Devon wrapped his hand around her head, pulling her close to kiss her gently. “Are you ok?” he asked softly.
Cassie managed a nod, trying hard to steady the shaking in her body. He held her tight against him as he turned slightly back to her father. He tried to keep her blocked from the man, but Cassie refused to let the man know that he had affected her so badly. There was absolute hatred etched into the man’s features, his blue eyes were hard, cold, unremorseful. Cassie could not bring herself to look at him anymore. Turning away, she focused her attention on Chris who was watching her with confusion and uncertainty, but there was also sympathy and pain evident in his sapphire gaze.
Releasing Dani, Chris came slowly over and pulled her gently from Devon’s arms. Devon reluctantly released her to Chris before focusing on her father again. Chris wrapped his arms around her shoulders, holding her tight as he moved her swiftly away. Julian remained unmoving, his hands fisted tightly, and his entire body ramrod straight as fire burned in his eyes.
Cassie could only stare helplessly back at him, wishing that she could somehow take all of this away from him. Dani was gaping; her eyes darted wildly between Cassie and the stranger that was her father. Even Joey looked stunned by the revelation. “I didn’t know,” Dani whispered shaking her red streaked hair back. “I swear I didn’t know Cassie.”
Julian moved swiftly forward, snarling viciously at her father before shoving into a door at the back of the room. He needed to escape, needed to calm down, before he killed them all. The door crashed open, swinging wildly back and forth. “Here!” he shouted back to them.
Cassie hugged Chris tighter, thankful for his unwavering love and support. Devon strode forward, grabbing her father by the arm as he hauled him roughly into the other room. The man stumbled slightly as he tried to keep up with Devon’s long, furious strides. Joey remained unmoving upon the floor, his eyes wide as he stared up at them.
“I really didn’t know,” Dani whispered again.
Cassie pulled slowly away from Chris, moving stiffly to the door they had disappeared through. She pushed it open, her eyes widening in surprise as she took in the wood boxes piled from floor to ceiling against two walls. Devon and Julian were no longer in the room, but there was another door across from her.
She made her way to it, pushing it slowly open. Cold air hit her at once. She shivered, pulling her hands inside the sleeves of her baggy coat in an attempt to ward off the chill. Devon and Julian glanced up from where they stood by a set of cooler doors. Inside the coolers were bags of blood lined up in rows from floor to ceiling. Both Devon and Julian’s eyes were bright red with fury and hunger; they gleamed in the dim light of the room.
Though she could feel her father’s gaze upon her, she did not turn to him. “I’ll get one of the boxes,” Devon said softly, hurrying toward her.
“Is it drugged?” Devon froze, his eyebrows drawing sharply together as he stared questioningly at her. “The blood. The food they brought us in here was drugged before. Is it drugged now?”
Devon’s jaw clenched tightly, his nostrils flared with fury. Julian cursed loudly, the door of the cooler slammed against the other one as he flung it open. He snatched a bag roughly out. Glowering at her father, he ripped the top easily off of it. He inhaled deeply before nodding briskly to Devon. “It’s good,” he muttered. “They must drug it right before they bring it to us.”
They all turned toward Cassie’s father, but he remained immobile, his face as cold as stone. “Drugs are probably stronger that way,” Cassie whispered.
Julian shrugged and downed the contents of the bag before tossing it aside. Devon slipped his arm through hers, pulling her gently back into the other room. Squeezing her arm, he released her to grab hold of one of the stacked boxes. Cassie watched in amazement as he ripped off the top, which had been securely nailed on, as if it were nothing. He dropped it to the floor, turned the box over and dumped its contents on the ground. Cassie took a small step back as stakes clattered across the floor, skittering about her feet.
Chris, drawn by the noise, poked his head into the room. His eyebrows rose questioningly as he studied the stakes. “Hope they have better weapons than those,” he muttered before ducking out again.
Cassie silently agreed as she stared at the wooden weapons. She was hoping to find something that wouldn’t require them to get so close to the Halflings roaming the town. Devon opened the door to the room with all the blood; he threw in the box and its lid. He turned back to her, his body humming with tension, his face immobile and hard. “Let’s see what we have in here, and hopefully it is better than stakes.”
Cassie glanced at the hundred or so boxes piled within the room. They were of all shapes and sizes, but she was a little afraid that they might all contain the same thing. Grasping hold of one of the boxes, she pulled it from the top of the pile. She tugged at the top, but was unable to pull it off. Devon reached around her, his hard arms locking against her sides, the muscles in his forearms bulging as he ripped the lid off with apparent ease.
Her mouth parted, her heart hammered with excitement as she glanced up at him. Even in this hell of a place, in this god awful situation, he still managed to entice her. His gaze returned to hers, his eyes once again becoming the vivid emerald color she cherished. His finger stroked lightly over her jawbone as he bent to kiss her. Cassie stood on tiptoe, losing herself to the touch and feel of him, burying herself in the tenderness and strength of his love. His arms encircled her as he pulled her tight against him, cradling her gently in his warm embrace.
A disgusted sound tore her away from the bliss that his kiss brought to her. Cassie turned to find her father standing in the doorway, his eyes narrowed fiercely, and his hands fisted at his sides. Loathing and revulsion blazed from him, pounding against her. She ducked her head, unable to stand the hatred coming from her own father.
Devon growled low in his throat, his hand wrapped around the back of her neck as he turned her slightly, trying to protect her from the man’s glare. Julian appeared in the doorway, the box propped under his arm. He shoved her father forward, casting a fierce glare at the smaller man. “Move,” he ordered gruffly as he shoved her father back into the front room. He propped the door open with the box so that they could keep an eye on the three of them, and Chris. “Let’s get what we can out of these boxes and get the hell out of here.”
Cassie nodded, pulling reluctantly out of Devon’s arms as she turned her attention back to the boxes.