Inferno (Book 4 The Kindred Series) (11 page)

“Julian,” she said softly.

He held up a hand, shaking his head.
“I’m fine,” he muttered, focusing the beam on the wall that was not
covered in blood. “Where to?”

Dani inhaled shakily, pointing ahead of
Julian. “Straight ahead,” she whispered. They moved swiftly down
the hall, the only sound the occasional soft squeak of someone’s
shoe on the linoleum. Dani led them down another hallway, turning
sharply to the right. “Here.”

Cassie recognized the doors they had
escaped from, the doors that had also helped to keep them captive.
A sign on them read, ‘Basement, authorized personal only.’
Swallowing heavily, she pressed tighter against Devon, needing his
comfort right now. The right door had been ripped from two of its
hinges; it hung at an awkward angle, the bottom hinge the only
thing keeping it attached to the wall.

Julian moved swiftly through the ruined
remains. Cassie remained frozen for a moment, stiff as she stared
at the ruined door, trying hard to fight off the rush of memories
that threatened to consume her. “You don’t have to go,” Devon
murmured in her ear.

She remained where she was for a
moment, extremely tempted by the prospect of not having to return
to those shadowed, dark depths of horror. But she could not back
out of this, she had to face it. “Yes, I do.”

Chris glanced back at her as he moved
through the double doors. Cassie followed slowly behind, keeping
her gaze focused upon Chris’s back, refusing to look around and
take in her surroundings. She was greatly afraid she would flee
screaming if she allowed herself to take in too much, or to think
about it.

She didn’t bother to count the floors
as they wound steadily lower. Julian reached the next set of double
doors. They were both firmly intact, but Julian reached forward and
pulled them easily open. A shudder of dread ran down Cassie’s
spine, she clearly recalled Dani locking those doors behind them.
How had they gotten unlocked? And why were these doors still
intact, while the ones above had been ruined? It didn’t matter why
the doors were the way they were, she realized. All that mattered
was that it was apparent that more of the creatures had escaped
after them.

Cassie’s hands fisted, the crossbow dug
tighter into her palm. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and
slowly swung it off of her shoulder, grasping it firmly in
preparation for an attack. “Get us to those rooms as quickly as you
can,” Julian growled at Dani.

She nodded as they moved swiftly
through the doors, sweeping into the hallway. Cassie didn’t stop to
think about it before she stepped into the hall. The smell hit her
instantly, causing her stomach to flip, and an involuntary gag to
escape her. Dani doubled over, her hand over her mouth as she tried
not to vomit. Chris took a quick step back; his hand was over his
mouth and nose as he turned three shades of green.

“What is that?” Cassie gasped,
instantly wishing that she hadn’t opened her mouth because now she
could also taste the foul odor.

“Death,” Julian answered.

Cassie’s stomach rolled again and it
took every ounce of willpower she had not to vomit. Dani retched
harder, her vomit splattered across the floor. Cassie turned away,
pulling her shirt over her nose before she threw up everywhere too.
Though it blocked the smell a little, it didn’t help much. Devon
reached around her, placing his hand gently over her face, covering
her nose with his jacket. She inhaled deeply, savoring in the
enticing, wonderful smell of him that helped to block out the
stench of the halls.

She smiled thankfully at him. He
watched her intently, his gaze searching as he pulled her tighter
against him, keeping his hand firmly in place. He and Julian seemed
not to be affected by the scent, but then again, they had probably
smelled it many times before. They had probably caused it many
times before. She shuddered at the thought, and swiftly tried to
shove it aside.

She turned her attention back to the
dimly lit hallway. The emergency lights had still been flashing
when they’d fled, but now there were only dim, sickly yellow lights
lining the long hallway. “Why are the lights on?” Julian demanded
in a harsh hiss.

Dani straightened, wiping her mouth
with the sleeve of her coat. She glanced quickly around, placing
her hand over her mouth as she studied the lights. “I don’t know.
It must be a safety thing. These aren’t the normal
lights.”

“You don’t know?”

Dani shook her head; her skin grew
paler as she began to sweat. “I don’t think I can take this
smell.”

Julian glared fiercely at her, his eyes
briefly flashed red. “Too bad. You helped create it, now you have
to deal with it,” Cassie frowned over his harsh words, but didn’t
protest them. “Now, where do we go?”

Dani stared at him for a moment,
trembling slightly as sweat continued to pour down her face.
Finally, she lifted a shaking arm to point straight down the hall.
Julian turned quickly away, striding rapidly away. They followed
silently behind, hurrying to keep up as Dani pointed him down
another hall.

Cassie kept expecting to come across
the source of the smell, but the halls remained clear of any blood,
or human remains. But then again, they had been clear during their
escape also. She knew they would not remain that way though, the
horrible stench told her that much. They made another right; Cassie
became painfully aware of where they were within the compound
now.

Her step faltered slightly, her hand
tightened upon Devon’s over her nose. Memories roared to life,
threatening to swamp her within their painful depths as stared
silently into the room that she had been held captive in. Across
the way she could see the window that she and Julian had spoken
through, the window that had helped to keep her alive.

She looked to Julian, hating the
helpless feeling that swamped her once more. His eyes were hard as
he stared into the room, his jaw locked tight. He turned slowly
toward her, the force of his gaze burning into her, the struggle
for control evident in the hard lines of his face. She could see
his memories and hatred for this place burning fiercely in his
eyes.

Devon moved closer to her, pressing his
hand tighter to her as he leaned over her to look into the room. He
stepped slightly into the doorway, glancing rapidly around before
turning his attention back to her. She lowered her gaze from his,
unable to meet it as unreasonable shame and terror flooded her.
Though she tried hard to fight against it, memories of her and
Julian’s torment assaulted her. Pulling her against him, Devon
wrapped his arms tighter around her, his hand wrapped through her
hair as he cradled her head. Cassie burrowed against him, trying
hard to keep a firm hold on herself as she stared into the tiny
cell that had been her home.

Chris was watching her intently, a sad
look in his caring eyes. Cassie hugged Devon harder, closing her
eyes as she savored in his hard strength. He kissed her forehead
roughly, pressing his lips against her for a long moment. A shudder
ran through him, his hands tightened upon her. Cassie could sense
the unraveling control and anger suffusing him.

“You will never know anything like this
again,” he vowed in a harsh whisper.

She nodded as she took a deep breath.
Gathering her courage, she hugged him again and stepped away. They
had to get out of here before she unraveled completely, or before
any remaining creature’s lurking within this place discovered their
presence. Devon placed his hand gently over her mouth again,
holding her firmly as they moved further down the hall.

***

Devon’s senses were on high alert as
they continued to make their way rapidly along, searching for any
hint of danger. He would not allow anything bad to happen to Cassie
again while they were down here. He would not allow anything bad to
happen to her ever again, he would die first. Anger coursed through
him as he recalled that sterile little cell she had been held
captive in, imprisoned in, tortured in. He didn’t want to think
about the misery these people had caused her. That Dani had caused
her.

He glanced sharply at the small girl,
fighting the urge to rip her traitorous throat out as they turned
another corner. He knew that it was not entirely Dani that had his
killer instincts so aroused, or what had been done to Cassie, but
also the harsh scent of death in the air. It was both enticing and
repulsive. The demon in him was thrilled and excited by the mayhem
and destruction that had gone on here. The man was completely
repulsed by it.

He pulled Cassie closer, savoring in
her sweet scent as he nuzzled her hair gently. He drew on the
strength that she always brought to him as he tried to suppress the
thrumming bloodlust inside him. He could still smell something off
in her blood, and knew now that it was more than just the drugs
they had pumped into her, but also Julian’s blood inside of her.
Devon shuddered at the reminder, trying to keep himself under
control as he searched past the strange scent inside of her to find
her own wonderfully sweet smell thrumming just beneath the surface.
Her heart was swiftly beginning to filter out the awful remnants
lingering within her.

Julian stopped suddenly, his eyes
widened, and his hands fisted as he glared into another room. Devon
was certain they had come across Julian’s cell, but when Cassie
began to tremble too he knew that it was something more. Chris’s
eyes widened, his mouth dropped as he gaped into the darkness. The
color drained from his face as he turned slowly back to Cassie,
horror, sympathy, disgust, and pain was etched onto his youthful
features.

Devon’s chest clenched; whatever they
had come across had to be totally awful judging by the look on
Chris’s face. Devon stepped slowly forward, trying to block
Cassie’s view of the room as he peered into the darkness. He
noticed the table first, the straps hanging off the bottom, side,
and top of it. Straps that would be used to hold down a person’s
feet, wrists, and head. Straps that were extremely thick and
painful looking, straps that he knew had been used to keep Julian
and Cassie pinned to that table.

Then he noticed the thing hanging from
the ceiling like some twisted electronic snake. There were
electrodes dangling from a thick metal rod. Devon had never seen
anything like it before, but it was apparent that it was an
electrical conductor of some sort. A conductor designed to send a
vast amount of electricity into a person, or vampire. Designed to
send a vast amount of electricity into Cassie.

When he had fed from her, he had
glimpsed part of what she had gone through in here, seen some of
her pain and suffering, and fear and loss. He had understood the
depth and purity of her feelings for Julian, understood her trust
and love of him, even though she hadn’t. He had seen so many
things, but he had never truly seen the full amount of torture that
they had put her through. Never fully glimpsed the torment she had
suffered at the hands of these monsters.

And he would kill them for it. Rage
burned hotly through him, searing his veins, it throbbed painfully
in his skin. He would destroy every one of the people that had
harmed her in here. He turned slowly toward Dani, his rage
escalating higher as he glared fiercely at the girl, wanting
nothing more than to rip her to shreds with his bare
hands.

Seeming to sense his murderous intent,
Cassie touched his arm lightly, drawing his attention back to her.
She had lost all color in her face, and she was shaking like a
leaf, but she was still seeking to comfort him. She was frozen in
place, her eyes dark and haunted, her lips nearly as pale as her
skin as she pulled his hand slowly away from her mouth.

He moved to block the smell from her
again, but she moved subtly away, her terrified gaze locking on
his. He could sense her composure slipping, sense her weakening
grip on control, and if he touched her, he would be her undoing. He
dropped his arm back to his side as Cassie turned away from him,
her gaze clashing with Dani’s. He could feel the fierce blaze of
rage that surged up through her, sense the hatred that swelled
forth but she buried it swiftly, biting on her bottom lip as she
tried to stay in control. Devon knew exactly how she
felt.

“Keep going Julian,” Devon hissed.
Julian’s gaze was also focused on Dani, his eyes a deadly shade of
red as he fought the urge to kill her. His gaze came slowly back to
Devon, his lips pulled back slightly from his fangs. “Go
Julian.”

Julian hesitated for a moment, torn
between destroying Dani and moving on. Devon stared fiercely at
him, willing him to continue. The anger and rage was much too high
in this small hall. There was a good possibility that Dani would
not make it out alive, or that Devon and Julian would end up in a
fight, if only to purge some of the emotions running through
them.

“Don’t Julian,” Cassie whispered
shakily.

Devon moved closer to her as Julian’s
gaze spun in her direction. Devon tensed, prepared to destroy
Julian if he attacked Cassie, though he was no longer certain that
he wanted Julian dead. They had once been best friends; brutal
coldblooded killers yes, but also friends. Well as good of friends
as monsters like them could have been anyway.