Phoenix Rising (Book 5 The Kindred Series) (3 page)

CHAPTER 3

They remained unblinking as they stared at him. Chris was once again reminded of the fact that they were feral and savage as their eyes seemed to shimmer with a strange inner gleam. But even at their worst, they could never be as savage as that
thing
out there was. Chris shuddered at the word
thing
, but that was exactly what it was. Devon wasn't out there anymore; Chris couldn't sense his essence amongst the vengeance that consumed him.

"How bad?" Annabelle breathed.

Chris refused to look back outside; there was nothing there that he cared to see again. "He's trying to get to Robert, I think."

"Yes," Julian said. "Robert's all that he'll want now." Julian's attention was drawn back to Cassie as a series of convulsions rocked her off the floor. Chris's hands fisted at his sides, he hated feeling so impotent but he didn't know what to do to help either her or Devon. The force of her seizures was enough to shake the floor, and he was surprised when he didn't hear the cracking of her bones accompanying them.

She limply fell back to the floor, her hands uncurled at her sides. Her eyes began to move rapidly behind her eyelids as a small moan escaped her. For now she was calm, simply because it appeared that she had been broken beyond repair. A new concern boiled up inside of Chris as he stared at her unmoving form.

"Is she going to survive this?" he inquired.

"Yes," Julian said briskly. "We all went through this. Annabelle, you must go outside."

Annabelle gawked at him as her hands tightened on Cassie's legs. "You need my help in here."

He shook his head and gathered Cassie close as she began to stir again. "Annabelle, you have to get out there, and you have to stop him from killing Robert."

Annabelle recoiled as she sneered at him. "Why would I do
that
?"

Julian's eyes briefly flashed red as he leaned forward. "Because if he succeeds in killing Robert his mission will be completed. If he kills Robert, he will gladly hand himself over to the others to be destroyed. We can't let that happen, if it does then all of this is for naught." When Annabelle remained mute, Julian leaned forward. "
Cassie
will lose it after."

Annabelle paled visibly as she glanced toward Chris. Julian didn't say what they were all thinking, if Cassie snapped she may very well make the massacre that Devon was creating outside look like a picnic in comparison. "How do I stop him?" she breathed.

Chris shook his head, there was no answer for that question, he wasn't sure there would be any stopping Devon. Not now. Not with what was going on out there. "I don't know," Julian admitted. "But you
have
to Annabelle, somehow. You can't let them know what is going on in here."

Cassie bolted upright and her eyes flew open. Julian slammed his hand back over her mouth as she opened it to scream. He held her as she savagely fought against him. Her golden hair was a tangled mass that adhered to her sweat soaked face as convulsions seized her again. Chris took a step back as her suffering beat against him in pulsating waves. Julian grabbed hold of her arms as she tore at him and spilled more of his blood.

"Chris!" Julian barked.

Chris jumped into action. He rushed forward to take Annabelle's place by her feet. "Annabelle, go," Chris assured her as Cassie fought against him with an inhuman strength that surprised even him.

Annabelle remained frozen for a moment. "I'll do what I can," she promised.

"Do better than that!" Julian retorted.

Annoyance flashed across Annabelle's face but she leapt to her feet. Chris watched as she raced to the door with incredible speed and agility. "Close the door," Julian told him when it banged uselessly against the jam.

Chris was reluctant to release Cassie's flailing legs but he did as Julian ordered. Leaping back to his feet, he ran to the door. He didn't look back outside as he propped the chair against it again.

***

Annabelle's hand flew to her mouth as she took in the destruction that littered the ground around her. Though there were still a few Halflings left most of their bodies littered the ground around her. Bile rushed up her throat, the brutality and ferociousness of the atrocity around her left her shaken and stunned. She'd always known that there was a cruelty within Devon she had never witnessed before. She was witnessing it now, and it was far worse than anything she'd ever seen before.

He had not only destroyed a good chunk of the Halflings within this town, but he had ripped them to bits and left their remains scattered about. It looked as if a bomb had gone off, and that bomb was Devon. She tore her attention from the savagery as she instinctively sought out Liam amongst the dwindling crowd. She had to be reassured of his health and well being, at least for now.

His gaze met hers; his beautiful silvery eyes were filled with revulsion and disbelief. He'd been pushed to the other side of the hole that Robert had created yesterday during his first attempt at killing Cassie. Melissa, Luther, and Dani stood by his side looking just as distraught and disgusted as Liam. Though they appeared to be in no danger, not right now anyway, Annabelle knew that wouldn't last. Julian believed Devon would hand himself over to The Elders once he killed his brother, but Annabelle didn't think he would. Especially since she now understood that Chris had been right in his assessment. There was nothing left of the Devon they knew.

Devon was in the throes of a bloodlust so severe and destructive that attempting to stop him seemed futile. Even after he destroyed Robert, there was no way to know if Devon would stop, or if he even
could
stop. Not without Cassie, and there was no way to know if she would make the change in time to make any difference. No way to know if she would even come through the change with any resemblance to the person she had once been.

Devon tore the head off of one of the Halflings and used its body to ram another one that rushed at him. Annabelle winced and fell back a step as the thing broke in half. Devon was oblivious to the fact that his hair and clothes were caked with blood and his eyes were the same color. The Elders had fallen back beneath his savage advance, too astonished by it to react quite yet, but that wouldn't last much longer.

What could she
possibly
do to stop this?

Her gaze fell on Dani as the small girl peeped out from behind Luther.
Dani
!
Of
course
!

Annabelle raced across the ground and leapt over the hole in the pavement. Liam grasped hold of her arms in order to reassure himself that she was ok. Annabelle understood his desperate need to touch her, but unfortunately she didn't have time for it right now.

"Dani, I need you to zap them,
especially
Devon."

Dani shook her head. "Devon told me to wait; he told me that they would turn on us and to save it for when the Halflings were dead!"

Annabelle grabbed hold of her arms and pulled her away from Luther as she shoved her toward the hole in the pavement. "I don't care what Devon told you," she retorted. "That is not Devon out there, do you understand me?
I
am telling you that you have to zap him, you must stop him!"

"Why on earth would you want me to do that?" Dani yelled back. "Robert killed her Annabelle! He
killed
her!"

Annabelle ground her teeth as she tried to keep hold of her patience. Dani didn't know what she knew, but she wished the girl would just do what she said, while she still could. "I know, but if you don't do something to stop him, he will die also. If you don't stop him then we are
all
dead. The Elders will come for us when they are done with him!"

Dani's eyes flitted back to the battle scene. The Elders seemed to be recovering now; Adon and Zane had taken up positions and were standing their ground instead of falling back. Octavia, Elspet, and Anastasia stood behind them, their eyes narrowed as they watched Devon. Robert was still backing up, but Bernard had edged toward the side in an attempt to circle around behind Devon. Matthew remained unmoving in the shadows with a serene expression on his face.

Panic tore through Annabelle; they didn't have much time left. Bernard was getting closer, Zane looked furious, and Anastasia was basking in the emotions she was sucking into her. Emotions she would twist within her and use to build her strength and increase her speed.

"Do it!" Annabelle's harsh command caused Dani to jump in surprise.

"Are you crazy?" Luther demanded. "She can't take them down. Let Devon destroy them."

Annabelle shook her head at Luther as she nudged Dani forward. "He can't beat them all, no matter how crazed he is. He must be stopped Luther. He must!"

Luther gaped at her as Melissa took a step forward. Her onyx eyes were questioning as she studied Annabelle. Beneath her feet, Annabelle began to feel the pulse of electricity that marked Dani's absorption of the power of the earth into her body. She took a step away and braced herself for any back flash that might be directed their way.

Dani released her power on a burst that left even Annabelle staggered. The shockwave ripped out of Dani and knocked the group of Elders back a few feet. Devon was shoved to his knees, but he wasn't completely thrown off balance. His head swiveled toward them, his nostrils flared as his red gaze burned into them. Annabelle's chest clenched as she realized she had underestimated just how far gone Devon truly was.

She grabbed hold of Dani's arm and pulled the girl with her as she took a few hasty steps back. They had succeeded in drawing his attention away from The Elders, but unfortunately they had directed it right to themselves. If the force of his stare was any indication, he wouldn't think twice before ripping them limb from limb.

"Oh," Annabelle breathed. "Oh, no."

"What have you done?" Dani moaned. "What did you have
me
do!?"

Annabelle remained unmoving as Devon turned toward them. He was worse than any avenging demon from Hell, worse than any nightmare Annabelle had
ever
had. He was going to destroy them all, and for the first time she realized that even Cassie may not be able to connect with him right now. "Annabelle," Liam grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her back. "We need to go. Now! He
will
kill us."

Annabelle shook him off; she refused to believe that Devon was completely gone, and she wouldn't leave him here to fend for himself. "No, we will
not
abandon him."

Liam's kind eyes reflected sadness by her stubborn defiance, but he couldn't know that their only salvation lay inside the store. She had to believe that Cassie would be able to reach Devon, she had
to!

She could only hope that their salvation arrived before it was too late.

***

"Give me your arm."

"What?" Chris asked in surprise as he labored to keep Cassie's legs pinned beneath him.

"Give me your arm!" Julian commanded again.

Chris stared at him in disbelief, unsure he'd heard Julian right. Before he could answer though, Julian snatched hold of his arm with such speed that Chris barely saw him move. As quick as a snake, Julian bit into his wrist. Chris winced as a startled cry escaped him. "What are you doing!?" he demanded. Alarm tore through him as he tried, and failed, to rip his arm free of Julian's iron tight hold.

Julian gave him a look of disgust. "My blood calmed her before, and you know she'll require human blood to make the transition complete."

Chris continued to gawk at him, too aghast to move as Julian shoved his wrist into Cassie's mouth. He jumped in surprise as she bit deep. He opened his mouth to protest, but became immobile as Cassie's pleasure swamped him instantly.

He gaped at his friend, a person he had always relied on as she drank deeply from him. She wasn't a person, and never would be again. In fact, he didn't know what she was, or what she would become. Beneath her intense pleasure at the taste and feel of his blood, he could also sense a swirling well of power flowing through her and growing by the second. It was a power so intense that it robbed him of his breath, and any sense of reason.

Looking at her now he was acutely aware of the fact that she would never be
his
Cassie again. She was forever changed, and something else was rising up to take her place. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, but her struggles had ceased. She was peaceful now as she took from him something that he was willing to give.

Julian held her close and rocked her as he rested his head against her hair and whispered reassuringly to her. "Good Cassie, good," he murmured. "Take whatever you need."

Chris tried to object to that statement, he needed his blood too, but he couldn't seem to find his voice. He wouldn't deny Cassie what she needed, not if it helped her survive, but he was terrified that whatever was growing inside of her, whatever power was swelling through her wouldn't allow her to stop. He knew she could kill him but he still couldn't bring himself to separate from her.

Cassie released him suddenly and shoved his arm away from her body as her eyes flew open. Chris instinctively recoiled from her as her fiery red eyes blazed back at him. He'd seen the angry and ravenous eyes of a vampire many times before, but he'd never seen anything as shocking as Cassie's red eyes. There was no white to them anymore; her entire eye was completely red except for the black pupil right in the center.

Chris couldn't move; his muscles locked into place as he breathlessly waited for his best friend to spring forth and rip his throat out. He wouldn't be the least bit surprised if she did. She focused on him briefly before her head shot toward the window. He was surprised she could focus on anything with those devil eyes.

Shock had caused Julian's grip on her to ease and she easily broke free of his lazy hold. She leapt to her feet with the grace of a jungle cat. Chris stared after her as she bolted to the door and flung the chair aside to rip the door open. He remained frozen, numb with shock as Cassie escaped the store.