“There wasn’t any time for camp once Luther and Melissa came.” She had told him in the dream, and at the time he had been confused and lost, but now he realized that she was not able to attend camp once Luther and Melissa had come to tell her that she was not a normal child; that she was in fact far from normal. And Luther was her Guardian, the one that would help her through the hard transition this realization would cause.
Luther was the reason that Cassie had fought him so hard when Devon had first arrived. Devon could not find it within him to be resentful toward Luther though. In fact, Luther had probably helped to keep Cassie alive. He may have been too blinded by his infatuation with Cassie to recognize what Chris, Melissa, and Cassie were upon his arrival, but Julian hadn’t, and other vampire’s would recognize it too. Luther had helped to prepare them for this, had helped to make sure that they would be prepared for the monsters of the world, and able to defend themselves against them. Luther’s training was the only thing that had saved her from Julian’s attack.
“Cassie will be devastated if something happened to Chris. She would never forgive you Devon if you hurt him. Never,” Luther said fervently.
Devon met Chris’s bulging gaze once more. He didn’t want to harm the boy; he had actually grown to like him over the past couple of weeks. But his anger and frustration over this awful day were getting the best of him. Besides, the last thing he ever wanted was to hurt Cassie.
Taking a step away from him, he released Chris with a small shove back. Chris slid down the wall, stumbling slightly forward before regaining his balance. He leveled Devon with a fierce glare as he rubbed his bruised throat, but he didn’t attack again. Devon moved slowly back to the bed, planting his body in between them and Cassie as he folded his arms firmly across his chest. Though he knew that they would not hurt her, he couldn’t shake the insane urge to protect her from them.
Chris took another step toward him, bristling over Devon’s protective behavior. Luther grasped hold of his arm, holding him in place. “What did you do to her?” Chris nearly bellowed, shaking with the rage that flowed through him.
Devon glared fiercely at him, but to his credit, Chris did not back down. Though he was annoyed by Chris’s condemning tone, he did admire the boy’s pride and determination. “If I had done this to her, she wouldn’t be here right now.”
Chris sputtered, trying to shake his arm free of Luther’s grasp, but he would not release him. “And what the hell does that mean!?” Chris exploded.
Devon took a step closer to him, his arms falling back to his sides. “It means that she would not be here. It means that I would have kept her for myself,” Devon snarled.
Disbelief and horror radiated from all of them, their eyes darted swiftly to her prone form. Devon bristled slightly, but he did not move. “How is she?” Luther asked quietly, apparently deciding to ignore Devon’s comment.
Devon’s gaze darted briefly back to her pale, frail form. “The doctor said she will be fine.”
Melissa began to cry. Devon blinked in surprise as the normally calm, stoic girl, burst into loud heart wrenching sobs. She moved slowly around Devon, her tear filled eyes wary upon him as she hurried to the other side of the bed. “I was so scared,” she whispered, her voice mournful and lost. “I thought she was dead, I thought that we had lost her. When I saw it…”
Her voice trailed off as tears choked her. “Saw it?” Devon inquired sharply, his hackles rising over her statement. She had seen something that could have prevented all of this, and she had done nothing to stop it?
Melissa glanced at him, her onyx eyes bright with tears. She did not answer as she turned her full attention back to Cassie. “What the hell is going on here?” Chris demanded fiercely. “He’s a monster! We should be destroying him!”
“I’d like to see you try. You have never come up against the likes of me boy, you will not win this battle,” Devon muttered in a low growl.
Chris’s eyes spit blue fury, but he did not make another heedless charge. Apparently he was a quick learner. “I think it’s safe to say that Devon is not one of the bad guys,” Luther muttered softly, his eyes narrowed and questioning behind his Lennon style glasses. The soft hint of his English accent was even more pronounced due to his stress and confusion.
“Is that possible?” Melissa asked quietly, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
“Anything is possible, I suppose,” Luther replied with an easy shrug, though his eyes were intent and inquisitive upon Devon.
Devon bristled slightly under his scrutiny, but he remained where he was, mainly because he was not going to release Cassie’s hand again. “Who did this to her then?” Chris demanded sharply.
Devon hesitated, not sure how much he wanted to tell them. But he knew that the anger in the room would not be diffused if he refused to tell them anything. And though he would prefer to keep some things to himself, Cassie’s happiness was by far more important to him than his pride. “Julian did.”
They exchanged quick, confused looks before focusing upon him once more. “Who is Julian?” Luther asked softly.
Devon shook his head, not wanting to get into a detailed explanation of that just yet. “He’s a monster,” Devon answered simply.
“That’s the pot calling the kettle black,” Chris retorted.
Devon’s head snapped up, his eyes narrowed fiercely on Chris. “You don’t know what I am and am not! But you keep pushing me and you will find out!” he spat.
Chris’s eyes widened slightly, and for the first time a bolt of fear flashed through them. “Easy, this is not the place for this. I am sure that Devon will give us some answers later, but Cassie will also want those answers. Now, let’s just calm down. Fighting is not solving anything, and it’s not helping Cassie any. He did save her life,” Luther reasoned.
Chris stared coldly at Devon, but wisely kept his mouth shut for a change. “Have you called her grandmother?” Devon demanded briskly.
Luther shook his head, pushing his glasses up his nose as he glanced worriedly at Cassie. “No, we had to get Marcy to the hospital first, and in all honesty, we thought she was dead. That’s something that is better to tell a loved one in person.” All of their gazes were inquisitive, and doubtful, as they studied Devon like an odd bug that they didn’t understand.
Devon nodded, his hand tightened briefly upon Cassie’s. He didn’t take offense to the fact that they had her thought her dead; it was the nature of most of his kind to kill after all. And at one time he had not been the exception to that rule. If it hadn’t been for Annabelle, he would still be a monster, destroying and killing whenever the mood struck him.