Ashes

by Erica Stevens

  “And have you?”

  “No.”

  Cassie studied Devon’s hard profile. His jaw was clenched tight, a muscle jumped in his cheek as he stared hard at Chris. Though his tone was flat, his hand had tightened around hers as he sought comfort and forgiveness from her. Cassie stroked her thumb gently over his cool skin, trying hard to assure him of her unwavering love.

  “The sun,” Melissa said, obviously looking to change the tense subject. “How are you able to go out in the sun?”

  A small smile curved Devon’s lips, his eyes warmed with amusement. “Well, that took awhile. As my powers grew, I began to gradually expose myself to the suns deadly rays. Slowly, I was able to expose myself to more and more of it, building up a sort of immunity to it.”

  “How long did that take?”

  Devon shrugged, his tight grip on Cassie eased slightly. “I’ve been working on it for about three hundred years now. I still burn easily if I am exposed for too long, and it depletes my powers a little faster than I would like, but at least I’m able to be in it for periods of time without bursting into flames.”

  “Why would you take such a risk in the first place?” Cassie asked softly, horror filling her at the realization that he could have been killed.

  He glanced down at her, his smile slipping slightly. “In the beginning, simply to see if I could. I knew of one other vampire that had succeeded in being able to walk about in daylight, and I wasn’t about to be second best to anyone. But then I began to remember what it felt like to be in the sun, to feel the heat of it.” He shrugged again, his gaze darting to the far wall. “I missed it. I wanted it back.”

  “And it allowed for more hunting time,” Chris guessed.

  Devon’s face was impassive as he turned toward him, but tension hummed through his body once more. Cassie hated the conflict between them, but there was nothing that she could do about it right now. Chris would either come to accept Devon, or he wouldn’t. But eventually he would have to realize that they must get along, because Cassie wasn’t going to part with either one of them.

  She only hoped that it didn’t get to the point where they couldn’t be near each other. Chris was her rock, her best friend, without him she would have been lost long ago. But Devon was her heart, her soul. She would be nothing without him. Swallowing heavily, she shoved away her fear and worry. It had only been a few hours, she was sure that with more time Chris would come to see that Devon was not a monster. Chris would come to see that Devon was good, and that he would do anything to keep her safe, and protected.

  “Yes,” Devon answered.

  Cassie fought a shudder as she tried to block out the awful image of Devon killing innocent, unsuspecting people. She tried desperately to block out the murder and terror that he must have reigned down upon those innocents. That was not the Devon standing next to her now, she had to remember that. She did not know what had made him change, what had made him stop killing, but she did know that the man beside her now was kind, compassionate, and loving. He was not a killer anymore.

  Still, she could not shake the uneasiness that clung to her. “Can Julian go out in the sun?” she asked softly.

  “I don’t know, but I doubt it,” he answered slowly. “Julian has always relished in the darkness, and in the misery and pain of our existence. He would not relish the warmth of the sun’s rays.”

  “But it would expand his hunting time,” Chris said flatly.

  Devon simply nodded. Cassie shifted slightly, pulling the blanket off her lap. Devon glanced sharply down at her, taking a step forward in an attempt to stop her if she tried to rise. Cassie frowned fiercely at him as she shook her head. She had no intention of going anywhere, not yet anyway, the blanket was just hot and confining now. Besides, she was perfectly fine and she didn’t need him hovering over her like a mother hen.

  Cassie waved him off as she swung her legs to the floor, feeling better without the cloying blanket on her. She knew it was not the weight of the blanket that truly bothered her, but all the awful events and truths that had come out. Unfortunately, there was no easy way to throw them off.

  “Does Julian have the same powers as you?” Cassie inquired, fearful of the ability for mind control in Julian’s hands.

  Devon shook his head, his eyes troubled and dark. “He does not have mind control, but he does have Psychometry.”

  “Psycho what?” Cassie asked, not at all liking the sound of it.

  Devon stared silently down at her, displeasure radiating from him. “Psychometry, it’s the ability to learn about a person by touching them, or by touching an object that they have touched. He gets impressions from these things, he can tell what has happened in the past, and he can learn about you.”

  “Well that’s not so bad, at least it’s not mind control,” Chris said with a pointed look at Devon.

  Devon shook his head, ignoring Chris’s baiting. “No it’s not mind control, but Julian uses it to get inside a person’s head, to torture them, to taunt them. He can learn about you, your abilities, your families, whatever he wants to know about you. It’s fun for him to drive a person crazy with his knowledge of them, before killing them. He likes to see them break mentally first. It’s not mind control, but with the way that Julian uses it, it’s even worse.”

  Cassie’s mouth dropped, Chris inhaled sharply, and Luther cleaned his glasses off again. Melissa leaned heavily against the fireplace mantle, but her grandmother remained unmoving. “Wonderful,” Melissa moaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

  “Psycho, just psycho, that’s all I need to know about that ability,” Chris mumbled.

  The heartbeat in Cassie’s chest began to increase; the palms of her hands became sweaty. Cold terror crept through her. “He touched me,” she managed to croak out.

  Devon’s eyes were fierce, his hand hard on hers. “He won’t ever touch you again,” he vowed. “And he will never get close enough to use his knowledge against you.”

  “But he does have knowledge of me?”

  Though she could tell that he wanted to sugarcoat it, that he did not want to be brutally honest with her, in the end, he was. “Yes, but he didn’t touch you for long so he probably only had a brief glimpse into you.”

  Cassie blinked; it was the only reaction she could make. He knew about her. That monster knew about her! What did he know? What had he seen? Cassie’s fingers curled into the blanket, she was suddenly ice cold, but she knew the blanket would do little to warm her. Devon knelt beside her, gently nudging her chin up.

  “He won’t get near you again,” he promised softly.

  Though she managed a nod, she did not feel relieved. She had seen that thing, she had felt it’s evil. There was no stopping it, not until it was dead. And it was still very much alive. Inside she was as cold as a freezer.

  Sighing softly, Devon stroked her face gently before turning back to the others. “And what powers do you possess?” he inquired.

  Chris and Melissa exchanged a panicked look, apparently uncertain how much they wanted to reveal about themselves. “I speak to the dead.”

  It was the first time her grandmother had spoken since Cassie had been released from the hospital. Apparently where Chris and Melissa were still hesitant, she had decided to give her trust wholeheartedly. Cassie’s heart warmed, she knew how hard it was for her grandmother. She had lost so much to vampires over the past twenty years, and yet she was willing to trust Devon with one of her most intimate secrets.

  Her grandma’s sky blue eyes were clear and warm as they briefly met Cassie’s gaze. She sat casually in the recliner in the corner of the room, her small legs drawn up beneath her. Her strawberry hair had been pulled into a loose ponytail that fell to her shoulders in gentle waves. Though she was in her late fifties, she still looked as if she were in her thirties. Cassie hoped she looked that good at her grandmother’s age. Hell, she hoped she even made it to thirty, never mind her fifties.

  “A whisperer,” Devon said softly.

&nb
sp; Her grandmother’s mouth quirked in a small smile as she nodded. “Apparently you know a lot about our kind.”

  “Seven hundred years is a long time to learn things.”

  Her grandmother chuckled softly; her eyes twinkled as she nodded. “I suppose so. It puts us at a disadvantage though.”

  Devon was silent for a moment, pondering her words. “But you must know that The Hunter line and vampires share the same abilities. That is why I know a lot about them. Why many vampires know a lot about your abilities, and why you know a lot about our abilities.”

  “Some of us do,” Luther muttered, shooting a pointed look at Chris and Cassie, who looked quickly away. Cassie was not in the mood for another one of his lectures about their lack of knowledge, and unwillingness to learn more, about their ancestry and heritage.

  Devon looked questioningly at her. She defiantly met his gaze, her jaw clenching tightly. She did not want to discuss it right now. “The Slaughter,” Cassie said softly, her thoughts turning to the murderous rampage that had stolen her and Melissa’s parents, and Chris’s father from them. The vampire’s may not have known which Hunter’s possessed which abilities, but they had known the kinds of abilities that they would come up against. And they had been prepared for them, where as The Hunter’s had not been prepared for the sudden, violent onslaught.

  “I had no part in that, I swear. I was far removed from any of the inner circles, far out of the loop when that occurred. I wouldn’t have taken part even if I had known.” Cassie wanted to believe him. She found she did believe him. It was a strange realization considering everything that had transpired in the past twenty four hours, but though he had never told her what he really was- she’d never told him either- he’d never done anything to hurt her. He’d had many chances to kill her, to use her, to drain her, and he had never once taken that opportunity.

  “They will keep coming for you,” Devon continued. “Not only do they want The Hunter line extinguished, but also because your blood is very strong, very powerful. There is no greater rush than a Hunter’s blood. There is nothing more empowering and the effect of it lasts for years. It can be irresistible.”

  Cassie stared wide eyed at him, her hand slowly fluttered up to her neck. He had resisted it. He had tasted her blood and he had turned away from it. Was there something wrong with it? Cassie’s brow furrowed as the disturbing thought occurred to her. She had no special “gifts” like her family, Chris, and Melissa. Did that somehow make her blood less appealing?

  She didn’t know why that thought bothered her so much, she should be happy that she was not a magnet for vampires. But for some unfathomable reason, she was not happy. She was ashamed to admit that for once, she wanted to be special too. She had been denied “gifts”; she did not want to be denied this too. No matter how unreasonable her thoughts were, she could not shake them.

  “Well who brought Mr. Good News to the party?” Chris muttered, folding his arms over his chest as he scowled at the floor.

  Devon glanced back down at her, his forehead furrowed in worry, his eyes dark and stormy. Cassie frowned up at him, confused by his turbulent expression. “This is good; we have an insider’s view. He can help us,” Luther said softly.

  A muscle twitched in Devon’s jaw, hardness settled over his features. His fingers tightened briefly around hers. “Yes, but I think that the best thing for all of you is to leave…”

  “No!” Cassie cut in sharply.

  Devon continued speaking as if she had never said a word. “I can defeat Julian, but he’s brutal, and merciless. He’ll keep on coming, and I cannot be everywhere at once. If you leave, then I will protect the town, I will keep everyone safe…”

  “I’m not leaving you here!”

  “And I will meet up with you when I am done here.”

  Cassie opened her mouth to protest again, and then snapped it shut as she glared fiercely up at him. Luther and her grandmother were staring eagerly, practically salivating over his suggestion. It had been a fight to get the two of them to agree to let Cassie, Chris, and Melissa stay in town in the first place. Now Devon had given them the excuse they needed to rip the three of them out of there as quickly as they could.

  “We are not leaving,” Cassie grated through clenched teeth.

  “Cassie, you must listen to reason. Devon can protect this town better then the three of you, and we must keep you alive.”

  She turned her fierce glare on Luther, not wanting to hear anymore. “We are here to protect people…”

  “Which Devon can do.”

  Cassie launched angrily to her feet, the throw pillow that had been sitting in her lap fell loosely to the floor. Devon lurched toward her, for the first time not moving as effortlessly as a panther as she caught him off guard. She shook off his hand on her elbow, glaring fiercely at him as he reached for her again.

  “I’m fine!” she snapped before spinning on Luther. “What good is being a Hunter if we have to run all the time?”

  Luther glanced briefly at Devon, his grey eyes weary as they met Cassie’s once more. “Not all of the time Cassie, only when it’s prudent.”

  “Prudent?” she snorted. “Is that what all of our ancestors did, turn tail and run whenever things got hard?”

  “Well no, of course not. But there aren’t enough Hunter’s left that we can risk your lives. We must keep you safe, the line must continue on.”

  “Wait, wait, wait!” Melissa threw up her hand, taking an angry step forward as her onyx eyes blazed with fury. “So what you’re saying is that we must be kept alive in order to continue the line? It has nothing to do with us? We’re just needed for breeding!? What freaking century is this!?”

  Luther colored slightly, his glasses slid down his nose as he shook his head fiercely. “No, of course not! But you must understand how important it is that the line continues. How important it is that you are kept alive to kill other vampires. For there are others, it’s not just Julian. And although you cannot kill them all, you can get a lot. There are few left that are as powerful as Devon and Julian.”

  He glanced at Devon who nodded sharply in agreement. Devon’s gaze was still weary and disgruntled as he watched Cassie intently. She shot him a dark look, aggravated that he had given Luther and her grandmother the leverage they needed to remove the three of them from town. “And what if you can’t stop him?”

  Devon quirked an eyebrow; a flicker of amusement crossed his amazing features. “I can.”

  She didn’t appreciate his cocky, arrogant demeanor. A fact she let him know with a fierce look that caused his amusement to fade. “How do you know that for sure?”

  Devon’s eyes wandered over the room, doubt flickered across his features. He turned back to her, a steely resolve settling over his features. “I made Julian what he is, I can defeat him.”

  The silence that followed his confession was profound. A pin dropping would have resounded through the room. Cassie was the first to recover. “What do you mean made Julian what he is?” she asked sharply.

  His eyes were hard, distant as he swung toward her. He had already shut himself off in preparation for her turning against him. “Julian and I were once good friends, I helped to mold him into the vampire he is. He is nearly six hundred years old, we spent almost three hundred of those years traveling the world together, wreaking havoc wherever we went. I am the one that taught him the joy of the hunt, the torture, the mental anguish.” He paused for a moment, a muscle twitched in his cheek. “The pleasure that could be found in drawing out the kill.”

  Cassie’s legs went to rubber; she sat limply on the couch. It had been too long of a night. Clasping her hands before her, she bent her head, uncertain how to deal with the turbulent emotions tumbling through her. What kind of a monster had Devon been? What had he done to people? She shuddered, trying hard not to fall apart as her hands tightened.

  “I see,” Luther, the first to recover after the shocking revelation, whispered the words.

  Cassie lifted
her head slowly, trying hard to breathe through the constriction clenching at her chest. “Why?” Cassie mumbled.

  His eyes were rock hard as he met her gaze. “Because I could. What I am now is not what I was then. I cannot take it back. I cannot change my past, no matter how much I may want to.”

  She stared at him for a moment longer, her mind tripping over his words as she tried hard to assimilate everything he was telling her. There were many things that he could not change, she was beginning to realize. So many things. Cassie took a deep breath, trying hard to keep control of her wildly swinging emotions.

  “Alright, fine, you were once great friends: you think you can defeat him…”

  “I know I can.”

  Chris shot Devon an angry look, aggravated at being cut off. “But we are still not leaving.”

  “Chris…”

  “No Luther, we made the decision to stay, and we are sticking by it. Devon himself said that he could not be everywhere at once. He will need our help. If even one person dies because we left, then we would be responsible for that death. That is something that I cannot live with, and I’m sure that Cassie and Melissa can’t either. And I sure as hell hope that you can’t.”

  Luther gaped at him for a moment, his eyes wide behind his glasses. “No, of course not!” he declared angrily.

  “I don’t want you here.” Devon’s hands fisted as he stared hard at Cassie. “He’ll come for you the most.”

  Her eyebrows shot up, her mouth parted in surprise as confusion and fear surged up. “Why?”

  Sighing wearily, he ran a hand through his already disheveled black hair. “He’s smelled your blood; he’s already been denied what he wanted, when he wanted it. Plus, he knows that you are mine. He’ll want to destroy that.”

  Though she thought she should be offended by the “you are mine statement”, she was oddly thrilled by it. If any other boy had ever said that to her, she would have laughed in their face and walked away. But with Devon, she was his, completely, utterly, and for as long as she could have him. And as much as she was his, she hoped that he knew that he was also hers. Their bond could not be severed; it ran deeper than the Mariana Trench. She had never thought that something like this could exist. But it did, and it was permanent, right, and so very true and real.