“How long have they been doing experiments down there?” Cassie managed in a choked voice.

Dani glanced swiftly over them, her eyes full of horror and terror. “Since the beginning,” she whispered. “But they became more frequent after The Slaughter.”

There was a collective inhalation of breaths, a stunned silence hung heavy in the air. “So it was only a matter of time before all hell broke loose,” Luther muttered, turning sharply on his heel to stare back out the window. “I was always proud of what I was…” he broke off shaking his head in disgust. “Now it makes me sick.”

Cassie’s heart ached for Luther, but there were no words that would help him feel better. No words that would help any of them feel better about what they were hearing. “So this town was built around The Commission, these people are mainly here, or were here, for The Commissions purposes?” Devon asked softly.

Dani was silent for a moment before nodding slowly. “Yes,” she whispered.

Cassie choked softly, bile rose rapidly up her throat as horror threatened to consume her. Devon’s hold on her tightened, he pressed her firmly against his chest, his hands entwining in her hair as he kissed her forcefully. “Did the people know?” Melissa asked softly.

“I don’t think so,” Dani whispered. “Very few were ever taken into the laboratory, until recently, and I’m sure The Commission went for people outside of this town as well.”

“I’d like to kill you myself,” Chris muttered in revulsion.

Cassie didn’t disagree with him. “How involved in this were you?” Julian asked softly.

Dani shook her head. “This is the town where we stayed after our parents were killed; I even went to the school until eighth grade. That was when The Commission decided to send Joey out in search of other Hunter’s and Guardian’s, but I didn’t know about the laboratory until recently.”

Cassie’s stomach was twisted into a tight knot; she was having a hard time breathing through the horror constricting her chest. She glanced up at Devon, trying not to lose control of her emotions and temper. Dani’s betrayal had almost cost Cassie and Julian their lives. It had almost cost her Devon and her friends. If she allowed her anger to grow, Cassie was fairly certain that she may very well kill Dani.

“Where do I come in on all of this?” Cassie asked quietly, knowing that she didn’t want to hear the answer, but having to ask the question.

Dani’s lip trembled as she glanced guiltily at Cassie. “I thought that you would hurt one of us,” she whispered. “So I told The Commission about you. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“Talk to one of us. Tell us your fears!” Devon exploded. Cassie grabbed hold of him as he took an angry step toward Dani, truly fearing that he would hurt her, if not kill her. He stopped moving but his eyes flared bright red. “You could have come to us. We saved your worthless life. It would have been far better if I had just let Julian rip your throat out when he had the chance!”

“I second that,” Julian muttered, drawing a sharp look from Cassie.

“Devon stop. Julian, don’t egg him on,” Cassie warned.

“I thought I was doing a good thing!” Dani wailed. “I helped them capture Julian because he was our enemy! I was helping to rid the world of him. And they… and they told me that they could help Cassie,” she said brokenly. “They promised me that they wouldn’t hurt her, and that they could make her better. They promised me she would be returned afterward. I didn’t know what they were going to do to you Cassie, I really didn’t! I never would have done it if I had known!”

Dani broke off, tears rolling freely down her face as she looked at the hostile faces surrounding her. Devon’s grip on Cassie had tightened; his body was as taut as a bowstring. She knew that if he had not been holding her, he would have gone after Dani, and he would have killed her.

“I am sorry,” Dani whimpered.

“Ok fine,” Cassie said after a few moments. “Let’s say you really did want to help me, and you didn’t know what they were going to do. What I want to know is why they were so interested in me, why didn’t they just kill me?”

Dani glanced toward the window, her brow furrowed slightly. “Because you were somehow able to survive, you were somehow able to control the darkness inside you after you killed Isla. You were able to come back from it when that darkness tried to claim you.”

“But that was only because Devon helped me back,” Cassie said softly.

Dani shook her head as her attention returned to Cassie. “They didn’t know that for sure though. They had to take a chance that you might be able to come back on your own.”

Cassie closed her eyes, fighting against the frustration and confusion that was threatening to pull her under. “But they kept me drugged in there; they never let me lose control. They never gave me a chance to try and come back on my own.”

“No, you were too valuable to them. If you lost control, you might be able to break free of the drug induced stupor like the others had. But if they could keep the human in you calm, they could try to discover the secret of what made you work. What makes you only rarely volatile? And could they make you stronger, but still allow you to control it?”

A strange new sensation began to creep through Cassie’s stomach. There was an awful ringing in her ears. She recalled all the blood they had taken from her, the stuff they had injected her with. What had they been trying to do to her?

“What did they give me in there? What were they trying to prove with those injections?” she whispered, her voice choked and hoarse.

Dani’s eyes were wide and terrified as she glanced nervously around the room, seemingly unwilling to answer Cassie’s question. Devon turned slowly toward Cassie, his eyebrows furrowed tightly as he stared hard at her. His eyes traveled slowly over her body, his eyes turning a fiery red. His nostrils flared suddenly and she could almost feel him inhaling her scent. Confusion emanated from him as he clung to her.

Ice ran through Cassie’s veins in the face of Dani’s petrified expression and the strange shaking that was suddenly taking hold of Devon. Dani glanced wearily back at Julian again before focusing her attention on Cassie and Devon once more. “They wanted to see how much blood you could handle,” Dani whispered. “How much vampire blood you could take. Julian’s blood.”

“That explains it,” Chris breathed.

Cassie’s gaze swung wildly toward him, he was staring at her with dawning, horrified comprehension. His eyes were wide and frightened. Cassie opened her mouth to question him, but before she could say anything, all hell broke loose.

CHAPTER 4

“Son of a bitch!” Devon roared, releasing Cassie as rage flared hotly through him, completely encompassing him in its grip.

Cassie tried to grasp hold of him again, fearful of what he might do, but he had already moved swiftly out of her reach. Grabbing hold of the glass countertop, he lifted it as if it weighed no more than a feather, and flipped it off of the back wall. It crashed loudly off the wall, metal twisted as glass shattered. Cassie flinched, jumping back as glass scattered around her feet, and bounced off of the mountain boots she had found. Knives, jewelry, and other assorted miscellaneous clattered loudly as it splayed across the floor.

Devon stormed forward, fury radiated from him as he went straight at Dani. Dani let out a frightened cry, her face turned white as she scrambled to get out of his way. Liam and Chris moved to intercept Devon’s murderous rampage, knocking Devon back a few feet as he reached for her. Dani let out a terrified scream, ducking low as she darted behind Luther and Melissa.

“Devon calm down! Devon!” Liam shouted trying to stop him as Devon seized hold of a rack of winter hats and gloves.

Melissa cried out, darting to the side as the rack sailed at her head. Annabelle scurried to help Liam, glancing anxiously at Cassie, but Cassie found that she couldn’t move. Dani’s words were just beginning to fully sink in. They had given her Julian’s blood! They had pumped her full of vampire blood! Maybe that was the reason she felt so connected to Julian now, but although that idea sounded reasonable, it didn’t feel right. She felt a bond with Julian because they had formed a strong bond while being held captive together. It had nothing to do with his blood, and everything to do with the man that she had come to know.

Liam grabbed hold of Devon’s arm, trying to hold him back. Devon swung him forward, slamming him into the wall with a resounding thud that shook the store as he seized hold of Liam’s throat. A picture fell somewhere in the distance, glass shattered as it hit the floor. Windows rattled in their frames as Liam’s feet kicked against the wall, his face turning bright red as Devon squeezed harder. It appeared that Devon wanted to rip his head right off.

Chris launched himself at Devon’s back, trying to pull him off, but Devon flung him away as if he weighed no more than a feather. Cassie gasped in horror as Chris skidded across the floor; he smashed into a rack of magazines, knocking it over. He pawed at the rack, shoving it off of him and tossing it away. Melissa rushed to his side, helping him to his feet as Devon slammed Liam off the wall again.

“Devon no!” Annabelle screamed her voice filled with terror as she raced over to try and pull Devon off of Liam. “No, stop! Cassie! Cassie help me!”

It was the utter panic in Annabelle’s voice that finally snapped Cassie out of her shocked stupor. Horror filled her as she realized the extent of Devon’s rampage. He would kill everyone in this room if he wasn’t stopped. Liam being his first victim, and if he killed Liam, Annabelle was as good as gone too.

Cassie raced forward, grabbing hold of Devon’s arm as she tried to pull him away from Liam. “Devon stop! Devon please!”

Tears streamed down Annabelle’s face as she continued to pull uselessly at Devon’s arm. They were both as effective as gnats. Pure panic began to tear through Cassie. She had no idea how she was going to get Devon off of Liam, and although Liam did not require air, his eyes were beginning to bulge from his head.

“Devon!” she screamed in his ear, but he did not seem to hear her through the bloodlust consuming him.

And then it hit her, bloodlust.

He was in the throes of it, and what he wanted most was blood. And the blood he wanted more than anything was her blood.

Cassie released him, darting back toward the ruined counter in search of one of the knives. She fell to her knees as she scrambled through the mess, ignoring the small nicks the sharp glass left on her. Seizing hold of the first knife she found, a wicked looking one with a six inch curved blade, she jumped back to her feet. Chris was coming forward again, and Julian appeared to have decided to help as he began to move in, but they would only be two more useless fighters in the already overcrowded ring.

“Stay back!” she snarled, thrusting the knife at them as she rushed past.

“Cassie!” Julian shouted his eyes wide with horror as he realized her intent. “Cassie no!”

He tried to intercept her, but she was able to dart past him. She thrust herself in between Devon and Liam, barely squeezing between them. Liam’s feet kicked against the back of her calves. She could smell the tangy scent of his blood in the room. The store pulsated with rage and need; it shook with the fury of the battle being waged. “You don’t want him Devon,” she whispered. “It’s my blood you want, take it instead.”

Tossing her hair back, she took the knife and made a small slit at the base of her throat. For a moment nothing happened, Devon didn’t even look at her. And then, the scent of her blood seemed to penetrate the thick fog of his fury. He turned slowly toward her, his red eyes fastened upon the blood dripping down her neck.

Cassie straightened her shoulders, trusting in the strength of Devon’s love to get them both through this. He would take her blood, she knew that, and she would not deny him. She only hoped that he did not kill her in the process. “It’s ok,” she whispered. “Devon take it, take my blood.”

He shoved Liam back, thrusting him away as Devon released him. Liam stumbled, falling to his knees as he pressed a hand to his wounded throat. Annabelle knelt beside him, wrapping her arm around his back as they both scurried to get out of the way. Julian came toward her, his face tight with worry, his eyes gleaming at the sight of her blood. Cassie shook her head at him, knowing that if Julian tried to interfere it would only result in a blood bath.

Devon came at her, his lips pulled back to reveal his fully extended fangs. Cassie’s heartbeat picked up, but it was not fear that sent her blood pumping. It was excitement and desire. It had been so long since he had taken her blood, so long since they had bonded in such a way. And she found that she needed, and wanted him desperately to do it. She needed this reconnection, needed to feel him inside of her again, enjoying her, and loving her.