Shoving herself to her feet, she stumbled slightly, almost falling over. She crashed into the wall, wincing as pain lanced through her bruised shoulder. Sucking in a deep lungful of air, she tried her hardest to ease the dizziness and nausea rolling through her. For a moment she feared she was going to vomit, or pass out. She fought fiercely against the darkness trying to pull her under; she most certainly didn’t want to be unconscious in this place again.
It took a few minutes before she felt steady enough to move again. She passed by another door that was cracked open to reveal a small bathroom beyond. Shuffling past the bathroom she reached the main door. She grabbed hold of the handle, not at all surprised to find it locked. Frustration and fear tore through her as she yanked desperately at the handle, panic and a crushing sense of claustrophobia descended over her.
A small cry of aggravation escaped as she slammed her hand against the door, resting her forehead on the cold metal as she tried to gather her shaken wits. She didn’t scream for help, for she knew no one would come, or at least no one that she wanted to see. Standing on tiptoe she stared out the small window in the center of the door.
There was a long hallway outside, bright light bounced off the white linoleum floors of the hall. She saw no movement, sensed no sign of a human presence out there. She tried to summon her rage, to gather the vast strength that had helped her to destroy Isla, and might help her get out of this. But it did not come surging to the forefront. In fact, it seemed buried inside of her, trapped by something that she had no control over.
She recalled the shot they had given her. There was a foggy, drugged feeling still clouding her mind. What had they done to her? What had they given her? And what the hell was she doing here?
“You’re awake.”
Cassie jumped back, nearly falling over as she stumbled away from the door. Her gaze darted wildly around the room as she tried to pinpoint the source of the voice. Her gaze landed on the speakers she had not noticed beneath the larger mirror. Light suddenly flooded on behind the mirror, revealing the man that had spoken to her. Cassie’s mouth dropped, shock riveted her as she recognized the man on the other side as Dani’s brother, Joey.
She moved slowly away from the mirror, her calves brushing up against the back of the small cot. Her mind was spinning with a million questions, none of which she could actually form into words. Another man moved in to stand beside Joey, Cassie vaguely recognized him as one of the men that had come onto the porch to retrieve her.
“Where am I?” she managed to choke out. “What do you want with me?”
The strange man stepped forward, hitting a button to allow him to speak. “You are a danger to people, and to your race; we could no longer allow you to be free.”
Cassie’s mouth dropped, panic slammed heavily through her. She glanced wildly around the room as she tried to understand exactly what was going on, and just how bad her situation was. She was very afraid that she hadn’t even begun to grasp the true depth of this awful situation. “So you plan on keeping me here to keep others safe?” she demanded.
The men exchanged a look. Joey’s auburn hair was the color of blood in the bright light of the fluorescents, his light brown eyes distant. The man at his side remained impassive. His face was a mask of indifference, his hair neatly trimmed, and graying at the edges. His dark blue eyes were as cold as granite. It was the look of speculation and curiosity in his gaze that frightened her most. He stared at her as if she were a bug, something to be picked and prodded at, something that he wanted to torture and dismantle.
Cassie fought to keep her composure as a crushing sense of doom threatened to descend upon her. “No, we have other plans for you,” the man answered.
Swallowing heavily, Cassie fisted her hands as she fought the shaking that was trying to rattle through her. “And what would those plans be?”
“You’re a fascinating specimen Cassandra.” Cassie shuddered at the word specimen, her stomach twisted with nausea. “There is a lot of power and ability in you. You did kill Isla after all, and she was almost an Elder. We want to try and harness that power, try and use it to our advantage. We do need an advantage desperately. The only problem is that you have no control over your abilities.”
Confusion swirled through her as she gazed wildly back and forth between them. “You plan on teaching me how to control it?” she managed to grate out.
“No, because we cannot control you,” he said flatly. “We plan on trying to harness it, on trying to learn from it.”
“I don’t understand.”
“We are losing the war; we need all the weapons that we can get. You will be one of those weapons. We just need to learn how to use you. We need to learn how to make The Hunter race even stronger, and you may very well be the key to that. Your blood may be our way to do so.”
Cassie’s legs gave out as she slid onto the small cot that was now her bed. “You’re supposed to be the good guys,” she whispered.
“We are, but in every battle innocent lives must be lost. And you are not an innocent Cassandra, consorting with the enemy and all.”
Her head shot up, her eyes widened in horror. “Devon is not the enemy!” she snapped. “He is one of the good guys. He’s saved my life numerous times and he is a good man!”
“He’s a monster,” Joey growled, disgust twisting his features. “And you’re a disgrace.”
“At least I didn’t run!” she snapped, anger giving her strength as she leapt to her feet. “I stayed and fought the battle. I stayed and fought the war! You ran and hid like the coward you are!”
Joey took an angry step forward, but could go no further than the wall before him. “You’re a damn whore!” he spat at her.
Cassie glared fiercely back at him, her hands fisting as some of the anger she had been searching for came to the forefront. The man rested a hand on Joey’s shoulder, pulling him back a step. “You allowed the vampire to feed from you, but I am assuming that you did not take any of his blood.”
Cassie glanced sharply at the man at Joey’s side. “I’m assuming that this exchange did not occur because the vampire was afraid of what it may do to you.” Cassie clenched her jaw, refusing to say anything more as she turned her gaze to the ceiling, taking note of the strange vents above her. “I also wonder what his blood would do to you.”
Her gaze snapped back to him, terror tore through her, melting her resolve not to speak again. “You leave him alone!”