“Melissa, we need a place where we can relax, move about, eat, go to the bathroom, maybe even sleep,” Annabelle said softly. “And we can’t keep the car running all day, we don’t know if we can get gas out of the stations.”
“We can siphon it out of other cars.”
Annabelle sighed softly as she leaned forward to grasp hold of Melissa’s arm. “We’ll stay in the car for a little longer,” she conceded. “But we can’t stay forever, and we do need to stay in this town for at least another day. There may be survivors out there that need our help, and we have to know what is going on here.”
Melissa hesitated for a moment, biting hard on her bottom lip before nodding slowly. Her shoulders stiffened as resolve settled over her pretty features. “Ok.”
Devon wound his way back through town. “I’m not so sure I want to know what is going on here,” Chris mumbled.
Devon silently agreed, but he wasn’t leaving this town until he knew for sure that Cassie was not here. That she was not somehow caught up in the oddity that was this town. Chris bolted suddenly upright, his hand slammed down on the back of Devon’s seat. “Stop the car! Stop the car!”
“What the hell!” Melissa cried.
“Is it Cassie?” Devon demanded, jolting everyone forward as he slammed on the brakes.
Chris was sitting eagerly forward, his normally bright eyes dark as they scanned the night. “No,” Chris said softly, his voice tinged with an odd sense of disbelief. Devon’s hope plummeted; he gripped the wheel tight as he fought the urge to rip it free of the car. “It’s Julian.”
Devon turned to him in shock, his mouth dropped as Chris’s words sank in. “What!?” Annabelle gasped in disbelief. “Are you sure?”
Chris’s forehead furrowed in confusion, he frowned in perplexity as he shook his head slightly. “I’m sure it’s him, but it’s different. He feels different.”
“What do you mean?” Devon growled, unable to believe that Julian was actually here.
It made no sense, what could he possibly be doing here? What the hell could he be doing in this strange town? Though Devon didn’t trust him, he knew that Julian would not have created the monsters that were running loose here. Julian knew better than to do that, he knew what kind of havoc and death such creatures could render. And though Julian loved mayhem and murder more than most, even he would not want to take the risk of having the vampire population exposed to the outer world. Vampires liked to keep their secrets, and they liked to keep their identities safe from terrified humans that would only want to destroy their race.
Chris shook his head again; he rubbed the bridge of his nose as he tried to sort through the emotions he was feeling. The emotions that Julian was emitting. “I don’t know Devon. It is Julian, I’m certain of that, but he’s not the same. He’s not as angry or something, he’s not as… he’s not as…” Chris broke off, at a loss for words as he stared helplessly at Devon. “He’s not as filled with hatred.”
Devon frowned over Chris’s odd statement; his confusion was mounting by the second. What was going on here? “How far is he from here?”
Chris stared out at the dark road, and then pointed ahead of him. “Ahead of us somewhere. Not far. I don’t think.”
“You don’t think?” Devon grated.
“Devon, just drive slowly,” Annabelle said gently, soothingly. “We’ll find him.”
Excitement pulsed through Devon; it thrummed through his skin and electrified his body. His knuckles were white upon the steering wheel as he began to move slowly forward once more. Hope filled him, anticipation consumed him. They had been looking for Cassie, and had somehow managed to stumble upon the one person that could truly help them find her. He didn’t linger on thoughts of what Julian could possibly be doing here, he only thought about finding him. And in turn, finding Cassie.
“Dani,” Chris whispered.
“Excuse me?” Melissa demanded, anger filled her onyx eyes as she whipped around to face Chris.
“Dani is with him,” Chris said softly.
Fury exploded through Devon, the world turned into a fiery haze of red. Dani and Julian were together! Had Julian helped Dani, and The Commission, take Cassie from him? If he had, Devon was going to rip Julian limb from limb. Beside him, Luther leaned away, his eyes wide as he studied Devon in horror. Chris seized hold of his shoulder, his hand clenching tight. “You have to calm down Devon; I can’t feel them over your anger. I can’t feel them over your emotions,” he said in a choked voice.
Devon tried to calm himself but the fiery rage was building inside him, shaking him to the very core of his being. He needed to compose himself; he had to get a hold of his emotions. They had to find Julian. It may be the only chance that they had of finding Cassie, and he could not risk losing it. If Dani was near, than Cassie had to be also. It was Dani that had caused this, Dani was the one that had helped to take Cassie from him.
He shuddered as he tried to keep himself from completely unraveling, but he had never suspected that Julian may well be in on all of this too. That Julian may have helped Dani. That he may have aided in taking Cassie away from him, that Julian may have hurt her.
“Stop!”
The shout, issued from Melissa, caused him to slam the brakes on again. He jerked against the steering wheel as Luther slammed off the dash. “What the hell?” Liam demanded, shoving himself off the back of the passenger seat.
“Look!” Melissa leaned eagerly forward, thrusting a finger at the woods. “There! I know I saw something. There!”
Devon strained to see through the woods on his left, and then he saw it. The headlights highlighted a flash of red eyes as one of the Halflings darted into some thick underbrush. He watched as it scurried out of sight once more. It was coming at the car in a zigzagging pattern that helped to keep it hidden behind the trees. “It’s coming for us,” Annabelle said softly, a small hitch in her voice.
“Yes,” Devon agreed in a low growl, his hands twisted on the wheel as he fought the urge to go after the Halfling. He was spoiling for a fight, spoiling to get rid of some of the rage and confusion boiling through him. But there was no time for it right now. Not when they were this close to finally getting some answers.
He reached down to shift back into drive when a flurry of motion about a hundred feet up, and to the right, caught his attention. He turned toward it as three figures burst out of the woods. They stumbled up an embankment before staggering onto the road. Devon’s mouth dropped, his chest constricted painfully as they turned toward the vehicle.