“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Cassie shook her head. “I can’t lose you it would destroy me.”
Her hand tightened on his cheek as tears burned the backs of her eyes and throat. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Cassie lost herself to the beauty of his emerald eyes. They burned with a fiery intensity that left her speechless and frozen. In those eyes she could feel, and see, the endless depth of his love for her, and just exactly how much he did need her. She suddenly understood his obsessive and overbearing desire to keep her protected, because he would not survive her death. She swallowed back her tears, her heart hammered with an answering need that left her shaken. In that moment, she gladly would have given him anything that he wanted from her, and more.
“Are you ok?” Chris demanded, skidding to a halt as he burst free of the grass, shattering the web that had enshrouded the two of them.
“Fine,” Cassie said, stroking Devon’s face once more before turning to face the three of them. She could feel Devon’s impatience and aggravation over being interrupted. He kept his arm firmly around her waist, refusing to release her. “Are you guys ok?”
“Yes,” Melissa answered. “Where is he?”
“Gone,” Devon answered flatly.
“But why would he just leave like that? He gave up too easily.”
They all turned to Devon, their gazes questioning as they studied him. He lifted an eyebrow in amusement. “If he stayed he would have had to take on a vampire more powerful than him, and four Hunters. There wasn’t much thought required in abandoning his quest, especially with a Grounder present.”
“A what?” Melissa, Cassie, and Chris asked in confusion.
He nodded toward Dani. Her head was bowed, her dark hair falling around her shoulders. Heat crept up her face as she studied her sneakers. “A Grounder. I am right, am I not?” Devon inquired softly.
Dani nodded, lifting her head slightly to look at them. “Yes, you’re right.”
“What the hell is a Grounder?” Chris inquired sharply.
“Do you want to tell them, or shall I?” Dani shook her head, turning her attention back to her sneakers. “A Grounder is a vampire, or Hunter, that can pull energy from the earth, turning it into an electrical current that they release in a burst of power. It’s meant to stun the prey, though sometimes it kills.”
Cassie inhaled sharply; Chris and Melissa took a swift step away from Dani as their eyes turned weary and distrustful. Dani glanced up sharply, her eyes revealing her hurt. “I’ve never killed anyone,” she replied defensively.
“No, that is rare, and it usually involves someone with a lot of power. But you are new to yours. What are you fifteen, sixteen?”
“Fifteen,” Dani whispered.
Devon nodded, shifting his hold on Cassie. “You’re still young and inexperienced. With time your emotions won’t control your ability, you will.”
“But she could kill us?” Melissa asked her jaw set firmly as she studied Dani.
“No, since you are all Hunter’s you are not affected by her ability. You can withstand it. You cannot withstand a vampire with the same ability, just as Julian and I cannot completely withstand Dani. Next time, Julian will be more prepared for her though. She will not knock either of us out again. If Dani and a vampire Grounder come up against each other, they can mostly withstand the attack of the other. Though they will get banged and singed up.”
“Singed?” Cassie asked softly.
Devon held up his arms, revealing the healing burns that marred his skin. Cassie gasped as she gently seized hold of him, twisting his arms in horror. The burns ran all the way up to his shoulder, disappearing beneath his shirt, though she knew that they would also be there. The hair on his arms was singed and for the first time she noticed the smell of it on him.
She turned back to Dani, her eyes narrowing fiercely. “I didn’t know,” Dani whispered. “I didn’t mean to, I was frightened.”
“It’s ok,” Devon assured her, his hand stroked soothingly against Cassie’s skin. Though his touch calmed her, her protective urges were still running high. “Do you guys know nothing of your heritage? Of your people?”
Cassie shot him a look, Chris scowled fiercely at him. Melissa was studying the forest, her forehead furrowed slightly. She knew far more than Cassie and Chris about their heritage, but apparently this little bit of info had somehow been left out. Luther’s biggest pet peeve with Chris and Cassie was that they didn’t want to know their history. They didn’t want to hear the stories of lore and legend that surrounded their heritage. Cassie had always been resentful of it; Chris was bored by it.
Melissa had grown up with Luther though; he had been teaching her their history since she was a child. Melissa also believed that because she lived so much in the future, it was good to know the past in order to stay better grounded in the present. The study of their history, any history, helped to pull Melissa free of a world that was comprised mostly of tomorrows.
“Chris and I don’t know much,” Cassie admitted reluctantly.
Devon frowned forcefully at her, looking slightly annoyed by her answer. “Dani?” he inquired.
She shrugged, looking even more uncomfortable as she shifted uneasily. “Yes, I know some of it,” Dani said softly. “My brother has taught me.”
“Your brother?” Cassie inquired, taking a small step toward her. “Where is he?”
“At home.”
She glanced at Devon, then back at Dani. “I think we should go meet him, and we need to speak with Luther.”
“Very good idea,” Devon agreed.
“Who is Luther?” Dani inquired.
“Our Guardian,” Melissa answered.
Dani’s eyes widened in surprise, hope sprang forth in them. “You have a Guardian?” she asked eagerly.
“Yes,” Cassie answered, her ire over Devon’s injuries fading in the face of Dani’s hope. “He’s a good man.”
“Maybe this time we’ll even listen to him,” Chris said softly, looking slightly chagrined as he kicked his shoe in the dirt.
“Would be helpful,” Devon muttered.
He stepped around her, his hand remaining tight in hers as he glanced over the field, studying the dark night as he searched for Julian once more. A startled gasp of horror escaped her; her hand flew to her mouth as she saw the gaping, jagged wounds crisscrossing his back. Blood stained the back of his shirt, causing it to cling to the torn edges of his skin. Nausea boiled up in her throat, her stomach somersaulted violently.