Cassie dodged Zane's lunging grab and laughed tauntingly as he grunted in frustration. His cool demeanor slipped away as his face twisted into a sneer. Though Zane was quickly losing his patience, he was wise enough not to rush at her again.

He tilted his head to the side; his reddened eyes narrowed as he examined her. Cassie stared back at him, waiting to see what he was going to do, but Zane remained unmoving. "A fine addition," he murmured.

"I am no one's addition," she told him.

"We shall see."

A surprised shout snapped her head around as Julian lunged forward and propelled Bernard into the ground. Elspet and Octavia had joined the battle, but Anastasia remained as still as a statue amidst the fray. Matthew also stood to the side, his hands enfolded, and his brown eyes intent as he watched the battle. A strange, small smile twisted his full mouth. Cassie was unnerved by his strange behavior and calm demeanor in the midst of the battle.

Elspet and Octavia dodged past Julian and Bernard and honed in on Melissa, Chris, and Dani. Wrath boiled hotly through Cassie as Octavia used her ability of telekinesis to lift a large boulder off the ground and heave it at Luther. It slammed off of his shoulder and spun him around before he fell to the ground.

For a moment it felt as if the roots of her hair had caught on fire as molten lava surged through her body. She glared at Zane as her hands fisted at her sides. His amusement was back; his honey eyes twinkled as he studied her. "Oh yes, a fine addition."

She was taken aback as she heard herself issue a violent snarl. She knew what she'd become, but she wasn't used to the hunger and power coursing through her body. And there was so very much power now. She could feel it in every cell, every nerve ending, and every synapse still firing through her. She didn't know what her full capabilities were yet, but she knew they were numerous.

Zane blurred as he came back at her again, but this time he split himself into three separate versions of himself. Cassie let the anger and power fuel her as she ducked one copy of Zane and kicked out at the second. She had to discover the real version of Zane, but she'd lost him amongst the copies. She felt like a tourist trying to guess what shell the nut was under as two versions lunged at her. One's hand grabbed her by the hair and jerked her head brusquely back. She grabbed hold of his hands and used them to help lift herself as she kicked out at another Zane.

Power poured into her and warmed her from the tips of her toes to the top of her head. That had been the right Zane. An involuntary laugh escaped her. She clung to his hands as she closed her eyes and let her body absorb the fresh wave of energy washing through her. She didn't know what had happened to her during the change, but somehow she just knew she could do this.

Concentrating on Zane's knowledge of how to make his astral projection work, Cassie split herself to create two other versions. A small gasp escaped as she felt her atoms separating and reforming into duplicates of herself. It was an amazing feeling, and if she still had the ability to breathe, she would have been breathless.

Zane pulled her head further back, his finger trailed down the side of her neck as another version of herself tapped him upon the shoulder. He released her and took a staggering step back. A laugh escaped her as she knitted herself back into one whole person.

Zane took another staggering step away and roughly bumped into Anastasia. Though he tried to hide it, Cassie could see the apprehension in his eyes. "What are you?" he demanded.

Cassie tilted her head to the side as she eyed him. Good question, she didn't know what she was, but she knew she didn't like the look in his eyes. She briefly recalled what he'd said about her eyes as terror slid through her body. At heart she felt almost exactly the same, but what if something was fundamentally wrong with her?

Her fingers fluttered back to the corners of her eyes, but she couldn't feel any difference. She held her hands out before her as she turned them back and forth. They appeared no different either, but she knew somehow they were. They were no longer hands that only had the power to beat and maim and destroy. These hands held power, these hands could do things her mortal hands hadn't been able to do.

Her gaze flitted over the now stilled crowd. The fight had stopped at Zane's words, at the trepidation they felt from the strongest vampire amongst them. They all turned curious eyes upon her. Devon was still holding his brother's arm as he watched her. Cassie could only stare back at him with her hands held out before her, and her body thrumming with the current of power running through her now.

"What am I?" her words echoed Zane's, but it was all she could think to ask. The uncertainty in Devon's gaze caused her stomach to drop. He had to know, Devon had to know what had become of her. He had to know she wasn't a monster, because right now she wasn't so sure. "Devon?" she breathed.

"A Phoenix." Cassie turned as Matthew glided toward her from the shadows. "A Phoenix rising from the ashes." She numbly stared back at him as he stopped before her. "A Phoenix," he whispered again. "Rising up to destroy us all."

Cassie recoiled from the strange man. "No, I..."

Before she could react, Matthew grabbed hold of her hands. Her cells absorbed his ability as eagerly as a plant absorbed sunshine. She tried to jerk her hands away from him, but he refused to relinquish her. Cassie's hands clamped upon him as Matthew's previous premonitions slammed into her head.

She bowed beneath the force of the visions running so rapidly through her head that she could barely comprehend them. Her legs gave out and she fell to her knees. Tears filled her eyes as she saw herself as Matthew had seen her. A force unlike anything they had ever come across, and someone who could destroy them all. Someone who may lose control of everything she had awoken with.

Or she could become someone who could save them all and bring salvation to those in need, if she didn't become corrupted, if she didn't become a vessel for evil. If she could keep control of the baser urges that craved more power, more blood, more death. Urges she could feel slithering beneath her skin.

"Let her go!" Devon roared.

Cassie lifted her head when Devon arrived at their side. His fangs were fully extended and his eyes a brilliant red as he reached for Matthew. "No," Cassie managed to whisper. "Devon, no." Devon turned toward her, but he kept hold of Matthew's arm. "It's ok, Devon. It's ok."

Though Devon's hold had to be hurting him, Matthew showed no signs of it as he continued to watch Cassie. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely," Matthew murmured. "It will be your choice which path you take, but tread carefully child for the path is treacherous."

A muffled sob escaped Cassie. Matthew was right; she didn't know what would become of her, which vision of herself she would become. Whether she would become the monster that destroyed everything in its path, or the vampire that aided those in need of help. Everything was so uncertain, so unclear. The fact Matthew had received two separate visions about her told her just how thin the precipice she stood upon was.

"Do you understand what you are?" Matthew inquired.

Cassie swallowed heavily as her head bowed low again. She understood she was still an oddity. As a Hunter she'd been abnormal because she had possessed no powers. As a vampire she was peculiar because she possessed more power than any of them had ever seen, and at such a young age. Power she wasn't sure she could control, but knew she somehow must.

"No, but I will," she told him.

Matthew's hands squeezed hers as he bent low to her. His mouth brushed against her ear; he whispered so low she knew only she could hear him. "Savior."

Cassie lifted her head as a new vision swam into her head. This one didn't show her covered in blood, sadistic, and deadly. Nor did it show her amongst the lost children, surrounded by her friends and Devon. This one was more imminent. This one didn't come from Matthew, but swam out of her mind and took her over in the way she’d seen many visions take Melissa over.

"Move!" she breathed.

She roughly jerked Matthew forward. Devon, thrown off balance by her sharp tug, stumbled back as Robert and Zane lunged forward at the same time. Though she had pulled Matthew mostly out of the way, the knife Zane wielded still caught him in the back. Matthew fell forward and toppled onto her as his back was sliced open from shoulder to mid spine. Cassie watched in horror as Zane bore down upon Matthew, determined to kill one of his own entourage in an attempt to silence him. Cassie shoved Matthew aside and rolled out of the way seconds before Zane drove the knife into the pavement where they'd been standing. The knife slammed into the road so hard the blade shattered upon impact.

Zane's face twisted in fury, but he didn't come after Cassie again as he whirled away. Cassie lurched back to her feet. She was acutely aware it was Matthew's power running through her. It was a handy power to have, but it did little to help her against a group of Elder vampires who all had abilities that could physically manifest to destroy her.

Zane and Robert stood behind the giant hole Robert had created to try and kill her, before he'd actually stabbed her. Cassie glanced down at her shredded, blood stained shirt. Uneasiness twisted in her stomach, her hands instinctively drifted to the place where she'd been stabbed. The place where her blood had run swiftly from her and her life had been extinguished. The cut had healed, but she could clearly recall the feel of her life pouring from her and the distress that had engulfed her. She became consumed with what it had felt like to die.

"Cassie?"

She lifted her head and tried to blink Devon into focus as she fully realized she had died. She no longer breathed, could no longer feel her heart beating in her chest. Panic shot through her, terror consumed her, as she staggered backward. She nearly tripped over her own feet as strange noises escaped her.

"Cassie!" Devon grabbed hold of her as Zane and Robert charged at them. Devon enfolded her as he turned her away from them. But they didn't come back at the two of them, instead they blurred as they split off at the last second. Zane seized hold of Anastasia and dragged her with him for a few steps. She remained wooden in his grasp, her feet immobile and her face still blank as Devon kept control of her mind. Zane grimaced as he released her and fled into the woods with his minions. Anastasia remained at the edge of the woods, staring blankly into the forest.

"What? Why?" Cassie panted as The Elders disappeared amongst the trees. Cassie was baffled by their sudden retreat, they might not understand what she was, but the odds were still in their favor, still on their side. "Dev..."

She didn't get his name out of her mouth before a burning pain shredded her back. A scream boiled up her throat, but came out only as an awful gurgling noise that barely escaped her. It felt like her skin was being seared off her back. Her legs gave out; the smell of smoke hit her at the same time a scream finally tore from her.

Devon cursed loudly, and swung her easily into his arms as he began to run. Cassie slumped against him, too engulfed in agony to attempt to escape from it. Devon ate up the ground toward the store in rapid strides that barely jostled her. Over Devon's shoulder she spotted Matthew unsteadily climbing back to his feet. His back was flayed open and blood covered him. He staggered toward the woods and fell over again. She attempted to shout at him to run, but the words choked in her throat as he crawled out of sight.

A loud wail filled the air. Over Devon's shoulder she spotted Anastasia still standing by the woods as the first rays of the sun hit her. Though she continued to scream, she didn't move as the sun turned her body to ash.

Cassie's head tipped back against Devon's shoulder as coolness suddenly embraced her. She was immediately enveloped by dismay and grief as she realized the awful torment she'd felt on her back had come from the rays of the sun.