Ashes

The power of her blood still coursed inside of him, humming 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 it was depleting and exhausting. He was neither depleted, nor tired now. In fact, he felt far stronger, and more invigorated than he had ever felt. He could only imagine how a good dose of her blood would make him feel, instead of the few drops he had tasted.

A shudder ran through him, the monster within him prickled. It coiled just beneath the surface like a rattlesnake ready to strike. He ground his jaw, his hands clenching tight as the humans hurried past him. They were as inconsequential as gnats to him. Gnats that he was trying hard not to swat down in order to ease his frustration.

“Do you need some medical attention?”

Devon blinked in surprise at a nurse. She was staring worriedly at him, her eyes wide upon his chest. “No.”

Her eyes widened at his harsh tone, but he could still sense her keen interest in him. An interest that had nothing to do with his need for medical attention. It was an interest that he wanted no part of right now. He stared hard at her until she took the hint and slunk slowly away, apparently deciding it was best to stay away from him. Devon risked a glance back, relieved to note that they had Cassie mostly covered now. The staff continued to hustle about, blood was brought forth, more needles were inserted, dials and knobs checked.

Slowly, the room began to clear, medical personnel filed away. “Is she going to be ok?” he demanded harshly of the hassled looking doctor.

The doctor nodded, taking off his cap as he 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, swiftly leaving the room. Though the man had no recollection of what Devon had done to him, he was still very unnerved by Devon. And Devon didn’t blame him, humans were not stupid, at least not when it came to what they were instinctually afraid of. And the doctor was instinctually afraid of him.

Devon moved slowly toward Cassie, his chest tightened with excitement at the thought of touching her once more. The machines beeped softly as her chest rose and fell with the gentle rhythm of her breath. The beat of her heart was stronger, a more solid thud in her delicate ribs. Devon slid his hand slowly into hers, relief filling him at the feel of her silken skin against his. He clasped lightly hold of it, noting the frailty of her slender bones. Though she was stronger than any human, she was still vulnerable to death, still mortal.

The monster inside of him bristled at the thought. It rustled through him, a dark presence that wanted nothing more than to take that humanity from her, and keep her protected from her fragile mortality. His hand tightened briefly upon hers. Her bones could break so easily, snapping as if they were no more than brittle twigs. The mere thought of it was almost enough to send him into a rage.

Grasping hold of her hand with both of his, he struggled to retain control of the pendulum of emotions swinging rapidly back and forth inside of him. He didn’t understand the possessive urge that drove him whenever he was near her. He had never experienced it before, and he had been around for a very long time. Seven hundred and fifty two years to be exact. He wanted her for his own, wanted to keep her and make her his, and he also wanted to take the frailty of her existence from her. As long as she remained mortal then there was a chance he could lose her. That was a chance he was unwilling to take.

He knew what his possessive urges meant, knew what it signaled for the both of them, but he wasn’t ready to think about that. Was not ready to acknowledge the fact that this was not going to end well for them.

Devon blinked in startled surprise, his head jerked away from her as loud voices filled the hospital hallway. He was shocked to realize that while he had been staring at Cassie his veins had begun to burn with fierce hunger, and his fangs had once again sharpened and lengthened. For a moment, he had almost lost control of himself. For a moment, he had been very close to biting her, draining her, changing her. And that was something that he could not do. Cassie was too good, to pure, to 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 a struggle, he slowly regained control of himself as he focused on the chaos ensuing outside of the room. Shouts echoed down the hall, bouncing off of the tiled floors and cement walls. Slapping feet, and the sound of another gurney being wheeled down the hall filled his ears.

“Another animal attack!” a sharp voice barked. Questions bounced around the halls, loud voices demanding to be heard. Voices he recognized.

He rested Cassie’s hand gently upon the bed, careful not to disturb any of the tubes hooked to her. He only made it two steps toward the door before Luther, Melissa, and Chris barged into the room. They froze for a moment, their eyes widening as their gazes darted between him and Cassie. Relief, disbelief, and confusion radiated from them.

“You son of a bitch!” Chris exploded, charging across the room like a bull in a headlong rush at the red cape. His sapphire eyes were narrowed with fury, his broad shoulders set like a defenseman.

Devon braced himself, planting his feet for Chris’s attack. Stepping swiftly to the side, he latched hold of the larger boy, his hand wrapping swiftly around Chris’s throat. Thrusting sideways, Devon pinned him sharply against the wall. Chris’s feet dangled a good foot off the ground as he struggled to break free of Devon’s hold. Chris choked, his hands clawing at Devon’s, his eyes bulging as he struggled to breathe.

“You’re not big enough to mess with me!” Devon snarled, his hand tightening on Chris’s neck.

“Wait, wait! Stop!” Melissa rushed over; grasping hold of Devon’s arm she tried uselessly to tug him free. “Let go of him!”

Luther pushed his way in, shoving Melissa roughly aside as he knocked her hand free. Though Devon was prepared for Luther to try and pull him away, he was surprised when the man simply rested a hand lightly on Devon’s arm. His intense grey eyes met Devon’s head on. Devon had questioned Cassie’s strange relationship with Melissa’s adoptive father, but he now understood that Luther was her Guardian. That he was, in fact, all of their Guardians.

Luther was the man that trained them, and helped guided them in their journey as Hunter’s. And that was the real reason Cassie spent such a vast amount of time at their house, why she had been distant and vague and oddly frightened in the dream that they had shared. He now understood her words from the dream lake. Now understood what she had meant when she had said, “Out there everything is hard. Out there, this cannot be.” For her, everything in the world was hard, he had wanted to keep her sheltered from the dark realities of his life, but at the time he had not realized that she was already fully inundated with the true cruelty of the world.