Devon shuddered, his eyes closed as he struggled to maintain control of his own body. No matter what Cassie felt for him now, he could not return to the thing he had once been. If she no longer wanted him, then there was nothing that he could do about it. But she did need him. She needed him to protect her, and to keep her safe. Julian and Isla were still out there, and they would use any opportunity they could to get at her, to destroy her and her friends. If he lost control, she would be vulnerable to them. No matter what happened, he knew that he could not exist in a world that Cassie didn’t live in, even if she didn’t want him in her life.
His gaze darted to the body in the middle of the room. He should have seen this coming. He had been so wrapped up in trying to keep Cassie, Chris, and Melissa safe that he had not thought about Lily. But she had been a prime target also. Despite her age, she was also a Hunter, and she was Cassie’s grandmother.
Julian would want to break Cassie. He would want to toy with her before killing her, and Lily was the perfect way to do so. Julian had touched Cassie, he would know about Lily, and how much Cassie cared for her. Julian’s touch would have allowed him many insights into Cassie’s life, far more insights than Devon was comfortable with.
How had he not seen this coming? Loathing and disgust washed over him as his hands fisted tighter.
Cassie spun away from him, her still damp hair whipping out behind her. “Take me home.”
Chris gaped at her, his eyes wide and questioning. The color had not returned to his face, in fact he seemed even more ashen and hollow. His eyes were dark, worried, withdrawn. “Cassie, don’t do this.”
The words were choked out of him; his voice was hoarse with pleading and sorrow. His eyes darted worriedly to Devon; hopelessness filled his gaze as a small tremor ran through him. Cassie was fairly spitting with fury. “Take me home!” she snapped.
“Cassie…”
She stormed out the door, leaving them both staring after her in shock. Devon was the first to recover. “Go,” he said softly.
Chris’s eyes darted back to him. “Devon…”
“Go,” he growled. It killed him to send another man with her, even if it was Chris, but he could not go with her, and she needed someone. He was not wanted at her side anymore, and to try and get closer to her may very well just push her over the edge. She was standing on a thin precipice as it was, he did not want to be the one that shoved her over. He ached to be the one that comforted her, that held her, but it was not to be. Not anymore. Agony twisted through him, but he stood stiffly, his gaze clashing with Chris’s stunned, agonized one. “Go.”
Chris shook his head. “She’ll come around,” Chris said softly. “She’s just…” He broke off, sighing softly as he ran a hand wearily through his already disheveled hair. “Well, I don’t know what she is right now.”
Chris’s voice trailed off, his eyebrows drew sharply together. He shoved his hands into his pockets but did not move. He looked so lost, so confused and tortured. “That’s not Cassie,” Chris mumbled.
No, it wasn’t Cassie, Devon knew that. What he didn’t know was whether Cassie would come back to them, or if her grief and anger would consume her. “You have to go Chris. She needs someone right now.”
Chris’s gaze darted to him and then back to the doorway. Finally, he settled on Devon again. “I’ll talk to her.”
“It won’t help, not now.”
Chris opened his mouth, and then snapped it shut. Sadness enveloped him. Not only was Chris dealing with his own pain, but Devon’s and Cassie’s were beating against him, tearing down his walls, pounding his soul. “Go.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. Ducking his head, Chris moved stiffly out the door, his broad shoulders slumped in defeat.
Devon fought the urge to follow after him, to follow after her. She needed him now, even if she didn’t know it. She needed him, but she did not want him. He had to accept that, he had to know it. He turned stiffly back to the body, back to Lily. Her face was still uncovered, her lips pale, her skin the color of death. Yet she somehow she still looked refined, elegant.
Moving slowly over to her, he clasped hold of her cold, rigid arm. She had been so accepting of him. She had never turned against him, even when the others, including Cassie, had been weary of what he was. There had been so much life and love inside of her. He had seen many dead bodies in his long life, but this was the first one that truly upset him. Not only because it had caused Cassie so much pain, but also because he had truly liked the woman too.
“I’ll take care of her,” he promised, knowing that it would be the only thing Lily would care about.
Lifting the sheet, he dropped it gently back over her. His soul was beaten, he was weary and aching and so very hurt. There was a tight knot of pain in his chest, an aching loss that he wasn’t sure he could survive. He had lost the only thing that mattered to him, the only person he had ever truly loved.
Yet, he couldn’t acknowledge that loss, not now. There was too much he had to deal with. The first of which was what he had seen in Cassie’s eyes just moments ago. There had been something about her that he had been trying to puzzle out for the past few weeks. Something about her abilities, or lack thereof, that had been nagging at him. There were so many things that didn’t make sense; he just hadn’t known who to turn to in order to help him figure it out.
Now, he did.
Turning from the morgue, Devon made his way slowly outside. The sun’s rays did little to warm him as he made his way toward his car. Hitting the alarm button, he threw the driver’s side door open and slid inside. He drove slowly through the winding back streets, trying to puzzle out everything that had just happened. The flash of red he had seen in Cassie’s eyes haunted him as he made his way toward Luther’s house.
***
The hazy fog of anger that enshrouded Cassie was a welcome relief to the agony that kept threatening to rise up and consume her. She could not escape the image of her grandmother’s face, so cold and almost unrecognizable. Where was her smile, the light in her eyes, where was the welcoming, loving hug that she gave so easily?
Gone. Forever.
Neither could she forget the haunted, pained, hurt look that had filled Devon’s eyes when she had turned against him. She wavered briefly in her determination, and then her anger snapped welcomingly back into place. There was no room for regret in this new world of hers, no room for wavering. There was only room for revenge, and she wanted that more than anything else right now.