Kindled

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 that 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…”



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. Without Cassie, Devon would not survive, and yet Chris sensed no fear for Devon’s own life, or his own survival. He only cared about Cassie’s. For a moment his eyes turned green again, and then the 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 him. “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 have seen something…”



“Would take far 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 best 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. “Julian 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 Devon 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 reached out to seize her hand and 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 15