Ashes (Book 2 The Kindred Series) (18 page)

Or to embrace, she realized with a
start. After all, her beginnings had come from his kind. She was
far more like him then she had ever realized. She dealt out death
and destruction also, and unlike Melissa and Chris, it was the only
gift that she had received. She, more than the others, was the most
like his kind. The only thing she was truly good at, and good for,
was killing.

Devon’s expression changed as he rose
swiftly to his feet, gliding with the elegant grace of a tiger.
Moving slowly, as if afraid he would spook her away, he wound
around the couch. She did not move as he came toward her, did not
stiffen when his arms wrapped tightly around her. She leaned into
his embrace, taking comfort in his strength and warmth.

“You are not a monster.” His voice was
a breath in her ear. She searched his face questioningly. She was
not surprised he knew what she had been thinking, he knew her well
enough for that. But she needed to know that he truly believed what
he was saying. His emerald eyes were fierce on her, his hand gentle
as he caressed her face. “You never could be.”

Tears burned in her eyes and she
rapidly blinked them back. Nodding, she rested her head against his
chest, savoring in the comfort and peace that he brought to her.
The constriction in her chest eased as she inhaled his familiar,
enticing scent.

“I know that this is a lot to take in,
a lot to understand,” Luther said after a few moments. “But
something had to be done to stop the vampires. Imagine the world if
there had never been any Hunters to stop their murderous
rampages.”

“There are barely any Hunters now,”
Chris said softly. “And it’s not so bad.”

“But things are different now. Then,
the world was consumed with war and blood and death. Vampires
roamed freely, killing and taking wherever they saw fit. The world
is modernized now; the Elders want no part of it. They are content
in the old ways, stuck there. The young ones are the danger, but
there are fewer of them as the Elders have grown tired of creating,
and the Hunters have always been able to take out the younger,
weaker ones,” Devon said softly.

“Then why did the Elders come after the
Hunter line to begin with?” Cassie asked softly.

“Revenge,” he answered honestly. “The
war between the Hunters and the Elders has waged on for over a
millennia, they saw a chance to win it, and they went after it.
Boredom also, I suppose. The Hunters are probably the only thrill,
and the only challenge they have left to them anymore.”

Cassie’s frown deepened, anger
blistered through her. Her parents had been slaughtered because of
boredom? “How many of these Elders are left?” she inquired, feeling
her own need for vengeance coming to fierce life.

Devon shook his head at her, his eyes
darkened and hardened. “I would not allow it,” he growled. “And you
could do little against them.”

Licking her lips nervously, she ducked
her head so that he wouldn’t see too much of her thoughts. “I
understand that,” she admitted. “I am merely curious.”

His hand began to gently stroke her
arms as he shrugged absently. “Fighting amongst the Elders is
common, they tend to take each other out for power and greed so
there is only ten left. The oldest is a little over nine hundred;
the youngest is about five hundred and twelve.”

Cassie started slightly, her eyes
widening as horror and realization slammed into her. “You are an
Elder?” she gasped.

He nodded briskly. “As is Julian. I am
second in line.”

Her mouth dropped. “Will they come for
you? For your power?”

His laughter was harsh and brisk. “Not
if they wish to live. I may not be the oldest, but I am the
strongest. Just as with the Hunter’s, vampires often develop their
own gifts, my speed and strength has always been enhanced, and the
mind control helps.”

“Oh,” Cassie breathed in
relief.

“Not to mention, the infighting stopped
shortly before The Slaughter. That was when they realized that they
had all but destroyed each other, and that the young vampires did
not care for the traditions, or them. The young ones would do
nothing to protect an Elder if they ever needed it. The Elder’s
grouped together after that; hoping to take out the Hunters in an
attempt to eliminate the enemy once and for all. Then they
retreated, going back to the old country where they hid themselves
away.”

“And you did not want to go with them?”
she asked worriedly.

A sharp bark of hard laughter escaped
him. “They do not want me; I am a traitor to them. The shunning of
human blood is an atrocity that they do not understand or
particularly tolerate. They may want my power, and my strength to
help protect them, but they do not want me there.”

“Good.” He chuckled, dropping a gentle
kiss on her head as he pulled her tighter against him.

“So,” Luther said softly. “Now you know
where your abilities come from.”

“And that we’re not human,” Chris
muttered bitterly.

“We always knew we weren’t completely
human,” Cassie reminded him.

“Yeah, but we never knew that we were
less than human, I always assumed we were more.”

“You are more,” Devon said softly. “Do
not think of yourself as less than human when you do more for the
human race than many people ever will. Though you may not like how
you were created, you should take pride in what you are, and what
you do.”

“I couldn’t have said it better
myself,” her grandmother said softly, smiling brightly. “It took me
a long time to come to terms with this also, but you will, and you
will see that Devon is right.”

Though the words were meant to comfort,
Cassie found little in them. How many people had been sacrificed in
order to create their race? How many lives had been lost? A shiver
raced up her spine. Devon rubbed her arms gently, trying to put
some heat back into her body, but it did little good. She wasn’t
sure she would ever be warm again.

“Well now I know why I never wanted to
learn this crap,” Chris muttered, turning away as he ran a hand
through his disordered hair.

Cassie completely agreed. “So all of
our gifts come from them?” she inquired softly.

“Yes,” Luther answered. “The weapons
they used against us, we were able to turn against
them.”

“And me?” Cassie inquired.

Luther’s eyebrows drew tightly
together. “There have been Hunters in the past with no
abilities.”

“Not many though.”

“No, not many.”

“So I’m an even bigger genetic
mutation,” she muttered bitterly, unable to keep back a disgusted
chuckle of laughter.

“No, your speed, strength, hearing, and
sight is amplified Cass, those are also gifts that only vampire’s
possess. You did not receive any of the other abilities, so those
ones are enhanced in you. I keep telling you that that is a
gift.”

Cassie stared doubtfully back at him,
but she refrained from commenting. “Your hearing and sight?” Devon
asked softly.

“Yeah eagle eyes over there could see a
mouse from a mile away,” Chris answered with a crooked, half
hearted grin. “And hear a pin drop from the same
distance.”

“Ha ha,” Cassie replied, fighting the
urge to stick her tongue out at him. It took her a moment to
realize that Devon had stiffened against her. Looking up at him,
she was surprised to find his eyebrows drawn tight, his eyes
distant and thoughtful. “Are you planning on talking about me
behind my back?” she asked softly.

His attention snapped back to her, but
his gaze was still distant. Shaking his head, he bent to kiss her
forehead gently. “No, of course not.” His wan smile and distant
gaze were not convincing though. “Someone is here.”

“What?” Cassie asked a second before
the doorbell rebounded through the house.

Frowning up at him, she slipped from
his arms but he didn’t move far from her as he followed her into
the foyer. Glancing nervously back at him, he gave a brief nod. She
opened the door; surprise widening her eyes at the sight of Dani
huddled on the doorstep. Her gold streaked eyes were wide with
fear. “Can I come in?” she asked quietly.

Cassie nodded as she stepped back,
searching the night she saw no sign of Joey. “Did you walk over
here by yourself?” Dani nodded as she stepped inside, huddling
deeper into her light windbreaker. Dani eyed Devon wearily, but
there seemed to be no fear coming from her. “Don’t you
learn?”

Dani smiled wanly as she shook back her
hair. “I told you I can take care of myself.”

“You also told me that you couldn’t use
your ability again tonight.”

“Yeah, but that other vamp doesn’t know
that.”

Devon snorted softly with laughter, but
Cassie was nowhere near as amused. She could have been killed.
“Come on in.”

Leading Dani into the living room, she
gestured toward the loveseat that she had abandoned. “Grandma, this
is Dani. Dani this is my grandmother.”

“You can call me Lily,” her grandmother
replied.

Dani smiled hesitatingly, her hands
folding into the sleeves of her coat. “It’s nice to meet
you.”

“You also, it appears that you are a
truly talented girl.”

Heat flared up Dani’s face as she
ducked her head. “Yeah,” she mumbled.

“We were just discussing where those
powers come from,” Luther said smoothly.

“Vampire’s.”

“You knew?” Chris demanded.

Dani frowned in confusion as she
nodded. “Since I was old enough to understand, you
didn’t?”

Chris scowled as he turned on his heel
and began to pace once more. His agitation was palpable in the
room. “No, they didn’t,” Melissa said flatly. “I wish we didn’t
know.”

Cassie blinked, surprised to hear such
dismay in Melissa’s voice. She was always reserved, thoughtful and
aloof, but there was always an optimistic air about her that was
refreshing. Now she seemed hard, distant, lost. Sighing loudly,
Chris walked over to Melissa; swinging his arm around her shoulders
he pulled her close in a brotherly embrace.

“It will be ok, we’re no different than
the people we were an hour ago.”

“No, we’re not,” Cassie said firmly.
“We can’t change the mistakes of our ancestors…”

“Without those mistakes, the world
would have been an entirely different place. It would have been
filled with fear and death and murder. Vampires would have run it.
Would you have rather have had that?” Luther interjected
hotly.

They gazed fiercely at each other
before Cassie slowly turned to Dani, not willing to admit that
Luther was right. She was still too angry and confused for such an
admission now. “What brings you here?” she inquired.

Dani shrugged, her gaze darted
nervously around the room before settling on Cassie again. “I don’t
agree with Joey, I think that we should help.”

Cassie’s heart fluttered with
excitement; with Dani’s help they would have a much better chance
of killing Julian. They would be able to save more lives. Maybe
they could even find some peace for a little while. She desperately
wanted peace, and she desperately wanted some time with Devon to
try and sort out the pieces of their lives.

“Does he know that you’re here?” Luther
asked softly.

Dani nodded, her hands clenched tightly
inside her sleeves. Tears shimmered in her eyes, but she did not
spill any. “He knows,” she answered in a choked voice.

“Dani, what happened?” Cassie inquired
gently.

The red streaks in her hair flashed
brightly in the light as she shook her head slowly. “He
left.”

The silence in the room was heavy with
shock. Melissa was the first to recover from the news. “He left you
here alone!?”

Dani nodded, her dark head bowed. “Yes,
I refused to go and he refused to stay.”

Cassie’s heart broke as tears slid down
the girls face, plopping onto her lap as she made no attempt to
stop them. Pulling away from Devon she joined Dani on the loveseat,
resting her arm gently around her delicate shoulders. “I’m sorry,”
she whispered, trying to soothe the pain radiating from her. “I
can’t imagine how hard this must be.”

Dani continued to cry silently, but her
words were coherent. “We’ll keep in touch, and one day we’ll
reunite, but for now each of us has to go our separate ways. We
both feel very differently about this. It had to be done. We could
not be together forever.”

Cassie could understand that, but she
couldn’t understand how Dani’s brother could have just abandoned
her here. She was barely old enough to get a job, let alone support
herself. Her brother was so angry and selfish that he had not only
left her to fend for herself, but also left her to the monster that
haunted their town. Quite possibly left her to die.

Apparently his hatred went far deeper
than Cassie had even begun to fathom.

“Well then,” her grandmother said
softly, rising swiftly to her feet. “We should go get your
things.”