“They only keep him alive for his visions,” Julian said softly. At Devon’s questioning look he elaborated. “I saw it through Adon, Matthew has been crazy for awhile now, but Zane needs him.”
“What made him that way?” Melissa was trembling, pale, her hands folded tightly before her as she rang them nervously. Her fear that it may have been his visions that had driven him mad was more than obvious.
Julian shrugged as he shoved his hands in his pockets. “Some people are just not cut out for this lifestyle, no matter what. Matthew was always softer than the rest of us. You mix that with Zane’s constant torture and mental abuse, and apparently it made him snap. Matthew was Zane’s puppet, his play thing, and he has broken him. But he still likes to pull his strings once in awhile.”
They all gaped at him, horrified by his description of what Zane had done to Matthew. “It is not the worst thing Zane has ever done,” Julian murmured, unable to meet their gazes any longer.
Devon bristled, wishing that Julian would stop talking. They got the hint; they didn’t need to hear anymore. “Can we really trust them?” Luther inquired softly.
Julian nodded as he folded his arms over his chest. “Yes. They will abide by this truce because it suits their needs. I cannot guarantee they will stick to it if Cassie doesn’t survive the change, and we lose Devon. They will have no need for you then. Though, I cannot guarantee that any of us will survive if such a thing happens.”
Devon ignored their curious stares, determined not to think about that right now. He held his hand out to Cassie, breathing a sigh of relief when she clasped hold of it. She would never hold a grudge against him; never hate him for his past. It was impossible for her to. And for that he would be forever thankful.
Her hand in his was warm, soft, reassuring as she squeezed him tight. He bent to kiss her softly, his lips brushing lightly across her forehead.
CHAPTER 17
Cassie sat silently as she watched Devon make the bed, he moved with startling speed and agility. His grace was unparalleled, his good looks unmatched. Robert had been wrong when he had said he was the better looking brother, he had been very wrong. Devon fluffed up the sleeping bags, before unrolling them on the floor. Cassie realized that he was stalling as he set everything up, biding for time before facing her.
She sighed softly, her impatience getting the better of her. There were a million questions that she wanted to ask, the foremost of which was about his brother, but right now all she really wanted was Devon. She knew there were things he wanted to keep her sheltered from, things he never wanted her to know, and she understood that. But unfortunately, some of those things had walked into their lives again today, and thrown them even more upside down. However, for now, the time for questions could wait.
He finished fluffing the blankets/pillows. She could tell he was looking for something else to do, some other way to stall, but unless he planned on fluffing the down right out of the blankets there was nothing left for him to do. His shoulders were stiff as he turned toward her, his body braced for the onslaught he suspected was coming. His beautiful emerald eyes were wary as they hesitatingly met hers.
Cassie sighed softly. “Are you ok now?” she inquired. His dark eyebrows drew tightly together. “Can you stay around me?”
Guilt and anguish surrounded him as his gaze darted away. “Cassie…”
“It’s ok Devon, I understand more than you think I do, but I need to know.”
“And why is that?”
Cassie braced herself for rejection as she readied to hand herself over to him completely. “Because I want to spend the night with you, and I mean really spend the night with you.”
She fought back the red wash of embarrassment that crept up her cheeks, heating her skin. She didn’t want to seem childish and insecure right now, she wanted to sound confident and determined, but she couldn’t stop the flush in her face. Unfortunately her body did not want to react the way that her mind wanted it to.
His gaze snapped back to her, wide with surprise and wonder. She could feel the desire, the need that washed over him, but she could also feel his hesitance, his reluctance. “Cassie there is nothing more that I would want, but not here, not now…”
“Then when?” she interrupted softly.
“When this is over…”
“We may not survive this.”
He recoiled from her words, his eyes narrowed fiercely. “I will not allow anything to happen to you.”
Cassie sighed softly as she squeezed her hands tight in her lap. “I know that you will try Devon, but there are some things you can’t control. There are some things that you cannot stop. No one knows what will happen to me when this change occurs; no one truly knows what the outcome of this battle will be. All we know is that we have this moment right now. We have this, and I want to know, no I need to know what it is like to be with you. I need this night.”
Devon shook his head, but she could feel his wavering, his desire to crumble to her wishes. He glanced around the dusty, cobweb filled attic. Shaking his head he turned back to her. “You deserve better than this, you deserve so much more than this.” His arm swept around the room.
“It’s better than the backseat of a car,” she replied, trying to sound light but knowing that she failed miserably when his eyes narrowed upon her. Cassie sighed softly as she rose to her feet, her hands hurt from clenching them so tightly together. “It doesn’t matter where Devon, as long as it is with you.”
His eyes flared hotly, burning into her with an intensity that left her shaken. “This may be our only night,” she continued, pushing at his weakening defenses. “I don’t want to pass it up because you feel that this is not good enough.”
“I may hurt you.”
“You won’t.”
For a moment red fire filled his eyes. Though it startled her, she did not move, did not react. If she did she knew he would shut her down completely. “How can you possibly know that?” he demanded. “After yesterday, after what I wanted to do to you, what I still want to do to you, how could you possibly know that I won’t hurt you?”
Cassie swallowed heavily. “Because you love me,” she whispered. “You left so that you wouldn’t hurt me; you cared nothing for your own safety when you left, only mine.”
“I left you unprotected,” he snarled.
“You left me in a building full of fighters, strong ones too. I hardly feel that is unprotected. You were the one who was out there alone, exposed and vulnerable. You are too hard on yourself Devon. You are a good man.”