“I did not send Isla after your grandmother.”

Cassie frowned at him, her eyes narrowed slightly as he touched upon that awful subject. “Then how did she know who my grandmother was?” Cassie demanded her words slightly slurred due to her strange tongue.

Julian’s eyes burned into hers. “I may have known about your grandmother, and I may know many other things about you, but I can assure you that it was never your grandmother that I was after.”

When Cassie remained staring questioningly at him, he continued. “It was you.”

She glared at him, her hands dug into her legs in an attempt to keep herself awake. She was slightly unnerved by the fact that he knew things about her, but then she had known for a long time that he did. Just what exactly, and how much, did he know about her? “You told Isla about my grandmother though,” she growled.

Anger spurted through her when his mouth quirked in amusement. “No princess, I didn’t. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out about your grandmother, or you. Even Isla, who had many admirable attributes but not too much in the way of brains, was able to put two and two together.” Cassie’s scowl deepened at the mention of Isla’s attributes. “I told her to stay away from your grandmother.”

“Why would you do that?” she demanded.

He tilted his head to the side, studying her carefully. “I didn’t want to poke the bear, not yet anyway.”

Cassie blinked at him in stunned surprise. “Excuse me?”

“I wasn’t ready to disturb the hornet’s nest I sensed inside of you. But Isla didn’t care about my warnings, or heed them. She was too bent on trying to get her revenge.” His eyes drifted toward the glass behind her. “She paid for that.”

“Is that why you tried to keep Devon from getting to me that night, so that Isla could get what she deserved? Or me for that matter?” she accused fiercely, not believing what he was saying to her at all.

Julian sat back slightly on his heels. She could almost see the wheels turning in his brain, trying to decide what he did, or did not want to reveal. Finally, he shrugged and leaned forward again. “No, I intervened because I had to be certain, and no matter how much I had advised Isla against it, she did give me the opportunity I needed to observe you,” he said softly.

Cassie frowned, moving closer to the window as she strained to hear him better. The fog in her mind seemed to clear as she became riveted upon what he was saying. “Had to be certain of what?” she whispered.

“Of what you are, of course.”

Cassie’s mouth parted slightly, her hands slipped away from her pants. “What do you mean?”

“When I touched you that first time, I learned that you believed you have no powers.”

“I don’t have any powers,” she inserted sharply.

Julian’s eyes were hard when they met hers; the white band around the pupil momentarily grew larger. “Then how do you explain a single Hunter being able to take out a vampire that was nearly an Elder?”

Cassie bit on her bottom lip as she recalled the hatred and fury that had suffused her the night she had killed Isla. The awful feeling, and loss of control she had experienced, had been overwhelming. It had nearly buried her beneath the monster inside of her. Though, as much as she’d hated the feeling, and the pain that had accompanied it, she almost wished that she could bring that monster out now. Almost. It had been awful, and vicious, and nearly destroyed her. And no matter how much she hated their current situation, she hated the creature inside of her more.

“Whatever is inside of me, it’s not a power,” Cassie broke off, her gaze darted worriedly toward the mirror across from her once more. “It’s a curse. It’s a… it’s something awful,” she finished on a whisper.

“They will tell you that it is something awful,” Julian hissed. “But they created your race, so they created you.”

Cassie swallowed heavily as she shook her head. “I’m confused,” she breathed.

Julian heaved a large sigh. Turning, he rested his shoulder against the mirror, his head dropped to the glass. Cassie realized that whatever they were pumping into the rooms was having an effect on him too. “When I first met you, I wanted to hurt you, not because of what you are but because I wanted to hurt Devon. Though I am very certain your blood would be an amazing treat.” Cassie glared at him as he offered her a roguish grin that had probably melted many hearts in his long life. Despite herself, Cassie couldn’t hold her anger at him. She didn’t know if it was the drugs, or the bizarre fact that she almost liked this strange Julian. “It was a challenge to get to you, and I love a challenge.”

“I see,” she murmured.

“I am what I am.” He showed no remorse for the things he had done to her, and her friends, but then she had never expected any from him. It wasn’t in his nature to show regret. “But when I touched you and saw what was inside of you,” he shrugged. “You are a danger Cassie, to everyone around you, but you are also a force of power. I wanted to see how that power could be used, and what it was capable of. I knew you could beat Isla, if you unleashed that power…”

“And if I hadn’t?”

He shrugged again. “Then you would have been killed, but I had to see what would happen.” She knew she should be annoyed by his nonchalant attitude, but she couldn’t find it in herself to be. It was Julian after all, and although she didn’t really mind this Julian, he was what he was and there was no changing that. “And Devon had to see what you could be capable of. Though I think he suspected what was inside of you before that night.”

Cassie yawned again as she rested her head against the glass, dimly aware of the fact that their heads would have been touching if there was no glass between them. “Yes, he did. But why would you want him to know about it?”

Julian was silent for a moment and then he heaved a large sigh. “Because he had to know. If Isla couldn’t beat you, and there is a chance that I may not be able to take you, then he had to know that if he changed you, like I know he wanted too, then there was a good possibility that no one could beat you if it went wrong. That you could very well destroy us all, including your friends. And although it would have destroyed Devon to watch you become a monster, which would have made me very happy, I could not allow such a thing to happen. I enjoy my existence too much for something like that. I don’t need you scouring the earth trying to destroy us all.”

Cassie managed to shoot him another fierce glare, but there was no anger, no hatred in his gaze. Instead, there was an odd sense of compassion. Cassie shivered, disarmed and disoriented by this strange new Julian. “I may not become a monster,” she retorted.

“No, but there is no way to know that. And either way, you may still become more powerful than the rest of us.”

Cassie sighed softly, fighting against closing her eyes again. “These people must realize that,” she whispered. “So why wouldn’t they just destroy me?”

“I don’t know. Just as I don’t know why they are keeping me alive. What they plan on doing with the two of us is not something I want to contemplate. They’ve left me alone, but now that you’re here…”

Cassie lifted her head slowly as his voice trailed off. He was still awake however, his strange eyes distant as he stared at the far wall. “This is going to be awful.”

He focused on her again, his lids drooping slightly. The lazy look he gave her was sympathetic as well as hard. “I believe so.”

Cassie shuddered; she rapidly blinked back the tears that burned her eyes. “They’ll come for us if we go to sleep, won’t they?”

He hesitated for a moment, and she could tell that he wanted to sugarcoat it, but in the end he didn’t. “Yes.”

CHAPTER 16

“Where the hell could he be?” Devon snarled.

He was well aware of the fact that Chris took a swift step away from him; his eyes darted rapidly over the woods before finally settling on Devon again. “Devon, I don’t think he’s in this area anymore,” Annabelle said softly, nervously. “You haven’t been able to find him, Chris can’t sense him, and Melissa has had no premonitions. We need to come up with another plan.”

He rounded on her, his hands fisting as his nostrils flared. Anger and panic tore through him. He was such a wildly swinging pendulum of emotions lately that even he was surprised that he had not snapped. It had been three days; she had been missing for three days! Three days in which they could have done anything they wanted to her.

He shuddered, struggling hard not to lose his temper again. As he had yesterday. He tried not to think about the rampage he had gone on yesterday, the destruction he had done to the trees that had been in his way. If he had gotten his hands on something alive, he would have ripped it to shreds whether it had been animal or human. It had been a dangerous state to be in and he had been lucky that no one had been around him.

“What though?” he grated.

Annabelle stared helplessly back at him, her eyes watery and lost. Liam and Luther had made their way into Vermont, but they were not having much luck either. Though he had not said it, Devon knew that Liam feared the trail was growing cold. “I don’t know,” she whispered.

Devon nearly bellowed in rage as he slammed his fist into a large oak. The tree shuddered, its empty branches creaked loudly as it swayed slightly. He could feel the demon in him wanting to take over again, wanting to bury the man. He was greatly afraid that he was going to lose the battle shortly, and lose himself in the process. He couldn’t do that; if he did, he would never find Cassie. He would never be able to rescue her from whatever form of torture they had devised for her.

“What do we do?” he asked hopelessly, trying to regain control of his wildly unstable emotions. He had to find her, and he had to do so before he completely lost himself.

“We find another way, maybe there is another one like Julian out there,” Melissa said softly, her gaze wearily focused on the oak he had just punched.

“How do we find them?” Chris asked quietly.

“Luther will know,” Annabelle replied. “There may even be a Hunter out there that has Julian’s ability.”

“And we’re supposed to trust them to help us?” Chris retorted.

“Chris,” Melissa warned.

Chris shook his head at her, his eyes narrowed as he studied the night surrounding them. An owl hooted in the distance, its mournful sound set Devon’s teeth on edge. He paced restlessly away from the tree, tugging anxiously at his hair. He couldn’t take much more of this, his insides felt like something was clawing them to shreds, his skin was on fire, every muscle of his body was twisted and pain filled.

There was only one thing, one person, that could help to soothe the agony in him, and he had no idea where she was, or how to find her. He had sent her away to keep her safe, and instead he had put her right in the path of danger. He never should have left her side; he never should have let her out of his sight. This was his fault, and Cassie was the one paying for it.

When he found her, if he found her, he would never make that mistake again. He looked helplessly back at the rest of them, needing their help. He could no longer think straight, he needed them to do it for him. The owl hooted again. Melissa’s head snapped up, her gaze narrowed on the distant woods.

“Are you still unable to reach out with your mind?” Annabelle asked softly.

Devon shuddered, tugging at his hair. At one time he had always known where Cassie was, always been able to brush against her mind with his. Hell, he had even invaded her dream once before. But now, well now she was too far away. He was unable to locate her, unable to feel her, or find her. “The distance is too great, and I… I am…”

“Too unstable,” Annabelle finished when he could not.

Fresh anger spurted through him. Anger at her for her observation, anger at himself for not being able to control the beast inside of him better. “Yes,” he growled.

She sighed softly, pacing slowly amongst the trees as she tried to work things out. She appeared diminutive and sweet, but Annabelle had a spine of steel and a razor sharp mind. “I think we should join Liam and Luther. We may be able to help them; Melissa may even have a premonition. Hopefully,” she added softly. “And Chris may be able to sense something. Maybe if we all join together again we can find her, and if we get close enough to her, you may be able to connect with her again.”

Devon remained silent, staring intently at the three of them. Melissa and Annabelle stood proudly, defiantly. Chris looked completely lost and helpless. Devon felt his insides twist even more, agony surged through his gut. Fire burned his veins. It wasn’t much of a plan, they all knew that, but it was all they had left. He couldn’t admit defeat, because if he did it would be over for him, and for Cassie. He could quite possibly destroy every one of these people, his friends, if he didn’t find her. He would definitely find a way to destroy himself, even if it meant staying in the sun for days on end until his body could no longer take it, and he finally burned. Even if it meant staking himself.