“Cassie…”

Cassie pulled the stake from where it had been tucked into the sleeve of Dani’s coat. “Go on,” she said softly.

“But…”

“Dani, the three of you need to live through this. You have to help them.” Dani still looked doubtful, her eyes troubled and worried. “It’s me she wants. She’ll let you go, now go.”

Before Dani could protest further, Cassie scuttled back in the snow, moving swiftly away from her. She hardly felt the cold through the adrenaline coursing in her veins. No matter what happened, she had to keep Isla away from the three of them. They were the only hope for the town, if she did not survive this. Which there was a good possibility she wouldn’t. Isla was dangerous, spurned, stronger, and filled with hatred. She was going to be a battle unlike any Cassie had ever experienced.

A brief tug of guilt and loss pulled at her heart as her thoughts turned briefly to Devon. They had just found each other again. This was going to destroy him. She shut the thoughts down before she was consumed by the agony that was trying to rise up. She still had a chance to win this, it was not over yet, and she was going to fight like hell to make sure that she did not lose him again.

Cassie turned toward Isla as the beautiful woman came slowly forward, her hips swaying, and her long hair falling about her in thick waves. Cassie remained kneeling, her body tense as she tried to calculate Isla’s plan. Her fingers clenched around the stake as Isla stopped mere feet away from her, her golden eyes narrowed as she studied Cassie distastefully.

“What could Devon possibly see in you?” she mused softly, lightly tapping her teeth with a long red nail. Cassie refused to take her eyes from Isla, but she desperately wanted to know how Dani was making out. “You’re such a mousey little thing.”

“Obviously more than he saw in you,” Cassie grated.

Isla’s eyes flashed ruby red, a small snarl curled her full upper lip. They remained silent for a few moments watching each other, Cassie wearily, Isla with a small gleam of satisfaction in her eyes. Cassie shifted slightly, unable to resist glancing back as she heard a soft thump. Dani had managed to drag Melissa’s prone figure to the porch, she was struggling to pull her up the stairs.

Isla took her brief distraction as an opportunity to pounce. Cassie caught the blur of motion out of the corner of her eye. Working on instinct, she spun back around, swinging out low with her foot. She connected with Isla’s leg, knocking her slightly off balance, but not enough. Barely missing a beat, Isla grabbed hold of her leg, ripping her off her feet and throwing her to the side.

Cassie bounced across the ground, a startled cry escaping her. If it hadn’t been for the mounds of snow she was certain she would have broken a few ribs, instead she had the breath knocked out of her. Unfortunately, it was still enough to slow her down. She rolled to the side, dread filling her as she realized that she had lost the stake. It lay a few feet away from her, sticking straight up in the snow.

She scuttled toward it, but Isla was already coming at her again. Giving up on regaining the stake, Cassie lurched to her feet, barely regaining her balance before Isla slammed into her. They tumbled backward; snow fell down Cassie’s shirt, coating her skin. Her fear, however, far outweighed the cold.

Isla was on top of her, tearing at her. Grasping her turtleneck, Isla pulled it tight around her neck, choking the air from her. Cassie fought against the hands clawing at her, trying to block them from ripping her to shreds. Fear gave her strength. Fisting her hand, she somehow managed to slam a solid blow against the side of Isla’s face.

It only knocked Isla slightly off balance, but it was enough so that Cassie was able to scramble backward. Isla recovered far quicker than Cassie had thought possible though. She grabbed hold of Cassie’s ankle, ripping her back toward her. A startled cry escaped Cassie, she tried to kick out but her foot only glanced off of Isla’s shoulder.

Isla was back on top of her, her eyes wild with frenzy and bloodlust. Cassie gazed up at her in startled surprise; Isla was going to kill her. Terror spurted through her, bright stars burst before her eyes as adrenaline pounded through her in crashing waves. Isla sat on her chest, grinning like the cat that had just caught the canary. The last thing Cassie wanted to be was that canary, but she was.

Isla’s eyes latched onto her neck, widening slightly then narrowing fiercely as they turned a violent shade of red. Cassie realized that her turtleneck had been ripped down, Devon’s faded marks upon her were visible to Isla’s acute vision. A tremor shook down her spine as Isla’s volatile eyes came back to hers, hatred radiated from every fiber of Isla’s being.

“Bitch,” Isla snarled, her fangs cutting into her bottom lip as they elongated. “I’m going to drain you as dry as I drained your grandmother.”

Shock slammed into Cassie, robbing her of breath, leaving her limp and immobile. Isla had killed her grandmother? Isla? Cassie had assumed that it was Julian, with his ability he would have known all about her grandmother. One brief touch would have allowed him access to Cassie’s mind, showing him who her grandmother was, where to look for her, and what she looked like.

She had never thought that it would be Isla, never realized that it was this monster that had brutally ripped away the only blood relative that Cassie had left. This monster, this one sitting upon her, grinning at her victoriously, was the one that had so cruelly robbed the world of a wonderful, loving soul.

Cassie’s shock faded swiftly as rage blazed up to bury her. The fury suffused her, wrapping her within a tight cocoon of hatred and vengeance. It made the anger she had experienced for the past two weeks look like a pitiful candle flame as this raging inferno kindled to life. It flared through her, burning as hotly as the sun with its intensity. Her bones turned to cinder, her muscles became ash as something else raced forward, consuming her, changing her.

Something inside of her snapped. All reason fled as hatred and retribution roared to the forefront.

Isla’s eyes widened slightly, there was a flash of fear in her eyes. Cassie had no idea what she saw that caused such a reaction, nor did she care. Screaming with fury, Cassie found strength where there had been none before. She would destroy this monster. No matter what, she was going to kill Isla. Even if it meant she went down with her. Gathering her legs beneath her, she heaved up with all her might, and with a strength that she had never possessed before. This strength, this power was unlike any she had ever dreamed of, but it vitalized her as it pounded hotly through her veins. Isla’s hold upon her was knocked lose as Cassie lifted her up, flipping her over top of Cassie’s head.

Chest heaving, Cassie launched to her feet and spun wildly. Isla was just regaining her balance, shock and confusion twisted her perfect features. Cassie didn’t hesitate as she raced forward. Isla tried to move away from her, but she wasn’t quick enough as Cassie slammed into her, knocking them both into the snow.

***

Devon rounded the corner of the house, fear hammered through him as he pushed himself harder, faster. It hadn’t taken him long to get here, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was too late. That he wouldn’t make it in time. He honed in on Cassie, expecting to find fear or pain, or even nothing, but instead he found a depth of rage and hatred so entrenched and brutal that it nearly knocked him back.

He skidded around the corner, horror filling him as Cassie flipped Isla over top of her head. Her shout of fury echoed throughout the small backyard. Isla bounced across the ground, landing a few feet away. Cassie launched to her feet, her golden hair whipping around her, her body shaking not from the cold, but from something else, something far worse.

An inner shudder wracked Devon as he realized that he was not too late to stop her death, but he may be too late to save her humanity.

“Cassie!” he bellowed, racing forward as she bolted at Isla, slamming them both backward.

He bounded across the snow, forcing himself to move faster, to go faster. He had to save her, he had to stop this. A flash of motion from the corner of his eye caused him to turn seconds before Julian crashed into him, shoving them both against the side of the house with enough force to shake the wall.

“Not your battle!” Julian hissed in his ear. “Stay out of this Devon, you need to watch and learn. You need to see what your little Hunter is capable of.”

Devon was startled by the words, but he shoved Julian backward with enough force to dislodge him. Devon swung rapidly out; he connected with a swift uppercut that shot Julian’s head back. His teeth clattered loudly together, rattling in his head as he stumbled back. Julian’s gaze raked over him, narrowing slightly as a small grin spread over his mouth. “Someone’s been eating well,” he murmured in amusement.

Devon snarled at him, leaping forward, wanting nothing more than to rip out his throat. Julian’s eyes widened, he darted just out of Devon’s grasp, retreating swiftly toward the woods. “Don’t forget about your girl,” he taunted over his shoulder.

Devon’s head snapped back to the fight, his desire to kill Julian forgotten in the face of Cassie’s need. Julian disappeared into the woods, apparently deciding that he couldn’t win this fight, and that he did not want to be involved. Isla was left to fend for herself. “Coward!” Devon hissed after him, but there was no movement in the trees.

‘You need to see what your little Hunter is capable of,’ ran through his head. Puzzled, unnerved by what Julian might know or suspect Devon found himself unable to move for a moment. A cry brought his attention back to the battle, and away from his thoughts. His mouth went dry at the sight before him.

***

Cassie stared up at Isla, her mind no longer computing fear, or even rational thought. All that mattered was destroying Isla, killing her, having the satisfaction of seeing her die. Though Isla was back on top of her, Cassie was not scared, there was no room for fear inside of her anymore. There was only room for hatred and vengeance. But she could sense Isla’s fear, hesitance, and confusion.

Isla struck at her, moving with the speed of a rattlesnake. Cassie merely grinned, her hand twisting around the stake she had managed to regain during their struggle. Isla was only inches away from her when she drove the stake upward, taking pleasure in the satisfying crunch of bones as it pierced through her ribcage and drove deep into her heart. Isla’s eyes widened in startled surprise, she gazed down at Cassie in horror, despair and disbelief. Cassie merely grinned back at her, twisting the stake deeper with eager joy. She didn’t care that her joy was perverse and out of place here, she relished in the thrill and pleasure filling her.

“Rot in hell,” she whispered, moments before Isla let out a small moan and collapsed upon her.

Cassie lay for a moment, shaking with the emotions tearing through her. She thought that she would find satisfaction in destroying the woman that had murdered her grandmother, but there was none. She thought the joy would continue to rush through her, thought that it would actually grow now that her grandmother had been vindicated.

Instead, there was only a hollow, lonely pit growing ever wider inside of her. A pit she was beginning to fear would never fill up; a pit she worried might just swallow her whole with its rage and emptiness.

Taking ragged, pain filled breaths, she shoved Isla’s corpse off of her. Though Isla was dead weight now, Cassie barely felt her weight against her trembling arms. Slowly she rolled to the side, digging her hands into the snow as she managed to lift herself onto her knees. Her muscles and bones shook, her whole body trembled and quaked. She was numb with shock and horror; there was no feeling of justice or vindication in her. There was suddenly nothing inside of her, but the empty pit, and a growing sense of something else, something wrong and very out of place. Something that did not belong in her body at all, but was growing inside of her, taking her by force.

Consuming her.

Cassie moved one hand forward, placing it back into the snow as she attempted to crawl away from the monster she had just killed because of pure hatred. A hatred the likes of which she had never experienced before and hoped to never experience again. She couldn’t shake the lingering remnants of the hate, couldn’t rid herself of the feeling. Couldn’t get away from whatever was inside of her.

Pain exploded through her. It pulsed through her muscles, tightening them, convulsing them. Cassie gasped, her fingers clenched in the frigid snow. A frigid snow she could no longer feel the cold of because of the pain tearing through her. A fresh wave of agony washed over her. It locked her extremities in place at the same time that all her bones seemed to shatter. It felt as if the fragments of her shattered bones were ripping through her veins, muscles, and skin. She was being torn apart from the inside out. The pain engulfed her, consumed her. It rocked through her with an intensity that left her broken, hollow.