Her vision started to clear as heat seeped into her body. The throbbing in her head eased and she was able to blink Chris into focus as the throbbing in her head eased. ""I'll be fine," she assured him.
Chris nodded and turned away from her as another wave of newer vamps closed in on them. He hefted his crossbow to his shoulder and took aim. "I wish we still had that handy little arrow launcher thing Joey had."
"So do I," she muttered.
She wiped the blood from her eye as she shoved herself to her knees. The vampires she'd buried within the avalanche were already starting to pull themselves free of the mounds of snow. Annabelle, Liam, Melissa, Dani, and Joey were having trouble fighting off what seemed like an endless wave of monsters that Zane had created for this battle. She still couldn't see Devon and Robert amongst the snow and chaos. Julian was struggling to his feet as Bernard hefted the tree and went back at him.
Cassie didn't think there was anyway Julian could fend off the mountain of a man narrowing in on him. Drawing on her telekinesis she managed to lift a small rock Robert had dislodged and heaved it at Bernard. It caught the giant in the temple, momentarily distracting him as he swung the tree at Julian again.
Julian grabbed hold of the tree and punched the giant in the face. Staggered by the force of Julian's blow, Bernard released the tree. Julian spun the tree around and drove it through Bernard's chest. The massive man howled as he clawed at the tree and fell backwards into the snow.
Julian's eyes were the color of glowing embers as they met hers. Chris released a rapid fire of arrows from the crossbow as the newer vampires rushed at them. Over the horde she finally spotted Devon and Robert as they tumbled across the ground toward a newly formed gorge in the earth. She didn't think Devon was aware of its existence, but Robert surely was.
Dani let out a shriek that caused Cassie's hair to stand on end as the vampires breached the small circle of protection they had all formed. Joey was the first to go down, buried beneath the crowd that mobbed over top of them. Cassie's head spun, she tried to take in everything at once, but it was all happening too fast.
A scream tore from her as she lurched forward and drove her shoulder into one of the creatures closing in on them. An apparition of Zane appeared before her. The light of the moon gleamed on his extended fangs as he wagged his finger at her. "Now now princess, let's leave the brother's alone so we can have some fun of our own."
She snarled at him as she hit the apparition with enough force to send it spiraling into the snow. She didn't stop to finish it off though, that version of Zane was completely useless to her and she had to help someone. Devon and Robert were getting perilously closer to the edge of the pit, Julian and Chris were being pushed back by a fresh wave of vampires, and her friends had disappeared beneath the swarm.
***
Robert's eyes widened as Devon's fingers dug into the flesh of his throat. Devon knocked Robert's fist away when Robert tried to drive it into his face. He snapped Robert's arm back, shattering bone and destroying muscle as he drove it to Robert's side. Robert howled, his fingers clawed desperately at Devon's face as he sensed his impending demise.
Around them the world began to rock as Robert tried to draw on his power. Devon released Robert's arm and jerked his brother toward him before he could gather enough strength to bury him under a pile of rocks.
Images of Cassie bleeding, of Cassie dying filled his head as his lips skimmed back to reveal his throbbing fangs. This was something that he should have done years ago. But even so, as his eyes met his brothers rolling ones, he had a moment of hesitation. They'd never been friends, there had never been any love between them, but there was blood. They were brothers.
It was that moment that allowed Robert to catch him under the chin with a right hook before he slammed his fist into Devon's chest. A loud roar tore from Devon as his ribs fractured and Robert's fingers scrambled to rip out his heart. He may be hesitant to kill his own brother, but Robert most certainly wasn't.
Cassie, if something happened to him...
He broke the thought off as renewed strength surged through him. He couldn't allow anything to happen to him, not now, not ever. He grabbed Robert's good arm with both of his and smashed his forehead off of Robert's. Blood exploded over both of them from Robert's shattered nose. Robert relinquished his pursuit of Devon's heart as he took a staggering step back.
Devon seized hold of his brother's throat and lifted him up before slamming him back into the ground. "You shouldn't have touched her," Devon snarled as he drove his fist through his brother's chest. Robert's eyes widened, his broken arm flopped uselessly at his side but his good fingers encircled Devon's wrist in a vice grip. Devon leaned closer to his brother, his lips curled back in a ferocious sneer as his hand wrapped around the deadened lump within Robert's chest. A lump that had been dead long before Robert had died even. "You'll never touch her again."
Devon yanked the heart from his brother's chest and kicked his body into the pit Robert had been trying to angle him into. He watched his brother fall backwards until he disappeared from view. He didn't have time to savor in the sight, or get his bearings, as ten newly created vampires pounced upon him. Their hunger beat against him as their fangs snapped at his throat. He was able to wrap his mind into two of theirs and drive them off, but he was unable to do it to any more as there were too many of them.
He caught a fleeting glimpse of Zane going down beneath a sea of hungry new vampires. They no longer cared that they'd been brought together by The Elders and were supposed to be fighting for The Elders. All they craved now was power and blood, and the most powerful blood belonged to The Elders, and Cassie. Worry for her safety reinvigorated him as he managed to get himself back to his feet beneath the pig pile.
Devon seized one of the vamps by the neck and ripped it over his head, but for every one he brought down five more rose up to replace it. He was driven back to his knees beneath the weight of them.
CHAPTER 23
Cassie didn't know which way to go first, didn't know who to try and help first as she raced across the snow. Dani screamed again, a piercing cry that made her decision for her. She veered toward her friends as Devon tossed Robert's body into the pit. She had a brief second where she thought he would be ok before he was inundated with a fresh wave of vampires.
Time seemed to slow, she skidded to a stop in the snow as the world blurred and everything inside of her became a frenzy of crashing molecules and turmoil. It reminded her of Gabriel's strange ability but she knew no one else was affected by it. Adrenaline coursed through her as a protective urge unlike anything she'd ever known rushed to the forefront. These were her friends, her family, the people she loved the most and she wasn't going to lose them all.