Kindled (Book 3 The Kindred Series) (35 page)

   Cassie frowned,
moving
closer
to the window
as she strained to hear him better. The fog in her mind seemed to clear as she became riveted upon what he was saying. “Had to be certain of what?”
she whispered.

  
“Of what you
are
, of course.
”

  
Cassie’s mouth parted slightly, her hands slipped away from her pants.
“What do you mean
?
”

   “When I touched you
that first time
,
I learned that you believed you ha
ve
no powers.”

   “I
don’t
have any powers,” she inserted sharply.

   Julian’s
ey
es were hard when they met hers;
the white band around the pupil momentarily gr
e
w larger. “Then how do you explain a single Hunter being able to take out a vampire that was nearly an Elder?”

  
Cassie bit on her bottom lip as she recalled
the hatred and fury that had suffused her th
e
night
she had killed Isla
.
The awful feeling
,
and loss of control she had experienced
,
had been overwhelming
.
It
had nearly buried her beneath the monster inside of her
.
Though, as much as she
’
d hated the feeling
,
and the pain that had accompanied it, she almost wished that she could bring that monster out now.
Almost
.
It had been awful, and vicious, and nearly destroyed her.
And no matter how much she hated their current situation, she hated the creature inside of her more.

  
“Whatever is inside of me
,
it’s
not a power,” Cassie broke off
,
her gaze darted
worriedly toward the mirror across from her once more. “It’s a curse. It’s a… it’s
something awful,” she finished on a whisper.

   “
They
will tell you that it
is
something awful,” Julian hissed.
“But they created your race, so they created you.”

   Cassie swallowed heavily
as she shook her head. “I’m confused,” she breathed
.

   Julian heaved a large sigh. Turn
ing
, he rested his shoulder again
st the mirror, his head dropped
t
o
the glass.
Cassie realized that whatever they were pumping into the rooms was having an effect on him too. “When I first met you, I wanted to hurt you
,
not because of what you are but because
I wanted to hurt
Devon.
Though I am very certain your blood would be an amazing treat.” Cassie glared at him as he offered her a roguish grin that had probably melted many hearts in his long life. Despite herself, Cassie couldn’
t hold her anger at him. She didn’t know if it was the drugs, or the bizarre fact that she almost liked this strange Julian. “
It was
a challenge
to get to you
, and I love a challenge.”

  
“
I see,
” she mu
rmured
.

  
“I am what I am.
” He showed no remorse for the things he had done to her, and her friends, but then she had never expected any from him.
It wasn’t in his nature to show regret. “
But when I touched you and saw what was inside of you,” he shrugged. “You are a danger
Cassie, to everyone around you, but you are also a force of power. I wanted to see how that power could be used
,
and what it was capable of
. I knew you could beat Isla, if you unleashed that power…”

   “And if I hadn’t?”

   He shrugged again. “Then you would have been killed, but
I had to see what w
ould happen.” She knew she should be annoyed by his nonchalant attitude, but she couldn’t find it in herself to
be. It was Julian after all, and
although she didn’t really mind
this
Julian, he was what he was and there was no changing that. “
And
Devon
had to
see
what you could be capable of
. Though I think he suspected what was inside of you before th
at night
.”
  

   Cassie yawned again as she rested her head against the glass, dimly aware of the fact that their heads would have been
touching
if there was no glass between
them
. “
Yes, h
e did
.
B
ut why would you want him to know about it?”

   Julian was silent for a moment and then he heaved a large sigh.
“Because he
had
to know.
If Isla couldn’t beat you, and there is a chance that
I
may not be able to take you
,
then he had to know that if he changed you
, like I know he wanted too,
then
there was a good possibility that
no
one could beat you
if it went wrong
. That you could very well destroy us all, including your friends. And although it would have destroyed Devon to watch you become a monster,
which
would have
made me very happy,
I could not allow such a thing to happen. I enjoy my existence
too
much
for
something like
that
.
I d
o
n
’
t need you scouring the earth trying to destroy us all.
”

   Cassie managed to shoot him another fierce glare, but there was no anger, no hatred in his gaze. Instead, there was an odd sense of compassion. Cassie shivered, disarmed and disoriented by this strange new Julian. “I may not become a monster,” she retorted.

   “No, but there is no way to know that. And either way
,
you
may
still
become mo
re powerful than the rest of us.
”

   Cassie sighed softly, fighting against closing her eyes again. “These people must realize that,” she whispered. “So why wouldn’t they just destroy me?”

   “I don’t know.
Just as I don’t know why they
are
ke
eping
me
alive.
What they plan on doing with the two of us is not something I want to co
ntemplate
. They’ve left me alone, but now that you’re here…”

   Cassie lifted her head slowly as his voice trailed off. He was still awake however, his strange eyes distant as he stared at the far wall. “This is going to be awful
.
”

   He focused on her again, his lids drooping slightly. The lazy look he gave her was sympathetic as well
as hard. “I believe so.”

   Cassie shuddered; she rapidly b
linked
back the tears that burned her eyes. “They’ll come for us if we go to sleep, won’t they?”

   He hesitated for a moment, and she could tell that he wanted to sugarcoat it, but in the end he didn’t. “Yes.”

CHAPTER 16

   “Where the hell could he be?”
Devon snarled.

   He was well aware of the fact that Chris
took a swift step away from him;
his eyes dart
ed
rapidly over the woods before finally settling on Devon again.
“Devon
,
I don’t think he’s in this area anymore
,” Annabelle said softly, nervously
. “You haven’
t been able to find him,
Chris can’t sense him
, and Melissa has had no premonitions
.
W
e need to come up with another plan.”

   He rounded on her, his hands fisting
as
his nostrils flar
ed
. Anger and panic tore through him. He was such a wildly swinging pendulum of emotions lately that even
he
was surprised that he had not snapped
. It had been three
days;
she had been
missing for
three
days
! Three days in which they could have done
anything
they wanted to her.

   He shuddered, struggling hard not to lose his temper again.
As he had yesterday
.
He tried not to think about the rampage he had gone on yesterday, the destruction he had done to the trees that had been in his way. If he had gotten his hands on something alive, he would have ripped it to shreds whether it had been animal or human. It had been a dangerous state to be in and he had been lucky that no one had been around him.

  
“What though?” he grated.

   Annabelle stared helplessly back at him, her eyes watery and lost.
Liam and Luther had made their way into Vermont,
but
they were not having much luck either. Though he had not said it, Devon knew that Liam feared the trail was growing cold.
“I don’t know,” she whispered.

   Devon nearly bellowed in rage as he slammed his fist into a large oak. The tree
shuddered,
its empty branches creak
ed
loudly as it swayed slightly. He could feel the
demon
in him wanting to
take over again, wanting to bury the man. He was greatly afraid that he was going to lose the battle shortly
,
and lose himself in the process. He couldn’
t do that;
if he did
,
he would never find Cassie. He would never
be able to
rescue her from
whatever form of torture they had devised for her.

   “What do we do?” he asked hopelessly, trying to regain control of his wildly unstable emotions.
He had to find her, and he had to do so before he completely lost himself.

   “We find another way, maybe there is another one like Julian out there,” Melissa said softly, her gaze wearily focused on the oak he had just punched
.

   “How do we find them?” Chris asked quietly.

  
“Luther will know,” Annabelle
replied. “There may even be a Hunter out there
that has Julian’s ability
.”

   “And we’re supposed to trust them
to help us
?” Chris retorted.

   “Chris,” Melissa warned.

   Chris shook his head at her, his eyes narrowed as he studied the night surrounding them.
An owl hooted in the distance, its mournful sound set Devon’s teeth on edge. He paced restlessly away from the tree, tugging anxiously at his hair.
He couldn’t take much more of this, his insides felt
like
something
w
as
claw
ing
them to shreds, his skin was on fire, every muscle of his body was twisted and pain filled.

   Ther
e was only one thing, one
person
, that could help to soothe th
e
agony in him
,
and he had no idea where she was, or how to find her.
He had sent her away to keep her safe, and instead he had put her right in the path of danger. He never should have left her side; he
never
should have let her out of his sight. This was his fault, and
Cassie
was the one paying for it.

  
When he found her,
if
he found her, he would never make that mistake again.
He looked helplessly back at the rest of them, needing their help. He could no longer think straight, he needed them to
do it for him
. The owl hooted again. Melissa’s hea
d snapped up, her gaze narrowed
on the distant woods.