Ashes (Book 2 The Kindred Series)

Ashes

Erica Stevens

Copyright Heather Cox 2012

Published by Gilmour-Cox Publishing at
Smashwords

CHAPTER 1

“Help! I need help here!”

Devon slammed through the hospital
doors, shoving aside anyone in his way as he frantically searched
for someone in the identifying white coat. Panic hammered through
him as he nearly barreled over a man on crutches. Cassie’s head
rested limply against his chest, her breathing had become shallow;
the soft beat of her heart had slowed to alarming
conditions.

“Now!” he bellowed when no lab coats
appeared. “I need help now!”

A young man, in the much sought after
white coat, appeared through another set of doors, his eyes widened
as he took them both in. “What happened?” the doctor demanded,
rushing forward.

“An animal,” Devon lied smoothly. “Some
kind of animal attacked her.”

The doctor’s eyes narrowed sharply upon
Cassie’s prone form. “We need a gurney over here!” the doctor
commanded sharply.

Devon clung tighter to Cassie, his hand
digging into the golden silk of her hair as nurses and orderlies
bustled about. The doctor and a nurse came at him, holding their
arms out to take her from him. Possessiveness tore through him; he
clung tighter to her, anger surging inexplicably forth as they
tried to take her away. Though he did not understand it, he did not
want to let go of her, and he did not want anyone else to touch
her.

“Give her over son,” the doctor
commanded gruffly.

Devon took a steadying breath as he
tried to quell the unstable beast lurking just beneath his surface.
The beast that was ready to kill in order to keep her safe, even if
she was not in danger right now. Slowly, painfully, he managed to
regain enough control, and reason, to hand Cassie over to the
doctor and an orderly. His arms felt empty without her reassuring
weight, his body instantly missed the physical connection between
them. He kept his mind touching briefly along the edge of hers in
order to keep himself reassured that she was still alive. It was
only that connection to her that was keeping him even remotely
sane, and reasonable, right now.

The doctor eyed him wearily, his eyes
scanning rapidly over the tear marks in his shirt, and the blood
that marred it. “Are you injured?”

“No,” Devon answered impatiently,
barely glancing at the jagged wounds in his chest. The blood had
already stopped flowing; the muscle had begun to knit itself closed
once more. What had once been deep gashes appeared more like
scratches now.

The man’s eyes narrowed upon him before
glancing briefly back at Cassie. “Did you two have a
fight?”

Devon bristled, rage flared through him
as he took a step closer to the smaller man. “There was no fight,
it was an animal, now save her,” he growled.

Fear flashed across the doctor’s face
as he took a small step back. “We’ll have to… ah we have to alert
the police. Procedure, you know,” he stuttered out.

Devon lifted an eyebrow, his gaze
burrowing into the doctor’s. Using his ability, he thrust his mind
forward, pushing it into the doctor’s. Exerting his power, he bent
the man’s will to his own, altering his memories and forcing him to
bow to Devon’s wishes. This was one of the abilities that he did
not relish using, but it did come in handy once in awhile. The
doctor’s hazel eyes glazed over, he nodded briefly before turning
slowly away, his attention becoming focused upon Cassie once more.
The doctor moved swiftly through the halls, heading in the
direction that they were wheeling Cassie. Devon followed silently
behind, moving like a wraith through the stark halls.

They pushed her gurney into a bright
room, where they hurried about, hooking her swiftly up to a bunch
of beeping, whirring machines. The bright light of the room was
harsh against his sensitive eyes; the stringently chemical smell
abrasive. In the middle of all the harsh coldness of the sterile
room, Cassie was a bright, warm beacon of light. Her golden hair,
spread out like a fan around her, was the most vivid thing in the
entire room.

She was far paler than normal, her skin
almost as white as the sheets she lay upon. The delicate blue veins
in her neck, forehead, and around her eyes stood out sharply
against her abnormally ashen skin. But even with her pallor, she
was delicately beautiful, and completely perfect. His heart ached
for her, ached to hold her, ached to save her from anymore pain as
they stabbed her with needles, and poked and prodded at her. Anger
shot swiftly through him, he reminded himself that they had to do
this in order to save her life.

He turned away when they cut her shirt
off, her modesty forgotten in their rush to find the source of all
the blood. He could not look upon her now. He hadn’t seen this much
of her yet, and this was not the place for him to see it,
especially when she had no choice in the matter. And he most
certainly could not stand to watch these strangers taking in the
beauty of her, he was afraid he would kill them if he
did.

“Where did all of this blood come
from?” Though Devon had healed the life threatening injuries that
had driven them here, there were still three small cuts in her
neck. He had left them behind in order to satisfy some of the
human’s curiosity, apparently not enough though.

It took a moment for Devon to fully
realize that the doctor was speaking to him. He focused his gaze
upon him, studiously avoiding Cassie’s prone, half naked form. “The
cuts on her neck.”

The doctor frowned, his eyebrows
drawing tightly together as he shook his head. “Those cuts aren’t
deep enough, they’re superficial at best. I need to know the truth,
if we are going to treat her I need to know where all of the blood
came from.”

Devon’s hands fisted as he took a step
forward, pushing the smaller man back with his body. Drawing on his
strong abilities, he opened his mind to everyone in the room,
snagging hold of the edges of their thoughts as he drew them all
in. The hustle of the room slowed to a stop as they turned toward
him, their minds a blank slate for him to fill as he saw fit. “The
blood loss is from the cuts on her neck, there are to be no more
questions. She needs blood, now treat her,” he growled
fiercely.

He withdrew slowly from their minds,
leaving them slightly dazed and glassy looking. They blinked in
surprise, their minds snapping back into place as the normal hustle
of their jobs seized them once more. Devon focused on the back
wall, folding his hands tightly behind his back as he struggled not
to look at her again.

He wanted to reassure himself that she
was alright, and he desperately wanted a glimpse at her body, but
he would hate himself for taking advantage of her at such a time.
Not when she was so vulnerable, and still on the verge of death. He
focused his attention upon the room, listening to the bustle of the
people, the beep of the machines, the soft commands and orders
rapidly barked out and completed. He felt so useless, so helpless.
It was taking all he had not to break something, not to rip it to
shreds with his bare hands in order to ease some of his
frustration.

The power of her blood still coursed
inside of him, humming through his veins, making him feel as if he
could conquer the world. He had a strong ability for mind control,
and bending people to his will, but sometimes it was depleting and
exhausting. He was neither depleted, nor tired now. In fact, he
felt far stronger, and more invigorated than he had ever felt. He
could only imagine how a good dose of her blood would make him
feel, instead of the few drops he had tasted.

A shudder ran through him, the monster
within him prickled. It coiled just beneath the surface like a
rattlesnake ready to strike. He ground his jaw, his hands clenching
tight as the humans hurried past him. They were as inconsequential
as gnats to him. Gnats that he was trying hard not to swat down in
order to ease his frustration.

“Do you need some medical
attention?”

Devon blinked in surprise at a nurse.
She was staring worriedly at him, her eyes wide upon his chest.
“No.”

Her eyes widened at his harsh tone, but
he could still sense her keen interest in him. An interest that had
nothing to do with his need for medical attention. It was an
interest that he wanted no part of right now. He stared hard at her
until she took the hint and slunk slowly away, apparently deciding
it was best to stay away from him. Devon risked a glance back,
relieved to note that they had Cassie mostly covered now. The staff
continued to hustle about, blood was brought forth, more needles
were inserted, dials and knobs checked.

Slowly, the room began to clear,
medical personnel filed away. “Is she going to be ok?” he demanded
harshly of the hassled looking doctor.

The doctor nodded, taking off his cap
as he ran his hands through his shaggy brown hair. “There was quite
a bit of blood loss, but yes, she is young and healthy. I think she
will be fine.”

Devon nodded as the doctor swept past,
swiftly leaving the room. Though the man had no recollection of
what Devon had done to him, he was still very unnerved by Devon.
And Devon didn’t blame him, humans were not stupid, at least not
when it came to what they were instinctually afraid of. And the
doctor was instinctually afraid of him.

Devon moved slowly toward Cassie, his
chest tightened with excitement at the thought of touching her once
more. The machines beeped softly as her chest rose and fell with
the gentle rhythm of her breath. The beat of her heart was
stronger, a more solid thud in her delicate ribs. Devon slid his
hand slowly into hers, relief filling him at the feel of her silken
skin against his. He clasped lightly hold of it, noting the frailty
of her slender bones. Though she was stronger than any human, she
was still vulnerable to death, still mortal.

The monster inside of him bristled at
the thought. It rustled through him, a dark presence that wanted
nothing more than to take that humanity from her, and keep her
protected from her fragile mortality. His hand tightened briefly
upon hers. Her bones could break so easily, snapping as if they
were no more than brittle twigs. The mere thought of it was almost
enough to send him into a rage.

Grasping hold of her hand with both of
his, he struggled to retain control of the pendulum of emotions
swinging rapidly back and forth inside of him. He didn’t understand
the possessive urge that drove him whenever he was near her. He had
never experienced it before, and he had been around for a very long
time. Seven hundred and fifty two years to be exact. He wanted her
for his own, wanted to keep her and make her his, and he also
wanted to take the frailty of her existence from her. As long as
she remained mortal then there was a chance he could lose her. That
was a chance he was unwilling to take.

He knew what his possessive urges
meant, knew what it signaled for the both of them, but he wasn’t
ready to think about that. Was not ready to acknowledge the fact
that this was not going to end well for them.

Devon blinked in startled surprise, his
head jerked away from her as loud voices filled the hospital
hallway. He was shocked to realize that while he had been staring
at Cassie his veins had begun to burn with fierce hunger, and his
fangs had once again sharpened and lengthened. For a moment, he had
almost lost control of himself. For a moment, he had been very
close to biting her, draining her, changing her. And that was
something that he could not do. Cassie was too good, to pure, to
innocent and sweet to be condemned to a life of darkness and
eternal thirst.

He would protect her from that at all
costs.

Though it was a struggle, he slowly
regained control of himself as he focused on the chaos ensuing
outside of the room. Shouts echoed down the hall, bouncing off of
the tiled floors and cement walls. Slapping feet, and the sound of
another gurney being wheeled down the hall filled his
ears.

“Another animal attack!” a sharp voice
barked. Questions bounced around the halls, loud voices demanding
to be heard. Voices he recognized.

He rested Cassie’s hand gently upon the
bed, careful not to disturb any of the tubes hooked to her. He only
made it two steps toward the door before Luther, Melissa, and Chris
barged into the room. They froze for a moment, their eyes widening
as their gazes darted between him and Cassie. Relief, disbelief,
and confusion radiated from them.