Cassie glanced behind her, her delicate eyebrows drawn tightly together, her mouth pursed. “You killed our parents,” she whispered.
“Bygones,” Zane replied lightly.
Cassie’s head spun back around, her eyes narrowed fiercely. Devon stiffened, panic filling him as her fury beat against him. He didn’t want them to see what she could be capable of, didn’t want them to see what was inside of her. Not now anyway, he did not need them to attack right now, and he feared they would if they realized just how much power was inside of her. He feared that they would destroy her rather than take the risk of what changing her might actually do to her. “Bygones!” she snapped. “Bygones! They were our parents you son of a bitch!”
Devon took a defensive step forward, wishing yet again that for once Cassie wasn’t quite so fearless. Zane was not one to mess with. But instead of becoming angry, true amusement lit Zane’s eyes. “She’s a feisty one, I like it.”
“You don’t know how feisty I can be!” she spat back at him.
“Cassie,” Devon hissed. “Enough.”
She glared up at him. Folding her arms over her chest, she focused her hate filled look on Zane again. Her foot tapped impatiently, but for once she held her tongue. “The change will occur tonight.”
“No.” Devon sighed in resignation as he turned back to Cassie; at least she had stayed silent for a moment. Determination lit her delicate features, her lips were pursed tightly.
“What do you mean no?” Zane demanded, his amusement fading rapidly. “This will be done.”
“Yes, it will,” Cassie agreed. “But not tonight, not until these creatures have been taken care of. You will need Devon and I in this fight, if something goes wrong with the change then you will no longer have either of us. You especially need Devon since you are the only other vampire here that can walk about in the daylight, and we know that some of the Halflings can too.”
Zane was thoughtful, silent as he pondered over Cassie’s words. “And how do you know that I share Devon’s ability?”
Cassie rolled her eyes in disgust. “You’re the only other one sporting a tan.”
Amusement returned to Zane’s features, a hint of respect shone in his eyes. Devon was not fooled though, Zane may be entertained and impressed by Cassie, but Devon knew Zane would still kill her in a heartbeat. “Very true my dear. The change will wait until this ordeal is over, but the moment that it is over the change will occur. Even if I have to do it myself.”
Devon bristled, shifting slightly. He may not agree with this, but no one else was ever going to touch her. “That won’t happen,” Devon told him, his voice low and deadly.
“Then make sure that the change does occur,” Zane informed him coldly.
Devon’s jaw clenched, rage flared through him. “I’m not one of your little followers Zane, I never have been,” he snarled as his gaze raked disdainfully over the people gathered around him. “Do not think you have any control over me.”
“But I do,” Zane replied. “You will do anything not to have her hurt, in any way. If you wish to push this into a fight you both may survive it, but not everyone will. You do not want her heart to be broken do you?”
Frustration filled him; he wanted nothing more than to beat the smug look from Zane’s face. Cassie touched his arm lightly, looking to soothe him. “How do we know we can trust you not to turn on us anyway?” she asked softly.
“How do we know we can trust you not to turn on us once the change is complete?”
She glanced nervously around before her gaze settled on Devon, seeking help. “You don’t.”
“And neither do you.”
“You could allow Julian to touch you,” Devon said softly. “To learn the truth.”
Zane quirked an eyebrow. “Then you would know the truth and we would not, that would put us at a disadvantage.”
Devon glanced toward Julian. His jaw was set, his hands fisted. His eyes burned with his desire to grasp hold of one of them and learn the truth, but he remained restrained and unmoving. “Bernard can tell if we are lying to you or not,” Devon answered.
Bernard glanced over them all, his gaze briefly settled on Chris before he nodded his agreement. “Yes, the boy will not block my ability, he is not strong enough.”
“Excuse me?” Chris inquired sharply.
Bernard turned away, apparently deciding that Chris was not worth talking to. Chris continued to glare at the massive giant of a man, looking completely affronted. “Bernard’s ability is the same as yours; he can sense people’s emotions and what they are truly like inside. He will know if we are lying,” Annabelle told Chris gently, trying to ease his anger.
Chris looked even more aggravated and insulted by this response. Unfortunately though, it was the truth, Bernard was far more powerful than Chris. In fact, The Elders were all more powerful than most of the people in this room, it was why Devon didn’t trust Zane. It would be a fierce battle between the groups, but the outcome would more than likely favor The Elder’s. Even though he knew that Zane didn’t want to lose any member of his group, he still didn’t understand why they would be willing to back down. And why did they want Cassie to change when they had no idea what she would become?
“Then you will allow Julian to touch you,” Devon commanded.
Zane’s eyes flickered with hostility and resentment. He did not like being ordered around, it was why Devon had made it more of a command than a question. He wanted Zane rattled and angered, it may let some of his defenses drop enough for Julian to slip in. Zane hesitated, his jaw clenched tighter.
“Fine,” Zane finally relented.
Julian broke into a wide grin, stepping eagerly forward as he was finally given reign to set his powers free. Devon seized hold of Julian’s arm before he went any further. He wanted Julian to grab hold of Zane, wanted to know what Julian would be able to learn from him. But Devon also knew that there was a possibility that Zane had become powerful enough to keep Julian blocked from anything that he didn’t want him to know.
Holding tight to Julian, he tried to make sure that he learned everything that Devon wanted him to know. Tried to make sure that Julian understood there was someone else that he must touch. Someone that Devon now controlled, and who would be unable to keep anything from Julian while under Devon’s command. Julian’s eyes widened slightly upon his, surprise, amusement, and admiration gleamed in his gaze. For a moment Devon was sharply reminded of how things used to be between them, how close they had been, how devious and cruel.