharp fangs. Something within her surged to the forefront, something looking to be sated, and there was only one way to sate it. Without thinking, Cassie leapt forward and jerked the vampires head to the side as she dove at him. There was a flicker of fright in the creature's eyes, but she didn't acknowledge it as she sank her fangs in.
The vampire howled as it clawed at her arms in an attempt to dislodge her. Cassie stuck to it as they fell backward onto the forest floor. The blood was astonishing, so much better than the bags that Devon had been giving her. It was delicious and powerful as it flowed into her and warmed her to the very center of her soul. It satisfied a primitive urge that she'd been struggling for years to keep buried. It was the most magnificent feeling in the world to finally let it free, to finally let the monster bury the scared, frightened girl that had been living within her for the past four years. She wasn't scared of what she was and what she would become. It didn't matter anymore as the blood eased the ferocious clamoring of the beast.
The creature's movements became weaker as its struggle against her lessened. Cassie sat back and wiped the blood from her mouth as she studied the creature before her. It wasn't dead, but there certainly wasn't much life left to it as she lifted a stick from the ground and drove it through its deadened heart.
She thrilled at the power still coursing rapidly through her, and then the reality of the situation slammed over her. The horror was back, the terror, and confusion. Except now it was tenfold because she had just killed a person. Well maybe not a person, but she had killed something by draining its blood, its' very essence into her. And she had relished in it.
Who was she now? What was she?
***
Devon moved faster than he'd ever thought possible as he followed her scent, and the bond that connected them. Julian tried to keep up with him as they raced through the forest but he was lagging behind.
They caught up to Melissa and Chris and bypassed them. He burst through a copse of trees and skidded to a halt as he came across the immobile body of the vampire. Its eyes were open; two trails of blood ran down its neck from the bite inflicted upon it. His body thrummed at the sight of the body and the implications of those two marks.
He spotted Cassie sitting in the shadows, half hidden by trees and low growing brush. Her legs were drawn up against her chest; her arms wrapped around them as she watched him. Her golden hair was in tumbled disarray, dirt streaked her delicate features, and her full lips were tinted a darker shade of red. Her inhuman eyes were brilliant, there was a pulsating power radiating from her that caused his stomach to lurch violently.
He dropped before her but before he could reach for her she flung herself into his arms. Devon enveloped her as she buried her face in his neck. Her tears wet his skin and slid down to dampen the collar of his shirt. His hand cradled her head as he sought to give her comfort when he knew there was little to be found. She choked on the force of her sobs as her hands dug fervently into him. He spun her quickly away when Julian emerged from the trees.
Julian took in the scene and frowned ferociously as his lips compressed into a flat line. Julian whirled to face Chris and Melissa in an attempt to block them from seeing the body, but it was already too late. Melissa gasped and reeled back. Chris became as still as a statue as he looked around for something else to focus on.
Cassie wiggled against him as she seemed to try and escape the clearing by disappearing into him. "Shh, shh." He rubbed her hair as he tried to calm her. "It's ok. It was only a vampire."
A low groan escaped her as she burrowed lower against him. If she hadn't been immortal, he would have become concerned about her health. He kept her face pressed against his neck so that she wouldn't see their fear. He ignored the troubled looks of Chris and Melissa as he focused on Julian. "You know what to do."
Julian nodded briskly. "I do."
There was an unasked question in his gaze, a question that Devon couldn't answer. Julian knew that he had to take care of the bodies, but Devon had no idea how to take care of Cassie right now.
CHAPTER 13
Devon stared out at the spiraling snow as it filtered onto the blacktop and cars parked within the hotel lot. He dropped the thick curtains into place and effectively blocked out any sun. He turned back toward Cassie. She was curled up on her side, her hands beneath her head as she stared into space.
He was grateful that everyone had left them alone, for now. Julian had called to say that everything had been taken care of, but even he had stayed away. Devon moved over to the bed and sat down beside her. He brushed the hair away from her face as he caressed her cheek.
He didn't know what to do to help, and he was growing increasingly terrified that he was losing her. "Cassie, you have to talk to me." Her eyes became a deeper shade of purple. "I can't lose you Cass; you have to stay with me." His fingers lingered on her silken cheek as he wiped her tears away.
"What if I'm not me anymore?" she whispered.
"Cassie..."
"What if the girl you fell in love with is gone? What if she doesn't exist anymore?"
"Cassie, you exist. You are different than the first time I met you, but that isn't a bad thing. People grow, they mature..."
"I'm not a person. I never was."
"At heart, in your soul, you are still the same. You always will be. There is nothing that can change that. Nothing."
"I enjoyed it."
He wasn't entirely sure he'd heard her words right until she lowered her eyelids. He twirled her hair around his finger as he pondered how best to phrase his next words. "It wasn't a human Cassie."
"At one time it was more human than I have ever been."
"What is inside of you, what is inside of all of us, is dark Cassie. It's dangerous, and it takes what it wants, and what it wants most is blood and death. It makes the whole world seem like a much better place when the blood is filling you, when it's healing the hunger and frustration that resides in all of us.
"Trust me
Cassie I know, we all know how it feels. Even Liam and Annabelle tussle with what is inside of them. Annabelle slaughtered half a dozen cows before she was finally able to regain control of herself. By the time Liam was changed, Annabelle and I had enough restraint over ourselves to teach him how to maintain himself. Julian is struggling with not killing humans, and he's had centuries to learn how to keep his baser instincts under control in order to ensure his survival. Just as you will learn to control it better, and you will learn Cassie. This is partly my fault."
Her eyes fluttered up to his as she shook her head. "No Devon, I..."
"Yes Cassie," he interrupted as he pulled her chin up so that she had to look at him. "You were adjusting so well, you've only had a few brief instants of instability. You've exhibited so much control that I forgot that you are still new, still uncertain, and confused. I forgot that you don't understand what is going on inside of you."
He relaxed a little as her hand rested on his thigh. It was the first time she'd touched him since they had come back here, and he hadn't realized just how much he craved that touch, until now. "What is inside of me Devon? What am I becoming?"
"A demon, a monster, it's been labeled so many things before, but it is definitely darkness. A darkness that is only ever completely satisfied when it's killing. A darkness that you can fight just as you have helped me to fight it. I will teach you how to control it, how to keep it at bay. Feeding well, and on a regular basis helps with this, as does age and maturity. It will come in time Cass, I promise."
"I have plenty of that."
He smiled down at her. "Yes, you do. We both do."
"What if I can't control it though? What if it's like the powers and just rips out of me at certain times? What if I become one of the worst monsters to hunt this earth like Matthew saw?"
"You could never be that Cassie."
"No one knows what I could be now."