Phoenix Rising

by Erica Stevens

  "I know," he retorted more fiercely than he'd intended. "You are the best part of me, and no matter what your doubts are, I know what you truly are Cassie. And that is good. We may not know, or understand everything that you are capable of but with time we will teach you how to control it."

  Her forehead furrowed as she stared at the wall. "If something happened to you, I would be uncontrollable," she muttered.

  He started in surprise. "Cass..."

  "Don't deny it Devon. I saw you when you thought that I was dead. You were crazed with fury and grief. You would have destroyed anyone in front of you, anyone you could get your hands on. No matter who it was. If something happened to you I would be the same way. Liam and Annabelle would be the same way if something happened to one of them."

  "Yes," he agreed. "If a mate is lost..."

  "Then so is the other," she finished.

  He ran his fingers through her hair as he thought over her words. The vision Matthew had seen could very well be the direct result of his destruction. The Elder's were still a threat to all of them, and if something happened to him Cassie would explode. What she could do after that was something he didn't even care to imagine.

  He felt no concern over his own safety at this realization, only her own. Just as he knew that she no longer feared Matthew's vision because of what she was in it. Her love for him was absolute and as pure as his was for her. He had felt it through the sharing of their blood, and the cementing of their bond. She would no more survive his loss than he would survive hers.

  "The others are afraid of me."

  He couldn't lie to her. "Yes."

  "But not Julian."

  "No."

  "And not you."

  "Never me."

  She managed a listless smile as she cuddled closer to him. Her eyes drifted closed, he could feel her exhaustion, yet she still fought against it. He understood that she didn't wish to lose one second with him, but she had to take care of herself. He shifted her so that he could lie down beside her. Pulling her against him, he rubbed her shoulders and back as she cuddled against him. She continued to struggle against sleep, but eventually exhaustion finally took her under.

  ***

  Cassie blinked dazedly as she took in her surroundings. She was fleetingly baffled by the strange nightstand beside her. Then, the events of the night crashed back over her. She had been so peaceful, so happy, and even somewhat buzzed in the restaurant. It had felt amazing to be normal, surrounded by her friends and people once more. It had all unraveled so fast, all spiraled rapidly out of control and into hell.

  The worst part had been her realization about Matthew's vision. Even when she'd been draining the vampire she hadn't felt anywhere near the level of destruction radiating out of her that she'd seen in Matthew's premonition. She knew now that level of wrath had come from somewhere else, and the only thing that could have inspired it was the loss of Devon.

  She shuddered at the thought, a bubble of anger and protection welled up at just the thought of such a thing happening. But if what Matthew had seen wasn't stopped, then it was quite possible that this small bubble would become something far more. It could not happen, no matter what she had to do, she could not allow Matthew's vision to come true.

  She would do whatever it took to ensure that, even if it meant losing more of herself to the darkness creeping through her. She had to learn more about her abilities, had to learn what she was capable of, and she had to get more of them. She had yet to acquire Dani, Joey, Annabelle, and Liam's powers. She would have to make sure that she did so soon.

  Cassie had been so absorbed in her thoughts, and the new plans swarming through her mind, that she hadn't realized Devon was no longer in the room. She scurried across the room and threw the door open. It crashed loudly against the wall and bounced back at her. Chris and Julian's mouths dropped as their heads snapped toward her. Chris stepped away from the hotel wall, but Julian remained leaning against the rail with an amused quirk to his full mouth.

  "Bad dream princess?" he drawled.

  Cassie frowned at him before turning to Chris. "You ok?" he asked.

  Cassie looked past him for Devon but he was nowhere to be seen. "Yes. What are you guys doing?"

  Julian raised a bottle of tequila and swirled the gold liquid around. "Want some?"

  Cassie frowned at him as she shook her head. "No."

  "You sure princess, it will help to calm you down." She planted her hands on her hips. "Take a little of the edge off."

  "Is that what you're doing? Taking the edge off?" she retorted.

  He grinned at her as he took a deep swallow. "Why do you think I went for tequila?"

  "Julian," Chris said in a low, warning voice. Julian shrugged as he took another gulp. He drained almost a quarter of the bottle before dropping it back to his side and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Cassie's nose wrinkled as she caught a whiff of the pungent scent of the tequila.

  "Where are the others? Where is Devon?" Cassie demanded.

  "They have gone to make sure there are no other vampires stalking this sleepy town," Julian answered.

  "By themselves?" she squeaked.

  "They'll be fine, there are enough of them, and they're a strong group."

  "Why didn't they wake me?" she inquired.

  "You needed your rest."

  Or they just wanted to keep her out of it. Devon wanted to keep her out of it, she realized in dismay. "I can handle this," she said forcefully.

  "Of course you can princess, but you should take it easy once in awhile."

  Cassie glared at Julian as he raised his bottle again. "Chris?"

  His sapphire eyes were clear in the dim lights lining the walkway. "I'll go look for them," he offered. "But I think it's best that you stay here."

  "Absolutely not!" She took a step forward, determined to find Devon and the others before something awful happened.

  Julian rushed forward and slammed his hand against the wall before her. She took a startled step back as the resounding echo of his palm slapping the wall bounced down the walkway. His cavalier demeanor had vanished; his ice blue eyes were so ferocious that they caused a chill to race down her spine.

  "You are not going anywhere," he told her.

  It took her a moment to form words as he glared down at her. "Julian you don't understand..."

  "I understand everything, far more than you even think."

  "But Devon..."

  He bent closer to her, silencing her as his nose stopped mere centimeters from hers. If either of them had possessed any breath they would be inhaling each other's now, and she was fairly certain she would end up drunk. "Devon will be fine princess."

  "Stop calling me princess!" she retorted as she fought the childish impulse to kick him in the shin. "You don't know that he'll be fine. You don't have any idea what it is going on!"

  Julian tried to use his far larger size to intimidate her as he pressed closer. Cassie squared her shoulders as he tried to push her back another step. "I know exactly what is going on. I know what you think Matthew's vision means, and I think that you may be right. I also know that Devon told me to make sure you stay here and I plan on doing exactly that."

  Cassie's mouth parted, she gazed imploringly up at him as he continued to hover over her. "Why?"

  "You know why princess."

  Cassie strived to keep control of the sorrow swelling within her. "I won't harm anyone else."

  Julian grasped hold of her chin to force her gaze back to his. "We would all like to believe that Cass, but Devon is right you are a new vampire and therefore more unpredictable. You are doing really well, but we had all forgotten what you are, and we cannot afford to do so again. If it's a human that you go after next time, it will be more difficult to cover up. You should lay low until you have control over yourself."

  "But the vision? Devon?"

  "We'll worry about that later Cassie."

  "What if it happens now, while I'm not with him, or beca
use I'm not with him?" she whispered. "Why didn't he stay here?"

  "Because Devon's ability is stronger than mine, and they need him out there."

  Anger coursed up to bury the vulnerable feeling trying to swallow her. She was strong; she would be more powerful than all of them if she could learn how to draw on that power. "I can force you out of my way."

  Julian leaned even closer to her, but this time she didn't back away from the press of his body. "You probably could princess, but you know as well as I do that you won't."

  "Do I?" she demanded as her hands fisted at her sides.

  "Yes, you do. Because if you do that there will be no turning back. If you do that then you will know that Matthew's vision had nothing to do with Devon, or any of us, and everything to do with you."

  Her anger fizzled much like a popped balloon as she hopelessly gazed up at him. "But Devon..."

  "Will be fine. You want some of that tequila now?"

  Cassie turned away from him to study the shadows dancing across the parking lot. Devon was out there, he was vulnerable, and there was nothing that she could do to help him. Cassie whipped back around and grabbed the bottle of tequila dangling from Julian's fingertips. Tilting it back, she eagerly gulped down the contents of the bottle. Her eyes watered as the liquor burned all the way down but she didn't stop until the bottle was empty.

  "We have to come up with a plan," she said.

  Chris and Julian studied her before they both nodded in agreement.

  CHAPTER 14

  "You got her drunk. You got them both drunk! That was your answer to this mess?"

  Julian shrugged absently as he twirled the beer bottle between his fingers and grinned annoyingly at Devon. "Hey it kept her calm and it kept her here. Hell it kept me pretty freaking entertained to be honest with you."

  Devon glowered at him as he fought the urge to punch the arrogant smirk off of Julian's face. "I swear Julian..."

  "I am not drunk!" Cassie protested a little too loudly. She clung to his side; her eyes sparkled as she grinned up at him. He would have smelled the tequila on her from a mile away and held her up when she stumbled. "Well maybe a little," she admitted happily.

  Chris was sitting on the bed, his hair a tussled mess as he placed a bottle of whiskey on the nightstand. Not only had Julian gotten them drunk, but he'd gone straight to the high test with them. He was a little amazed that Cassie was still standing, even if it wasn't that well.

  "I'm drunk." Chris didn't look even a little ashamed at this admission. He rested his elbows on his legs and went to prop his chin in his hands but his arms slid off the side. He jerked forward and grinned as he shook his head and retrieved his bottle.

  "What the hell were you thinking Julian?" Devon demanded.

  Julian shrugged as he took another chug of beer. "You left me!" Cassie accused, her voice a little slurred as she poked him in his chest. He seized her finger and held it against his chest as she tried to tug it back. Giving up on retrieving her finger, she returned to glowering at him. "You left me here even after you knew what I thought about Matthew's vision!"

  "Cassie..."

  She jerked her finger back and frowned at him before she turned toward the others. "Where are Dani and Joey?" she demanded. Luther glanced out the door and nodded toward where Joey and Dani hovered outside. "Is everyone ok? Did you... did ya see anything?" Devon tried to steady her as she wandered away, but she batted his hands back. "I'm mad at you."

  Julian snorted with laughter and Chris lifted his head to grin at them. Annabelle, Liam, and Melissa were trying to keep their amusement hidden, but they were failing miserably. Luther looked just as unhappy about the situation as Devon felt. Cassie moved to the door and poked her head out.

  "Come on in!" she called cheerfully.

  Devon shook his head and glared at Julian as he continued to snicker happily. He'd almost forgotten just how infuriating Julian could be. "Who knew she couldn't handle her liquor?"

  "Anyone with half a brain," Devon retorted.

  Julian's grin only widened. "Come now Devon, I've never been known for my brain. My looks most definitely, but never my brain."

  "You're an ass," Devon growled and headed toward Cassie.

  Liam grabbed hold of her and righted her as she bumped against the door. Cassie seized hold of his hand and smiled at him. "Thank you."

  "You should know better Cassie," Luther scolded.

  She shrugged absently and grabbed hold of Annabelle as she leaned out the door. Annabelle shot Devon an apologetic look as Cassie continued to sway. Dani appeared in the doorway; she glanced around but didn't step into the room. Joey folded his arms and stared at Cassie like she was a two year old that had just stolen a cookie.

  "Did you find any more vampires?" Cassie demanded as she freed herself from Annabelle.

  "No there doesn't appear to be any more within the town," Luther answered.

  "Awesome!" Cassie announced cheerfully. "Come on in Joey, we don't bite. Well, actually, we do." Julian snorted and Devon rolled his eyes as Cassie giggled. "Get it? We bite!"

  "We get it Cass," Melissa placated.

  Dani took a small step back as Cassie leaned closer to her. She flung her arm around the tiny girl's shoulders and drew her in to hug her. "Dani I'm glad you're back on our side, though I'm still a little mad at you!"

  "Cassie..."

  "And you Joey. You may be one of us now, but should we trust you?"

  Joey seemed to be contemplating bolting down the walkway as he eyed up the walkway. "Ok Cass, I think it's time for you to get some sleep," Devon said gently.

  "I'm not tired!" she protested.

  "Cassie..."

  Devon tried to grab her but she was already lunging forward. Joey took a startled step back as she seized hold of his hands and nearly fell into him. Devon expected a fight from her as he grabbed her shoulders, but she released Joey. The drunken smile slid from her face as her eyes flashed the color of blood. It wasn't the red that they became when she turned, nor were they like any kind of red he'd ever seen before. It was a circle of red that flashed around the edge of both her irises before disappearing.

  Disbelief filtered through him as icy tentacles ran down his spine. Julian had stopped grinning at him like a drunken fool. Instead his eyes were as cold as the arctic on a winter's day. He lifted the bottle to Devon and tipped it forward in a salute before he drank deeply. Chris took another swallow of whiskey; there was a wealth of sadness and resignation in his eyes that frightened Devon.

  He fully realized that she now possessed all of their abilities, and Chris and Julian had known that it was going to happen. He pulled Cassie further away from the others. It took everything he had not to take her as far from here as possible and hide her from herself. He fought the urge to punch Julian and Chris for allowing her to do this, for helping her to do this.

  He led her to the bed and sat her beside Chris. He was unable to meet either of their gazes as he took a moment to steady himself. "I'll take care of this," he told the others.

  "Devon..."

  "It's fine Luther, we can't do much until they sleep it off anyway."

  Luther hesitated before nodding and herding the others out the door. Julian had the decency not to try and escape with the others, but he remained standing by the window with his arms crossed over his chest as he stared at the ground. Devon closed the door behind them and threw the locks. They didn't look at all repentant as they stared back at him.

  "What have you done?" he asked quietly.

  "What needed to be done," Cassie said flatly.

  Devon's jaw clenched, he didn't know what to say to that. He could only stare at her as he tried to dislodge the knot festering within his chest.

  ***

  The snow coated the trees and ground in a blanket of white. Cassie closed her eyes and tilted her head back to catch the flakes upon her tongue. She hugged herself as goose bumps broke out on her flesh. Lowering her head she blinked away the snow sticking to her lashes
as she frowned at the serene landscape. Where was she?

  A branch cracked loudly behind her and she braced herself as she waited for something to explode out of the woods at her. Only the subtle flow of the wind continued to disturb the trees. "What the hell?" she whispered.

  She took a step forward but froze as she looked down at the flimsy gold and white dress that floated freely about her ankles. She didn't own a dress like this, and she sure wouldn't be wearing it in this kind of weather. It took her a minute to realize that she was in some sort of bizarre, frighteningly realistic dream. She could feel each flake of snow as it hit her skin; feel the caress of the wind on her numb cheeks. She was beginning to speculate if there were icicles forming on the end of her nose.

  Perhaps she and Devon had connected again and he had pulled her into one of his dreams, but even as she thought it she knew she was wrong. He would be here with her if that had happened, and she would probably recognize the landscape. But there was no familiarity here, no feeling of serenity and love like she had encountered when Devon had accidentally pulled her in before.

  Her skin prickled as the sensation of being watched slid through her. She could almost feel them standing over her shoulder, breathing against her neck. "Hello!" She was uncertain if she actually desired an answer or not.

  It was a dream, it had to be, and she had the presence of mind to realize that it had to be her dream. Therefore she should be able to get herself out of here, put herself somewhere warmer at least. Shouldn't she?

  She rested her hand against the bark of one of the trees. It scraped against her skin as bits of it broke away beneath her weight. "Oh," she breathed as she ran the coarse bark between her fingers. This was so completely not normal.

  Her head shot up as a tree branch plummeted to the ground. There was something stalking her, something playing with her. Cassie pressed her back against the tree and surveyed the forest as she waited for whatever was out there to make an appearance. She didn't have to wait long as a figure emerged through the shadows and trees.

  Lighter blond highlights within the dark golden head became visible first. His honey hued eyes gleamed in the radiance of the moon. His head tilted to the side, his white teeth flashed in his tanned face as he smirked at her. "Zane."