Kindled (Book 3 The Kindred Series) (31 page)

   “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. W
e had assumed that they killed
off the other Hunters like her, but i
f 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, s
lamming it into the wall
with enough force to shatter the table and
plaster
.
They all
instinctively
ducked
as p
laster 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 quic
kly. 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 that Devon would cease to exist. And this Devon, the one before them now, wou
ld 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
firs
t
.

   Which Chris
thought w
as
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.”

   “T
hat 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
a
t
least
.

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

   “Onl
y so far,” Devon answered. “T
hey’ve taken her beyond
that
point
,
and it’s been so long…”

   Devon broke off, shuddering as a trace of humanity slipped through the fear and rage boiling inside of him.
Chris sensed his overwhelming pain, the terror that was
consuming
him.
W
ithout
Cassie,
Devon
would not survive, and yet
Chris sensed no fear for
Devon’
s own life,
or
his own su
rvival. He only cared about Cassie’s
.
For
a moment his eyes
turned
green
again
,
and
then th
e red shuddered back into place and the fury blasted against Chris once more.

   “There has got to be a way!” Melissa cried. “There has to be! We can follow her trail until Devon loses it
and
then we’ll just have to…”

   Melissa broke off, looking helplessly at Chris as tears slipped down her face. Chris understood her helplessness, her complete and utter lack of
power
. “Liam, what
ability
do
you have
?” Luther demanded.

   Hope spurted through Chris as he turned swiftly to Liam. They didn
’
t know what he was capable of, what ability he may possess that could be of use
to them
right now
.
Liam
shook his head; his gaze darted
briefly to Devon.
“
I can communicate with animals,
which does
us little good
in this situation.”

   Chris started in surprise, it seemed like a handy little gift to h
im. “Can’t we just talk to them;
won’t they be able to tell us where they
took her
?”

   Liam frowned, shaking back his brown hair. “They may be able to tell us for a little bit, but to find enough of them that ha
ve
seen something…”
   “Would ta
ke fa
r too long
,” Devon interrupted sharply. “We need something quicker and easier.”

   Devon emitted a low growl as he paced to the door and then back again. Chris stood silently, trying to piece everything together, trying hard not to let his panic
, and Devon’s emotions,
get the be
st
of him.
He needed to think, they had to figure something out before it was too late.

   “Julian,” he said softly.

   “What?” Melissa asked in surprise.

   “Julian,” Chris
rushed out,
hope blazing through him. “
Jul
i
a
n can find where she is. All we have to do is give him something of Dani’s
,
and
he will know
everything that she knew!
He can tell us where to find them!”

  
Stunned silence met his eager outburst.
“Why would he help us though?” Annabelle asked quietly.

   “Because we’re going to
make
him,” Devon grated out, his hands fisting, his eyes still the color of blood. “We need to gather some of Dani’s things
.”

   Before anyone could respond
D
e
von
turned and bounded
rapidly
up the stairs. Chris listened as he threw open doors before finally finding Dani’s room. “I’ll go help him
before he tears the place down
,” Liam said softly
, swiftly disappearing from the room
.

  
“What if this doesn’t work?” Melissa inquired.

  
“It has too,” Luther answered. “It’s all we have.”

   “Did Devon
run the whole way here?” Chris asked
, more to divert the conversation away from the doubt than out of
any
real curiosity
.

   Luther shook his head
. “He
got out of the vehicle
about thirty
miles back.
That’s probably where he picked up her scent.
”
   “If we don’t find her,
this
will
get ugly,” Annabelle whispered. “And I
’m fairly certain that
all of us together will
not
be enough to take him down.”

  
“No, we’re not,” Chris said softly.

   Melissa squeezed his arm gently, her dark eyes worried and lost as he met her gaze. “We’ll find her, I don’t care what it takes
we
will
find her.
Julian will help us.”

   Chris nodded, wanting desperately to believe her
, but unable to bury the doubts blazing through him
. He listened as Devon and Liam pounded back down the stairs. “Let’s
go,” Devon ordered briskly.

   “Wait, Devon.” Luther held up a hand, taking a step forward to intercept Devon before he could leave. “I think that we should split up. Liam and I should stay here; we should search for the animals. It may be a long shot, but it is one that we need to pursue.”

   Luther broke off, his unspoken words hanging heavily in the air.
If they could not find Julian, than Liam may be the only hope they had, no matter how small it was. Devon remained silent for a moment, his shoulders stiff with fury.
“Fine.”

   Annabelle looked about ready to protest as her eyes darted longingly toward Liam. Liam gave a brief shake of his head, halting her words. “It will be for the best,” he said softly. “Luther can drive while I search the forest, and
he can
find us places to stay during the day.”

   “It’s settled then, let’s
go
.”

   Before anyone
could say anything more, Devon stormed out of the house. “Liam,” Annabelle whispered.

   He shook his head;
he
reach
ed
out to seize her hand a
nd
squeeze it tight. “You must stay with him Annabelle
,
you may be one of the only people that can keep him calm,
that can reach him,
and I must go. We have to find her before he begins to
truly destroy things, and
people
. I will be fine, now go on.”

   Tears shimmered in Annabelle’s eyes as she stood on her toes to kiss him softly. Chris turned away, leaving them to enjoy their brief goodbye.
He followed silently out the door behind Melissa and Luther. Devon had already disappeared into the forest, leaving them to follow behind.

CHAPTER 1
5

  
Cassie
woke slowly, a soft moan escaping her. Her entire body ached; her mouth was
as
dry as a bone. She could hardly get her eyes open
,
and once she did
,
the light burned them so bad that she instantly clamped them shut again. Her
groggy
mind
struggled t
o process
what
little bits of information
she could pick up on
. She was lying on a bed, a small one, probably a
cot
. The sheets were cool, there was only one pillow.