Making her way to the sink, Cassie turned the cold water on. Splashing her face, she found her control slowly returning as the water shocked her out of the dull haze suffusing her. Grabbing some paper towels, she dried her face. The door opened and closed again, she didn’t look up; she couldn’t take the shunning and disgust anymore. She was in control again; she didn’t need to be rattled out of it.
Footsteps rang across the floor, stopping behind her. Cassie frowned, a chill swept down her back as her heart leapt into her throat. A shimmering wall seemed to come down upon her as a wave of terror suffused her. Freezing like a deer trapped in the headlights, Cassie’s hands tightened upon the sink, her heart lurched and leapt as fear seized hold of her muscles locking them in place. She knew who was behind her, knew who had come in. She knew what he wanted, but her body refused to react to such knowledge.
Slowly, ever so achingly slowly, she lifted her head to look in the mirror. Julian stood behind her; a cruel smile twisted his beautiful face as his icy blue eyes clashed with hers in the glass. His white blond hair was spiked up in disarray, showing off the hard angles of his perfect face. Though Cassie was petrified into immobility, her mind somehow processed the fact that the just out of bed style looked good on him. Though, she was certain that there probably wasn’t much that didn’t look good on him.
For a moment they simply gazed at each other, silently surveying the competition. He was enjoying playing with her like a cat with a mouse, practically salivating at the thought of draining her dry. She was simply trying to get her brain to work again as she struggled to grasp the ramifications of this situation.
“For what it’s worth, you definitely had my vote.”
Cassie’s mind lurched into action as his melodic voice pounded into her ears. The terror tearing through her was pushed aside as her survival instinct finally kicked into high gear and years of training poured through her. He would kill her if he got a hold of her, and there was no one around to help her. She wanted to kick herself for turning Melissa down, but she was extremely grateful that her friend was not here now. At least they wouldn’t both be killed tonight. Melissa could go on with her life, even if Cassie couldn’t.
No matter what happened though, no matter how this all turned out, she was not going down without a fight, and Julian would not walk away from this without injury.
“Though you aren’t a queen, you can be my princess.”
With those purred words, Julian launched at her.
CHAPTER 14
Devon finally managed to extract himself from Marcy’s desperate, grasping touch. There had been a time when he had thrived on his inherent ability to attract women, a time when he had reveled in the endless parade of them. Not anymore. He wished he could flip a switch and turn the ability off, but unfortunately it didn’t work that way.
Making his way across the floor, he steered clear of the girls that attempted to approach him. All he wanted was to get back to Cassie, take her in his arms, and rid himself of the lingering feel of Marcy. The girl had no shame whatsoever; he tried hard not to shudder at the reminder of her.
He stepped clear of the crowd, frowning as he spotted Chris and Melissa, minus Cassie. Worry filled his gut as he scanned the students gathered near them. “Where’s Cassie?” he demanded, far more abruptly than he’d intended.
Melissa lifted an eyebrow, studying him with an amused expression. “The bathroom, she’ll be right back.”
Devon shifted; uneasiness grew in him as he perused the crowd once more. He didn’t like the idea of her being alone, even if there were a lot of people in the building. Folding his arms, he tapped his foot as he fought the urge to go after her. She needed her freedom, without it she would rebel, chafing against any restraints placed upon her. Even as he reminded himself of this fact, his anxiety level hiked up a notch.
Reaching out, he used his powers to search for her presence. He had become so in tune with her that it was easy for him to shift through the people surrounding him, shoving aside their personalities as he reached for her. His mind clicked onto hers, his body going numb with the cold that suffused him as her terror pounded into him. For a moment he couldn’t move as her fear tore into him, leaving him frozen in place.
He had to pull away from her, had to remove himself from the edges of her frantic mind, otherwise he would be unable to move. Breaking free of his paralysis, he bolted forward, shoving people aside in his heedless rush. Ignoring the shocked looks he received, he leapt easily over a table as he raced out of the room, not caring that a human wouldn’t be able to move as fast as him, or with as much agility. He did not care if his reaction put doubts and questions into their minds; all he cared about was getting to her before it was too late.
***
Cassie darted to the side as Julian came at her in a blurring rush that was nearly indistinguishable. She just barely managed to avoid his questing grasp as his hand skimmed over the skin of her back. He spun at her again, coming at her with a ferocity, and a hunger, that sent her heart racing as her fight or flight instinct kicked into hyper drive. She wanted to flee, though it was highly unlikely that she would be able to.
Her breath was coming in quick, short gasps as she turned swiftly, reaching for the first thing she could grab. Her panicked fingers seized hold of the soap dispenser. Fear made her stronger as she ripped it from the wall in one fierce pull. He grabbed hold of her shoulders, shoving her backward as he slammed her into the sink. A gasp escaped her as pain flared up her bruised and battered spine. Her head smashed into the mirror, breaking the mirror above the sink. Shattered glass spilled around them in a tinkling wave that crashed upon the sink and floor. She was momentarily stunned into immobility from the force of the impact.
The bright lights of the room reflected harshly off of the shattered pieces, dazing her with their brilliance. She was too terrified and adrenaline filled to succumb to the pain that slammed through her bruised and battered spine, and wounded skull. She would die if she did. Blinking back the stars that momentarily filled her field of vision; she worked hard to bring him back into focus. His beautiful face was twisted into a snarl, his long fangs extended past his lower lip. Her breath rushed from her as he struck at her, moving faster than any rattlesnake.
Reacting on pure instinct Cassie swung up and slammed the soap dispenser into the side of his face. Soap and plastic bits exploded over them as his assault was knocked off balance, his grip on her jarred. Scrambling to get away, Cassie tore free of his grasp, darting to the side as she attempted to escape. Scuttling swiftly, she realized her folly only too late. The soap had poured all over the floor making the hard linoleum dangerously slippery.