“Cade,” I croak out as the Scotch burns down my throat pleasantly. “Are you okay?”
I struggle to my feet and go to him. He backs away as I extend my hand for him and then stops with that bloody curious look that I am seeing all over the place today.
“What is this?” he asks.
“Your dreams have come true,” I say and smile at him. “You are no longer sired to me. You are no longer a Vampire.”
His frown hoods his eyes and he pops his fangs out to my shock.
“What?” I ask and spin around to Remiel. “How is he still a Vampire?”
Are Devon and Cole? I Astral off again without a word and this time have everyone hot on my heels.
As I arrive in the bedroom, Devon is just sitting up and holding his head in his hands.
“What the fuck?” he asks, and I know how he feels.
I go to him and take his hand. He lets me and then it registers with us both. He is not a Vampire.
“Lizzie?” he asks. “Why can’t I feel our bond?”
The fear on his face breaks my heart, but I have to say the words. “Xanthe did something to me. I am no longer a Vampire, and for some reason neither are you. We have been reverse-turned.” I turn to look at Cole, who is just waking up and I touch his face. He brushes my hand away and my broken heart shatters into a million pieces. I stifle my cry of anguish and Devon grips my fingers more tightly.
“I don’t understand,” he says. “How have we been reversed? It makes no sense.” He shakes his head, trying to understand.
“I don’t know,” I say.
He looks at Cole, who has come full around, then at Cade, and then frowns. “It happened to all of us?”
I nod.
He looks down at his shirt and plucks the bloody material from his chest. “I, we, reverted to our human selves? How we were as we were dying?”
Such a clever boy. “Yes, it seems so,” I say, and Cole gasps as he starts to get filled in.
“Then how did we live?” Devon asks before the penny drops. “We are those half-Demon things.”
He and Cole stare at each other for a long time before they both leap off the bed to opposite sides of the room.
Now it’s my turn to be curious. What is that about?
“How come they aren’t Vampires anymore, but I am?” Cade asks a damn good question and one that Devon is not happy to hear.
“He is still a Vampire?” he asks me, pointing an accusing finger at Cade.
“Mm-hm,” I say, casting a glance at Cole who is completely shell-shocked. “Remiel, care to share?”
We all turn to look at Remiel, who stands up straighter. “I must have healed him before the reverse transition was complete.”
“Huh,” I say, and no one says anything else. The silence and tension go far past uncomfortable.
“Cade?” I ask. “How do you feel?”
He shrugs. “Weird. Fine though. Strong. Not like you have left again,” he says.
Okay, that’s good, I suppose.
“I’ll leave you to…” he says and gestures at the room. I smile my thanks. He gets how awkward this is and wants out of it. I don’t blame him. I wish I could.