"Don't!" Cassie dodged Devon's questing grasp as she jumped in between them. "Julian stop!" She placed her hand on his chest as she spun toward Devon. His eyes were also now a turbulent red as he sought to get her out of Julian's range again. "Stop Devon, it's fine."

She allowed him to seize her hand in order to try and calm him down. He tried to tug her away but Julian's fingers wrapped nimbly around her hand and pressed it against his chest. Cassie hated the torment she sensed in him as his ice blue eyes met hers. His fingers squeezed around hers before he reluctantly released her.

Cassie stared back at him helplessly as Devon tugged her away and enveloped her in a hug. "Stop doing that!" he whispered low in her ear.

Cassie shivered as she hugged him briefly. "I'm fine," she assured him.

He rested his lips against her neck as he struggled to regain complete control. Finally, he pressed a smooth kiss against her skin before pulling away. Cassie turned toward Julian, but his attention was now focused on Luther. "Are you certain of this Luther?" Julian's voice was raspy but calmer.

Though he tried not to, Cassie felt his eyes settle on her. She smiled at him feebly. She truly did love him, but she wasn't the person who could give him that happiness. Maybe, when they got out of this and Julian knew what he was going to do, he would find himself an amazing woman who made him feel the same way she felt for Devon. Hurt lingered in Julian's eyes, but then they sparked with their usual amusement, and he winked at her. Cassie grinned back at him, relieved to see her friend again.

"Yes, I'm sure. Every Guardian knew what the other Hunters were capable of. It was recorded into the books, and the Guardians were informed of them in case they ever required certain abilities from a Hunter. Especially Hunters with an ability like Derek's, which is powerful and very handy, as you know."

Julian's cocky grin was back in place as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Yes, I do, except for now."

"Can you make him tell us?" Cassie asked as she craned her neck to look up at Devon.

Julian's eyes gleamed as his fangs flashed. Cassie tensed as she glanced questioningly between the two of them. "He will fight it Cassie," Devon finally replied.

"So?"

"If he fights it, it will be painful. Very painful."

"Ok, that's not good, but…"

"If he fights it, and I still burrow in, he could go mad."

Cassie's heart flipped over in her chest. Go mad? Devon could actually drive him insane? Cassie shuddered at the thought and the sheer strength of his power. "But will you still be able to find out what we need to know?" Chris asked.

"Chris!" Cassie said in disapproval.

"It has to be done," Liam stated flatly.

Cassie searched for someone who would agree with her. Unfortunately, she seemed to be the only one finding something wrong with this scenario. "Devon…"

His jaw was set as he met her gaze. "We have to know, Cassie. Everything. I can make him tell us all of it."

"Even if it drives him crazy?" Annabelle inquired. Cassie was grateful for someone with a little reasoning. "Can you live with that Devon?"

"Yes."

Annabelle's strawberry curls bounced around her shoulders as she nodded. "Ok then."

"Devon…" Cassie started.

"We'll give him the choice to tell us, or not, but either way he will reveal what he knows. It will be his choice, if he survives it, or not."

"Survives it?" Cassie croaked.

"It won't kill him, but it won't leave him the same."

She hated the man for everything he had done to her, and to her friends, but she couldn't do this to him. "No, we are not these people! We are better than this. We are better than him!"

"The children Cassie," Melissa said softly. "We have to find those children before any more harm can come to them. Think of all they have lost so far; we must save their lives."

Pulling away from Devon, she straightened her shoulders and stormed back into the room where her father was tied. His head was bowed, but he lifted it as he heard her approach. She studied him carefully, trying to find something she could relate to in him, some spark of humanity, but she found none.

Why on earth did she feel bad about hurting him when he had no compunction over hurting her?

"We must know what you know," she told him crisply. He simply stared at her, his face emotionless, his eyes flat. "I know Julian is useless against you." His cruel mouth quirked in amusement. "But Devon's not."

The smile slipped from his face, and his eyes flitted behind her as the others filtered into the room. "I will fight it."

"He will destroy you if you do. You will either tell us, or you won't be the same afterward. Those are your only choices. You have until tomorrow to decide."

She turned away from him, suddenly needing to get as far from this monster as possible. Her skin itched, her heart beat rapidly in her chest as her impulse to escape became almost frantic. Devon came toward her. "Come on."

Taking hold of her hand he led her into the small side room. A ladder door had been pulled down into the middle of the room. She frowned at it; her gaze shot up the ladder to the dark space beyond. "What is that?"

"The attic. Luther found it while we were gone."

He stayed behind her as she climbed the rickety stairs. She stepped into the small attic space and took in the wooden beams running across the ceiling, and the old curtains covering the tiny windows. She wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to fight off the chill.

Devon appeared behind her and crouched down to avoid the beams. Cautiously moving forward, he was bent nearly double as he tugged a group of sleeping bags from behind a few old boxes. "I put these up here earlier. I thought you would like some time alone."

Tears of gratitude burned her eyes as he laid the sleeping bags out. She admired the play of shadows across his magnificent face and the glow in his emerald eyes. Her heart swelled with love and pride. He was hers and there was nothing she wouldn't do for him, nothing she wouldn't give him.

"They have already given me vampire blood, and I am no different than I was before."

He was taken aback by her words, but she could sense the spark of hunger that shot through him. "Cassie…"

"I want this Devon," she whispered.

"As do I," he groaned in a hoarse voice. "But there is no way of knowing what would happen if you were changed."

She hated he was right and she couldn't be with him completely right now. It had taken her a while to even decide she would join him. It seemed from the minute she had, everything had aligned against them ever being together completely. She refused to think it was some sort of omen, but it was difficult not to sometimes. She had to remind herself fate hadn’t aligned against them, but horrid men like the ones tied up below.

Taking a deep breath, Cassie decided to try another route, one that would give them both what they longed for. "Then don't change me, not yet anyway. Not until all of this is over, and I won't be needed for the battle as much…"

"Cassie!" he interrupted harshly. "This has nothing to do with the battle, and everything to do with my fear over what could happen to you."

"I know that, Devon," she assured him, hoping to ease some of the tension radiating from him. "But I would like to be with you forever, and once this is over I want you to change me, consequences be damned."

"Cassie…"

"But until then, I would just like to know what it is like to taste you, to have your blood inside of me."

His hands fisted so forcefully the corded muscles of his arms stood out starkly. She thought he would deny her again, that he would argue with her. Instead, he pulled the sleeping bag back and held his hand out as he beckoned welcomingly to her. Cassie's heart leapt into her throat; she didn't hesitate as she slipped her hand into his.

He helped her between the blankets before sliding in next to her and wrapping it snuggly around them. Cassie savored the strength of his body as he enveloped her. She could feel the excited hum of tension radiating from him as she rested her cheek on his chest.

He ran his hand over her hair and face as he caressed her. Their fingers slid over each others as they lay together, simply touching. After a while, she lifted her face to his and kissed him tenderly. She lost herself to the feel of his lips against hers. His hand slid through her hair as he deepened the kiss. Cassie's body hummed with excitement, her heart hammered in her chest as she opened her mouth to his invasion.

His tongue swept into her mouth in deep, penetrating thrusts that left her limp and trembling. Cassie gave herself over to his touch, smell, and taste. There was nothing as magnificent as he was; nothing as all consuming and needed.

He rolled her over and pressed her into the sleeping bag as he continued to touch and stroke her. Unlike the other times when things had become this passionate and intense she felt no panic, no sense of self-consciousness. She didn't think about the many women in his past, but only of him and everything he was to her, everything he would always be.

"Cassie," he breathed in her ear.

Her fingers curled into his back as tears of pure joy burned her eyes. His lips pulled back, his fangs brushed over her neck as he scraped them against her skin. Cassie shook in anticipation of what was to come. She gasped as he bit deep. Ecstasy filled her as he took nourishment and pleasure from her. He encompassed her completely as he filled her with the golden warmth of his unadulterated love and joy.

He pulled away from her, but didn't close the marks on her neck as he bit into his wrist. Cassie winced at the pain it must have caused him, but he showed not even a flicker of response. His eyes were ablaze with desperation as he lifted his wrist to her.

Cassie held his gaze as she grasped hold of his wrist and brought it to her mouth. She hesitated, it was blood after all, but the longing in his eyes drove her forward. He groaned when she bit down; his eyes closed in ecstasy as he pulled her against his chest. The blood was strange, metallic tasting and warm, but it wasn't unpleasant, and was surprisingly sweet. Cassie drifted on the contentment flowing through her as he filled her. She could stay like this forever, never changing a thing, never leaving the secure embrace of his arms.