Inferno (Book 4 The Kindred Series) (12 page)

Yet Julian had somehow managed to move
on from that monster, as Devon himself had. Julian had learned to
care about Cassie enough to get her, and himself, out of here
alive. Julian had learned to care about her enough to keep her sane
and hopeful in a world of misery, loneliness, and torture. Julian
had learned to care about someone more than he cared about himself,
something that Devon never thought Julian would be capable of.
Though Devon hated the fact that Julian fancied himself in love
with Cassie, he was also grateful to Julian for everything he had
done for her.

Julian closed his eyes and nodded
sharply to Cassie before spinning on his heel and heading back down
the long hallway. Cassie kept her gaze focused on Chris as they
followed silently behind. Dani gasped loudly, taking a stumbling
step back into Chris as they turned another corner. Devon knew that
they had finally come upon some of the carnage they had smelled.
Cassie straightened her shoulders, bracing herself as Chris pushed
Dani roughly forward again.

Cassie reached back for him, seizing
hold of his hand as they turned the corner. Devon steadied himself
as excitement and disgust tore through him in equal waves. Blood
splattered the hallway, mutilated bodies littered the floor. Though
he had committed some awful atrocities in his life, he had never
seen the destruction of the human body quite like this
before.

Cassie’s hand trembled in his; her
lower lip began to quiver. The sight of her horror and misery
helped him to gain even more control of his baser instincts. She
needed his protection and comfort now, she could never know about
the excitement tingling through him. She would be repulsed by him
if she did, and that was something that he never wanted to have
happen.

“Don’t look,” he whispered, leaning
closer to her. He wanted to cover her eyes with his hand, but he
knew that she would not appreciate it.

She closed her eyes, her hand squeezing
tighter around his as he helped to guide her through the mutilated
bodies. Blood streaked the floor and covered the walls. The smell
of it was metallic and wonderful. Though Cassie helped him to keep
control of himself, Julian was on his own. Julian had only had a
few small rats to eat today, and he did not have Cassie in his arms
to help keep him grounded and calmer.

Devon began to fear that Julian might
not make it back out of this. There was only so much a vampire
could take, and Julian had only recently stopped killing. This
might be far too much of a test of his willpower and control, and
Julian may not even decide to stay not killing. He may go back to
it when all of this was over, and Cassie was at Devon’s side. And
Devon could not blame Julian if he did; Devon knew he would
instantly return to killing if he ever lost her
completely.

Though Devon would not blame Julian for
returning, he couldn’t take the chance of Julian snapping in here.
He would hurt people if he did, he could hurt Cassie if he did.
Devon moved to stand beside Cassie, drawing her tight against him
as he put her slightly behind him. He had not wanted her in the
back, but he definitely didn’t want her close to Julian right now,
and he wanted to be closer to Chris in order to get him out of the
way if the need arose. Dani was on her own against
Julian.

They moved into another hall, this one
just as littered with bodies, but housing even more destruction. It
appeared to be the hall where the uprising had started. Doors
littered the floor, shattered glass cracked and splintered beneath
their feet. They picked their way carefully through the debris,
avoiding shards of wood and metal. Devon held Cassie close to his
side as he steered her through it, keeping her face buried against
him.

“How much further?” Julian growled,
glancing fiercely back at Dani.

“Not much,” she answered
shakily.

They rounded another corner, coming
across more destruction before slipping into a hall that was
strangely empty of all debris. Devon pulled Cassie gently out of
his side; she glanced swiftly around, relief causing her shoulders
to slump. “Here,” Dani said softly.

She pulled the keys from her pocket,
her hands trembling as she tried to slide the key into the hole.
Dani jumped nervously back as they slipped from her fingers and
clattered upon the floor. She glanced wildly at the group before
bending and swiftly scooping them back up. She struggled to find
the right one again and get it in the hole.

Julian cursed violently, snatching the
keys from her hand when his patience finally snapped. He shoved
himself in front of her, slipping the key into the hole. “Wait!”
Chris cried loudly his face going white as he reached for
Julian.

It was too late though, Julian had
already thrust the door open. A loud bang rang out, echoing through
the air. Devon seized hold of Cassie, shoving her behind him as the
shot reverberated down the hall. Julian fell back, shock and pain
twisting his features as blood bloomed across his shoulder; it
soaked his shirt where the bullet had torn a gaping wound into his
shoulder. Devon grabbed Julian, shoving him to the floor as another
shot rang out, bouncing down the hallway in a zinging rush that
shattered concrete and deafened him.

“Son of a bitch!” Chris cried out,
ducking out of the way as another shot was fired.

Panic for Cassie tore through Devon; he
released Julian as Julian rolled away from the door. Devon darted
swiftly back to where Chris and Cassie lay upon the floor, their
hands over their heads in a vain attempt to protect them from
anymore bullets. Crawling on top of Cassie, he used his body to
keep her blocked from anymore ricocheting shots. Pulling her head
beneath him, he cradled her tight to his chest as another shot was
fired. Chris ducked lower as it ripped past his head, shattering
the wall inches from his ear.

Cassie cried out, burrowing tighter
against Devon. Anger surged through his veins, the urge to destroy
whoever was in that room ripped through him. Another shot was
fired, he grunted loudly as it sliced across his calf in a fiery
blaze of pain. Cassie grasped him tighter, her breath warm against
his neck, her fingers clawing at him. “Are you ok?” she demanded
harshly. “Devon are you ok? Julian was shot, is he ok?”

“Fine, I’m fine. Julian will be fine,”
he grated, ignoring the pain in his leg as he tried to push Cassie
forward, out of the way of fire. “Move!” he hissed to
Chris.

Chris scrambled forward, staying low as
he crab crawled toward one of the open doors and disappeared
through it. “Cassie you need to follow Chris,” he hissed in her
ear.

“I can’t leave you.”

“You have too! Now go!”

He withdrew from the top of her,
keeping his body up to protect hers as she scrambled after Chris.
The minute she entered the room, her head poked back out, her
violet blue eyes wide with worry as she watched him. “Get back!” he
hissed, dropping down as another shot rang out.

Cassie cried out, ducking away as it
shattered off of the wall. Devon spun, fury boiling through him as
he crossed the hall, scrambling back toward the door. Julian was
sitting against the wall on the other side of the door. His lips
were twisted into a snarl, his fangs fully elongated as his eyes
blazed red fire.

Devon knew exactly how he felt, if he
got his hands on whoever was in that room he was going to kill
them, and he wouldn’t have a problem with it. He shoved Dani out of
his way as he reached the door. She curled up against the wall, her
knees hugged tight to her chest as her eyes rolled wildly in
terror. Another shot rang through the hallway, sizzling around the
corner.

“Stop!” Dani screamed hysterically,
throwing her hands over her ears. “Stop!”

Silence followed her shrill cry.
“Dani?”

Devon spun on her, rage slamming hard
into him as his eyes narrowed fiercely. But she was not looking at
him, she was staring at the door, her mouth parted in surprise as
tears bloomed in her eyes. “Joey?” she choked out, shock evident in
her voice.

Devon turned as the young man stepped
out of the room. His gaze instantly found his sister, relief
coursed through him as he took a step forward. Julian sprang up,
seizing hold of Joey’s neck. He slammed Joey against the wall with
a loud bang that shook the door in its frame. Joey choked in
surprise, his eyes bulging out of his head as Julian squeezed down
hard.

“I’ll rip you to shreds,” Julian
growled.

“No!” Dani screamed at the same time
that another shot boomed out of the room.

“Son of a bitch!” Devon snarled, tired
of being shot at.

He darted past the door, joining Julian
on the other side. Another shot reverberated through the hall.
“Devon!” Cassie screamed.

“Stay in there!” he shouted back at
her.

Julian glanced sharply at him, his hand
tightened on Joey’s throat, choking the air from him. He showed no
remorse as his fingers dug into Joey’s skin. “How are we getting
that bastard out?” Julian hissed at Devon.

Though the shots would not kill them,
not unless they had their heads blown off completely, they could
wound them enough to incapacitate them long enough for someone to
kill them. And the bullets still hurt like hell. Devon glanced back
at the door then over at Joey. “We can use him as bait.”

“No!” Joey gasped at the same time that
Julian’s smile widened.

“Wait! No! You can’t! Please don’t!”
Dani screamed hysterically.

Cassie’s head popped back out of the
room, Chris’s head appeared above hers. Devon met Cassie’s wide
eyed gaze. He felt no remorse about killing any of the people that
had kept her here, especially if it would keep her safer in the
end. He did not wish to do it in front of her though.

“Get back!” he growled. She hesitated,
her gaze terrified and lost. “Get her back Chris!”

Chris nodded before grasping hold of
Cassie’s shoulders and pulling her back. Devon waited to make sure
that she didn’t come back out before he turned to Julian.
Excitement rushed through Devon as memories of the way he had once
been, of the things him and Julian had done together, pounded
through him. Bloodlust and the demon surged forth, eager to break
free of the cage that Devon had locked it away in for far so
long.

Julian quirked an eyebrow, a small
smile curved his mouth. “Welcome back,” he whispered.

Devon shook his head, knowing how very
much he would love to destroy every human around him, would love to
savor the slaughter, but he could not allow the beast out. He
wasn’t sure he could control it without getting Cassie involved,
and he didn’t want to do that again. No matter how much he wanted
to, he could not kill Joey with her here. “Give me his shirt,” he
growled.

Julian stared hard at him for a moment;
his gaze darted briefly toward Cassie as he nodded slowly,
disappointment evident in the slump of his shoulders. Julian
smashed Joey against the wall, releasing him briefly to rip the
shirt off of him. Joey stumbled slightly as Julian shoved him back
again. He tossed the shirt to Devon, who snagged hold of it. “If
anything happens to me…”

“I’ll make sure she gets out of here,”
Julian promised no hint of malice or want in his voice. Devon
studied him curiously, unable to understand this person beside him.
Julian had been brutal and violent, almost as bad as he himself had
been. But now, now Julian was completely different, and Devon knew
it was because of Cassie.

“Julian,” he growled.

“She doesn’t want me Devon,” he said
softly. “But I’ll keep her safe.”

Devon nodded, wishing that he
understood this more, but knowing that he didn’t have time to
figure it out. Devon glanced down the hall, not at all surprised to
find Chris and Cassie peering into the hall again. “Stay there,” he
ordered briskly. She opened her mouth to protest. “I mean it,” he
growled before she could say anything.

She swallowed heavily before nodding
slowly. Devon turned away from him, wadding up Joey’s shirt he
threw it in front of the door. Bracing himself he bolted through
the doorway a split second after the shot rang out. The older man
holding the gun took a startled step back as Devon rushed him. He
took another step back, raising the gun as he attempted to fire it
again. He didn’t have time to squeeze the trigger before Devon
seized hold of the gun. He ripped it fiercely out of the man’s
hands, causing him to cry out in pain as two of his fingers
snapped.

Throwing the gun aside, Devon thrust
his elbow into his windpipe as he carried the man backward into the
wall and slammed him hard against it. The man made a gurgling
noise, choking as he kicked wildly against him. “Devon!” Cassie
screamed. “Devon!”

He caught a flurry of motion as she
came skidding around the corner, barely catching her balance when
her feet slipped out from under her. She righted herself, her eyes
finding him instantly as relief filled her. Anger spurted through
him as he shook his head, he should have known that she would not
stay where she was told, but just once he wished that she would
listen to him. Just once he wished she would think about her own
safety first. Though he knew that was an impossible thing to ask
for. “I’m ok,” he said softly.