Dani nodded slowly, looking close to tears. “I’m sorry,” she whispered again.
“Is he going to be ok?”
Dani’s gaze darted over to her, falling briefly on Devon. Confusion flitted over her face, but she did not look at all surprised, or horrified over what had just happened. A numbing knowledge settled over Cassie as she leaned closer to Devon, her hand stroking over his battered face as she prepared to defend him to the death.
Even if it was against one of her own kind.
Dani nodded slowly, her gaze flickering back to Cassie as she tried to sort out what she was witnessing. “He should be fine.”
“Should be?” Cassie hissed. “Should be!?”
“Cassie,” Chris said gently, giving up on calming his hair down.
Cassie took a deep breath, trying to compose herself as her attention returned to Devon. Though he remained immobile, the jagged wounds in his cheek had already begun to heal. She could practically see the muscle reattaching itself as the blood dried on him. The scent of his blood was strong, hinting of spices and power. Even in his bloodied and unconscious state he was still magnificent, and he was hers.
A protective urge surged through her as she bent closer to him. She needed him to wake up, needed him to come back to her. And she needed it to happen soon.
“What did you do?” she asked softly.
Dani looked sheepishly around, her gaze landing everywhere but on them. “It’s… it’s an electric pulse,” she answered shakily. Then her gaze focused on Cassie, her eyes narrowed sharply. “Why are you defending him? I thought they were our enemies?”
Melissa and Chris looked nervously at Cassie before turning their attention back to Dani. “You don’t know it all,” Cassie retorted. “And neither do we.”
“I think we need to get out of here, we can discuss this later,” Melissa interjected softly, her gaze darting to Julian’s prone figure fifty feet down the path.
He had been further away from the blast then Devon, did that mean he would wake faster? Cassie’s hand twitched to the stake at her side, her mind and heart hammered with the possibility of destroying him now, of ending the misery of so many people. Could she get down there in time? “How long does it last?” she inquired softly.
“Cassie!” Melissa hissed in warning.
Dani licked her lips nervously as she glanced at Julian. “I… I don’t know. On normal people,” she glanced wearily at them again, seeming to understand that they were not normal. In fact, Cassie thought Dani knew exactly what they were, just as they knew exactly what she was. There was going to be a lot of explaining to do once they were out of this situation. “It can last an hour or two, depending on the strength of the blast. On them,” her gaze darted over Devon and Julian. “I have no idea, it varies.”
Cassie inhaled sharply, her attention returned to Julian. This could be their opportunity to stop it, to make it all end. They could stop the murders and the suffering, end the fear they had lived with since Julian had arrived. She just didn’t know if she would have time to get to him and kill him before he awoke.
“Can you shock him again?” she asked softly.
Dani shook her head, her bright red highlights flashing in the light of the moon. “No. I have little control over my ability; it usually comes out when I’m frightened. I’ve never been able to use it twice in the same day.”
“Like a battery,” Chris whispered, still looking slightly awestruck. When Dani frowned fiercely at him, seeming a little insulted, he quickly explained himself. “You need time to recharge.”
Dani still did not look appeased as she shrugged. “I guess,” she mumbled.
Cassie glanced back at Julian, twitching to get her hands on him, desperate to end it once and for all. Devon showed no sign of awakening any time soon. Would it be the same with Julian? “We can do it,” she whispered.
“No Cassie!” Melissa said sharply. “We need to get to safety. We need to get Devon to safety,” she added more pointedly.
Reluctantly tearing her gaze away from Julian’s body, Cassie shifted, adjusting herself as she slid her arm under Devon’s shoulders. Melissa was right; Devon was her number one concern right now. She could not take the chance of him being hurt tonight, nor could she take the chance of Julian awakening anytime soon and coming after him in this vulnerable state. “Give me a hand Chris!” she ordered briskly, her heart hammering with her desperate need to get Devon out of here.
He hurried forward, his gaze still wearily on Julian as he bent to help Cassie. It took a few moments but they finally got Devon to his feet. Draping his arms over their shoulders, they drug him toward Dani and Melissa. Cassie’s hand clenched tightly on Devon’s waist, needing to touch him as fear for all of them raced through her.
“We need to hurry,” Melissa said urgently, her onyx eyes darting anxiously back to Julian. Though her dark eyes did not reveal a recent vision, Cassie knew Melissa’s instincts were highly honed because of her premonitions. Cassie’s heart hammered even harder as she glanced over her shoulder, Julian still had not moved.
They shuffled as swiftly down the path as they could while dragging Devon between them. Dani wound easily along, her flashlight bouncing across the trail, flashing off the eyes of a fox as it darted into the woods. Cassie was relieved to note the return of the wildlife, surely that meant that Julian was still safely unconscious. Didn’t it?
Cassie scanned the forest continuously, searching for any hint of his return in the shadowed interior. “Just a little further,” Dani whispered.
Devon twitched suddenly, his hand tightened upon her shoulder. Cassie stiffened, her heart hammered as adrenaline shot through her. “Faster,” Chris urged. “Go faster.”
They broke into a slow trot, Dani and Melissa moved swifter without the added burden of Devon’s weight. A deer bolted through the forest, the loud crashing of its passing reverberated around them. “Oh,” Cassie breathed, forcing herself to ignore the growing ache in her shoulders, back, and legs as she tried to move faster. The eerie silence returned once more, a pall hung over the shadows. “Melissa!”
Melissa turned back to her, rushing to her side. “Take him,” Cassie urged.
Melissa’s dark eyes scanned her worriedly, but she did not refuse as she slid easily into Cassie’s place. Cassie was reluctant to release Devon, but she needed to be ready to fight. She was the strongest of them; she had to be free when Julian came back. Though, she was not fooled into thinking that she was strong enough to defeat Julian. She quickly tried to bury that thought; fear would do her no good here, not now anyway.