Ashes Read online

  Ashes

  Erica Stevens

  Copyright Heather Cox 2012

  Published by Gilmour-Cox Publishing at Smashwords

  CHAPTER 1

  “Help! I need help here!”

  Devon slammed through the hospital doors, shoving aside anyone in his way as he frantically searched for someone in the identifying white coat. Panic hammered through him as he nearly barreled over a man on crutches. Cassie’s head rested limply against his chest, her breathing had become shallow; the soft beat of her heart had slowed to alarming conditions.

  “Now!” he bellowed when no lab coats appeared. “I need help now!”

  A young man, in the much sought after white coat, appeared through another set of doors, his eyes widened as he took them both in. “What happened?” the doctor demanded, rushing forward.

  “An animal,” Devon lied smoothly. “Some kind of animal attacked her.”

  The doctor’s eyes narrowed sharply upon Cassie’s prone form. “We need a gurney over here!” the doctor commanded sharply.

  Devon clung tighter to Cassie, his hand digging into the golden silk of her hair as nurses and orderlies bustled about. The doctor and a nurse came at him, holding their arms out to take her from him. Possessiveness tore through him; he clung tighter to her, anger surging inexplicably forth as they tried to take her away. Though he did not understand it, he did not want to let go of her, and he did not want anyone else to touch her.

  “Give her over son,” the doctor commanded gruffly.

  Devon took a steadying breath as he tried to quell the unstable beast lurking just beneath his surface. The beast that was ready to kill in order to keep her safe, even if she was not in danger right now. Slowly, painfully, he managed to regain enough control, and reason, to hand Cassie over to the doctor and an orderly. His arms felt empty without her reassuring weight, his body instantly missed the physical connection between them. He kept his mind touching briefly along the edge of hers in order to keep himself reassured that she was still alive. It was only that connection to her that was keeping him even remotely sane, and reasonable, right now.

  The doctor eyed him wearily, his eyes scanning rapidly over the tear marks in his shirt, and the blood that marred it. “Are you injured?”

  “No,” Devon answered impatiently, barely glancing at the jagged wounds in his chest. The blood had already stopped flowing; the muscle had begun to knit itself closed once more. What had once been deep gashes appeared more like scratches now.

  The man’s eyes narrowed upon him before glancing briefly back at Cassie. “Did you two have a fight?”

  Devon bristled, rage flared through him as he took a step closer to the smaller man. “There was no fight, it was an animal, now save her,” he growled.

  Fear flashed across the doctor’s face as he took a small step back. “We’ll have to… ah we have to alert the police. Procedure, you know,” he stuttered out.

  Devon lifted an eyebrow, his gaze burrowing into the doctor’s. Using his ability, he thrust his mind forward, pushing it into the doctor’s. Exerting his power, he bent the man’s will to his own, altering his memories and forcing him to bow to Devon’s wishes. This was one of the abilities that he did not relish using, but it did come in handy once in awhile. The doctor’s hazel eyes glazed over, he nodded briefly before turning slowly away, his attention becoming focused upon Cassie once more. The doctor moved swiftly through the halls, heading in the direction that they were wheeling Cassie. Devon followed silently behind, moving like a wraith through the stark halls.

  They pushed her gurney into a bright room, where they hurried about, hooking her swiftly up to a bunch of beeping, whirring machines. The bright light of the room was harsh against his sensitive eyes; the stringently chemical smell abrasive. In the middle of all the harsh coldness of the sterile room, Cassie was a bright, warm beacon of light. Her golden hair, spread out like a fan around her, was the most vivid thing in the entire room.

  She was far paler than normal, her skin almost as white as the sheets she lay upon. The delicate blue veins in her neck, forehead, and around her eyes stood out sharply against her abnormally ashen skin. But even with her pallor, she was delicately beautiful, and completely perfect. His heart ached for her, ached to hold her, ached to save her from anymore pain as they stabbed her with needles, and poked and prodded at her. Anger shot swiftly through him, he reminded himself that they had to do this in order to save her life.

  He turned away when they cut her shirt off, her modesty forgotten in their rush to find the source of all the blood. He could not look upon her now. He hadn’t seen this much of her yet, and this was not the place for him to see it, especially when she had no choice in the matter. And he most certainly could not stand to watch these strangers taking in the beauty of her, he was afraid he would kill them if he did.

  “Where did all of this blood come from?” Though Devon had healed the life threatening injuries that had driven them here, there were still three small cuts in her neck. He had left them behind in order to satisfy some of the human’s curiosity, apparently not enough though.

  It took a moment for Devon to fully realize that the doctor was speaking to him. He focused his gaze upon him, studiously avoiding Cassie’s prone, half naked form. “The cuts on her neck.”

  The doctor frowned, his eyebrows drawing tightly together as he shook his head. “Those cuts aren’t deep enough, they’re superficial at best. I need to know the truth, if we are going to treat her I need to know where all of the blood came from.”

  Devon’s hands fisted as he took a step forward, pushing the smaller man back with his body. Drawing on his strong abilities, he opened his mind to everyone in the room, snagging hold of the edges of their thoughts as he drew them all in. The hustle of the room slowed to a stop as they turned toward him, their minds a blank slate for him to fill as he saw fit. “The blood loss is from the cuts on her neck, there are to be no more questions. She needs blood, now treat her,” he growled fiercely.

  He withdrew slowly from their minds, leaving them slightly dazed and glassy looking. They blinked in surprise, their minds snapping back into place as the normal hustle of their jobs seized them once more. Devon focused on the back wall, folding his hands tightly behind his back as he struggled not to look at her again.

  He wanted to reassure himself that she was alright, and he desperately wanted a glimpse at her body, but he would hate himself for taking advantage of her at such a time. Not when she was so vulnerable, and still on the verge of death. He focused his attention upon the room, listening to the bustle of the people, the beep of the machines, the soft commands and orders rapidly barked out and completed. He felt so useless, so helpless. It was taking all he had not to break something, not to rip it to shreds with his bare hands in order to ease some of his frustration.

  The power of her blood still coursed inside of him, humming through his veins, making him feel as if he could conquer the world. He had a strong ability for mind control, and bending people to his will, but sometimes it was depleting and exhausting. He was neither depleted, nor tired now. In fact, he felt far stronger, and more invigorated than he had ever felt. He could only imagine how a good dose of her blood would make him feel, instead of the few drops he had tasted.

  A shudder ran through him, the monster within him prickled. It coiled just beneath the surface like a rattlesnake ready to strike. He ground his jaw, his hands clenching tight as the humans hurried past him. They were as inconsequential as gnats to him. Gnats that he was trying hard not to swat down in order to ease his frustration.

  “Do you need some medical attention?”

  Devon blinked in surprise at a nurse. She was staring worriedly at him, her eyes wide upon his chest. “No.”

  Her eyes widened at his har
sh tone, but he could still sense her keen interest in him. An interest that had nothing to do with his need for medical attention. It was an interest that he wanted no part of right now. He stared hard at her until she took the hint and slunk slowly away, apparently deciding it was best to stay away from him. Devon risked a glance back, relieved to note that they had Cassie mostly covered now. The staff continued to hustle about, blood was brought forth, more needles were inserted, dials and knobs checked.

  Slowly, the room began to clear, medical personnel filed away. “Is she going to be ok?” he demanded harshly of the hassled looking doctor.

  The doctor nodded, taking off his cap as he ran his hands through his shaggy brown hair. “There was quite a bit of blood loss, but yes, she is young and healthy. I think she will be fine.”

  Devon nodded as the doctor swept past, swiftly leaving the room. Though the man had no recollection of what Devon had done to him, he was still very unnerved by Devon. And Devon didn’t blame him, humans were not stupid, at least not when it came to what they were instinctually afraid of. And the doctor was instinctually afraid of him.

  Devon moved slowly toward Cassie, his chest tightened with excitement at the thought of touching her once more. The machines beeped softly as her chest rose and fell with the gentle rhythm of her breath. The beat of her heart was stronger, a more solid thud in her delicate ribs. Devon slid his hand slowly into hers, relief filling him at the feel of her silken skin against his. He clasped lightly hold of it, noting the frailty of her slender bones. Though she was stronger than any human, she was still vulnerable to death, still mortal.

  The monster inside of him bristled at the thought. It rustled through him, a dark presence that wanted nothing more than to take that humanity from her, and keep her protected from her fragile mortality. His hand tightened briefly upon hers. Her bones could break so easily, snapping as if they were no more than brittle twigs. The mere thought of it was almost enough to send him into a rage.

  Grasping hold of her hand with both of his, he struggled to retain control of the pendulum of emotions swinging rapidly back and forth inside of him. He didn’t understand the possessive urge that drove him whenever he was near her. He had never experienced it before, and he had been around for a very long time. Seven hundred and fifty two years to be exact. He wanted her for his own, wanted to keep her and make her his, and he also wanted to take the frailty of her existence from her. As long as she remained mortal then there was a chance he could lose her. That was a chance he was unwilling to take.

  He knew what his possessive urges meant, knew what it signaled for the both of them, but he wasn’t ready to think about that. Was not ready to acknowledge the fact that this was not going to end well for them.

  Devon blinked in startled surprise, his head jerked away from her as loud voices filled the hospital hallway. He was shocked to realize that while he had been staring at Cassie his veins had begun to burn with fierce hunger, and his fangs had once again sharpened and lengthened. For a moment, he had almost lost control of himself. For a moment, he had been very close to biting her, draining her, changing her. And that was something that he could not do. Cassie was too good, to pure, to innocent and sweet to be condemned to a life of darkness and eternal thirst.

  He would protect her from that at all costs.

  Though it was a struggle, he slowly regained control of himself as he focused on the chaos ensuing outside of the room. Shouts echoed down the hall, bouncing off of the tiled floors and cement walls. Slapping feet, and the sound of another gurney being wheeled down the hall filled his ears.

  “Another animal attack!” a sharp voice barked. Questions bounced around the halls, loud voices demanding to be heard. Voices he recognized.

  He rested Cassie’s hand gently upon the bed, careful not to disturb any of the tubes hooked to her. He only made it two steps toward the door before Luther, Melissa, and Chris barged into the room. They froze for a moment, their eyes widening as their gazes darted between him and Cassie. Relief, disbelief, and confusion radiated from them.

  “You son of a bitch!” Chris exploded, charging across the room like a bull in a headlong rush at the red cape. His sapphire eyes were narrowed with fury, his broad shoulders set like a defenseman.

  Devon braced himself, planting his feet for Chris’s attack. Stepping swiftly to the side, he latched hold of the larger boy, his hand wrapping swiftly around Chris’s throat. Thrusting sideways, Devon pinned him sharply against the wall. Chris’s feet dangled a good foot off the ground as he struggled to break free of Devon’s hold. Chris choked, his hands clawing at Devon’s, his eyes bulging as he struggled to breathe.

  “You’re not big enough to mess with me!” Devon snarled, his hand tightening on Chris’s neck.

  “Wait, wait! Stop!” Melissa rushed over; grasping hold of Devon’s arm she tried uselessly to tug him free. “Let go of him!”

  Luther pushed his way in, shoving Melissa roughly aside as he knocked her hand free. Though Devon was prepared for Luther to try and pull him away, he was surprised when the man simply rested a hand lightly on Devon’s arm. His intense grey eyes met Devon’s head on. Devon had questioned Cassie’s strange relationship with Melissa’s adoptive father, but he now understood that Luther was her Guardian. That he was, in fact, all of their Guardians.

  Luther was the man that trained them, and helped guided them in their journey as Hunter’s. And that was the real reason Cassie spent such a vast amount of time at their house, why she had been distant and vague and oddly frightened in the dream that they had shared. He now understood her words from the dream lake. Now understood what she had meant when she had said, “Out there everything is hard. Out there, this cannot be.” For her, everything in the world was hard, he had wanted to keep her sheltered from the dark realities of his life, but at the time he had not realized that she was already fully inundated with the true cruelty of the world.

  “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.