Dani gaped at him in horror; her eyes flew wildly around the room. Though Cassie wanted to feel pity for her, there was none. She couldn’t summon the strength for forgiveness and mercy, not for Dani. “I’ll destroy you if I get into your mind,” Julian growled. “I’ll make what they did to us in that place look like it was a day in the park!”
“Julian,” Annabelle hissed, reaching for his arm in an attempt to calm him.
Julian shook her off, taking another step toward Dani. “This bitch put us in that hell hole, and one way or another she is going to tell us why!”
“Julian,” Cassie said softly. Though he had shaken Annabelle off, he didn’t shrug off her grasp as she seized gently hold of his arm. His reddened eyes slowly turned back to their electrifying blue as his gaze met hers. “It’s ok.”
He stepped back nodding slowly, though he still hummed with anger. Devon’s hand tightened on Cassie’s, his eyes questioning as he studied her. He wanted to know what had happened in there, wanted to know what had been done to them, and just how close her bond with Julian was. He wanted more answers than Cassie had already given him. She just wasn’t ready to give them to him yet, if ever. She turned away from him, stepping in between Julian and Dani before Julian did grab hold of her. Cassie felt no forgiveness toward Dani, no sympathy, but Julian would hurt her, and they may need Dani later on. Her other friends would be safe around Julian, but Dani was fair game.
“Why did The Commission send your brother, and you, after us? Why would they even come after us?” Cassie inquired.
Dani glanced wearily up at her, the tips of her lashes were wet with unshed tears. For a moment Cassie was afraid that Dani wouldn’t speak, and that they would need Julian to drag the answers from her, but she finally did. “Because of you.”
Cassie blinked in surprise at Dani’s soft words. Her gaze flew toward Devon as he stiffened angrily, a low growl emanating from him. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, the resentment in the room notched up to a whole new level. Cassie glanced between him and Julian, whose eyes were a bright red again. She was growing fearful that between Devon and Julian she may not be able to keep Dani safe, and alive. She held a hand up, warding Devon back as she focused her attention on Dani.
“What do you mean?” she asked softly.
Dani glanced wearily at the hostile group surrounding her. Using the counter, she rose slowly to her feet. She looked braced for an attack. Cassie’s eyes widened at the girl’s behavior, her heart trip hammered with the knowledge that she was not going to like what Dani had to say. “When we were younger Joey and I came to this town. Before our Guardian was killed in The Slaughter, he told Joey about this town, and to come here if something ever happened. The Commission took us in, kept us with them after The Slaughter, and helped us to survive until we were ready to go out on our own. They also taught us about our heritage.”
Cassie stared at her, a growing feeling of unease and queasiness moved through her body. They were just beginning to scratch the surface of Dani’s betrayal, and already Cassie wasn’t sure she wanted to hear anymore. Dani had lied to them from the beginning; she and Joey had led them all to believe that they had been completely on their own after The Slaughter. That no one had helped them as they had struggled to survive on the streets. Cassie didn’t know why Dani had kept this a secret, but she was certain she wasn’t going to like the reasons behind it.
“Why did you lie to us about your childhood?” Melissa asked softly.
Dani licked her lips, shifting nervously as her gaze settled on the door. She looked as if she wanted to bolt. “When The Commission eventually sent us out in search of other Hunters and Guardians they told us not to let them know about this town. At least not until they knew if we could trust them. There was no way of knowing how The Slaughter had affected people, and how they now felt about The Commission. They never suspected anything like what we discovered with you and Devon; no one ever thought a Hunter and a vampire would fall in love. It was unthinkable. Unheard of.
“I never thought it was wrong,” Dani breathed. “I thought your relationship was special, different; good.”
Her eyes darted over the two of them, before glancing briefly at Julian. His lip curled into a snarl, his eyes darkened as he glowered at her. Cassie was irritated by the confusion and doubt she sensed from Dani, but then again Dani had witnessed Julian kissing her. And though Cassie knew what that kiss had meant Dani had no way of knowing. “It is,” Cassie said softly.
Dani shot her a questioning look. Cassie met her gaze head on refusing to be judged by the girl that had nearly gotten her killed, and had gotten her tortured. “The Commission also wanted us to make sure that any of The Hunter’s we met was not The Hunter’s that have nothing,” Dani continued.
Cassie started in surprise, stunned and completely mystified by her strange words. “The ones who have nothing?” Luther inquired a sharp edge to his voice.
Dani nodded slowly, she swallowed heavily. “The evil ones amongst us. The Hunters that turn.”
Horror rolled through Cassie, she took an involuntary step back as Dani’s gaze darted to her. Devon stopped her backward momentum, resting his hand in the hollow of her back as he sought to steady and comfort her. Cassie turned into him, needing his comfort more than anything right now. His arms wrapped tight around her as she rested her head against his chest, taking solace in his solid presence.
Luther released the curtain he had been holding as he took an angry step toward Dani. “The evil ones? Are you mad?”
Dani shook her head fervently. “No, it’s true! There are evil ones amongst us, and Cassie is one of them!” Devon hissed sharply, his hands tightened almost painfully upon her. Dani shook her head quickly, her hair flying around her as she took a frightened step back. “Or that’s what I believed anyway. It’s what I was told from the time I was a child!
“They said that the ones with no power would eventually turn into mindless monsters that sought to destroy everything in their path! When I first met Cassie I didn’t believe what they had said, I thought that they had lied to me, or that they had been wrong. I thought that there was no way she could turn against someone, no way she’d hurt someone, and then…”
“And then you saw me kill Isla,” Cassie said softly when Dani trailed off. Her mind flashed back to that night, and the overwhelming anger and hatred that had consumed her. She had been a monster that night, and if it hadn’t been for Devon she very well could have been lost to the rage trying to overtake her. “And you were scared.”