Phoenix Rising

  ***

  Devon dodged the first boulder Robert threw at him and managed to avoid the crack in the earth Robert started to open. He leapt over the growing crater and collided with his older, and yet strangely younger, brother. Seizing hold of Robert's throat, he propelled him backward as they crashed into the snow and tumbled over top of each other. Images of Robert stabbing Cassie exploded through his head as the demon within him burst free. He would feel no regret over this. In fact, he would enjoy every moment of it.

  "Miss me brother?" he growled as he lifted him up and smashed him into the snow. Robert clawed at Devon's hand as he tried to break Devon's hold upon him. Skin broke beneath his grip and blood began to trickle around his fingers as he dug into the flesh and sinew of Robert's throat.

  Robert seized hold of his arm but Devon only dug in deeper as his brother tore at his forearm. He gave up on trying to knock Devon's grip free and began to wildly strike at Devon. Blood trickled from broken skin near his right eye but it didn't deter him as he dodged Robert's next punch. His lips skimmed back to reveal his fangs as bloodlust and pleasure pulsed through him. He no longer saw his brother but the man that had murdered Cassie, the man that he was going to relish in destroying.

  A boulder crashed into his back, pitching him forward over Robert. His hold was knocked loose enough that Robert was able to get his legs in between them. Devon tried to right himself but he was unable to do so before Robert flipped him over his head. He spun in the air and landed on his feet in a crouch in the snow.

  Devon didn't hesitate as he launched back at him. He didn't see Zane, or at least a version of Zane, until the oldest Elder hit him in the side. Devon tumbled into the snow and bounded back to his feet. Red filled his vision as a bellow ripped from him. He leapt forward and managed to grab hold of Robert again as the ground beneath him began to open up. He leapt over the massive pit, but instead of trying to take Robert down again, he picked him up and heaved him across the ground.

  Robert flew a good fifty feet through the air before crashing into a tree. His entire body jerked from the impact and his arms flailed as he plummeted to the ground. Devon froze in mid step when he picked up on a fresh scent wafting through the air. He turned away from his brother as he sought Cassie amongst the fray. She was near Julian and Chris, Elspet's remains littered the ground by Julian's feet and Octavia was trying desperately to escape Cassie's relentless approach.

  Cassie became rigid, her head shot around as her eyes met his across the clearing. Devon abandoned the pursuit of his brother as he raced across the snow covered field toward her. He was almost to her when the woods erupted with motion and a fresh horde of newly created vampires spilled forth.

  CHAPTER 22

  Luther stared at the closed door to where they'd placed the bodies. He wanted to go back in there about as much as he wanted an ogre to hit him upside the head with a tree branch. Lou stood at his side, his head tilted as his breath came a little more rapidly. "There's still the room with the children," Luther reminded him. "We'll look there first."

  Lou was ashen as he took a step back from the closed door and hurried toward the room with the children. They were huddled close to each other on the cot and floor. The boy that was fond of Cassie shimmied off the cot and teetered over to him on pudgy legs. He stayed close by Luther's side as he searched every inch of the room only to come up empty again. Lou was as white as a ghost when Luther turned back to him.

  "Stay here with them; I'll let you know if I find anything," Luther told him.

  Lou followed Luther into the hall, where he stayed outside of the children's room. Luther rested his hand on the knob of the room with the dead and braced himself to enter it again. He tried not to absorb the details as he moved quickly through the room, but the memories would be forever seared into his brain, as would the smell.

  He'd never been so happy to escape somewhere as he was to step out of that room and close the door. He wiped his arm across his forehead as he met Lou's gaze across the way. Luther helplessly glanced up and down the hall and then his gaze slid to his feet, perhaps there was something there he'd missed. He studied the gray reflective floor as he moved around the hall.

  Lou started to do the same thing down the other end of the hall, searching around his feet as he turned in concentric circles around the floor. "Here," Lou called to him.

  Luther hurried to his side as the kid knelt to examine the bottom of the wall. If Lou hadn't been pointing it out to him, Luther would have missed the small crack where the floor met the wall. He ran his fingers over it and felt a nearly imperceptible flow of air against the tips of them. Luther ran his hands up and down the wall in search of something to open it with, but he found nothing.

  He was growing increasingly frustrated as he rose to his feet and stared at the solid surface before him. The children hovered in the doorway as they watched them. "It has to be somewhere," Lou muttered as he shoved himself to his feet. "You don't think it would be so cliché as to be one of the fixtures or something like that."

  Luther stared at the plain light fixture before him. "No." But even so he grabbed hold of it. He tried to pull it down but it didn't move, with a quick turn of his wrist he twisted it to the right. It turned beneath his grasp as a low hiss of air escaped from the wall and a panel slid away.

  Lou lifted his hands as he readied himself to punch or kick anything that emerged from the shadowed interior. Luther stepped in front of him, prepared to take the brunt of the attack if someone did emerge from the passage. When nothing stirred he crept closer to peer into the gloom.

  "I'm going to see where it goes. Stay with the children," Luther told him.

  Lou nodded and handed him a crossbow. "Be careful."

  ***

  Cassie wrapped her arms around Devon's waist as he cleared the bodies lying in the snow and captured her in his embrace. She inhaled his scent as she savored in the feel of him pressed against her. Her hands encircled his biceps; she pressed her lips briefly to his neck. She couldn't shake the feeling that this was it as his hand entwined in her hair and he pulled her head from his throat to kiss her.

  "Group together!" Julian shouted.

  She reluctantly tore herself from Devon's embrace as she turned to face the new influx of enemy. She'd sensed them out there, but she hadn't expected this many of them as they raced across the snow. The Elders were more desperate to win this fight than she had realized if they'd risked bringing this many new vampires together.

  The discarded arrows from the weapon Joey had fired were still sticking up in the snow. Cassie seized hold of Joey's arm. Fresh power surged from her and she began to realize that it wasn't just their powers she was absorbing from them, but also some of their strength. As long as she could keep touching people, preferably The Elders, she wouldn't burn out. At least not anytime soon.

  She thought perhaps it was Anastasia's power helping to fuel her, but she sensed it was also something within her; something that had been instilled within her upon her unnatural birth, as a powerless Hunter, and enhanced by her unheard of change into a vampire.

  "Help me," she commanded.

  She kept hold of Joey's arm; drawing on his strength and ability as together they lifted the arrows from the snow. She released his arm as she lifted her hands and flung them across the snow. Octavia tried to dodge the projectiles but she was unable to avoid all of them as they slammed into her chest. She screamed as she was lifted off her feet and flung backwards by the force of the impact. Three of the newer vampires were also brought down by the arrows.

  The loss of some of their brethren didn't slow the horde as at least thirty of them barreled down upon them. Cassie braced herself as the fire licked up her arms to her elbows again. She lifted her hands and caught the first vampire beneath the chin with a ball of fire. He howled as the fire engulfed him but three more of them rose up to take his place. She managed to catch another one before the third dove at her.

  His arms encircled her waist to drive her b
ackwards into the snow. Devon's bellow echoed across the land as he seized hold of the one that had tackled her. He ripped him off of her and heaved him across the yard at two of the other ones. Their bodies collided with a loud thwack that reminded her of a car wreck she'd once witnessed.

  Devon grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her to her feet as Julian staggered over to them. Blood stained the front of Julian's shirt from where an arrow protruded out of his chest. She dove at him, pulling him down as another arrow was shot at him from the pack of vampires. Devon and Chris knelt beside her as she yanked the arrow from Julian's chest.

  "I'm ok Buttercup, don't fret over me," Julian told her as he pushed her hands away. "The others."

  Devon threw himself onto her, pushing them all back to the ground as a massive boulder soared over their heads. A startled cry escaped her as it crashed into the ground a few feet away with enough force to shake it. "I really dislike your brother," Chris ground out through clenched teeth.

  "Join the club," Cassie assured him.

  A piercing scream caused her head to jerk up as Melissa and Dani were inundated with new vamps. She tried to disentangle herself from the heap as she felt the earth begin to vibrate. "Dani," she muttered before the blast shot out.

  A crack reverberated through the air as the current knocked a few of the newer vamps back. The hair on Cassie's arms stood on end; she placed her hand on the ground and drew upon the energy that vibrated within the earth. "Cassie, hurry," Chris murmured.

  She lifted her hand and slapped it off the pile of snow as she sent a bolt of electricity into the vampires piling on top of Annabelle and Liam. As the vamps fell back she allowed the molecules in her body to flow like water to the tips of her fingers. She could almost feel a part of herself seeping out to join with the particles of water that flowed within the snow. It lifted up around her, a wave of white that reminded her of the crashing waves of the ocean as they crested toward the shore, except this wave barreled toward the vampires with the relentless pursuit of an avalanche.

  It crashed into their backs and rolled over them as it buried them within its chilly tomb. She didn't have time to enjoy the small bit of victory though as Zane's apparition appeared before them. She was distracted enough by him that she didn't see Robert's charge until the arrows hit the ground before her. One of them managed to catch her in the bicep as she scrambled to get out of the way.

  Cassie's non-beating heart leapt into her throat as Devon released a ferocious snarl, launched to his feet and rushed his brother. Robert tried to dodge his attack but Devon grabbed hold of his shirt and pulled him into the snow. "Devon!" the raw scream tore from her as they disappeared from sight.

  She was about to go after them when Julian grabbed her forearm and jerked the arrow free of her flesh. A small cry escaped her as her arm throbbed from the abuse.

  Bernard appeared as suddenly as a ghost as he loomed over top of them. The massive man swung what appeared to be a small tree at them. She tried to jerk Julian back but neither of them was able to completely avoid the tree.

  It caught Julian in the side of his chest and knocked him a good three feet back before cracking against the side of her head. Stars burst before her eyes as she was spun around and thrown to the ground. Blood flooded her mouth, she tried to blink the world into focus but it was shadowed as it blurred and shifted before her eyes.

  "Cassie." Chris's arms wrapped around her and lifted her from the snow. Unable to keep weight on her legs they gave out, she pulled Chris fell into the snow beside her. Chris fumbled with her hair as he shoved it back from her face. "Jesus."

  She could feel blood trickling down the side of her face and she found she couldn't open her right eye anymore. His hand came away coated in her blood as he scooped up snow and tried to press it against her battered face. She waved him back as she placed her hand over her broken cheek and the massive lump already forming on her temple. She didn't know how this was going to work, and she thought she might just catch herself on fire as she worked on pulling up Annabelle's gift of healing. She had to do something though; she couldn't see anything right now.

  Her vision started to clear as heat seeped into her body. The throbbing in her head eased and she was able to blink Chris into focus as the throbbing in her head eased. ""I'll be fine," she assured him.

  Chris nodded and turned away from her as another wave of newer vamps closed in on them. He hefted his crossbow to his shoulder and took aim. "I wish we still had that handy little arrow launcher thing Joey had."

  "So do I," she muttered.

  She wiped the blood from her eye as she shoved herself to her knees. The vampires she'd buried within the avalanche were already starting to pull themselves free of the mounds of snow. Annabelle, Liam, Melissa, Dani, and Joey were having trouble fighting off what seemed like an endless wave of monsters that Zane had created for this battle. She still couldn't see Devon and Robert amongst the snow and chaos. Julian was struggling to his feet as Bernard hefted the tree and went back at him.

  Cassie didn't think there was anyway Julian could fend off the mountain of a man narrowing in on him. Drawing on her telekinesis she managed to lift a small rock Robert had dislodged and heaved it at Bernard. It caught the giant in the temple, momentarily distracting him as he swung the tree at Julian again.

  Julian grabbed hold of the tree and punched the giant in the face. Staggered by the force of Julian's blow, Bernard released the tree. Julian spun the tree around and drove it through Bernard's chest. The massive man howled as he clawed at the tree and fell backwards into the snow.

  Julian's eyes were the color of glowing embers as they met hers. Chris released a rapid fire of arrows from the crossbow as the newer vampires rushed at them. Over the horde she finally spotted Devon and Robert as they tumbled across the ground toward a newly formed gorge in the earth. She didn't think Devon was aware of its existence, but Robert surely was.

  Dani let out a shriek that caused Cassie's hair to stand on end as the vampires breached the small circle of protection they had all formed. Joey was the first to go down, buried beneath the crowd that mobbed over top of them. Cassie's head spun, she tried to take in everything at once, but it was all happening too fast.

  A scream tore from her as she lurched forward and drove her shoulder into one of the creatures closing in on them. An apparition of Zane appeared before her. The light of the moon gleamed on his extended fangs as he wagged his finger at her. "Now now princess, let's leave the brother's alone so we can have some fun of our own."

  She snarled at him as she hit the apparition with enough force to send it spiraling into the snow. She didn't stop to finish it off though, that version of Zane was completely useless to her and she had to help someone. Devon and Robert were getting perilously closer to the edge of the pit, Julian and Chris were being pushed back by a fresh wave of vampires, and her friends had disappeared beneath the swarm.

  ***

  Robert's eyes widened as Devon's fingers dug into the flesh of his throat. Devon knocked Robert's fist away when Robert tried to drive it into his face. He snapped Robert's arm back, shattering bone and destroying muscle as he drove it to Robert's side. Robert howled, his fingers clawed desperately at Devon's face as he sensed his impending demise.

  Around them the world began to rock as Robert tried to draw on his power. Devon released Robert's arm and jerked his brother toward him before he could gather enough strength to bury him under a pile of rocks.

  Images of Cassie bleeding, of Cassie dying filled his head as his lips skimmed back to reveal his throbbing fangs. This was something that he should have done years ago. But even so, as his eyes met his brothers rolling ones, he had a moment of hesitation. They'd never been friends, there had never been any love between them, but there was blood. They were brothers.

  It was that moment that allowed Robert to catch him under the chin with a right hook before he slammed his fist into Devon's chest. A loud roar tore from Devon as his ribs fractured and Robert's fing
ers scrambled to rip out his heart. He may be hesitant to kill his own brother, but Robert most certainly wasn't.

  Cassie, if something happened to him...

  He broke the thought off as renewed strength surged through him. He couldn't allow anything to happen to him, not now, not ever. He grabbed Robert's good arm with both of his and smashed his forehead off of Robert's. Blood exploded over both of them from Robert's shattered nose. Robert relinquished his pursuit of Devon's heart as he took a staggering step back.

  Devon seized hold of his brother's throat and lifted him up before slamming him back into the ground. "You shouldn't have touched her," Devon snarled as he drove his fist through his brother's chest. Robert's eyes widened, his broken arm flopped uselessly at his side but his good fingers encircled Devon's wrist in a vice grip. Devon leaned closer to his brother, his lips curled back in a ferocious sneer as his hand wrapped around the deadened lump within Robert's chest. A lump that had been dead long before Robert had died even. "You'll never touch her again."

  Devon yanked the heart from his brother's chest and kicked his body into the pit Robert had been trying to angle him into. He watched his brother fall backwards until he disappeared from view. He didn't have time to savor in the sight, or get his bearings, as ten newly created vampires pounced upon him. Their hunger beat against him as their fangs snapped at his throat. He was able to wrap his mind into two of theirs and drive them off, but he was unable to do it to any more as there were too many of them.

  He caught a fleeting glimpse of Zane going down beneath a sea of hungry new vampires. They no longer cared that they'd been brought together by The Elders and were supposed to be fighting for The Elders. All they craved now was power and blood, and the most powerful blood belonged to The Elders, and Cassie. Worry for her safety reinvigorated him as he managed to get himself back to his feet beneath the pig pile.