Kindled

by Erica Stevens

  “Feel better?” Annabelle asked quietly.

  No, he felt like an idiot, he felt torn and tormented, and panicked. He felt like tearing this house down, then the woods, and then whatever else he could get his hands on, but none of that would do them any good. He took another deep breath, running his hand through his hair as he tried to steady himself.

  He didn’t understand where the full force of this panic and anger was coming from. Yes, he should be terrified, and worried, but this bad…

  His thoughts trailed off as realization dawned on him. It was not him that wanted to rip the house down, or the woods, or everything in his way. It was Devon. Devon was near and his emotions were so strong, and so forceful, that Chris was picking up on them, and being affected by them. He looked at Annabelle, dismay making his heart race even faster. His skin became flushed as a cold chill swept down his spine.

  “Devon’s almost here,” he said softly.

  Annabelle’s eyes widened in horror, her mouth parted slightly as she glanced swiftly to the window. “How bad is he?”

  “Bad,” Chris whispered, shuddering.

  Annabelle turned slowly back to him, her hands fisted slightly. “Chris, I think you should go somewhere else, at least until he calms down. He’s going to be on a rampage, and he’s not going to care who is in his way.”

  Chris gaped at her, aghast at the thought. “I’m not hiding,” he responded coldly.

  “It’s not hiding Chris, but he is not going to be controllable, and if you get in his way we may not be able to stop him. When a vampire’s mate is threatened, or lost to them, they do not think rationally. What is going to come through that door is not the Devon you know. What is going to come through that door will destroy anything that gets in between him and Cassie.”

  “Well we aren’t in between them,” Chris grated. “And I’m not leaving you alone with him.”

  “I am sure that Liam is with him. Maybe even the others still.”

  Chris tried to sort through Devon’s emotions to see if there were others with him, but it was impossible to tell beneath all of the fury and terror. Devon’s emotions threatened to bury him beneath their fierce, sucking tidal wave. He had thought that Devon’s misery and pain had been bad when Cassie had broken up with him, but this was far far worse. This bordered on the edge of insanity.

  “He’s going to kill us all,” Chris whispered, suddenly convinced of it. Devon was strong enough, and savage enough right now to destroy them, and not even bat an eyelash. He could kill hundreds of people before someone ever stopped him. If someone, other than Cassie, even could.

  Annabelle glanced fearfully at him, her delicate jaw set tight, her sea green eyes hard and determined. “As long as Cassie is still alive then we have a chance of reaching him. If she is dead, then there will be no stopping him. A vampire without their mate is as good as dead.”

  “She has to be alive,” Chris said softly. “She has to be.”

  “Do you know that for sure?”

  Chris shook his head; the only thing he knew for sure was that he was not ready to face the loss of his best friend, or the loss of his own life for that matter. “No, I don’t, but even,” he broke off, swallowing heavily. “Even if she is dead, I thought they didn’t complete the ritual. I mean Cassie is still human. They aren’t mates then, right?”

  Annabelle had made her way over to the window; she glanced sharply back at him as she studied the dark night. “He still recognizes her as his mate. He still acknowledges it as a fact; he still knows in his heart that she is his. He cannot live without her Chris.”

  “Will he know if she is still alive if the bond wasn’t completed?”

  “For our sakes, let’s hope so,” she whispered.

  “He’s here.”

  Annabelle stepped away from the window. The light of the moon and the television cast an eerie glow about the living room that did little to ease the tension, and chill, that had taken up residence inside him. Over Annabelle’s shoulder he could see a figure emerging from the woods, moving with so much speed that it was nearly a blur amongst the trees. Chris took an involuntary step back, trying to avoid the rage emanating from that blur.

  “Where’s Liam?” he whispered.

  “He’s not as fast as Devon.” Annabelle moved closer to Chris, stepping slightly in front of him.

  Footsteps sounded on the porch. Chris braced himself as the steps hesitated for a moment before stomping into the house. Devon’s fury pounded against him as he made his way slowly into the foyer, his silhouette appeared in the doorway. He held something in his hand; his head was bowed over it. For a single moment he fingered it gently before lifting his head to slowly look at them.

  Chris inhaled sharply as Devon’s blood red eyes narrowed upon them. Annabelle straightened her shoulders, but Chris could feel her fear. “Where is she?” Devon growled, his eyes flaring to the color of a glowing ruby.

  “Devon, you need to calm down,” Annabelle said softly.

  He took a step into the room. “Who took her?”

  “Devon…”

  “Who Annabelle!?” he bellowed so loudly that the windows shook.

  Annabelle jumped slightly, pushing Chris back as she moved away. “That is what we need to figure out,” she said softly. “But I believe it was The Commission.”

  Chris glanced sharply at her. He didn’t want to be associated with anything, or anyone, that may have had something to do with Cassie’s disappearance. Unfortunately The Commission was something that he could be associated with. Devon was irrational right now; he might very well blame Chris for Cassie’s disappearance. “How long ago?”

  “Devon look, we need to figure this out. If you could just calm down, we may be able to trace her location. Her blood is inside of you.” Chris glanced sharply at Annabelle, shock riveted him. Cassie had allowed Devon to feed from her? He didn’t know why he was so surprised; it made sense for them to want that connection after all. He just hadn’t suspected that it had happened already. “I know you have fed from her. I can smell it, and sense it, in the power radiating from you.

  “That power is also making you even more irrational now. You just need to calm down,” Annabelle continued softly, her tone conveyed a reasoning that didn’t appear to be reaching Devon.

  Another blur caught Chris’s attention moments before fresh footsteps hit the porch. Liam appeared behind Devon, his silver eyes instantly latched upon Annabelle. Though Chris had been afraid to move even an inch, Liam strode swiftly past Devon as he hurried to Annabelle’s side. Chris could sense their longing for each other, but they did not touch as Liam reached her side.

  “We, all of us, we can find her Devon,” Annabelle continued gently. “With all of our gifts…”

  “Before they hurt her?” Devon growled. “Can we find her before they hurt her?”

  Annabelle glanced sharply back at Chris, her eyes caring but fearful. “We can find her. If she is still alive, we can find her. And she is alive, right Devon?”

  Chris could read the truth in the softening of Devon’s features. Relief flowed through Chris; his shoulders slumped as joy suffused him. Cassie was alive. His best friend had not been lost, yet. There was still time to get her back. Hopefully before she was hurt too badly, or Devon went completely insane.

  Headlights filtered over the windows, tires crunched in the snow. Doors opened and slammed, running footsteps sounded over the driveway and then up the steps. Melissa and Luther burst through the door, skidding to a halt when Devon turned rage fueled eyes on them. Luther shoved Melissa back a step, Liam moved instinctively closer to them.

  “Devon please come in and sit down,” Annabelle coaxed. “Please.”

  Devon didn’t move. He remained standing like an opposing avenger sent straight from the depths of hell. Chris only prayed he would not turn that wrath upon them, though he still appeared very close to doing so. “No,” he growled. “Tell me what happened here.”

  Annabelle looked helplessly aroun
d. “At least let me turn on some lights. Let us get comfortable, so we can try to formulate a game plan.”

  Devon remained unmoving, his face hard, his eyes on fire. Annabelle moved slowly away, hedging toward the light switch by Devon. Liam bristled slightly beside Chris, but didn’t move to go after her as she neared Devon. The lights flared on, causing everyone to blink in surprise. “What happened?” Liam inquired, glancing around the living room.

  Chris slowly took in the room, noting the rope on the floor by the chair where he had been tied. He glanced at the bowl of soup he had eaten shortly before utter blackness had claimed him. A bowl of soup that Dani had made for him.

  “Dani happened,” he muttered in horror, Annabelle’s words completely sinking in for the first time. He hadn’t known what to make of her statement earlier, but now, with nausea twisting through his belly, he completely understood what she had been trying to say. “Dani did this.”

  “Yes,” Melissa said flatly. Disgust, anger, and frustration darkened her face. “Yes she did.”

  Chris frowned at her, sensing more behind her words. “You had a vision?”

  Melissa nodded briskly. “Too late though, they’re almost always too late!” she spat.

  “But what exactly did she do?” Chris demanded, his frustration getting the best of him. “I was playing the video game, and next thing I know I was waking up tied to a freaking chair! And why? Why did she do this?”

  “I think there was something in your soup,” Annabelle answered. “Some kind of drug, you were out cold when I got down here.”

  “And where were you?” Liam asked quietly, the tension in his voice belying his soft tone.

  Annabelle ducked her head slightly; her long lashes fell to cover her eyes. “Upstairs,” she admitted. “Dani came into my room, and we were talking. She was saying that she was scared, confused,” Annabelle’s delicate forehead furrowed as she tried to recall the conversation. “I remember giving her a hug, and then nothing. I was tied to my bed when I woke up, the hair on my arms still slightly singed.”

  “She electrocuted you,” Liam growled.

  Chris took a small step away from him, not liking the anger rapidly building inside him either. They already had one very pissed off vampire to deal with, they didn’t need another one. Annabelle nodded. “I believe so.”

  Liam let out a low growl. Annabelle went to him, taking hold of his hand as she turned toward Melissa. “What did your vision show you?”

  Melissa shot an anxious look at Devon, who was watching her intently, his eyes cold and furious. Chris was certain that Devon had already heard the answer to this, but was not going to stop her from the retelling. “Dani tasered Cassie. I saw her go down, and then four men came out to retrieve her.”

  Devon swore furiously, spinning on his heel he paced anxiously away. Melissa and Luther took that as their chance to slip by him and join the others in the living room. “The men?” Chris asked softly.

  “Were out in the daytime, they were human. I am almost positive they were part of The Commission.”

  Devon swore again, his pacing becoming more agitated. “Why would Dani do this?” Chris asked softly.

  “I don’t know,” Luther answered. “Maybe it has something to do with her brother, but I don’t know. We have no idea what happened to her, or what she did, before we met her.”

  “I know what will happen to her when I’m done with her,” Devon snarled, stopping in the doorway again.

  The hair on Chris’s arms stood on end. He had seen Devon out of control, wild. It had always been when Cassie was threatened, but this was… well this was different. Devon would destroy Dani; if he found her he would kill her. Chris wasn’t too fond of the girl at the moment either, but what Devon would do to her was something that he didn’t even want to imagine, or see.

  Then, suddenly, those malevolent red eyes were locked upon him, staring him down. “You didn’t sense anything from her?” Devon growled.

  Chris swallowed heavily. “No, nothing like this.”

  “What did you sense then?”

  Chris glanced quickly at Melissa and Luther; they were both watching him intently. “Fear, confusion,” he said slowly. “I sensed no betrayal in her, no animosity, nothing deceitful or mean.”

  They all stared hard at him for a moment. “How could you not?” Devon demanded.

  Chris took a deep breath, trying to puzzle that out for himself. “It’s stronger when I touch a person. I can always read their emotions and inner personality better that way. But now that I think about it, I haven’t touched Dani in a long time. I never questioned it at the time, never even thought about the fact that I haven’t, but now I realize that she must have stayed away from me on purpose. Also,” he broke off, worried about how Devon was going to react to his next words, but knowing that he had to continue.

  “Yours and Cassie’s emotions have been running so high lately that it’s been hard for anything else to get through. Especially here, Cassie was a jumbled mess of confusion, loneliness, and hurt while she was here. What I sensed from Dani was nothing compared to that.”

  Devon stared hard at him, a muscle jumped in his clenched jaw. For a brief moment Chris was afraid that Devon was going to fly across the room and rip his head off. Chris knew he was quite capable of doing it. Swallowing heavily, Chris took a small step back, knowing that it would do him little good. If Devon wanted to get a hold of him, he would.

  “I thought you could block out people’s emotions,” Melissa said quietly.

  Chris looked helplessly at her. “Not when they’re so strong like that,” he said softly. “Their emotions get through anyway, no matter how hard I try to block them out. And in all honesty, I trusted Dani; I never sensed any animosity or ill will from her before. I never thought to search her anytime recently; there was no reason to doubt her.”

  “Ok, so none of us saw this coming,” Annabelle interjected.

  “Until it was too late,” Melissa muttered in disgust.

  Chris reached out and squeezed her shoulder, sensing the self hatred that radiated from her. “We need to find out where they took her,” Luther said softly. “And why she’s still alive.”

  Chris inhaled sharply as he shot Luther a fierce warning look. He loved the man, but sometimes he could be completely obtuse. “What do you mean why she is still alive?” Devon growled his voice so low and dangerous that everyone took a small step back.

  Luther, realizing his mistake, cleared his throat nervously. Chris fervently hoped that he would change the subject, or at least think of some way to cover his words. Unfortunately, Luther didn’t possess those social skills. “They came for her because of what type of Hunter she is. We had assumed that they killed off the other Hunters like her, but if they took Cassie alive, then we may have been mistaken. They may have been doing something else with those Hunter’s, we just don’t know what.”

  Stunned silence followed his statement. Chris waited, breath held, for Devon’s reaction, which he was sure was going to be violent. He was not disappointed. A loud bellow ripped from Devon as he seized hold of the hall table near him. Lifting it, he swung it easily up, slamming it into the wall with enough force to shatter the table and plaster. They all instinctively ducked as plaster exploded in bits of white powder, and table pieces flew outward.

  Devon stood amongst the ruined debris, his shoulders heaving, his fists clenched so tight that the muscles and veins in his arms stood starkly out. Though he looked on the verge of tearing the whole place down, he did not move to destroy anything else. “Nice Luther,” Melissa said softly.

  He glanced sharply at her. “There is no sugarcoating this,” he replied. “We need to figure out what is going on, where she is, and we need to do it quickly. As long as she is alive, Devon will hold himself together.”

  Chris didn’t want to think about what would happen if Cassie did not stay alive. He had grown close to Devon, had started to consider him one of his good friends, but if Cassie died then t
hat Devon would cease to exist. And this Devon, the one before them now, would take over completely. The man would be destroyed as the demon inside surged forth to take control. Chris shuddered as he realized that there was a good possibility that he may lose two of his best friends very shortly. And that he may very well have to destroy one of them himself, if Devon didn’t destroy all of them first.

  Which Chris thought was highly more likely.

  “So let’s find her,” Liam said. “Devon can you track her through her blood?”

  Devon stood stiffly for a minute, his hands uncurling as he seemed to regain some control of himself. When he turned to them though, his eyes were still the color of rubies. “No. I picked her scent up again when we were miles away. It came here, and then it just stopped.”

  “That makes no sense,” Annabelle murmured, her forehead furrowed, her eyes distant and troubled.

  “He picked up the trail on what would have been their way out,” Liam explained. “Where he started is also where we lost her.”

  “That still shouldn’t happen,” Annabelle insisted. “I know where Liam is at all times, I could find him anywhere. You should be able to find her.”

  “Our bond isn’t complete Annabelle!” Devon snarled. “Cassie doesn’t have my blood in her, and although I have hers, the bond is not strong enough for me to follow her.”

  Chris glanced sharply at Luther and Melissa to see how they would react to his statement. Both of their faces remained impassive, but Melissa glanced quickly over at him and he could feel her surprise. She hadn’t known what had transpired between Devon and Cassie either. But he was fairly certain that Luther had, or he had suspected it at least.

  “But you can’t follow her blood?” Luther inquired quietly.

  “Only so far,” Devon answered. “They’ve taken her beyond that point, and it’s been so long…”