Devon was standing by the window when she woke early the next morning. The sky was still dark, but the stars had blinked out and the moon had disappeared. Though she didn't make a sound upon waking, he turned toward her. A smile played over his full mouth, but his eyes remained distant.

Frowning, Cassie tossed back her blankets and climbed to her feet. She was surprised to realize she'd fallen asleep with her clothes on. The hardwood was cool against her bare feet as she silently padded over to him. His arm wrapped around her waist, as he pulled her against his side.

"Anything out there?" She tried to sound carefree but failed miserably.

"Just a few early birds." He briefly nuzzled her hair before kissing her temple and straightened from her.

Cassie studied the early morning as it lightened to pink, and a few birds began to chirp. She could see nothing wrong with the morning or sense any evil out there. His muscles rippled beneath her touch as her fingers entangled in the soft cotton of his shirt.

They watched as the sun rose over the horizon and the sky flamed with a brilliant array of colors. It was one of the most serene moments of her life. The glow played over his magnificent face, highlighting the rugged planes of it and illuminating his stunning eyes.

His lips brushed briefly over hers. A firestorm of emotion crashed over her like waves on the sand before he pulled away. "I'll see you at school."

Cassie managed a quick nod, as he briefly kissed her again and reluctantly released her. With startling grace he grasped hold of the tree limb and rapidly swung himself down. Cassie watched in awe as he leapt from the tree, still ten feet from the ground, and landed on the ground effortlessly.

* * *

Devon put his car into park, and studied the students gathered by what had become his parking spot. They were mostly female, but there were a few boys who had followed the girls. Devon ignored them as he threw the door open and climbed out. He found Cassie instantly among the crowd; her aura was like a homing beacon he couldn't ignore. She radiated a life force that lit her from the inside out, caused her fair skin to glow and her exquisite eyes to gleam in the morning sun.

The tightness constricting his chest since he'd left her, relaxed. In all of his many years, he'd never felt this way about someone before. He understood Annabelle's unwavering devotion better now, understood he never could have been what she'd desired. Understood what it was to need someone as badly as Annabelle had needed Liam and it terrified him.

"Devon, I'm so glad you're here! I wanted to talk to you about your nomination." Marcy's pretty face lit with an eager smile as she stepped in front of him. Though she was as annoying as a gnat, he managed to offer her a smile in return. "I think you're going to win, and since there's a good possibility I’ll be queen, I think we should coordinate our outfits, or maybe go together."

He wasn't at all surprised by her brazenness, or that she wouldn't accept his refusal of her. He'd come across more than a few women like her in his long lifetime. "I don't think so Marcy." He moved to walk around her, but she sidestepped quickly.

"Well why not?" She planted her hands on her hips as her delicate brow furrowed angrily.

"Because I will be taking Cassie to the dance."

"After what happened yesterday?"

His brows knit together as he frowned at her. "What happened yesterday?"

"With Mark Young," she reminded him impatiently. "It was awful. I can't believe she led him on so badly. I always liked Cassandra, but I never realized what an awful person she is. I mean…"

"Enough!" he cut in harshly as he looked toward Cassie. Though she was well out of hearing range, she was frowning and her forehead was creased. He turned his attention back to Marcy as he struggled to control his annoyance at the girl. "Yesterday was not her fault, and I don't want to hear one bad word you have to say about her. Ever!"

He quickly moved around her. Cassie watched him warily as he approached, her smile had vanished. "What was that about?" Melissa nodded toward where Marcy still stood with her mouth agape.

"Nothing."

The last thing he wanted was for Cassie to know anything Marcy had said. Though Melissa didn't look appeased, she didn't press him farther. There was a bruised look in Cassie's eyes as she gazed at him. He glanced back at where Marcy stood, about fifty feet away. A group of girls had gathered around to console her. He could hear what they were saying, and didn't like it, there was no way Cassie could hear them above the noise of the other students or the radios. No human could.

She must have assumed they were talking about her. That had to be it, he decided. Otherwise, if she could hear them, then that would make her something… Well, it would make her something other than human.

Devon studied her carefully, trying to decipher the mystery she suddenly offered. She was most certainly not a vampire, he would have known that instantly, and she wouldn't be here. Not in broad daylight, and not with a bunch of high school students. He was the exception to the rule, on both counts, for the most part. He also would have smelled it on her, would have sensed it in her blood.

No, she was definitely not one of his kind. But then, what was she? She couldn't be a Hunter, he'd heard they'd all been killed off, and he suspected he would have sensed that in her too. But if she'd heard his conversation…

The thought trailed off in the face of her distress. He pulled her close in an attempt to ease her sorrow. She had to be human, that was all she could be. He was making far more of it then he should.

Glancing around the car, he was surprised to realize it was only Chris and Melissa standing with her. Usually there was a crowd gathered around, mostly males, causing a raucous as they humiliated themselves while vying for her attention. Today, there was an exaggerated berth around them as glances and whispers were cast Cassie's way. Even with him over here, the girls didn't approach.

"I have become a pariah," she said as she gave him a wan smile.

He glanced back at the crowds gathered together; he tried hard, but was unable to ignore the whispers directed her way. Somehow, what happened in the cafeteria yesterday had been twisted, and turned against her. He didn't know how it had happened, he wasn't entirely sure how the minds of teenagers worked, but somehow they had cast her into the role of villain, and they were keeping her there. He thought it was partly due to jealousy on behalf of the girls, and resentment on behalf of the boys, but he also knew he played a large role in it.

Due to what he was, he was like a Venus flytrap enticing its prey, moments before snagging it and draining the life from it. Though he didn't kill anymore, the powerful lure was unable to be turned off. His inherent magnetism had pulled in a good amount of the female population in town and caused resentment toward Cassie to fester.

The boys didn't like that she'd rebuked them all, disdaining their advances over and over, and then accepting his. Their pride had been bruised, their ego's bashed, and they were not happy about it. Though many of them had never liked him, they'd also turned on her now. He didn't care what they thought of him, but she didn't deserve their disdain and spite.

He fought the urge to take her from here and shelter her from the inane cruelty of the foolish human race, but he knew he couldn't do that. His life wasn't tied up in these people, and this school, but hers was. She had to live out this part of her life, had to fulfill her dreams and her hopes, and her future.

"Ridiculous," Chris muttered.

Devon glanced over at Chris as he pulled Cassie a step closer to his side. Chris's eyes seemed far older than they had yesterday as he met Devon's gaze over the top of the car. He didn't know what had happened to Chris between yesterday and today to cause such a change, but it had to be something worse than what was going on with the student body surrounding them now.

Cassie shrugged, her fingers curled into his back. "It's alright. Let them believe what they will."

Melissa bent into the car to grab her backpack. "They're a bunch of jealous idiots Cass."

Cassie bit into her bottom lip as she managed a brief nod. "Well, I didn't aspire to be homecoming queen anyway."

"We know."

Cassie and Melissa exchanged a small smile before Cassie turned to look up at him, with a teasing gleam in her eyes. "I won't make you coordinate, but you probably will win king."

Devon started in surprise and his hands tightened around her. He glanced back to where Marcy still stood and tuned his ears in order to hear what they were saying. He had to sort through all of the background noise before pinpointing the exact conversation. It took him only a second to do this, but no human ever could.

She could not have heard that conversation, it was impossible; it was only a coincidence she'd mocked Marcy's statement.

"Marcy always did want it though," Melissa said.

"Yeah," Chris agreed.

"Now she has it. Good for her, she'll do better with it than I would." Cassie uncurled her hand from his waistband as the bell echoed throughout the parking lot. "Time for school."

He gathered her books from the roof of the car and tucked them under his arm as he led her into the large brick building. Students stopped to watch and whisper as they passed. Melissa's shoulders were thrown back proudly as her dark eyes raked over the worst offenders. Many of them shrank from her scathing glare.

Cassie kept her chin thrust forward in defiance. She stared straight ahead, not bothering to look at anyone else. If it weren't for her death grip on his hand, he would have thought none of this affected her at all. But her constricting hold, and the small tremor he felt, told him she was upset by the cold hostility of her classmates.

It took all he had not to destroy every one of them.

* * *

Cassie walked woodenly through the cafeteria. She tried to ignore the whispers and comments following her, but most people weren't discreet. She knew every one of them intended for her to hear what they had to say, and none of it was good.

She'd been called every name in the book today, a few of which she'd never even heard of before. Titters and whispers preceded, and followed, everywhere she went. Though she tried to play it off as if it didn't bother her, inside she was a mass of raw nerve endings. She'd never been hated before and had never expected to be hated. Disliked, maybe, but not hated.

And she was hated. It beat against her in waves that made her stomach turn, and her body ache. She hadn't thought people could turn against someone so quickly. She didn't know what she'd done wrong, Mark had attacked her. She'd done nothing to merit this treatment, and because of that she was swinging between turbulent bouts of anger, and trying not to cry as she worked hard to keep up a nonchalant appearance.

Her hands trembled, and she had to take a calming breath in order to steady her tray. She was greatly relieved Chris was already at their table, which not surprisingly, was empty. Dropping her tray on the table, she slid into the seat beside him. His tray was loaded with mounds of food he hadn't touched yet, which was highly unusual for him.

"You look exhausted," he remarked.

"Rough day," she muttered as she shoved the tray away from her. She wasn't in the least bit hungry; other than habit she didn't know why she'd bothered to stand in line.

"And these are the people you want to stay and protect."

Her eyes widened at the cynicism in his voice. "Chris." The bleak look in his eyes was almost more than she could bear. "They need us," she finished lamely.

"And they're showing you that now."

"Chris, you wanted to stay too."

"That was before."

"Before what?"

"Before I saw into what is out there, before I saw into a soul of pure malice and deviance. Before all these people turned against you like a pack of hungry hyenas."

She was stunned breathless for a moment, and she found herself unable to move. "You think we should leave?" she managed to choke out.

His relentless gaze scanned the cafeteria one more time. Finally, his shoulders slumped as he shook his head. "No. I don't understand what is going on with everyone, but we have to protect them. I know, I'm just aggravated with these idiots." He turned back to her and clasped her hand. His action caused the buzz in the cafeteria to increase to a dull roar. "I also caught a glimpse of what that monster is out there Cass, and all it wants is to play with us, torture us, and then kill us. There is no stopping that kind of determination."

She could feel the fear running through him. What he'd seen last night had permeated his bones and seeped into his soul. She held his hand firmly as she tried to give him strength to ease the anguish he radiated.

"We can," she said more firmly than she actually felt. "Together, we can do anything Chris. We've survived so much, we can, we will, survive this."

"When did you become the optimistic one?" His smile was weak, but she saw an easing in his eyes that relaxed her.

"How many men is she going to have?"

Cassie turned at the nasty hiss and her gaze locked with Marcy's. Deliberately, defiantly, she lifted Chris's hand and squeezed it harder. She tried to control the anger humming through her body as she focused on Chris again.

"Sure you want to stick around?" Chris's eyebrows were raised inquisitively, and a teasing gleam reappeared in his sapphire eyes. No matter how awful this day had been for her, the gleam in his eyes made it all worth it.

"I'm sure," Cassie replied.

"Jerks," Melissa muttered as she slammed her tray on the table. "Bunch of idiotic, useless, jerks!"

Cassie and Chris grinned at each other before turning toward Melissa. Her jaw was clenched and her eyes spit black fire as she glared around the cafeteria. "Tell us how you really feel," Chris said and issued the first laugh Cassie had heard from him all day.

Cassie chuckled along with him and squeezed his hand. He was going to be all right, she believed that now. Whatever he'd experienced last night had rattled him greatly, but his spirit was too strong to be beaten down for long. Devon appeared behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders. She turned toward him as he bent over her and brushed a quick kiss against her cheek.

His eyes darted to the hand entwined with Chris's on top of the table. Cassie wasn't sure how Devon would handle her connection with Chris. He knew they were friends, but he probably didn't realize just how good of friends they were, or how strong the bond between them was. It was something he would have to get used to though, if he was going to be a part of her life.

"Trying to steal my girl?" His tone was far more jovial than Cassie had expected from him.

Chris grinned back at him as he shook back his shaggy blond hair. "No worries there, she's too much of a pain in the ass for my liking."

Cassie shot him a look as he released her hand. He grinned back at her before eagerly pulling his tray over to attack his tuna fish sandwich. Devon chuckled as he slid into the seat beside her and turned sideways to face her. A dull flush of excitement crept through her as he leaned toward her and his closeness caused her body to heat.

"How are you doing?" he asked as he massaged the back of her neck.

It took her a few moments to answer as the thump of her heart made speaking difficult. "Fine," she murmured.

She was surprised to realize that with Chris's smile, Melissa's unwavering loyalty, and his solid presence, she was fine. Nothing else mattered, not the cruel whispers, not the hatred, not even the monster lurking within their town. As long as she had these three standing beside her, she could survive anything.

She hoped.