Inferno (Book 4 The Kindred Series) (31 page)

Chris was the last, and the slowest, to
respond. He hesitated, his silence deep within the crowded room.
Cassie finally lifted her head, turning to look at her best friend.
“Chris,” she whispered.

Chris licked his lips nervously. “I
agree with the change, but I will not help to destroy you.” His
gaze flickered to Devon. “Either of you.”

Devon tilted his head, studying the boy
who had come to be his friend. “Understandable,” Devon said
softly.

The scent of Cassie’s tears was sharp
in the room as she hurried to Chris, enveloping him in a tight hug.
Chris buried his head in her shoulder, clinging to Cassie. “Odd,”
Zane murmured.

Devon turned slowly toward him,
despising the tone of his voice. “What is?”

“I would never allow Anastasia to hug
another man.”

“No dear, you allow me to do so much
more,” Anastasia purred, licking her lips eagerly. The last time
Devon had seen her, her black hair had been floor length. It was
now cut into a sleek bob just beneath her ears that showed off her
refined, aristocratic features. Her vivid dark blue eyes stood out
sharply against the pallor of her skin, and the midnight of her
hair. “Because I love it when you catch me.”

Devon’s stomach twisted in disgust and
revulsion. The two of them had been together for over four hundred
years. Their love was strong, fierce, and completely sick and
twisted. They did things to each other, and other people, that had
repulsed him even when he had been at his absolute worst. Though,
there had been a time when he had thought that what they shared was
the only kind of love a vampire could have. A time when he believed
that if he did find a mate, their relationship would be exactly
like Zane and Anastasia’s. He was thankful to know now that he had
been completely wrong. Their love was wrong, and completely
tainted. Their relationship was so twisted and dark, because they
were so twisted and dark.

Zane and Anastasia exchanged a look
that made Devon’s lip curl in disgust. He glanced behind him to
make sure that Cassie was not watching, or listening, he did not
want her to witness this sick exchange. She was still hugging
Chris, and Luther and Melissa had now joined them; they spoke
softly as they clung to each other.

“What is your assessment Bernard?”
Julian inquired obviously just as disgusted by the exchange as
Devon was.

“They tell the truth,” Bernard said
softly. “They may not like this arrangement, but they will agree
with it. If we do not betray them, they will not betray
us.”

“Wonderful,” Zane said eagerly, licking
his lips in anticipation. “We have all come to an agreement! Now we
must decide how to proceed with these creatures, but that can wait
till tomorrow. We are all tired, it has been a long
trip.”

“You will not be staying here,” Devon
told him when Zane looked around the room.

“Oh?”

Devon folded his arms over his chest,
bracing his feet wide as he faced off against the lead Elder. “We
may have a tenuous truce, but we will not pretend to like, or
respect each other. You will not be staying here.”

“But we must discuss plans.”

“Tomorrow.”

“Hmm,” Zane nodded. “I suppose you are
correct, we should not push our boundaries.”

“No, you should not.”

“Where is safe around here?” Octavia
inquired. Her liquid brown eyes were intent as she studied Devon
with distaste. She had once tried to pursue him, but he had spurned
her advances as she had also been with his brother at the time. And
Devon wanted nothing to do with anything that Robert had touched,
ever. Apparently Octavia had decided that she wanted nothing to do
with him either, now that he was no longer a monster. Octavia was
not a pretty girl in the classical sense, but she was one of the
most sensual, curvaceous women he had ever seen. She was also one
of the cruelest and most vindictive.

“The bank has a safe; you will be fine
inside there. No sunlight will get in, and there is a way to let
yourselves out from the inside,” Devon told them.

He could feel Cassie’s gaze upon his
back, but he didn’t look at her. He didn’t want her to know that he
had attempted lock himself in there in order to stay away from her.
The discovery of the release handle inside had prevented him from
being successful however. She had already been exposed to far too
much evil for his liking, he didn’t want her exposed to anymore,
especially not his own.

“And what will we do if they come for
us during the day?” Octavia asked softly.

“They will not,” Matthew answered. “The
battle does not begin today.”

Everyone focused their attention upon
the slender man with his hands folded peacefully before him. His
shock of orange hair puffed out around his face in unruly wisps.
The orange freckles spattered across his face stood out sharply
against the deathly pallor of his skin. Matthew had been fair in
life, but in death it seemed that all of the color had drained from
his body, and into his orange freckles and hair, making them stand
out far more vividly than they had before. Though the rest of his
features were perfect, sculpted even, the shock of orange color
around his head completely distracted from that fact.

“When will it begin?” Julian inquired
softly.

Matthew shrugged his slender shoulders,
unfolding his hands as he spread them wide. “Your guess is as good
as mine; you know my visions do not reveal everything. Just as I do
not know who will win, or what her change will bring. There are
some things the world keeps me in the dark about. These are a few
of those things. Though perhaps, if I was allowed to touch the
girl…”

“Absolutely not!” Devon interrupted
sharply, knowing how deviant Matthew was. He would take too much
pleasure in being allowed to touch Cassie, and Devon would be
damned if he let any of them get close enough to touch
her.

“Well then,” Matthew continued in his
melodic, soothing voice. “We will have to remain in the dark about
those things, unless the young seer has anything to tell us.”
Melissa shook her head in response to the inquisitive looks cast
her way. “It is best to have some surprises in ones future anyway,
makes life all that more exciting.”

The last time Devon had seen Matthew,
he had been fairly certain that the man was losing his mind. But
now, listening to the cadences and nuances within his tone, Devon
was certain of it. He did not know what had finally driven Matthew
over the edge, whether it was his numerous visions, and his
knowledge of things that were not supposed to be known; or his
unending cruelty, and maliciousness, that had finally done it.
Whatever had caused it, it now appeared that Matthew had more than
just a few screws lose, but a few hundred of them, and was probably
more twisted and cruel than he had ever been.

“But the battle will come to us during
the night, not during the day,” Matthew continued.

Julian shook his head. “I guess they
aren’t as smart as we were giving them credit for.”

“And why do you say that?” Matthew
inquired softly, his light brown eyes inquisitive and
merry.

Julian studied him for a moment,
seemingly unable to figure out the strange creature across from
him. “Because they would know to attack during the day, when we are
far more vulnerable.”

“Perhaps they are too; perhaps though
they can walk about in the day, they prefer the darkness of the
night to hide the evil inside them. Perhaps they feel it best not
to expose themselves to the good of the sun’s rays; they feel they
are undeserving of it. That is the way it was always intended. Then
the abnormalities rose up amongst us to taint this earth with their
presence during the light. In return for immortal life, we are
denied the pleasure and warmth of the sun’s rays, it is the way
things are supposed to be. The way they have been for
millennia.”

Devon lifted an eyebrow as he studied
Matthew in surprise. Yep, the guy had finally flipped his nut, and
apparently he was not as enamored with Zane as he had once been.
Now it seemed as if Zane was an abnormality tainting the earth, as
was Devon. Julian cast Devon a surprised sideways glance, his eyes
wide and questioning.

“If our kind were meant to walk amongst
the light, then we would not burn upon entering it. Their kind,
even the ones that roam the day, may still feel the pain of
redemption upon their skin. As they should. For us to not feel the
sting of the warmth is a disgrace, an affront…”

“Enough Matthew!” Zane
hissed.

Though Matthew grew silent, it was more
than apparent that he had more to say, more things to prattle off.
Julian circled his finger beside his temple, making the crazy
gesture as he mouthed the word cuckoo. Devon nodded his agreement.
They both received dark looks from Zane, but Matthew seemed
oblivious to them as he refolded his hands piously before
him.

“We’ll see you at nightfall then,”
Elspet said softly.

Devon’s eyes were drawn to the slender
girl, who stood behind the other Elder’s. She was the youngest
amongst them at barely over five hundred years old. Devon had met
her a few times many years ago, after she had first been changed.
It wasn’t until recently, when she had reached the prime age of
five hundred, that she had been drawn into the ranks of The
Elder’s. When Devon had known her, she had been a pretty girl with
delicate features and fine light brown hair that flowed down to her
shoulder blades. She had worn simple dresses and stayed mostly in
the background. She had not displayed overt acts of cruelty, but
had simply fed when the time and need struck her. At the time he
had never thought that she would make it this long, that her lack
of cruelty would eventually get her killed. He had never imagined
that she would be an Elder, let alone fit in with the elite group
that she was now a part of.

The girl before him now was nothing
like the girl he had known. She had shaved her head, and on one
side she had a beautiful angel tattooed on her skull, on the other
side was a vicious snarling devil with blood dripping from its
mouth, and its claws curved over. Her lip, eyebrow, and nose had
been pierced. She sported metal all the way up both sides of her
ears. She was dressed in body hugging black that clung to her lithe
figure. Though he could not see the tattoos on her arms, he could
see the tail ends of them curling around her hands and wrists. Her
hazel eyes were narrowed sharply as she met Devon’s questioning,
slightly stunned gaze. Apparently becoming an Elder had greatly
changed the quiet girl he had known.

Devon held her gaze as he nodded
briskly. He just wanted them out of this store, and as far from
Cassie as possible, for now. They said nothing more as they filed
slowly out of the store. He was slightly amazed they were actually
leaving. He was even more amazed, and stunned, by the fact that
they were hiding Matthew amongst them when he had obviously lost
his mind. Though Devon had never met an off the rocker vampire, he
couldn’t imagine that they would be much fun to deal with, or keep
under control.

“Does Matthew think he’s a freaking
preacher or something now?” Julian demanded when they had
disappeared into the night.

Devon shook his head, running his
fingers wearily through his hair. “He thinks he’s something now,”
Devon murmured.

“They only keep him alive for his
visions,” Julian said softly. At Devon’s questioning look he
elaborated. “I saw it through Adon, Matthew has been crazy for
awhile now, but Zane needs him.”

“What made him that way?” Melissa was
trembling, pale, her hands folded tightly before her as she rang
them nervously. Her fear that it may have been his visions that had
driven him mad was more than obvious.

Julian shrugged as he shoved his hands
in his pockets. “Some people are just not cut out for this
lifestyle, no matter what. Matthew was always softer than the rest
of us. You mix that with Zane’s constant torture and mental abuse,
and apparently it made him snap. Matthew was Zane’s puppet, his
play thing, and he has broken him. But he still likes to pull his
strings once in awhile.”

They all gaped at him, horrified by his
description of what Zane had done to Matthew. “It is not the worst
thing Zane has ever done,” Julian murmured, unable to meet their
gazes any longer.

Devon bristled, wishing that Julian
would stop talking. They got the hint; they didn’t need to hear
anymore. “Can we really trust them?” Luther inquired
softly.

Julian nodded as he folded his arms
over his chest. “Yes. They will abide by this truce because it
suits their needs. I cannot guarantee they will stick to it if
Cassie doesn’t survive the change, and we lose Devon. They will
have no need for you then. Though, I cannot guarantee that any of
us will survive if such a thing happens.”

Devon ignored their curious stares,
determined not to think about that right now. He held his hand out
to Cassie, breathing a sigh of relief when she clasped hold of it.
She would never hold a grudge against him; never hate him for his
past. It was impossible for her to. And for that he would be
forever thankful.

Her hand in his was warm, soft,
reassuring as she squeezed him tight. He bent to kiss her softly,
his lips brushing lightly across her forehead.