Her frown deepened as she fidgeted even more with her sleeves and glanced away from them. "I don't understand."
"Neither do we," Julian said softly.
Devon shot him an angry look. She was confused and flustered enough without Julian adding to her troubles. Julian shrugged in response, but he appeared sheepish as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "How are you feeling?" Devon asked.
Cassie still didn't meet their eyes as she stared at the ceiling, the shelves, and finally the floor. "Fine."
"Are you hungry?"
She finally met his gaze. "Hungry?"
Julian glanced nervously at Devon. It almost seemed as if she had a concussion. He knew that the change could be dramatic, frightening, and more than a little disorienting but he didn't recall being like this. "Hungry Cassie,
hungry
," Julian prodded.
Her attention turned to the rows of coolers; her eyes absently searched their contents. "No, I'm not hungry."
"Not that kind of hunger Cass," Devon said kindly.
Her eyes shot back to his and then her gaze cleared and a small laugh escaped her. "Of course," she breathed. She shook her head as she grinned up at him. Devon's heart melted, for the first time since she'd been changed, he didn't feel alarm over what she'd become. Because standing before him now was Cassie,
his
Cassie the one he knew and loved so very much. "I'm an idiot. No, I'm not hungry."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm not a child either. I'm not hungry." Devon's skin prickled. Her shoulders slumped as she ran her hand through her tussled hair. "Sorry," she murmured. "I'm fine, please stop worrying about me. I'm fine right now."
Julian quirked an eyebrow as he exchanged a look with Devon. Devon was fairly certain that
Cassie
knew she wasn't fine, but for now she was holding it together and that was all they could ask for.
"This was what I wanted after all." Her gaze came back to him, and for the first time he didn't see any confusion or doubt in her gaze. She slipped her hand into his and smiled reassuringly. "I
wanted
this, and I said that I would deal with the consequences of it."
Devon savored in the feel of her silken skin. Her hand was cooler to the touch now, but it didn't fail to send heat through his body. "Consequences?" Julian asked.
"There are always consequences aren't there?" Cassie inquired.
"Well yes, but
what
are those consequences?"
She shook her head as her eyes became distant. "I don't know. Matthew saw different paths, different things..." She broke off; her hand squeezed his as a shudder tore through her. "I don't think he made it."
Devon shook his head as he pulled her closer a step. He'd searched for Matthew with Chris, but though they hadn't gone far he'd seen no sign of the mutilated Elder, not even a blood trail. "I don't think so either," he told her.
She frowned as sadness crept over her features. "It's probably for the best. He wasn't like them; he was broken, and so sad. He saw so many things I could become."
"What do you mean?" Devon asked quietly.
Her forehead furrowed as she shook her head. "It was awful, all of his visions, all of them. They filled my head and I saw what he has seen, I saw it
all
."
Her gaze slid past Julian. For the first time Devon realized that the others had crept closer to listen to what she had to say, to learn what it was that she had become. "You might as well come closer," she told them. "All of you should hear this."
"What
did you see?" Melissa inquired. "And does this mean that you have visions now?"
Melissa's onyx eyes were hopeful, but Cassie couldn't give her the answer she hoped for, simply because Cassie didn't entirely know what she was capable of. Not anymore. Instead, she avoided the question and hesitatingly told them what she'd seen when Matthew touched her. For the first part, she was able to look them in the eyes, but when she began to speak about the blood and horror she'd seen she couldn't hold their gazes.
She began to roll and unroll the sleeves of her shirt as she looked around the store. No one spoke, no one moved, but she could hear the increased pounding of their hearts. The rapid beat of their pulses triggered a strange response in her. At first she couldn't place it, didn't know what it was, and then she felt a strange tingling in her mouth.
Searching for an explanation, she ran her tongue over her teeth. She was startled to realize that her canines had elongated, the points of them were sharp and aching as she experimentally pressed her tongue against them. The tingling increased as her mouth began to water. Closing her eyes, she shuddered as she curled her fingers into her shirt and tried to shut out the sound of their pulsating hearts and flowing blood. Her hearing and eyesight had always been exceptional, but she'd never heard hearts and flowing blood like this before.
She turned away from them as she fought against the burning growing inside her. "Cassie?"
She waved Devon away when he took a step toward her. Shuddering, she clasped her hands as she grappled to retain control of herself. Perhaps she should have answered differently when Devon had asked her if she was hungry, perhaps she should have realized that she wasn't as stable and in control of herself as she'd thought. She didn't know how she felt about anything anymore, which way was up and which way was down. She most certainly didn't understand the strange new urges and sensations that were driving her.
She didn't even know what the hell she
was
anymore.
She took a deep breath, but panic filled her when she didn't feel her lungs expand with the reassuring rush of air filling them. She almost started to scream, almost completely unraveled then and there. She needed fresh air, needed to be outside, but she couldn't breathe, and she couldn't go outside.
The sun was her enemy now.
She began to shake as she fought back tears. Devon grasped hold of her arms and pulled her against him. He wrapped his hand around her head and pulled it into his shoulder as he held her. "It will pass, it will pass. Just relax love. It will be ok. Liam get me some blood."
Cassie couldn't stop the small moan that escaped her, her fingers dug into Devon's back. Her stomach twisted eagerly in response to the word and the image that it conjured. Devon pushed her back a step and turned on the light as he maneuvered her into the bathroom. She kept trying to breathe, she felt that if she could simply breathe she would feel better, but it was futile. Devon cradled her closer; he buried his head in her hair as he swayed her comfortingly back and forth.
A muffled knock on the door distracted him; he opened it and took something from someone. She listened as he closed the door again, a tearing sound filled the air, and then the sweet smell of something hit her. She knew what the smell was, knew what it meant as a rushing wave of thirst assailed her.
"It's necessary that you drink this." Cassie kept her eyes closed as she fought against the dread crushing her. "Cassie, please, it will make you feel better. You
have
to do this."
Tears burned her eyes. What was wrong with her? She had craved this and now that she had it she was acting like a child. A confused, frightened, child. "What's wrong with me?" she choked out.
Devon grasped hold of her chin and lifted her face to his. "Look at me."
Cassie steeled herself and opened her eyes. His beautiful emerald eyes filled her vision, his fingers stroked over her face as his gaze searched her. "It's the shock," he told her. "It's an awful shock, but you will survive this. I swear."
The tears slipped down her face as she was acutely reminded of the reason she had coveted this so badly. It was him. It would always
be
him! For him she could do anything, including drinking blood, including giving up the sun, including quite possibly becoming a monster.
He bent to kiss her tears away.
"I'll survive this," she promised.
He smiled tremulously as he bent to kiss her again. "Yes. Take this."
Her hand shook as he slipped the bag of blood into it. The tingling in her mouth increased, a small groan escaped her as she felt her canines spring free. She almost recoiled, almost threw the bag aside, but the twisting discomfort in her stomach and veins caused her hands to clamp down on it instead. "Devon," she groaned.
"It will make you feel better, more in control, and it will ease the pain."
Her hands shook as she lifted the bag. She stared at the blood, repulsed and ravenous all at once. The hunger won out over the revulsion as she seized hold of the bag and drained it in one greedy gulp. She thought that it would be awful, thought that she would hate it, but it was the most delicious thing she'd ever tasted.
Seeming to sense her thoughts, Devon tore open another bag and handed it to her. She drained seven more bags before finally beginning to feel more in control, more like herself. She shook off Devon as he tried to hand her another bag. "No, I'm good." She melded into his embrace as she sought solace in his loving arms. "Will it always be like this?"
"No, you will gain more control of yourself. You are still new, you're body is still adjusting and going through the transition. It takes a little while, but soon you will be able to control yourself better, soon you will recognize your hunger before the need gets out of control. You must remember that you are different too. You are the first Hunter to make this change, and you were brought through the transition by Elder blood and Hunter blood. No one has done that before, you're body is pulsing with a lot of power right now. I think that is why the sun burned you so quickly and badly. You have to take things slow and realize that it will not come to you overnight."
"Do you think that is why I can absorb powers too?"
Devon was thoughtful, his eyes distant. "I don't know Cass; it's a learning curve for all of us right now. But is that what you feel like you're doing, absorbing powers?"
Cassie thought over what it had been like, what she had known she could do, without ever having done it. From the moment she had felt Julian's power seep into her upon waking, giving her the knowledge of The Elders powers, and Devon's possession of two of them, she had known that she had become a sponge of sorts. It had been a rushing thrill unlike anything she'd ever known. Though she felt more in control of herself now, more rational and human, she knew that the power was still lingering beneath the surface, waiting to absorb more.
"Yes, I believe so. Somehow, touching a person gives me insight into what they are able to do. I absorb that power into myself along with the knowledge of how to use it. Absolute power..."
"No Cassie," he said as his hands clasped her face.
She took hold of his hands and pulled them away from her face to hold them before her. "I
know
what Matthew saw Devon. I saw it myself; I felt the truth of it inside of me. I don't know what is inside of me now, what could become of me, or how to control it." She lifted his hands before him and turned them over within her grasp. "I know how you use your ability, and I have it Devon. I could use it too."
"That doesn't mean that Matthew's vision will come true. You also saw a different version Cassie, a good one. I know you, I
know
what you are capable of, and it is not evil."
"Isn't it though? When I killed Isla it was pure hatred and rage that fueled me, that gave me the strength to do it. You think now, that I have something more inside of me, I am not capable of so much worse?"
"You may be capable of it, but you
are
also capable of so much good! It is
that
we have to focus on and strive for. We have thwarted visions before; Matthew's will be no different."
Cassie strived to believe his words, but she couldn't get the awful image of Matthew's visions out of her head.
***
"Stop doing that." Devon seized hold of Cassie's hand and tugged it away from the window as she stuck it into the beam of sun once more. Her skin sizzled, smoke rose from her, but she still frowned at him in annoyance. He hated the fact that she continued to torture herself this way. "Stop."
She turned her hand over in his and nodded. "It's just so weird," she murmured.
"Yes," Julian agreed.
She managed a wan smile for him as her eyes warmed. "Maybe one day..." her voice trailed off as she looked longingly back out the window. Then she shrugged absently before turning her attention to Devon and the others. "Or not."
"Will The Elders come back tonight?" Melissa asked.
Devon shook his head as he pulled Cassie further away from the window. "No, they will regroup and try to get control again. They just lost three powerful members, they're unsure of Cassie but Zane will seek revenge for those losses. They will come after us again, but not tonight, not until they're ready for us."
"How can you be sure?" Luther asked.
"I just am. Zane's not stupid, he wishes us dead, but he won't risk losing any more."
"What about the Halflings?" Chris asked.
"I don't know," Devon told him.
"There aren't many left, we can handle them. It's just a matter of finding them," Julian murmured. He placed a finger against his chin as he rocked back on his heels and studied the shadowed interior of the store. "I don't think they'll fall for a trap again, we are probably going to have to hunt them down."
"I don't know about you guys, but I would really like a shower. A real shower, instead of a sponge bath in a sink," Chris muttered.
"I have to agree," Annabelle said.
"The hotel..."
"No!" Melissa interrupted briskly. "I am
not
going back there!"
"Ok, ok," Luther soothed. "There are houses in this town."
"We don't know what's in
any
of them!"
"I'll look through them," Devon volunteered.
"Not by yourself," Cassie interjected.
"I'll go with him," Chris volunteered.
"Why don't we wait a little bit," Luther suggested.