"Help! I need help here!"

Devon slammed through the hospital doors, shoving aside anyone in his way as he searched for someone in the identifying white lab coat. Panic hammered through him as he nearly barreled over a man on crutches. Cassie's limp head rested against his chest, her breathing had become shallow; the beat of her heart had slowed to an alarming rate.

"Now!" he bellowed when no lab coats appeared. "I need help now!"

A young man, in the much sought after white coat, appeared through another set of doors. "What happened?" the doctor demanded.

"An animal," Devon lied smoothly. "Some kind of animal attacked her."

The doctor rapidly assessed Cassie's prone form. "Someone bring a gurney!"

Devon's hand dug into the golden silk of her hair as nurses and orderlies bustled about. The doctor and a nurse came at him with their arms out to take her. His need to keep her close to him was almost overwhelming.

"Give her to us son, let us take care of her" the doctor commanded gruffly.

Devon took a steadying breath as he tried to quell the unstable beast lurking just beneath his surface. Finally, he managed to regain enough control to hand Cassie off to those best prepared to help her survive. His arms felt empty without her reassuring weight; his body instantly missed the physical connection between them. His mind brushed along the edge of hers to keep himself reassured she was still alive. That connection to her was keeping him sane right now.

The doctor focused on the tear marks and blood on Devon's shirt. "Are you injured?"

"No." Devon barely glanced at the jagged gashes in his chest. The bleeding had already stopped and he could feel the muscle knitting itself back together.

The doctor's shrewd eyes assessed him. "Did you two have a fight?"

Devon bristled as he took a step closer to the smaller man. "There was no fight, it was an animal, now save her," he barked.

The doctor swallowed loudly as he took a small step back. "We'll have to… ah, we have to alert the police. Procedure, you know," he stuttered out.

Devon's gaze burrowed into the doctor's as he thrust his power forward, and pushed into the doctor's mind. Latching onto the man's will, he bent it to his own, as he altered memories and forced him to bow to what Devon required of him. This was one of his abilities that he didn't relish using, but it did come in handy. The doctor's hazel eyes glazed over, he nodded quickly before turning away to hurry after Cassie. Devon silently followed, moving like a wraith through the stark halls.

They pushed her gurney into a bright room, where they hooked her up to a bunch of beeping, whirring machines. The dazzling light of the room was harsh against his sensitive eyes; he found the stringent, chemical smell abrasive. In the middle of the sterile room, Cassie was a warm beacon. Her golden hair, spread out like a fan around her, was the most vivid thing in the entire room.

The delicate blue veins in her neck, forehead, and around her eyes stood out against her abnormally ashen skin. His heart ached to hold her and save her from anymore pain as they stabbed her with needles and poked and prodded her. His hands fisted as he reminded himself they had to do this in order to save her life.

He turned away when they started to cut her shirt off; her modesty was forgotten in their rush to find the source of all the blood. He hadn't seen this much of her yet, and this was not the time or place, especially when she had no choice in the matter.

"Where did all of this blood come from?" Though Devon's saliva had mainly healed the life threatening injuries she'd sustained, there were still three small cuts in her neck.

It took a second for Devon to realize the doctor was speaking to him. He focused his gaze upon him, studiously avoiding Cassie's prone, half naked form. "The cuts on her neck."

The doctor furrowed his brow as he shook his head. "Those cuts aren't deep enough, they're superficial at best. I need the truth; if we're going to treat her, I have to know where all of the blood came from."

Devon's hands fisted as he took a step forward and pushed the smaller man back with his body. Drawing on his strong abilities, he opened his mind to everyone in the room. Snagging hold of the edges of their thoughts, he drew them all in. The hustle of the room crept to a stop as they turned toward him, their minds a blank slate for him to fill as he saw fit. "The blood loss is from the cuts on her neck, there are to be no more questions, now treat her," he commanded.

He left them dazed and glassy eyed when he withdrew from their minds. They blinked in surprise as their minds snapped back into place and the urgency of their jobs seized them once more. Devon focused on the back wall, so he wouldn't look at her again. He listened to the bustle of the people, the beep of the machines, the orders barked out and obeyed. It was taking all he had not to break something in an effort to ease his frustration.

The power of her blood still hummed through his veins, making him feel as if he could conquer the world. He had a strong ability for mind control and bending people to his will, but sometimes using the ability left him depleted and exhausted. He was neither now. If this was what a few drops of her blood could do, he could only imagine how a good dose would make him feel.

A shudder ran through him, the monster within was coiled just beneath the surface like a rattlesnake ready to strike. He ground his jaw, his hands clenched as the humans hurried past him. They were as inconsequential as gnats to him, gnats he was trying not to swat in order to ease some of his frustration.

"Do you need medical attention?"

Devon blinked in surprise at the nurse staring at him with concern in her eyes. "No."

Her eyes widened at his harsh tone, but he sensed a keen interest in him that had nothing to do with his possible injuries. He relentlessly stared at her until she took the hint and slunk away. Devon risked a glance back, his shoulders slumped as he realized they had Cassie mostly covered now. Bags of blood were brought in, more needles were inserted, dials and knobs checked, but the chaos of the room was easing as medical personnel filed away.

"Is she going to be ok?" he demanded of the hassled looking doctor.

The doctor took off his cap and ran his hands through his shaggy brown hair. "There was quite a bit of blood loss, but yes, she is young and healthy. I think she will be fine."

Devon nodded as the doctor swept past. Though the man had no recollection of what Devon had done to him, he was still very unnerved by his presence. Humans weren't stupid, and the doctor was instinctually fearful of him.

Devon cautiously moved toward Cassie, his chest constricted and his mouth went dry at the thought of touching her once more. The machines beeped, her chest rose and fell with the rhythm of her breath. The beat of her heart was strong in his ears. Relief filled him as he slid his hand into hers. Her silken skin was a salve to his soul.

Though she was stronger than any human, she was still vulnerable to death, and she had nearly succumbed to it tonight.

Grasping her hand within both of his, he struggled to retain control of his raging emotions. In all his seven hundred and fifty-two years, he'd never experienced the protective compulsion that drove him when it came to her. He wanted to take the frailty of her existence from her and make her his.

He knew what his possessive impulses meant for the both of them, but he wasn't ready to acknowledge that this wasn't going to end well for either of them.

Devon's head jerked away from her as loud voices filled the hospital hallway. He was appalled to realize while he'd been staring at Cassie, his veins had begun to burn, and his sharp fangs had lengthened. He'd been very close to biting her, draining her, changing her, and that was something he couldn't do. Cassie was too innocent and sweet to be condemned to a life of darkness and eternal thirst.

He would protect her from that at all costs.

Though it was an effort, he focused on the chaos outside of the room. Shouts and slapping feet bounced off of the tiled floors and cement walls. "Another animal attack!" a voice barked.

Questions bounced around the halls, loud voices demanding to be heard. Voices he recognized.

He rested Cassie's hand carefully on the bed so as not to disturb any of the tubes hooked to her. He made it two steps toward the door before Luther, Melissa, and Chris barged into the room. They froze for a moment, as their gazes darted between him and Cassie.

"You son of a bitch!" Chris charged across the room like a bull in a headlong rush at the red cape.

Devon braced himself for Chris's attack. Stepping to the side, his hand lashed out and encircled Chris's throat. Thrusting sideways, Devon lifted him up as he pinned him against the wall. Chris's feet dangled a good foot off the ground; his hands clawed at Devon's, his eyes bulged as his face turned red.

"You're not big enough to mess with me!" Devon snarled.

"Wait, wait! Stop!" Melissa rushed over and grasped hold of Devon's arm as she uselessly tried to tug him free. "Let go of him!"

Luther knocked Melissa's hand free as he pushed his way in. Though Devon was prepared for Luther to try and pull him away, he was surprised when the man simply rested a hand on his arm. His intense gray eyes met Devon's head on. Devon had questioned Cassie's strange relationship with Melissa's adoptive father, but he realized now Luther was the Guardian of the three of them.

Luther was the man who trained them, and helped to guide them in their journey as Hunter's. He now understood Cassie's words from the dream lake when she'd said, "Out there everything is hard. Out there, this cannot be." He'd intended to keep her sheltered from the dark realities of his life, but he hadn't realized she was already fully immersed in them.

"There wasn't any time for camp once Luther and Melissa came." She'd told him in the dream. Now he realized she wasn't able to attend camp afterwards because she was not a human child.

Luther was the reason Cassie had fought him so vehemently when he'd first arrived. Devon couldn't find it within himself to be resentful toward Luther though, not when he'd helped to keep Cassie alive. He may have been too blinded by his infatuation with Cassie to recognize what Chris, Melissa, and Cassie were upon his arrival, but other vampire's would. Luther had helped to make sure they would be prepared for the monsters of the world, and able to defend themselves against them. Luther's training was the only thing that had saved her from Julian's attack.

"Cassie will be devastated if something happened to Chris. She would never forgive you Devon. Never," Luther said ardently.

Devon met Chris's bulging gaze once more. He'd actually grown to like Chris over the past couple of weeks, and the last thing he wanted was to hurt Cassie. Taking a step away from him, he released Chris with a small shove back. Chris stumbled a little before regaining his balance. He leveled Devon with a fierce glare as he rubbed his bruised throat, but he didn't attack again. Planting his body in between them and Cassie, he folded his arms firmly across his chest. He knew they wouldn't harm her, but he couldn't shake the insane compulsion to protect her from them.

Chris took another step toward him, but Luther grasped hold of his arm and held him in place. "What did you do to her?" Chris was shaking as his shoulders bunched beneath his shirt.

Devon glared at him, but to his credit, Chris didn't back down. "If I had done this to her, she wouldn't be here right now."

Chris tried to shake his arm free of Luther's grasp, but he wouldn't release him. "What does that mean?" Chris exploded.

Devon's arms fell back to his as he took a step closer to him. "It means I would have kept her for myself," Devon snarled.

"How is she?" Luther had apparently decided to ignore Devon's comment.

Devon's gaze returned to her pale, frail form. "The doctor said she will be fine."

Melissa began to cry. Devon blinked in surprise as the normally stoic girl burst into loud, heart wrenching sobs. Her tear filled eyes watched him warily as she hurried to the other side of the bed. "I was so scared," she whispered. "I thought she was dead, I thought we'd lost her. When I saw it…"

Her voice trailed off as tears choked her. "Saw it?" Devon inquired harshly. She'd seen something that could have prevented all this, and she'd done nothing to stop it?

Melissa didn't answer as she turned her full attention back to Cassie. "What is going on here?" Chris demanded. "He's a monster! We should be destroying him!"

"I'd like to see you try. You have never come up against the likes of me boy, you won't win this battle," Devon assured him.

Chris's eyes spit blue fury, but he didn't make another careless move toward Devon. Apparently he was a quick learner. "I think it's safe to say Devon isn’t one of the bad guys." Luther's eyes were curious behind his glasses as he tilted his head to the side.

"Is that possible?" Melissa asked as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"Anything is possible, I suppose," Luther replied. "Though I've never heard of it before."

Devon bristled under Luther's scrutiny, but he remained where he was, mainly because he wasn't going to release Cassie's hand again. "Who did this to her then?" Chris demanded.

Devon was unsure how much he should tell them, but the tension in the room wouldn't be diffused if he refused to tell them anything. "Julian did."

They exchanged confused looks before focusing on him again. "Who is Julian?" Luther asked.

He wasn't ready to get into a detailed explanation of that just yet. "He's a monster," Devon answered simply.

"That's the pot calling the kettle black," Chris retorted.

Devon's head shot up as his upper lip curled in a snarl. "You don't know what I am or what I'm not! But you keep pushing me and you will find out!" he spat.

For the first time a bolt of apprehension flashed through Chris's eyes. "This is not the place for this conversation. I'm sure Devon will give us some answers later, but Cassie will also require them. Now, let's just calm down. Fighting won't solve anything, and he did save her life," Luther reasoned.

Chris folded his arms over his chest, but wisely kept his mouth shut for a change. "Have you called her grandmother?" Devon inquired.

Luther shook his head, pushed his glasses up his nose and glanced apprehensively at Cassie. "No, we had to get Marcy to the hospital first, and in all honesty, we thought she was dead. That's something better told in person."

They all studied him like he was an odd bug they didn't understand. Devon didn't take offense to the fact they'd thought her dead. It was the nature of most of his kind to kill after all, and at one time he’d been the same way. If it hadn't been for Annabelle, he would still be a monster, destroying and killing whenever the mood struck him.

"How is Marcy?" he inquired.

"She'll be ok," Melissa answered as she wiped the remaining tears from her cheeks. "She's lost a lot of blood, but she'll survive."

"Yeah, now we have to figure out how we're going to explain all of this to her," Chris muttered.

"I'll take care of it."

Their gazes flew back to him. "How do you plan on doing that?" Chris demanded.

Devon was unwilling to divulge any of his secrets before they agreed to divulge some of theirs. Hunters possessed some of the same abilities vampires did, and he couldn't leave himself vulnerable to them.

"I have my ways," Devon murmured.

Chris's eyes narrowed, his lip twisted into a sneer, but he didn't push it further. "I saw you coming, but I didn't see you," Melissa whispered.

Devon's forehead furrowed as he turned back to her. She was studying him with a deep, penetrating stare that slightly unnerved him. "Excuse me?" he asked in confusion.

She blinked as she came out of her reverie and shook her head. Her raven hair fell forward to shield her pretty features as she turned back to Cassie. Luther rested his hand on Melissa's shoulder as he lifted the phone and punched in some numbers. Chris continued to watch him closely while he moved to Cassie's other side and rested his hand on her arm.

Devon fought the impulse to leap over the bed and knock Chris's hand away from her. Instead, somehow, he managed to keep control of himself. If he didn't keep himself tightly reigned in, someone could get injured, and that was something he couldn't allow to happen; especially not with Cassie's life hanging in the balance and her friends surrounding him. Friends who were trained to kill him.

He glanced back at Cassie's prone figure. If she survived this, would she hate him too? Would she also want him dead? A shiver raced through him at the thought. He wouldn't survive it if she condemned him and turned him away.

She held both of their destinies in her hands; he could only hope she didn't destroy his. Didn't destroy him. He returned Chris's glare with one of his own as he slid his hand back into hers. He required her warmth to keep him tethered and to soothe his riotously swaying emotions.

Pulling up a chair, he ignored the surprised looks Chris, Melissa, and Luther shot him as he sat next to her. He didn't care what they thought; he wasn't leaving her side until she was awake. He wasn't leaving her side unless she told him to.