“Are you Cassandra Fairmont?” the woman inquired, probably for the third or fourth time.
A pounding on the stairs momentarily drew all of their attention. Dani froze three feet from the bottom, her mouth parted as her gold streaked hazel eyes widened in horror. Her eyes darted wildly to Cassie, then around the house. Tears spilled down her cheeks instantly, swiftly rolling down to drop unheeded from her chin.
Cassie shuddered, cold swept through her veins, turning her entire body to ice. She was certain she would never be warm again, never feel anything again. Swallowing heavily, she turned back to the two police officers on her doorstep. Devon appeared behind them, his shoulders stiff, and his emerald eyes shining brightly in the morning light.
The presence of the officers must have stopped him from leaving. He would not leave her if he thought she might be in danger, or hurt. Though his black hair was still a tumbled mess, he was the most handsome man she had ever seen. For a brief moment, feeling returned to her numbed limbs, but it was swiftly doused by the tidal wave of pain surging through her. She couldn’t look at him anymore, she couldn’t bear to.
“Yes, I am,” she said stiffly, her voice choked and harsh.
The woman nodded slightly, her hands clenched tighter upon the hat she held before her. “May we come in?”
Cassie didn’t move. She looked up at the clear blue sky, a sky that was completely out of place right now. It should be gray, stormy, with no hope radiating from its rolling dark clouds. The birds should not be singing. Nothing should be happy today, everything should stop. The world simply just needed to stop spinning so she could curl up in a ball somewhere and shut out everything around her. How could she be in this much pain and nothing around her was stopping to acknowledge it?
“How?” she managed to croak out through her numbed, raw throat.
“Excuse me?” the woman inquired in surprise.
Cassie’s focus sharpened on her, her eyes narrowed as a wash of molten lava began to fill her, swiftly burying the pain that entrenched her body. “How did she die?” she grated, the hand clenching on the door handle nearly ripped it free.
The officers exchanged a brief, startled glance. They were probably used to people breaking down into tears, not glaring at them as if they were Satan himself. And they sure as hell weren’t used to people asking them how their loved ones had died. “Miss, if we could please come inside,” the woman said gently.
“I want to know how my grandmother died!” Cassie snapped.
“Cassie,” Chris said softly, walking over to rest his hand lightly on her shoulder. She shrugged him swiftly off, glaring fiercely at him. His eyes widened, but he made no move to touch her again as she turned back to the police officers.
The woman nodded briskly. “I’m afraid that your grandmother was in an accident. We found her car early this morning. It appears she swerved to avoid something.”
Cassie remained stiff, her mind tripped over the words. A car accident? No, impossible. No accident had taken her grandmother from her; it had been something far worse. She knew that. “I want to see her.”
“Excuse me?” the younger officer asked in surprise.
“I want to see my grandmother’s body,” she enunciated clearly and slowly.
“Miss, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he rushed out clearly horrified that Cassie would make such a request.
His partner shot him a warning look, but she looked extremely discomfited by Cassie’s request also. “Miss, your grandmother has already been identified by dental records; there is no need for you to…”
“I have a right to see her,” she said sharply.
“Yes, but…”
Cassie turned swiftly away, grabbing her shoes from the hall closet. She didn’t care what they had to say anymore, she was going. Come hell or high water, she was going to see her grandmother. She didn’t care that she wasn’t wearing socks as she slipped her sneakers on. Seizing hold of her coat, she turned back to the officer’s.
“Where is she?”
“Miss…” The woman broke off as Cassie gazed fiercely at her. There would be no dissuading her, and although the woman officer didn’t like it, she was not going to argue any further. “We’ll take you over,” she said softly, ignoring the shocked look her partner sent her.
Cassie nodded briskly. “Follow me over,” she said to Chris, not bothering to look at him as she pounded down the stairs after the officers.
Devon moved to stop her, his long fingered hand reached for her. She sidestepped him easily, her eyes narrowing fiercely upon him. She did not wish to be touched or comforted right now. Keeping her head high, she slid into the backseat of the police car, not looking back as the cruiser pulled slowly out of the drive. Chris and Devon hurried to their cars, pulling out behind the cruiser they followed slowly behind.
Cassie didn’t see anything on the ride, nothing registered past the haze that surrounded her. Anger hummed through her veins, pain constricted her chest in a tight vice grip. She could hardly breathe, and she found herself not caring. She didn’t want to breathe. She would be ok if all movement, all functions of survival simply shut down. For she felt shut down, she felt cold, and hollow, and numb. If her grandmother could no longer breathe, no longer see this world, then why should she still be able to? Cassie shuddered, her fingers dug tighter into her arms as she clung to them, unable to move, unable to think past the anguish tearing through her.
The world went by in a swift blur as they drove to the hospital. Upon arrival, Cassie found herself moving through a thick fog as she followed the officers into the lower level of the building.
She barely acknowledged Chris and Devon following behind her as she made her way through the sterile, dimly lit halls. “Wait here,” the woman said briskly, leaving Cassie standing outside a set of double doors.
She stood stiffly, her hands fisted at her sides as she stared at the thick steel doors. Devon and Chris did not try to approach her again. They seemed to realize that she did not want their touch. She couldn’t handle it right now. She didn’t know how much time passed, for she had no concept of time in this world of pain and suffering, but she didn’t think it was much.
A young, dark haired man in a lab coat stepped out of the double doors. His dark gaze darted swiftly over the three of them before settling on Cassie. “Miss, I…”
“I want to see my grandmother,” she cut in harshly, not wanting to listen to any more people trying to dissuade her from her course.
His eyes widened slightly, he licked his lips nervously before nodding slowly. “Ok miss, but I must warn you that there is some damage to the body.”
Cassie shuddered, her eyes closed as a small moan of anguish escaped her. The body? The body! Her mind screamed against the word. The woman in there was not a body, she was her grandmother! But even as the words shrieked through her mind, she knew that they were not true. What was inside that room was no longer her grandmother. What was in there was only the shell of the person that had taken care of her, and raised her with so much love and tenderness.
Inside that room was the only blood family Cassie had ever known, the only family that had ever loved her unconditionally. For a moment she wavered, uncertain if she could do this. Then, anger snapped back through her, suffusing her in its secure cocoon as it helped to shove aside her doubt. The pain dwindled in the face of the thick haze of rage encompassing her. If she stayed angry, then she didn’t have to face anything. If she stayed angry, she could make it through this. If she did not stay mad, she would turn into a blubbering mess on the floor. She would turn into a person incapable of doing anything other than crying.
She owed it to her grandmother not to become that person. She owed it to her grandmother to learn the truth, and to get justice for the cruelty that had been committed last night. She owed it to her grandmother to see that her killer was destroyed.
“I want to see,” Cassie managed to choke out.
The man nodded, but his eyes darted
nervously to Chris and Devon. It was more than apparent that he wanted them to step in and attempt to change her mind. “Cassie,” Devon said softly, reaching out to gently touch her arm.
She jerked back, her eyes darting wildly to him. Dismay and hurt filled his emerald eyes, worry and love radiated from him. Again, Cassie felt herself wavering in the face of that love. For a moment the fury melted as anguish blazed forth. She opened her mouth to speak, her heart flipped wildly in her chest. Devon could make this a little better, in his arms she could find the shelter that she sought, the protection and love that she so desperately needed right now.
In his arms, she would not hurt as much.
She took a small step toward him before fully recalling why she was here, what it was that she needed to do. She could not continue to hide behind him, she had to face this head on; she could not let this go unresolved. Her grandmother had sacrificed so much for her, had kept her alive when many others had been killed. Yet Cassie had been curled up in Devon’s arms last night, hidden from the world, while her grandmother was being terrorized and murdered.
Hatred swamped her, disgust and self loathing consumed her. Her grandmother deserved far better than what Cassie had given her. Tearing her arm away from Devon, she glared fiercely at him, taking a shuddery breath as she tried to get air past the intense pressure in her chest. “Don’t,” she growled.
His hand fell away, pain blazed from his eyes. He looked quickly to Chris, but Chris wisely chose not to try and dissuade her. “I want to see my grandmother now.”
The man’s dark eyes darted once more to Chris and Devon, when they showed no signs of helping him, his shoulders slumped in defeat. “Please follow me,” he said softly.
Cassie followed stiffly behind him; the stench of the astringent chemicals barely pierced the hard wall encasing her. She was well aware of the fact that from this moment on, her life would never be the same. Well aware of the fact that she would never be the same again.
The man paused outside another door; taking out a key card he slid it through the machine next to the door. The doors opened with a soft whoosh. Fluorescent light filtered on in the room, lighting the hard tile and cold floor. Cassie’s eyes widened as she took in the sheet enshrouded table in the middle. Her heart hammered with the painful certainty that her grandmother lay under that sheet.
No, not her grandmother, the body lay under that sheet.
Cassie shuddered, her fingers dug into the flesh of her arms as she hugged herself tightly. A fierce shaking took hold of her. The man moved forward, glancing briefly back at Cassie before he pulled the sheet slowly back. Chris gasped before turning slightly away. Cassie stood unmoving, her gaze latched onto the side of her grandmothers face. She had been so pretty, so full of life and cheer and love. Now, her delicate features were marred by bruises, and a large bump had formed in the center of her forehead. Scratches and cuts marred what had once been smooth porcelain skin, but that skin was now tinted a bluish gray color. Even her lips had been leached of color and were nearly as white as the walls surrounding them.
It was only a body, Cassie told herself repeatedly. Her grandmother was free now; her spirit was keeping company with the ghosts that she had spoken to in life. Though Cassie tried to convince herself of this, she found no comfort in the words. No solace in the fact that her grandmother was free. She was certain she would never find solace again in the cruel world they resided in.
Though she didn’t want to go any closer to the body, she knew that she must. Moving stiffly forward she paused next to the metal table her grandmother lay upon. For a moment Cassie expected her eyes to snap open, a bright smile to spread across her face as she launched up and yelled surprise. Though it would scare the hell out of her, Cassie found that she wanted nothing more than exactly that to happen.
But as she stood there, staring down at her grandmother’s prone form, she began to realize she would never see her grandmother’s sky colored eyes again. For a brief moment, pain blazed forth again, tears burned her eyes and the hard lump in her throat made it difficult to breathe. With trembling fingers, Cassie reached forward and lightly touched her grandmother’s cheek. Her skin was cold, hard, unyielding. Cassie nearly buckled; nearly fell to the floor as agony swamped her. It was sheer strength of will that kept her standing, kept her breathing.
Ever so slowly, she brushed back her grandmother’s strawberry blond hair. Two jagged tears marked her grandmother’s neck, wounds that could easily be explained by the accident. But Cassie was not fooled into thinking that was what had caused them. No, she knew exactly what monster had put those marks upon her grandmother.
Her hands clenched upon the table, fury and horror suffused her. Rage encompassed her, boiling through her with the force of molten lava, burning away everything that she was, everything that she had ever been. The lava boiled and poured through her, leaving only smoldering ashes in place of the person she had once been.
CHAPTER 21
Devon stood helplessly by, wishing that he could do something for her, but knowing that this was something she had to do on her own. Something that she had to come to terms with in her own way. Unfortunately, her way seemed to be the hardest way possible, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Cassie’s hands shook as she pushed aside her grandmother’s hair, her pain and anguish beat against him in rolling waves that made it difficult for him to think. Chris was deathly pale; even his lips were white as he watched Cassie with wide, pain filled eyes. Though Devon could sense Cassie’s pain, Chris seemed to be swamped inside of it, unable to escape from the emotions she emitted in waves. Her pain was so intense that Chris could not turn his telepathic ability off against it.
Chris met Devon’s gaze briefly, his sapphire eyes shimmered with unshed tears. He had also lost someone that he loved deeply. He had lost the woman that had helped to raise him, a woman that had loved him when his own mother couldn’t, or wouldn’t. Devon turned slowly back to Cassie. She was standing stiffly, her eyes locked on the condemning marks on her grandmother’s neck.
Devon’s eyes widened, his skin came alive with the tingling waves of fury and hatred that blasted from her. Chris took an involuntary step back, his head bowed beneath the force of the emotions battering against him. “Cassie,” Devon said gently, frightened by the anger blazing from her.
This was Cassie, his Cassie. Sweet, innocent, and so achingly lovely and loving. She didn’t know how to hate. Or at least she hadn’t before this moment. But now he could feel that hate blazing against him, feel the rage that suffused her, leaving her shaken and shattered. Her head bent, her golden hair cascaded forward as she inhaled shakily. Her slender back heaved slightly with the force of her breaths.
Though she did not want his comfort, he no longer cared. She was going to get it. He could not leave her alone to face this, could not leave her broken and torn. Striding purposely forward, he rested his hands on her shoulders, wanting nothing more than to pull her close and help to ease the feelings blasting from her.
She stood stiffly for a moment, the small tremor in her body reaching him. Then, she turned suddenly, pulling free of him as she spun wildly. “Don’t touch me!” she snapped, her eyes narrowing furiously. Her hands fisted at her sides as she glared at him with fierce loathing.
Devon stood stiffly, shock tearing through him. Though her reaction stunned him, it was what he had seen in her eyes that left him immobile and terrified. “Don’t you ever touch me again! This… this is your fault!”
Dismay tore through him; instinctively he took a step toward her. He wanted to console her, wanted to make this even a small bit better if he could. He also needed to protect her from what he was beginning to fear may lurk inside of her. Something he had been trying to deny about her, but now realized that it was very likely true.
Her eyes narrowed even more. “Stay away from me.” Her voice broke, her body trembled fiercely. “You helped create that monster. You brought him here. He’s here because of
you! Not us, but you! He killed her, and it’s your fault!”
Devon felt as if he had been punched, hard. Terror and anguish tore through him. She had forgiven him for so many things, loved him through them all, but this…
Well this had been the final straw. She had been broken; there was no more forgiveness in her. Her beautiful azure, amethyst eyes were bright with anger, gleaming with it. Her small hands were fisted at her sides, her shoulders shook.
Though it no longer beat, he could feel his heart shattering, could feel the darkness swamping up, trying to consume him. Without her, he was nothing. Without her, his life meant nothing. He could feel the monster inside of him turning, twisting to break free, trying to use this as its opportunity to take control once more and return to its killing, wanton ways. Return to slaughtering innocents in its quest to satisfy its unending thirst.
Devon shuddered, his eyes closed as he struggled to maintain control of his own body. No matter what Cassie felt for him now, he could not return to the thing he had once been. If she no longer wanted him, then there was nothing that he could do about it. But she did need him. She needed him to protect her, and to keep her safe. Julian and Isla were still out there, and they would use any opportunity they could to get at her, to destroy her and her friends. If he lost control, she would be vulnerable to them. No matter what happened, he knew that he could not exist in a world that Cassie didn’t live in, even if she didn’t want him in her life.
His gaze darted to the body in the middle of the room. He should have seen this coming. He had been so wrapped up in trying to keep Cassie, Chris, and Melissa safe that he had not thought about Lily. But she had been a prime target also. Despite her age, she was also a Hunter, and she was Cassie’s grandmother.