Kindled (Book 3 The Kindred Series) (19 page)

   Isla took her brief distraction as an opportunity to pounce. Cassie caught
t
he blur of motion out of the corner of her eye.
Working on instinct, s
he spun back around, swinging out low with her foot. She connected with Isla’s leg, knocking her slightly off balance, but not enough.
Barely missing a beat,
Isla grabbed hold of her leg, ripping her off her feet and t
hrowing
her
to the side.

   Cassie bounced across the ground, a startled cry escaping her. If it hadn’t been for the mounds of snow she was certain she would have broken a few ribs, instead she had the breath knocked
out of her. Unfortunately, it was still enough to slow her down.
She rolled to the side, dread filling her as she realized that she had lost the stake. It lay a few feet away from her, sticking straight up in the snow.

   She scuttled to
ward
it, but Isla was already coming at her
again
. Giving up on regaining the stake, Cassie lurched to her feet, barely regaining her balance before Isla slammed into her. They tumbled
backward;
snow fell down Cassie’s shirt, coating her skin. H
er fear
,
however,
far
outweighed the cold.

   Isla was on top of her, tearing at her.
Grasping h
er turtleneck
, Isla pulled it
tight around her neck, choking the air from her.
Cassie
fought against the hands
clawing
at her, trying to block them from ripping her to shreds.
F
ear gave her strength. Fisting her hand, she somehow managed to slam a solid blow against the side of Isla’s face.

   It
only
knocked
Isla
slightly off balance, but
it was
enough so that Cassi
e was able to scramble
backward. Isla recovered
far
quicker than
Cassie
had thought possible
though
. She grabbed hold of Cassie’s ankle, ripping her
back toward her
. A startled cry escaped
Cassie
,
s
he tried to kick out
but her foot only glanced off of Isla’s shoulder.

  
Isla
was back on top of her, her eyes wild with frenzy and bloodlust. Cassie gazed up at her in startled surprise; Isla was going to kill her. Terror spurted through her
, bright stars burst before her eyes as adrenaline
pounded
through her in crashing waves
. Isla
sat on her chest, grinning like the cat that
had
just caught the canary. The last thing Cassie wanted to be was that canary, but she was.

   Isla’s eyes latched onto her neck, widening slightly then narrowing fiercely as they turned a violent shade of red. Cassie realized that her
turtleneck had been ripped
down
,
Devon’s
faded
marks upon her
were
visible
to Isla’s acute vision
. A tremor shook down her spine as Isla’s volatile eyes came back to hers, hatred radiat
ed
from every fiber of
Isla’s
being.

   “
Bitch,” Isla snarled, her fangs cutting into her bottom lip
as they elongated
. “
I’m going to drain you as dry as I drained your grandmother.”

   Shock slammed into Cassie, robbing her of breath, leaving her limp and immobile. Isla had killed her grandmother?
Isla
?
Cassie had assumed that it was Julian, with his ability he would have known all about her grandmother
. One brief touch
would
have
allowed him access to Cassie’s mind
,
showing him who her grandmother was, where
to look for her, and what she looked like.

   She had never thought that it would be Isla, never realized that it was this monster that had brutally ripped away the only
blood relative
that Cassie had left.
This
monster,
this
one sitting upon her, grinning at her victoriously, was the one that had so cruelly robbed the world of a wonderful, loving soul.

   Cassie’s shock faded swiftly as rage
blazed
up to bury her. The fury
suffused her, wrapping her within a tight cocoon
of hatred
and vengeance
. It made the anger she had experienced for the past two weeks look
like a
pitiful
candle flame
as
this raging inferno
kindled to life
. I
t flared through her
,
burning
as hotly as the sun
with its intensity. Her bones turned to cinder, her muscles bec
a
m
e
ash as something else raced forward, consuming her, changing her. 
  

  
Something inside of her snapped
.
A
ll reason fled as hatred and
retribution
roared to the forefront.

   Isla’s eyes widened slightly
, there was a flash of fear in her eyes
. Cassie had no idea what she saw th
at caused such a reaction
, nor did she care. Screaming with fury, Cassie found strength where there had been
none
before.
She would
destroy
this monster
.
N
o matter what
,
she was
going to kill Isla.
Even if it meant she went down with her.
Gathering her legs beneath her, she heaved up with all her might
, and with a strength that she had never possessed before
.
This strength, this
power
was unlike any she had ever dreamed of, but it vitalized her as it pounded hotly through her
veins.
Isla’s
hold upon her was knocked lose as
Cassie
lifted
her
up, flipping
her
over top of Cassie’s head.

   Chest
heaving
,
Cassie launched to her feet
and
sp
u
n wildly.
Isla was just regaining her balance
, shock and confusion twist
ed
her perfect features. Cassie didn’t hesitate as she raced forward. Isla tried to move away from her, but
she
wasn
’
t quick enough as Cassie slammed into her, knocking them both into the snow.

***

  
Devon rounded the corner of the house, fear
hammer
ed
through him as he pushed himself harder, faster
. It hadn’t taken him long to get here, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was too late. That he wouldn
’
t make it in time. He honed in on Cassie, expecting to find fear or pain,
or even nothing, but
instead
he
f
ound
a depth of rage
and hatred so entrenched
and brutal
that
it
nearly
knocked
him
back
.

   He skidded around the corner, horror filling him as Cassie flipped Isla over top of her head. Her shout of fury echo
ed
throughout the small backyard. Isla bounced across the ground, landing a few feet away. Cassie launched to her feet, her golden hair whipping around her, her body shaking not from the cold, but fr
om something else, something
far
worse.

   An inner shudder wracked Devon as he realized that he was not too late to stop her death, but he may be too late to save her humanity
.

   “Cassie!” he bellowed
, racing forward as she bolted at Isla, slamming them both backward
.

   He
bounded
across the snow, forcing himself to move faster, to go faster. He had to save her, he had to stop this. A flash of motion from the corner of his eye caused him to turn seconds before Julian crashed into him, shoving them both against the side of the house with enough force to shake the wall.

   “Not your battle!
” Julian hissed in his ear.
“Stay out of this Devon, you need to watch and learn. You need to see what your little Hunter is capable of.”

   Devon
was startled by
the
words, but he
shoved
Julian
backward
with enough force to dislodge him
.
Devon swung
rapidly out;
he connected with
a
swift uppercut
that shot
Julian’s head back. His teeth clattered loudly together
, rattling in his head as he stumbled back. Julian’s gaze raked over him, narrowing slightly
as a small grin spread over his mouth
. “Someone’s been eating well,” he murmured
in amusement
.

   Devon snarled at him, leaping forward, wanting nothing more than to rip out his throat. Julian’s eyes widened, he darted just out of Devon’s grasp, retreating swiftly toward the woods. “
Don’t forget about y
our girl,” he taunted
over his shoulder
.

   Devon’s head snapped back to the
fight
, his desire
to
kill
Julian
forgotten in the face of Cassie’s need. Julian disappeared into the woods, apparentl
y deciding that he couldn’t win this
fight, and that he did not want to be involved
. Isla was left to fend for her
self
.
“Coward!”
Devon
hissed
after him, but there was no movement in the trees.

  
‘You need to see what your little Hunter is capable of,’ ran through his head. Puzzled, unnerved by wh
at Julian might know or suspect
Devon found himself unable to move for a moment. A cry brought his attention back to the battle, and away from his thoughts. H
is mouth went dry at the sight before him.

***

   Cassie stared up at Isla, her mind no longer computing fear, or even rational thought. All
that mattered was destroying Isla
, killing her, having the satisfaction of seeing her die.
Though Isla was back on top of her
,
Cassie was not scared,
there was no room for fear inside of her anymore. There was only room for hatred and vengeance. B
ut she could sense Isla’s fear
, hesitance, and confusion
.

 
Isla struck at her, moving with the speed of a rattlesnake.
Cassie merely grinned, her hand twisting around the stake she had managed to regain during thei
r struggle. Isla was only inches
away from her when she drove
the stake
upward, taking pleasure in the satisfying crunch of bones as it pierced through her ribcage
and
dr
o
v
e
deep into her heart. Isla’s eyes widened in startled surprise, she gazed down at Cassie in horror
,
despair
and disbelief
. Cassie
merely
grinned back at her
, twisting the stake deeper
with eager joy
.
She didn
’
t care that her joy was perverse and out of place here, she relished in the thrill and pleasure filling her.

   “Rot in hell,” she whispered, moments before Isla
let out a small moan and collapsed upon her
.

   Cassie lay for a moment, shaking with the emotions tearing through her.
She thought that she would find satisfaction in destroying the woman that had murdered her grandmother, but there was none.
She thought the joy would continue to rush through her, thought that it would actually grow now that her grandmother had been vindicated.