“How is Marcy?” he asked softly.
“She’ll be ok,” Melissa whispered, wiping the remaining tears from her cheeks. “She’s lost a lot of blood but she’ll survive.”
“Yeah, now we have to worry about how we’re going to explain all of this to her,” Chris muttered.
“I’ll take care of that.”
Their gazes flew back to him, their eyes narrowed questioningly. “How do you plan on doing that?” Chris demanded.
Devon shook his head, not willing to divulge any of his secrets before they agreed to divulge some of theirs. And he knew that they would have secrets too. Hunter’s possessed some of the same abilities that vampire’s did; he just wasn’t sure which ones they had, and he couldn’t leave himself vulnerable to them.
“I have my ways,” Devon murmured.
Chris’s eyes narrowed sharply, his lip twisted into a sneer, but he did not push further. “I saw you coming, but I didn’t see you,” Melissa whispered, looking dazed and lost.
Devon started in surprise, his eyes widening as he turned back toward her. She was studying him with a deep, penetrating stare that unnerved him slightly. “Excuse me?” he asked in confusion.
She blinked in shock, shaking her head. Her raven hair fell forward, shielding her pretty features as she turned quickly back to Cassie. Luther moved to Melissa’s side, resting his hand lightly on her shoulder as he lifted the phone and punched in some numbers. Chris moved slowly to Cassie’s other side, his gaze still weary on Devon as he rested his hand lightly on Cassie’s arm.
Devon bristled slightly, his eyes narrowed as he fought the urge to leap over the bed at Chris, knocking his hand away from her. Instead, somehow, he managed to keep control of himself. Devon had suspected for awhile that his feelings for Cassie were more than just normal, had feared that they were more intense and binding than that. He was now beginning to truly realize that he had been right. However, if he didn’t regain firm restraint of himself, someone was going to get hurt and that was something that he couldn’t allow to happen.
Especially not now, not when Cassie’s life still hung in the balance and her friends were surrounding him. Friends that were also trained to hate him, fight him, and try to kill him. Friends that wanted nothing more than to see him dead.
He glanced back at Cassie’s prone figure. If she survived this, would she hate him too? Would she also want him dead? A shiver racked through him at the thought. He couldn’t stand it if she hated, or condemned him. He would not survive it if she turned him away. He would not be able to stay rational.
Whatever she decided when she awoke would affect both of them. She held both of their destinies in her hands; he could only hope that she did not destroy his. Did not destroy him. He returned Chris’s fierce glare with one of his own as he slid his hand back into hers. He clung tightly to her, needing her warmth to keep him tethered, needing her presence to soothe his wildly swaying emotions. She was the only thing that could keep him grounded in a world that was wildly unstable for him right now. She was the only thing keeping him sane, the only thing that was keeping him from destroying this room in a fit of rage.
Pulling up a chair, he sat next to her, ignoring the surprised looks that Chris, Melissa, and Luther shot him. He didn’t care what they thought; he was not leaving her side until she was awake. He was not leaving her side unless she told him to.
For now he could only hope that Cassie woke up again, and that she did not spurn him when she did.
CHAPTER 2
Devon shifted in discomfort. His muscles had stiffened long ago, his legs were cramped, his back sore from the hard chair. Luther had left as the sun broke over the horizon, taking Chris and Melissa with him to check on Marcy. They had not been gone long, but he knew that they would be returning soon. Cassie’s grandmother sat silently across from him, her hand rested lightly upon Cassie’s arm. Though she kept most of her attention focused on Cassie, she would glance questioningly at him every once in awhile. Her eyes were sometimes the color of the sky, at other times they were a deep, distant brown. He didn’t know what brought on the change of color, but it was fascinating to watch.
Though Cassie’s grandmother had not spoken a word to anyone since she had arrived, Devon knew that she had something to say to him. He just wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to hear it. He was greatly afraid that the deceptively delicate looking woman would tell him to stay away from her granddaughter, and that was something that he could not do. Not until he was sure that Julian was gone for good. He could not leave Cassie until he knew she was completely safe. Even then, he wasn’t sure he would be able to leave her. He needed her; she was a part of him. She was his everything.
Finally, Cassie’s grandmother turned to him, her eyes a bright blue once more. “Thank you,” she said softly.
Devon’s hands tightened on the arms of the chair, his eyebrows lifted questioningly. “For what?” he asked quietly.
She swallowed heavily. “For saving her, she’s all that I have.” Tears shimmered briefly in her eyes before she turned quickly back to Cassie. “Thank you.”
Devon leaned forward, his back cracking as his muscles protested the movement. Folding his hands before him, he studied the small woman intently. “Cassie’s parents were killed during the attack?”
She lifted a dainty strawberry blond eyebrow; her eyes were sharp and fierce as she studied him. “Is that what your kind calls it? The attack?”
Devon nodded as he studied her. She did not seem to hate him, but there was a hesitance about her that she had not displayed in his presence before. She had been open and accepting of him when they had interacted before. There was also fresh anger and hurt radiating from her. “What do you call it?”
“The Slaughter.” Her voice was cold, distant, and hard. Pain blazed across her features, tightening the lines around her mouth. “We call it The Slaughter.”
Devon nodded; he could understand why they would call it that. The Hunter line, Cassie’s family and lineage, had been murdered by a group of vampire’s. Before most of the Elder’s went into hiding, they had decided to gather as many vampire’s as possible together, in order to destroy the Hunter line and secure their safety. Fortunately for him, fate had seen fit to spare Cassie’s life, and bring her into his. “I see,” he said softly.
“Do you?”
He stared at her for a moment before rising swiftly and moving slowly over to the bed. Behind her closed lids, Cassie’s eyes moved as unconsciousness held her deep within a dream realm. Delicate blue veins were clearly visible on her lids; her skin was still unnaturally pale. However, her heart beat with strong, reassuring thuds that he heard clearly, and kept finely attuned to. She looked better than when they had first arrived, but it was still not enough. He wanted her awake, he wanted her speaking, and he wanted to know that she did not hate him for what he was.