Inferno (Book 4 The Kindred Series) (24 page)

The one she had shoved back came at her
again. Her arm had frozen with the cross bow up, her fingers
clenched tight around the trigger. It knocked the crossbow aside,
snapping her arm back, but she still did not release the crossbow.
Even when it snatched hold of her arm and sank its teeth
deep.

A groan finally escaped her, or at
least she thought it did, but she couldn’t tell beyond the
explosion of pain that seemed to shatter her skull. Red and white
lights blazed before her eyes, she wanted to fall, wanted to curl
up and die, wanted to do anything that would get her away from
this.

She barely heard the small cry before
she felt the small rumble in the earth, the power being sucked from
it. She dimly realized that Dani had arrived, that she was drawing
energy from the ground, getting ready to release it. Cassie felt a
small amount of relief, it would be ok now. But before Dani could
release her power on a blast that would have rocked the earth,
shook the walls, and rattled the glass within the windows, one of
the creatures pounced upon her. Dani fell back with a startled cry
as the wave of her power was abruptly cut off.

Cassie’s vision blurred, darkness
pulled at her, trying to draw her under, trying to pull her away
from the pain that held her within its iron tight grasp. Horror
filled Cassie, she tried to gather enough of her wits past the pain
in order to try and regain some kind of control of herself. But she
could not push the pain away enough to do so. Terror filled her as
she realized the darkness was going to win, and she knew it was a
darkness she would never wake from.

CHAPTER 13

Devon’s head snapped up as he felt the
strange pulsing electricity within the earth. He knew what that
pulse was; knew what the familiar rumble in the earth meant. He
braced himself for the jolt that inevitably followed it, braced
himself so as not to get knocked on his ass. But the earth did not
rock, the jolt did not come.

Confusion filled him; he stood for a
moment, his attention fixated on the store as the electricity
swiftly receded from the air. Julian was kneeling beside him, his
brow furrowed as he stared at the store in confusion. He rose
slowly from the wreckage of the creature before him. Liam stepped
forward, stopping beside Devon as he searched the silent
storefront.

There was no sound, no movement that he
could see within the interior, but something was wrong. He knew it.
He had become so focused on the kill, the thrill of the hunt, the
murder and blood. So focused on the release of his anger and
frustration, and his desire to feed and appease the demon inside of
him, that he had shut himself off to Cassie, shut his mind away
from hers. He knew that they had grown so close that there were
times that she knew him better than he knew himself. He didn’t want
her to even have an inkling of the joy, and pleasure, that he had
taken from the death of the things scattered about him.

“Something’s wrong,” Julian said
softly, tilting his head as he studied the silent store.

Devon strained to hear anything, but
the night remained completely silent, still. Devon’s eyes narrowed
as he opened his mind to the night, searching for Cassie’s mind. He
came up against a wall of blackness, a dark cloud that left him
startled and confused. The wall was thick, heavy. It encompassed
her entire mind.

Panic filled him, his hands fisted as
he struggled through the wall, pushing at the edges as he tried to
make his way through the thick haze. Then her mind gave way. Pain
exploded through him, searing into his skull as it slammed wildly
against him. The pain was numbing, freezing, completely
encompassing as it wrapped through him, over him, into
him.

Devon retreated swiftly, before he was
sucked into her agony. Retreated before he was trapped within her
pain, and unable to escape from the iron tight hold it had over
her. He blinked, trying to bring the street into focus as he fought
against the lingering remnants of her pain clinging to him. The
street snapped back. He cursed loudly, terror pouring through him
as he bolted forward, he moved with more speed than he had ever
thought possible.

Leaping forward, he turned sideways as
he threw himself at one of the boarded windows. Glass shattered
inward, the board caved easily against the force of his weight. He
plunged into the store. Falling to the floor, he rolled swiftly
before leaping back to his feet. Fury exploded through him,
encompassing him as his attention was immediately drawn to the two
creatures beside Cassie.

At his entrance they had both stopped
feeding from her, but her blood still stained their mouths, and the
smell of it hung heavy in the air. A fierce snarl of rage ripped
from him. Her blood, blood that was only supposed to be tasted by
him, had been ripped from her, causing the agony that he had sensed
radiating from her.

One of the creatures released her,
causing her to stagger slightly forward as it abruptly dropped her
arm and spun toward him. Devon stormed forward, a bellow ripping
from him as the other one continued to hold her, pulling her along
with him as it tried to escape. Cassie tripped, her legs collapsing
beneath her as weakness suffused her.

He grabbed hold of the other one that
had been feeding from her. His hand encompassed the things face as
he slammed it backwards, pounding its skull off the wall until he
heard the reassuring sound of it caving in. Devon tossed him easily
aside as another window shattered inward. Julian landed inside the
store, Liam close on his heels.

Devon paid them no attention as he
stormed after the one still trying to drag Cassie with it. He was
going to tear the creature limb from limb when he got a hold of it.
The creatures red eyes widened before narrowing fiercely upon him.
It hauled Cassie against its chest, pulling her up by her arm when
her legs proved too weak to support her weight.

A small moan escaped her; Devon could
sense the weakness in her, the life just barely thrumming through
her veins. Terror and fury motivated him as he leapt forward. The
creature’s eyes widened in horror, it tried to keep hold of her as
Devon slammed into it, shoving his arm up under its throat. The
creature squealed loudly, its red eyes flared as it realized that
it was about to be destroyed.

A moan of pain escaped Cassie; she
tugged on her arm as the thing continued to cling to her. Devon
seized hold of its arm, squeezing down until he heard, and felt the
bone snap within his grasp. The creature squealed in pain, it
didn’t immediately release Cassie though. Instead it clung to her,
spilling her blood as its fingers grasped wildly at her arm. Wrath
pounded through Devon, his vision blurred as a fiery haze of red
exploded in front of him. He had never been so infuriated, never
been this far out of control.

Dropping his arm down, he seized hold
of the creature’s throat. Its eyes bulged, a wild cry escaped it as
his fingers clenched down, digging into the things throat. With one
violent tug, he ripped its throat out. Wild sounds of terror
escaped the torn hole of its throat, but Devon ignored it as he
shoved the creature aside.

Cassie staggered, nearly falling as its
grip on her was finally lost. Devon scooped her easily up, holding
her tight against his chest as he turned back to the store. Her
hand curled into his shirt, clinging to him as she struggled to
lift her head. Panic thrummed through him as he met her dazed,
unfocused eyes. He could feel the lingering remnants of pain that
clung to her. Her fingers twitched in his shirt, her mouth was
pinched tight, and her jaw was clenched.

“Devon,” her voice was a bare
whisper.

His eyes flew wildly around the
destroyed store. Bodies were scattered about the floor, blood was
splayed around the room, wood and glass littered the ground. The
creatures that had not been killed outright had fled the room the
minute they had arrived. Liam was helping Annabelle back to her
feet, her shirt had been torn, and a deep cut marred her delicate
face. Though it was deep, it would heal quickly, and would not
leave a scar. Luther’s glasses hung askew on his face, his hair was
standing straight up as he rose slowly to his feet. He was holding
his arm, blood dripped down it, plopping off his fingers onto the
floor.

Chris was leaning against the wall,
panting heavily as he tried to catch his breath. He appeared
uninjured. Melissa however, was unmoving. She was slumped against
the wall, her breathing shallow, and her skin unnaturally pale.
Blood had pooled beneath her, it poured down her side from the
jagged wound that had sliced her. Julian knelt before her, turning
her head as he checked for a pulse.

“Annabelle get over here,” he said
crisply.

“Hold on,” she mumbled, kneeling beside
Dani who was also unmoving upon the floor. “Just knocked
out.”

She rose swiftly to her feet and
hurried over to where Melissa lay. “Melissa?” Cassie whispered,
straining against his hold on her. Fear widened her eyes as clarity
began to clear the pain from them. She squirmed slightly, and then
collapsed against him; weakness took hold of her body. Her eyes
flew wildly to his. “Devon?”

For a moment he couldn’t move as she
stared questioningly up at him. The demon in him was in control
right now, and it wanted her. It wanted her badly. It needed her
blood, blood that was supposed to be only his, because she was his.
Blood that had just been stolen from her, from him. His fingers
trembled as he brushed her hair back. His nostrils flared and his
jaw clenched at the sight of the jagged wounds that marred her
perfect skin.

“Devon?” she breathed, her eyes wildly
searching his face. Her heart hammered, flipping wildly in her
chest as she stared up at him, her mouth parted in surprise. He
didn’t know what she saw on his face, but he did know that it was
terrifying her. And the last thing he wanted to do was scare her,
especially right now.

“Cassie.” She trembled in his arms as
he bent over her. He could smell the creature upon her; smell its
fetid breath against her skin. He grit his teeth against the urge
to bite deep in order to renew his mark upon her, in order to
reclaim his stake upon what was his. Instead, he nuzzled her neck
gently, relishing in the smell of her delicious scent. Ever so
lightly, he licked the jagged wounds, savoring in the blood that
lingered upon her skin as he closed the marks. He pulled slowly
away from her, took hold of her hurt arm and also licked those
wounds closed.

He pulled slowly away from her,
trembling as he fought to control himself. She was still weak,
still beaten down from the blood that had been drawn forcefully,
painfully, from her. Without thought, he turned away, sheltering
her from the view of the others within the store. Though, none of
them were paying him much attention as they knelt by Melissa’s
side, trying to keep her alive.

He bit deep into his wrist, not feeling
the pain as his blood rushed forth. She stared questioningly up at
him, her beautiful eyes wide and questioning as she watched him.
Shifting her slightly, he held his wrist out to her, knowing that
his blood was the only thing that would help her recuperate from
her ordeal faster. She hesitated, her eyes latching onto the blood
dripping from his wrist.

She moved slowly, her small fingers
wrapping around his wrist, drawing it closer to him. He moaned
softly, ecstasy filling him as she brought his wrist to her mouth
and bit down. His hand clenched upon her, his body thrummed with
the pleasure her drinking brought to him. If his heart still beat
it would be pounding wildly now, if he could still breathe he would
not be able to do so.

Her eyes drifted slowly closed, she
clung tighter to him as she bit deeper, taking more of his blood
into her. Her joy suffused him, her weakness and need thrummed from
her body into his. Devon bent closer to her, inhaling her scent as
his blood flowed into her, slowly replacing the scent of the
monsters that had fed from her.

Cassie bit deeper, squirming closer to
him, her fingers clenched upon him. Her need for him radiated
outward, he could feel her desperate desire for more, her fervent
want to be with him, to join him, to be everything that he needed
her to be. But over it all he sensed her terror over the fact that
she might never be able to join him; that they may never be able to
be together forever. She drank deeper, pulling his blood into her
in large gulps as she tried to take as much of him as she could
into her. He was overwhelmed with her need for more, overwhelmed
with her longing to join him, and end both of their suffering.
Overwhelmed by her fierce love and desire for eternity with
him.

“Devon, Devon.” He turned further away,
sheltering Cassie from Julian as he came at them. “Devon
stop.”

A low growl escaped him as Julian’s
hand seized hold of his shoulder, trying to pull him back. He
huddled closer to Cassie as she clung tighter to his wrist; she was
as unwilling to part as he was. Julian’s hand tightened on him as
he jerked Devon back. “Stop this. Devon you could destroy her!” he
hissed, his voice low yet frantic with urgency. “Stop
this!”

Devon shuddered, he wanted to ignore
Julian’s words, wanted to thrust Julian away, wanted to kill him
for the interruption, but he couldn’t. There was only one thing
that he wanted more than for Cassie to join him, and that was for
her to be safe. If he continued this, she could end up being
neither one of those things. She had sustained enough blood loss to
make the consumption of too much of his blood dangerous to
her.