Inferno (Book 4 The Kindred Series) (29 page)

It would be ok, she would be ok. She
firmly believed that, no matter what anyone else said. She would
survive this, she would come through it. She had survived far worse
and she was still intact. She would make it through
this.

“It is settled then,” Zane declared. He
folded his hands before him, as his eyes gleamed with
satisfaction.

“The hell it is!” Devon
exploded.

Cassie flinched slightly. She wanted to
move away from the wrath that blasted from him, but she would not
back down from this. “Devon…”

“This will not happen!” he interrupted
fiercely.

“This will happen!” she retorted just
as fiercely. “It has to happen Devon. It finally has to happen.”
His eyes narrowed fiercely, the blood red color of them more than a
little disturbing. “The choice has been taken from us. We can do
this, I can survive this.”

His black hair fell across his forehead
in a tumbled mess as he shook his head fiercely. “No, I will not
take the chance…”

“The chance that you will snap and do
it by force!? The chance that I will be killed and it will destroy
you anyway? The chance that I may very well just grow old and die?
What chance is it that you are unwilling to take Devon?”

“The chance that I will turn you into a
monster!” he roared.

Cassie’s heart broke, pieces of it
scattered about her feet. She understood his fear, his anguish, his
terror, but he didn’t understand that this must be done now. She
turned toward Zane, hating the smug look on his face. “If this
happens, you will leave us all be?”

“Of course,” he purred.

“You can’t trust him Cassie,” Devon
moaned.

She knew that, she was not a fool. But
she also knew that The Elder’s would need them as much as they
needed The Elder’s if they were going to take down the Halflings.
The creatures in this town were far smarter, and more powerful,
than any of them had realized. They needed help in order to thwart
this problem. And so would The Elder’s, no matter how powerful they
thought they were, they would not all survive the creatures in this
town. They would lose a few of their own in the process, and that
was a chance that Cassie didn’t think they were willing to take.
There were too few of them left to risk losing any more of
them.

“I know that,” she whispered. “But we
cannot trust you either anymore.” Devon looked as if she had
slapped him. She hated to hurt him, hated driving the knife deeper
in order to get her own way, but it needed to be done. He needed to
realize that this was the end of the road. Needed to realize that
there was nowhere else for them to go. “And you can’t keep taking
off whenever you feel yourself unraveling. I need you Devon, and if
this continues on, I am going to lose you.”

His eyes flickered, pain radiated from
him, but she saw a softening in his features. “Cassie…”

“There is no choice, the decision has
been made,” Zane said firmly. “She will join us.”

Cassie shot Zane a fierce look as anger
flitted over Devon’s features. She had just been starting to reach
him but now she could feel his stubborn streak surging to life,
wanting to deny Zane’s words. She also wanted to tell Zane that she
would not be joining him, she would be joining Devon. Wanted to
tell him that she would never be on their side, but she bit her
tongue. She had a feeling that if she protested that statement holy
hell would break lose. “Wait…”

“There are details to iron out of
course,” Zane continued over Devon’s protest. “We will need to make
a decision on what will happen to her if the change is not
successful. We also must discuss what our relationship amongst each
other will be when this is done. There must be a truce
struck.”

“I will not let this happen,” Devon
grated.

“If it does not happen, then we will
fight, because she cannot remain the way that she is. We cannot
allow a Hunter to exist that can turn into a monster at a moment’s
notice. Apparently her kind used to have the decency to take care
of them, but that doesn’t happen now.”

Cassie felt as if she had been slapped.
Devon’s hands tightened around her as she took a small step back,
horror curdling through her. “Zane,” Devon hissed in
warning.

“Why would you want to change me, and
not kill me?” Cassie demanded ignoring Devon’s censuring, flustered
look.

Zane stared hard at her for a moment,
his head tilting back and forth like an owl scoping its’ pray.
Though she was a trembling mass of fear and uncertainty inside, she
kept her shoulders thrust back, and her chin lifted defiantly. “A
battle would be fun, but some of us would be lost, something I do
not wish to have happen. You also know that most of you will not
survive. Is that a chance you’re willing to take?”

“No,” Cassie answered when Devon
remained silent, brooding. “No, but you must promise you will not
hurt them.”

“Of course I won’t,” Zane
murmured.

“Cassie,” Chris whispered.

She turned toward him, hating the
sadness and resignation in his eyes. “It will be ok,” she
promised.

He shook his head, his mouth opened
before snapping closed again. “Their promises mean nothing,” Julian
informed her in a low, disgruntled voice. “Nothing princess, do you
understand that?”

She swallowed heavily before nodding.
“Do we have a choice?”

“We have a choice,” he
growled.

Her gaze darted to Devon; her heart
ached with love and need at the sight of his broken expression. “Do
we?” she whispered, her hand entwining tightly with Devon’s,
clinging to him. “Do we?”

He pulled her suddenly against him. His
hands wrapped around her face as his lips descended upon hers. She
could feel his fangs against her mouth, but she did not care as his
tongue plummeted into her mouth with a desperation and ferocity
that left her breathless and shaken. She trembled within his grasp,
melting against him as she forgot about every rotten, evil thing
surrounding them.

She needed this moment, needed this
man, no matter how short lived it may be. Tears burned her eyes,
her fingers curled into his side, clinging to him. He pulled slowly
away, gently kissing her lips, her nose, and finally her forehead.
“It will be ok,” she vowed.

His eyes were emerald once more as he
met her gaze. He stared hard at her for a moment, his fingers
lightly stroking her face before he bent to kiss her gently once
more. He did not turn to look at the others before speaking again.
“We will go inside and discuss this,” he said softly.

“Wonderful!” Zane announced
happily.

Cassie closed her eyes against Zane’s
joy, hating this entire situation, but also oddly excited about
what was to come. She knew that her time on earth as a human was
running short, but she was not terrified by that prospect. Not if
it meant spending eternity with the one person she loved most in
her life.

Anger flashed across Devon’s gorgeous
features, but he took hold of her hand as he turned back toward the
store. His gaze briefly met Julian’s, who hung back, waiting for
The Elder’s to come forward. Cassie held her head high as Devon led
her past the others, but she could feel the sadness that radiated
from them.

CHAPTER 16

Devon remained silent as he stood in
the middle of the room. Though he was braced for a swift attack, he
tried to keep his posture as casual as possible. He had tried to
keep Cassie behind him but she refused to stay there, and stood
silently by his side. His violet blue eyes were wide as she studied
The Elder’s gathered before them. He could sense her curiosity, her
questions, especially about his brother, but she didn’t ask them.
She would not do so until this ordeal was over.

He glanced toward Robert, bristling at
the sight of the man. He had never wanted to see him again. His
brother was a man that he had cared for a little, but had never
been close to in life. He had grown to despise Robert in death.
Robert stared back at Devon, an amused smile quirked his mouth as
he leaned against the wall, his arms folded over his chest. Every
once in awhile Robert’s gaze would wander to Cassie, lingering on
her far too long for Devon’s liking.

It didn’t matter what Zane said, they
were not here for a tenuous truce. If they had come here looking
for a truce, they would have left Robert behind, no matter how many
reinforcements they felt they may need here. They all knew that
what Robert wanted more than anything was to see Devon miserable,
not dead because that would be too quick, but completely
destroyed.

Devon wanted to tell Robert to stop
looking at her, but he knew that all Robert wanted was a reaction
from him. He refused to give it to him. Julian shifted slightly,
his shoulder brushing up against Cassie’s, his lip curled into a
sneer as he glared at Robert. Though there was a fierce amount of
hostility between Robert and Devon, there was even more between
Robert and Julian. Especially since Robert had once tried to kill
Julian, and would have succeeded if Devon had not intervened. That
had been the last time Devon had seen Robert, and he was fairly
certain it had been the last time that Julian had too.

Devon had left his brother broken and
bleeding, and near death. Devon had been brutal and ruthless at the
time, had savored in the blood and the power, but he had been
unable to bring himself to kill his own brother. He was beginning
to regret that decision now. Though he knew that Robert had not
actually been trying to kill Cassie outside, and had merely been
trying to draw Devon out, Devon also knew that Robert would kill
her if given the chance. As long as it was in front of him, and
Devon was determined not to let that happen.

Cassie tilted her chin, her gorgeous
eyes narrowed as she glared back at Robert. He broke into a wide
grin, his eyebrows wiggling suggestively as he tilted his head to
the side. “You know I was always the better looking, more sought
after brother. You could always switch; many a woman
has.”

Julian’s breath hissed out of him, his
anger notched up a fierce level. Devon’s hands fisted as he fought
the urge to punch the smug look off of Robert’s face, but he knew
that was exactly what Robert wanted. Cassie sneered in disgust.
“They obviously lied to you,” she retorted.

Robert’s grin widened. “I’m going to
enjoy ripping your throat out.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

“Cassie,” Julian growled in
warning.

Devon remained silent, unmoving. He
wanted Cassie to stop baiting Robert, yet at the same time he
wished that Robert would rush him, that Robert would give him the
excuse he needed to kill him. “Enough,” Zane commanded, holding up
a hand as Robert took a step forward. “She will be one of
us.”

“Why are you so determined about that?”
Cassie inquired.

“To join forces of course. Hunters and
Vampires have fought for over a thousand years; it is time to end
that war. If you are both a Hunter and a vampire we can guarantee
that this batch behind you will stay clear of us.”

Cassie glanced behind her, her delicate
eyebrows drawn tightly together, her mouth pursed. “You killed our
parents,” she whispered.

“Bygones,” Zane replied
lightly.

Cassie’s head spun back around, her
eyes narrowed fiercely. Devon stiffened, panic filling him as her
fury beat against him. He didn’t want them to see what she could be
capable of, didn’t want them to see what was inside of her. Not now
anyway, he did not need them to attack right now, and he feared
they would if they realized just how much power was inside of her.
He feared that they would destroy her rather than take the risk of
what changing her might actually do to her. “Bygones!” she snapped.
“Bygones! They were our parents you son of a bitch!”

Devon took a defensive step forward,
wishing yet again that for once Cassie wasn’t quite so fearless.
Zane was not one to mess with. But instead of becoming angry, true
amusement lit Zane’s eyes. “She’s a feisty one, I like
it.”

“You don’t know how feisty I can be!”
she spat back at him.

“Cassie,” Devon hissed.
“Enough.”

She glared up at him. Folding her arms
over her chest, she focused her hate filled look on Zane again. Her
foot tapped impatiently, but for once she held her tongue. “The
change will occur tonight.”

“No.” Devon sighed in resignation as he
turned back to Cassie; at least she had stayed silent for a moment.
Determination lit her delicate features, her lips were pursed
tightly.

“What do you mean no?” Zane demanded,
his amusement fading rapidly. “This will be done.”

“Yes, it will,” Cassie agreed. “But not
tonight, not until these creatures have been taken care of. You
will need Devon and I in this fight, if something goes wrong with
the change then you will no longer have either of us. You
especially need Devon since you are the only other vampire here
that can walk about in the daylight, and we know that some of the
Halflings can too.”

Zane was thoughtful, silent as he
pondered over Cassie’s words. “And how do you know that I share
Devon’s ability?”