“Then why did the Elders come after the Hunter line to begin with?” Cassie asked softly.

“Revenge,” he answered honestly. “The war between the Hunters and the Elders has waged on for over a millennia, they saw a chance to win it, and they went after it. Boredom also, I suppose. The Hunters are probably the only thrill, and the only challenge they have left to them anymore.”

Cassie’s frown deepened, anger blistered through her. Her parents had been slaughtered because of boredom? “How many of these Elders are left?” she inquired, feeling her own need for vengeance coming to fierce life.

Devon shook his head at her, his eyes darkened and hardened. “I would not allow it,” he growled. “And you could do little against them.”

Licking her lips nervously, she ducked her head so that he wouldn’t see too much of her thoughts. “I understand that,” she admitted. “I am merely curious.”

His hand began to gently stroke her arms as he shrugged absently. “Fighting amongst the Elders is common, they tend to take each other out for power and greed so there is only ten left. The oldest is a little over nine hundred; the youngest is about five hundred and twelve.”

Cassie started slightly, her eyes widening as horror and realization slammed into her. “You are an Elder?” she gasped.

He nodded briskly. “As is Julian. I am second in line.”

Her mouth dropped. “Will they come for you? For your power?”

His laughter was harsh and brisk. “Not if they wish to live. I may not be the oldest, but I am the strongest. Just as with the Hunter’s, vampires often develop their own gifts, my speed and strength has always been enhanced, and the mind control helps.”

“Oh,” Cassie breathed in relief.

“Not to mention, the infighting stopped shortly before The Slaughter. That was when they realized that they had all but destroyed each other, and that the young vampires did not care for the traditions, or them. The young ones would do nothing to protect an Elder if they ever needed it. The Elder’s grouped together after that; hoping to take out the Hunters in an attempt to eliminate the enemy once and for all. Then they retreated, going back to the old country where they hid themselves away.”

“And you did not want to go with them?” she asked worriedly.

A sharp bark of hard laughter escaped him. “They do not want me; I am a traitor to them. The shunning of human blood is an atrocity that they do not understand or particularly tolerate. They may want my power, and my strength to help protect them, but they do not want me there.”

“Good.” He chuckled, dropping a gentle kiss on her head as he pulled her tighter against him.

“So,” Luther said softly. “Now you know where your abilities come from.”

“And that we’re not human,” Chris muttered bitterly.

“We always knew we weren’t completely human,” Cassie reminded him.

“Yeah, but we never knew that we were less than human, I always assumed we were more.”

“You are more,” Devon said softly. “Do not think of yourself as less than human when you do more for the human race than many people ever will. Though you may not like how you were created, you should take pride in what you are, and what you do.”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” her grandmother said softly, smiling brightly. “It took me a long time to come to terms with this also, but you will, and you will see that Devon is right.”

Though the words were meant to comfort, Cassie found little in them. How many people had been sacrificed in order to create their race? How many lives had been lost? A shiver raced up her spine. Devon rubbed her arms gently, trying to put some heat back into her body, but it did little good. She wasn’t sure she would ever be warm again.

“Well now I know why I never wanted to learn this crap,” Chris muttered, turning away as he ran a hand through his disordered hair.

Cassie completely agreed. “So all of our gifts come from them?” she inquired softly.

“Yes,” Luther answered. “The weapons they used against us, we were able to turn against them.”

“And me?” Cassie inquired.

Luther’s eyebrows drew tightly together. “There have been Hunters in the past with no abilities.”

“Not many though.”

“No, not many.”

“So I’m an even bigger genetic mutation,” she muttered bitterly, unable to keep back a disgusted chuckle of laughter.

“No, your speed, strength, hearing, and sight is amplified Cass, those are also gifts that only vampire’s possess. You did not receive any of the other abilities, so those ones are enhanced in you. I keep telling you that that is a gift.”

Cassie stared doubtfully back at him, but she refrained from commenting. “Your hearing and sight?” Devon asked softly.

“Yeah eagle eyes over there could see a mouse from a mile away,” Chris answered with a crooked, half hearted grin. “And hear a pin drop from the same distance.”

“Ha ha,” Cassie replied, fighting the urge to stick her tongue out at him. It took her a moment to realize that Devon had stiffened against her. Looking up at him, she was surprised to find his eyebrows drawn tight, his eyes distant and thoughtful. “Are you planning on talking about me behind my back?” she asked softly.

His attention snapped back to her, but his gaze was still distant. Shaking his head, he bent to kiss her forehead gently. “No, of course not.” His wan smile and distant gaze were not convincing though. “Someone is here.”

“What?” Cassie asked a second before the doorbell rebounded through the house.

Frowning up at him, she slipped from his arms but he didn’t move far from her as he followed her into the foyer. Glancing nervously back at him, he gave a brief nod. She opened the door; surprise widening her eyes at the sight of Dani huddled on the doorstep. Her gold streaked eyes were wide with fear. “Can I come in?” she asked quietly.

Cassie nodded as she stepped back, searching the night she saw no sign of Joey. “Did you walk over here by yourself?” Dani nodded as she stepped inside, huddling deeper into her light windbreaker. Dani eyed Devon wearily, but there seemed to be no fear coming from her. “Don’t you learn?”

Dani smiled wanly as she shook back her hair. “I told you I can take care of myself.”

“You also told me that you couldn’t use your ability again tonight.”

“Yeah, but that other vamp doesn’t know that.”

Devon snorted softly with laughter, but Cassie was nowhere near as amused. She could have been killed. “Come on in.”

Leading Dani into the living room, she gestured toward the loveseat that she had abandoned. “Grandma, this is Dani. Dani this is my grandmother.”

“You can call me Lily,” her grandmother replied.

Dani smiled hesitatingly, her hands folding into the sleeves of her coat. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You also, it appears that you are a truly talented girl.”

Heat flared up Dani’s face as she ducked her head. “Yeah,” she mumbled.

“We were just discussing where those powers come from,” Luther said smoothly.

“Vampire’s.”

“You knew?” Chris demanded.

Dani frowned in confusion as she nodded. “Since I was old enough to understand, you didn’t?”

Chris scowled as he turned on his heel and began to pace once more. His agitation was palpable in the room. “No, they didn’t,” Melissa said flatly. “I wish we didn’t know.”

Cassie blinked, surprised to hear such dismay in Melissa’s voice. She was always reserved, thoughtful and aloof, but there was always an optimistic air about her that was refreshing. Now she seemed hard, distant, lost. Sighing loudly, Chris walked over to Melissa; swinging his arm around her shoulders he pulled her close in a brotherly embrace.

“It will be ok, we’re no different than the people we were an hour ago.”

“No, we’re not,” Cassie said firmly. “We can’t change the mistakes of our ancestors…”

“Without those mistakes, the world would have been an entirely different place. It would have been filled with fear and death and murder. Vampires would have run it. Would you have rather have had that?” Luther interjected hotly.

They gazed fiercely at each other before Cassie slowly turned to Dani, not willing to admit that Luther was right. She was still too angry and confused for such an admission now. “What brings you here?” she inquired.

Dani shrugged, her gaze darted nervously around the room before settling on Cassie again. “I don’t agree with Joey, I think that we should help.”

Cassie’s heart fluttered with excitement; with Dani’s help they would have a much better chance of killing Julian. They would be able to save more lives. Maybe they could even find some peace for a little while. She desperately wanted peace, and she desperately wanted some time with Devon to try and sort out the pieces of their lives.

“Does he know that you’re here?” Luther asked softly.

Dani nodded, her hands clenched tightly inside her sleeves. Tears shimmered in her eyes, but she did not spill any. “He knows,” she answered in a choked voice.

“Dani, what happened?” Cassie inquired gently.

The red streaks in her hair flashed brightly in the light as she shook her head slowly. “He left.”

The silence in the room was heavy with shock. Melissa was the first to recover from the news. “He left you here alone!?”

Dani nodded, her dark head bowed. “Yes, I refused to go and he refused to stay.”

Cassie’s heart broke as tears slid down the girls face, plopping onto her lap as she made no attempt to stop them. Pulling away from Devon she joined Dani on the loveseat, resting her arm gently around her delicate shoulders. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, trying to soothe the pain radiating from her. “I can’t imagine how hard this must be.”

Dani continued to cry silently, but her words were coherent. “We’ll keep in touch, and one day we’ll reunite, but for now each of us has to go our separate ways. We both feel very differently about this. It had to be done. We could not be together forever.”

Cassie could understand that, but she couldn’t understand how Dani’s brother could have just abandoned her here. She was barely old enough to get a job, let alone support herself. Her brother was so angry and selfish that he had not only left her to fend for herself, but also left her to the monster that haunted their town. Quite possibly left her to die.

Apparently his hatred went far deeper than Cassie had even begun to fathom.

“Well then,” her grandmother said softly, rising swiftly to her feet. “We should go get your things.”

“Excuse me?” Dani asked in surprise.

“Your things. You cannot stay on your own, and we have an extra room here you can use.”

Cassie couldn’t stop herself from smiling as Dani stared at her grandmother in disbelief. “Really?” she croaked, her voice breaking for the first time.

“Of course,” her grandmother replied with a bright smile.

CHAPTER 12

Cassie moved slowly down the hall, trying to stay strong against the new barrage of whispered comments that followed her every move. Her chase of Dani the other night had set off a new wave of gossip and innuendo. Sighing softly, she clutched her books tighter to her chest as she reached her locker, spun the dial, and flung it open.

“Who knew she was such a freak,” Jess whispered.

Cassie glanced over her shoulder; her hand on the locker tightened as she took in the group of girls gathered fifteen feet away. They glanced discreetly at her, looking quickly away when they found her staring at them. Kara, Jess, and Marcy were gathered close together, obviously savoring in her downfall.

Heart hammering, anger flared hotly through her. She had once considered all of them her friends. She had held sleepovers with them, gone to their pool parties, partied on the beach with them. They had talked of boys, and shared their hopes and dreams as they discussed their futures with eager reverence. Though they had grown apart when Cassie had discovered her heritage, she had never once stopped thinking of them as friends.

And they had turned so easily against her. Cassie slammed her locker shut, her pride and anger not allowing her to just walk away again. Throwing her shoulders back, Cassie made her way straight over to them, not hesitating at all. They grew silent; their eyes weary as they watched her approach.

“Hello everyone,” she said with a forced, bright grin. “How are you this morning?”

They glanced at each other before turning slowly back to her. “Fine,” Marcy answered, anger gleaming in her eyes. It was anger so fierce that Cassie could feel it radiating against her. “What do you want Cassandra?”