"The change is agonizing," Annabelle whispered.

"But this painful?" Chris demanded.

Annabelle shook her head. "Chris this isn't a change that's ever been attempted before. She's a Hunter and its two Elders bringing her back."

"So the answer is no. That was all you had to say, just no."

"I don't know Chris!" she cried.

"She'll be fine." Julian grated through clenched teeth. Cassie's fingers curled around his arm and clenched down. Julian grit his teeth as she thrashed against him. "She'll be fine."

Though it had been centuries ago, Julian clearly recalled the torture of his transition. The pain that had clenched his muscles, twisted his insides into knots, and broke the bones in his lower back from the force of his spasms. Though it had only lasted for forty minutes, at the time it felt like an eternity.

He yearned to take this away from her, but there was nothing that he could do. Unfortunately all of them had to suffer through the torture of what was done to their bodies, and their insides, in order to gain immortality. She bucked again and continued to scream against his hand as her whole body arched off the floor. Chris recoiled as she flopped limply onto the ground.

The scent of her assailed him as Julian buried his face in her hair. It was such a mixture of himself and Devon within her that he could barely sense her own essence anymore. But then, there hadn't been much of her blood left within her after Robert's brutal assault.

"Please forgive me," he murmured against her ear as he cradled her. "Is there anything you can do?" he asked Annabelle.

She shook her head as she gripped Cassie's legs. "No, I can only heal physical wounds; I cannot take a person's internal pain from them."

Chris's head turned slowly away from them as he focused instead upon the window. His eyebrows drew together as he frowned. Leaping to his feet, he dodged the debris on the floor as he raced across the room. Cassie screamed against Julian's hand again as she twisted to the side. Her cheeks were florid, sweat poured down her face and coated her clothes. Chris skidded to a halt by the window and roughly pushed the curtain aside to gaze out at the road.

"I didn't realize Devon had given her so much blood," Annabelle murmured. Julian met her troubled gaze. "He has to know that she's still alive, right?"

Is she? Julian wondered though he managed to keep the words to himself. This was a bad enough mess without adding his doubts to it. Cassie screamed again and kicked her legs with enough force to knock Annabelle's grip free from one. Annabelle winced and shook her hand before she seized hold of Cassie's leg again.

"He has to, right!?" Annabelle demanded.

Julian adjusted Cassie and kept her pinned down as he bit into his wrist again. Fresh blood spurted into his mouth. Before she could attempt another scream he shoved his wrist into her mouth. "Julian!" Annabelle hissed disapprovingly.

"We have to make sure it's enough," he reminded her.

He knew Devon would be infuriated that he was sharing his blood with Cassie, but they had to make sure that she got through this transition, that she wasn't trapped in between. For a second there was no reaction from Cassie, and then she grabbed hold of his arm and bit down.

Julian started in surprise as fangs she'd never had before sank into his wrist. Fangs that never should have been present this early in the transition, but were. Just what would she become?

Matthew's vision of her had revealed a monster, a creature surrounded by blood and reveling in the destruction that she rained down upon them, a creature that Cassie would never want to become.

He almost pulled his arm away from her, almost took the flow of life from her lips, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He was terrified of Matthew's vision but he was even more terrified of losing her. It was probably one of the most selfish things he'd ever done, but nothing was going to stop him. He had just found her, he'd just realized that there was some humanity left in him and that he could truly love someone else; he couldn't lose it all now. He just couldn't.

They would deal with the consequences of his actions later, no matter what those consequences might be. He just hoped that he wasn't helping to create a monster that couldn't be destroyed. But if he didn't do this it was likely that Devon would destroy them all anyway, or that she would get caught in between and really become a monster.

Julian shoved that thought away. Visions had been proven wrong over and over again. They were only a glimpse of the future, not a guarantee, and he was determined that Matthew's vision wouldn't come true. All that mattered right now was that she survived the transition.

She drank with hungry, pulling gulps that left him shaken and lost. He struggled against the waves of pleasure that surged up and tried to bury him beneath the endless joy that filled him. He could sense her anguish and thirst, but even more than that he could sense the endless joy she took in consuming his blood, in having it fill and sate her.

Unable to stop it, a small moan of delight escaped him. It was the first time he had allowed his mind to open to another vampire during the blood exchange process. He was unable to let go of her, unable to break the precious connection between them, even if she'd already taken enough blood to ensure her safety through the transformation. An intense sense of possession began to build inside of him. Though she didn't belong to him there would always be a connection between them and in those few seconds he chose to pretend that he could keep her.

He would always love her and it killed him that she would never be with him, never be his. His fingers curled into her silken hair as he drifted into the ecstasy she emitted, and the love that she had for him. Even if it wasn't the same as the love she had for Devon. He allowed himself to be lost to the woman that had claimed his heart.

He could keep her. His hands tightened in her hair, he closed his eyes as the thought flitted across his mind. Human's were vulnerable during the transition, he could seize hold of her mind and make her think that it was him she loved, make her stay with him. He so desperately yearned to, and yet he knew that he never could. It wouldn't be real and he loved her too much to abuse and manipulate her in such a way. He could keep her, but he would hate himself forever if he decided to do so.

"Julian! Julian!"

His eyes flew open and he blinked Annabelle into focus. "Julian stop! She has enough for the change. She is not yours!"

Anger and hurt tore through him as a small growl escaped him. He knew that she wasn't his. He knew that. It didn't mean that he had to like it though. Gradually he got enough control over himself to pull away from her. She moaned and her eyelids briefly flickered up to reveal the striking amethyst azure color of her eyes.




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