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  “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.

  “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.

  His hands clenched as terror tore through him. He had dealt with, and overcome many things in his long, event filled life. But he knew that he could not handle Cassie’s hatred, or condemnation. He needed her smile, her brightness. Now that he knew what it was like to have her light in his life, he could not bear to part with it. He could not go back to that world of loneliness and self hatred.

  He would not survive it again.

  “You also saved her life then,” he said softly, his gaze darting back to her grandmother as he tried to distract himself from his despairing thoughts.

  She studied him for a long moment, disbelief and curiosity flitting across her delicate features. “Yes, I kept her safe, hidden, protected. I kept her alive through The Slaughter.” Pain radiated from her bright eyes as she turned away from him, her hand tightening upon Cassie’s.

  “Thank you,” Devon said softly.

  She blinked at him in surprise, and then a small smile curled the corner of her full mouth. “You really care about my granddaughter, don’t you?” She sounded completely mystified; it was hard for her to compute that he, a vampire, could care about anything. Let alone that he could care about a Hunter, which was a realization that still mystified him. How could he have not known what Cassie was? What they all were?

  Love was truly blind, or at least the people in it were, he realized.

  The image of her standing at the side of that clearing, her eyes blazing with hurt and fury, her hand clenched tight around a stake was burned permanently into his mind. She had not been shocked to see him there, not as he had been to see her standing there. Though she seemed to have figured out what he was, he had not been able to put all of the pieces of the puzzle about her together until that moment.

  And the pieces of that puzzle were ones that he almost wished did not fit. The woman that he loved, and cherished, was also his sworn enemy. The woman that had brought him back to life had also been created specifically to end it. He still couldn’t quite understand it, and the twisted irony of it was not lost upon him.

  Devon met her inquisitive gaze, confusion and hope radiated from her. “Yes,” he admitted honestly. “More than I ever thought possible.”

  Her delicate forehead furrowed in confusion as she turned back to Cassie. “I don’t understand any of this,” she whispered.

  “We are not all monsters.”

  Her gaze darted quickly back to his, her eyes widening slightly as she studied him carefully for a long moment. “No, I suppose not. I’m just going to have to figure out how to process that shocking bit of information.”

  He nodded, his hand briefly stroking over Cassie’s arm, relishing in the feel of her satiny skin. She had been out for far longer than he liked. Turning, he moved away from her, stalking toward the door. Pacing back and forth, he tried to lose some of the restless energy clinging to him, even though he had not slept. He wanted her awake, and he needed to know what her reaction to him would be.

  Still acutely attuned to the beat of her heart, he felt when it picked up, when she stirred slightly. He froze instantly, his mouth going dry as he waited for his fate to be handed to him. She could not reject him, he would not survive that.

  She had to forgive him.

  Her grandmother rose swiftly, leaning eagerly over her granddaughter. “Cassie, Cassie can you hear me?”

  He could see her lids lift, but he was unable to see the bright color of her eyes. “Grandma?”

  The sound of her voice was the sweetest thing he had ever heard. “Yes dear, I’m here. It’s ok; you’re going to be just fine.”

  Cassie’s hand grasped hold of her grandmother as the woman bent over to give her a surprisingly fierce hug before pulling slightly away. “Devon? Where’s Devon?”

  Her grandmother glanced worriedly at him before taking a small step back. “Here, I’m right here.”

  He was surprised to find that he could barely get the words past the tight constriction in his chest and throat. He moved swiftly toward her, eager to see her again, eager to feel her again. Eager to know how she felt about him now. Stopping at her side, his body froze as her brilliant eyes clashed with his. The startling azure violet of them was bright and wounded, the pure amethyst flecks speckled throughout them shone in the harsh light of the room.

  “Devon,” she breathed, tears filling her eyes and spilling down her delicate cheeks.

  “Shh, don’t cry love.” Bending over her, he gently wiped the tears from her skin, relishing in the feel of her. “Don’t cry.”

  “I wanted to kill you,” she whispered, a sob shaking her fragile body. “I thought that you were that… that thing and I wanted to kill you.”

  This revelation did not surprise him. He had suspected as much. Though he felt that he should be angered, or feel betrayed by it, he was not. Their kind knew nothing about the vampire’s that did not feed on humans; they knew nothing about the ones that had shunned human blood. All she had known was that a monster was hunting her community, killing people, and somehow she had managed to figure out what he was. She had no way of knowing that he wasn’t a murderer anymore, though at one time he had been even worse than Julian. At one time her assumption about him would have been completely right.

  More tears spilled free, coming so fast that he could no longer keep up with wiping them away. Worry for her health seized him as sobs shook her. “Cassie…”

  “I wanted to kill you, and you saved my life.” Her face was filled with agony as she seized hold of his hand with surprising strength. “I should have known that you weren’t a monster, I should have trusted you. You would never do anything to hurt me. Please forgive me.”

  His body constricted with anguish. He had been worried that she would not forgive him, and instead she was pleading for his forgiveness. It was something that she would never have to do. There was nothing she could do to turn him against her, nothing she could do to make him stop loving her. Gathering her in his arms, he cradled her gently, relishing in the feel of her once more. “There is nothing to forgive Cassie. I was worried that you would not forgive me.”

  Her body trembled in his arms. “For what?” she mumbled.

  “For what I am.”

  A shudder rocked through her as she buried her face in his neck, her tears wetting his skin and shirt. “You are a wonderful man Devon.”

  His gut twisted as his grip on her tightened. That was the worst part about all of this, he was not a man, and at one time he had been a brutal monster. He did not know what he had done to deserve her, but he would spend the rest of his life doing everything he could to earn her unwavering love. His hand wrapped into her hair, gently easing through the tangles that marred its golden beauty. Holding her tight, he closed his eyes as she buried herself against him.
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  Never in his life had he felt anything as wonderful as she was, and he knew that nothing would ever compare to her. He cradled her for a long time, rocking her as her sobs and tears slowly subsided. She pulled slightly back from him, her eyes reddened from her tears but still breathtakingly beautiful. He wiped the tears gently from her wet cheeks, hating the sight of them. She deserved only happiness and light, not misery. Unfortunately, fate had cast them both into roles where darkness was their main reality.

  She stared at him with wide, wonder filled eyes. The tips of her long dark lashes were matted with tears; the ends of them shimmered with water. She searched his face, seeming to savor in every detail. He was unable to resist the tempting lure of her as he bent down and pressed a light kiss to her rosebud mouth.

  His skin heated, his body tightened as the feel of her burned into him. Hunger for her surged through him, but he kept it tightly under control, along with his fierce urge to deepen the kiss. Pulling reluctantly away, he stroked her face once more before turning to meet the newcomers in the room.

  Luther, Chris, and Melissa stood just inside the doorway. Chris’s mouth was slightly ajar, his sapphire eyes wide in shock. Luther’s face was an impassive mask while Melissa’s cheeks had colored and she looked slightly uncomfortable. Rising slowly from the bed, he kept hold of Cassie’s hand as he stood beside her. He had nearly lost her, he was not about to let her go anytime soon.

  Cassie abashedly wiped the remaining tears from her face, smiling shyly at them. “Hi guys.”

  Melissa was the first to recover her usual aplomb. “It’s so good to see you awake!”

  She moved swiftly forward, shooting Devon a confused look as she moved to Cassie’s grandmother’s side. She bent to hug Cassie quickly, careful of the wires and tubes that still ran from her. “It’s good to be awake.”