Julian burst into motion as Cassie bolted upright and knocked Chris back with her swinging fists. She opened her mouth to scream again, but he slid his hand over her mouth to cover the sounds. She shook her head vehemently as she fought to break free of his hold. She shrieked against his hand as she kicked and swung her arms against his hold. Wrapping his arm around her ribcage, Julian pulled her against his chest and held her firmly. Her slender body bucked against his, her fingers clawed at his hand as her body convulsed.

Blood spilled from the deep gashes she ripped into his arm, but he didn't care. It was the most exquisite thing he'd ever felt as it meant she was alive, or if not alive in the human sense, at least she was with them again. He was seized with the urge to cry as he held her against him. At one time he'd been concerned about what she might become; he couldn't seem to find that concern now. He didn't ever want to let her go, but she wasn't his to keep, she never had been. She was his to see through this though, and he was determined to make sure she survived.

"Annabelle!" he called.

Annabelle was frozen by the window, but his barked command propelled her into action as she raced across the store to them. "What is going on?" Chris demanded. His eyes were locked on Cassie as she continued to buck and convulse against him. Annabelle pinned Cassie’s legs to the ground as her cries increased in intensity. "Is this normal?"

"The change is agonizing," Annabelle whispered.

"But this painful?" Chris demanded.

Annabelle shook her head. "Chris this isn't a change that's ever been attempted before. She's a Hunter and its two Elders bringing her back."

"So the answer is no. That was all you had to say, just no."

"I don't know Chris!" she cried.

"She'll be fine." Julian grated through his teeth. Cassie's fingers curled around his arm and clenched down. Julian gritted his teeth as she thrashed against him. "She'll be fine."

Though it had been centuries ago, Julian clearly recalled the torture of his transition. The pain had cramped his muscles, twisted his insides into knots, and broken the bones in his lower back from the force of his spasms. Though it had only lasted for forty minutes, at the time it felt like an eternity.

He yearned to take this away from her, but he couldn’t do anything. Unfortunately all of them had to suffer through the torture of what was done to their bodies, and their insides, in order to gain immortality. She bucked again and continued to scream against his hand as her whole body arched off the floor. Chris recoiled as she flopped limply onto the ground.

The scent of her assailed him as Julian buried his face in her hair. It was such a mixture of himself and Devon within her that he could barely sense her own essence anymore. But then, there hadn't been much of her blood left within her after Robert's brutal assault.

"Please forgive me," he murmured against her ear as he cradled her. "Is there anything you can do?" he asked Annabelle.

She shook her head as she gripped Cassie's legs. "No, I can only heal physical wounds; I cannot take a person's internal pain from them."

Chris's head turned slowly away from them as he focused instead upon the window. His eyebrows drew together as he frowned. Leaping to his feet, he dodged the debris on the floor as he raced across the room. Cassie screamed against Julian's hand again as she twisted to the side. Her cheeks were florid, sweat poured down her face and coated her clothes. Chris skidded to a halt by the window and roughly pushed the curtain aside to gaze out at the road.

"I didn't realize Devon had given her so much blood," Annabelle murmured. Julian met her troubled gaze. "He has to know she's still alive, right?"

Is she? Julian wondered though he managed to keep the words to himself. This was a bad enough mess without adding his doubts to it. Cassie screamed again and kicked her legs with enough force to knock Annabelle's grip free from one. Annabelle winced and shook her hand before she seized hold of Cassie's leg again.

"He has to, right?" Annabelle demanded.

Julian adjusted Cassie and kept her pinned down as he bit into his wrist again. Fresh blood spurted into his mouth. Before she could attempt another scream he shoved his wrist into her mouth. "Julian!" Annabelle hissed disapprovingly.

"We have to make sure it's enough," he reminded her.

He knew Devon would be infuriated he’d shared his blood with Cassie, but they had to make sure she got through this transition, that she wasn't trapped in between. For a second there was no reaction from Cassie, and then she grabbed hold of his arm and bit down.

Julian started in surprise as fangs she'd never had before sank into his wrist. Fangs that never should have been present this early in the transition, but were. Just what would she become?

Matthew's vision of her had revealed a monster, a creature surrounded by blood and reveling in the destruction she rained down upon them, a creature that Cassie would never want to become.

He almost pulled his arm away from her, almost took the flow of life from her lips, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Matthew's vision terrified him, but he was more terrified of losing her. It was probably one of the most selfish things he'd ever done, but nothing was going to stop him. He had just found her; he'd just realized there was some humanity left in him and he could truly love someone else; he couldn't lose it all now. He just couldn't.

They would deal with the consequences of his actions later, no matter what those consequences might be. He just hoped he wasn't helping to create a monster that couldn't be destroyed. But if he didn't do this, it was likely Devon would destroy them all anyway, or Cassie would get caught in between and really become a monster.

Julian shoved that thought away. Visions had been proven wrong over and over again. They were only a glimpse of the future, not a guarantee, and he was determined Matthew's vision wouldn't come true. All that mattered right now was she survived the transition.

She drank with hungry, pulling gulps that left him shaken and lost. He struggled against the waves of pleasure surging up and trying to bury him beneath the endless joy filling him. He could sense her anguish and thirst, but more than that, he could sense the endless joy she took in consuming his blood, in having it fill and sate her.

Unable to stop it, a small moan of delight escaped him. It was the first time he had allowed his mind to open to another vampire during the blood exchange process. He was unable to let go of her, unable to break the precious connection between them, even if she'd already taken enough blood to ensure her safety through the transformation. An intense sense of possession began to build inside of him. Though she didn't belong to him, there would always be a connection between them and in those few seconds he chose to pretend he could keep her.

He would always love her, and it killed him she would never be with him, never be his. His fingers curled into her silken hair as he drifted into the ecstasy she emitted. He allowed himself to be lost to the woman who had claimed his heart.

He could keep her. His hands tightened in her hair; he closed his eyes as the thought flitted across his mind. Humans were vulnerable during the transition. He could seize hold of her mind and make her think it was him she loved, make her stay with him. He so desperately yearned to, yet he knew he never could. It wouldn't be real, and he loved her too much to abuse and manipulate her in such a way. He could keep her, but he would hate himself forever if he decided to do so.

"Julian! Julian!"

His eyes flew open; he blinked Annabelle into focus. "Julian stop! She has enough for the change. She is not yours!"

Anger and hurt tore through him as a small growl escaped him. He knew she wasn't his. It didn't mean he had to like it. Gradually he got enough control over himself to pull away from her. She moaned and her eyelids briefly flickered up to reveal the striking amethyst azure color of her eyes.

She still lived, even if she couldn't be his, she was still here with him. She wasn't dead as they had all feared. That was all that mattered, no matter what this change would do to her. No Hunter had ever been changed, and Cassie had already been an oddity amongst The Hunter race. She was volatile and extremely powerful as a human, as a vampire she could become something truly unstoppable.

He knew he couldn't keep the apprehension from his face as he met Annabelle's gaze. Cassie's cries and screams increased in intensity. He covered her mouth again in an attempt to keep her as silent as possible. No one outside of these walls could know she had survived; The Elders would try to destroy her if they did.

"It's essential we keep her quiet. They'll come in here if we don't," he told Annabelle.

Annabelle nodded; she held Cassie's legs more firmly to the ground as Julian tried to stifle her cries without harming her.

"We have a bigger problem."

Julian had completely forgotten about Chris. Now the boy's hushed words drew their attention to him. What could possibly be a bigger problem than this? Chris's eyes were as big as saucers; his face had taken on the hue of a corpse. A crushing sense of impending doom settled over Julian. He'd never seen the kid look like that before, and they'd been in some pretty crappy situations.

"What is it?" Annabelle whispered.

"Devon doesn't realize she's not dead, well not completely dead anyway."

Annabelle exchanged a confused look with Julian. "That makes no sense," she mumbled. "They’ve shared blood, Devon should know she's not truly dead."

"That may be so." The hoarse tone of Chris's voice scared Julian more than the terrified look in his eyes. "But as I told you before, that thing outside isn’t Devon."