Kindred (Book 1 The Kindred Series) (25 page)

   Her kind, she thought bitterly. She wanted nothing to do with
her
kind. Other than Chris and Melissa, they were
not
hers, and he
r
heritage
had been anything but
kind
t
o her. It had robbed her
and Melissa of their parents, taken Chris’s father from him.
It had destroyed his mother.

 
When Luther had found them, the revelation that their parents had not been killed in a car accident had been a shattering blow to both her and Chris.
It
was disheartening to learn that
i
t had not been an accident that had
taken
their famil
ies
from them,
but a calculated mission to destroy
their
loved
ones
. A
slew of vampires
had gotten together to seek out
the
Hunter line
and viciously slaughter
ed
as many of them as they could find
.

 
What was she thinking to
expose Devon to such a life?
To such brutality and death?
Though it had been awhile, they were all still fearful
that the vampires would band together once more and finish what they had started sixteen years ago
with The Slaughter
.
She had
no right to risk
Devon
getting
hurt
,
or even worse
,
killed.
She had no right to put him
in danger
,
especially
when he didn’t even
know
about the
d
anger she might
i
nadvertently plac
e
him
in
.

   Though she barely knew him, she did know that i
t would destroy her to lose him because of her selfishness.

   Cassie da
rted past
some
briar
patches, her arm g
o
t caught on
one. She
didn’t
notice the pain a
s it tore across her skin
and
spill
ed
her blood
.
Though it was impossible,
she
continued to
tr
y
and
outrun everything that she was, everything
that
she had become.
She did not recognize the person she was now, for it was far different then the young, hopeful, innocent girl she had been just four
short
years ago.
That
girl had dreamed big and
loved every moment of her easy going, fun filled life. Th
e
person
she was now
was a stranger inside her body, it wore her skin, but it was no longer her.

   Pushing herself harder, s
he tried to run from the twisting pain that wrenched at her heart,
and
shredd
ed
her insides. Stumbling out of the woods, her feet hit sand
as she reached the beach
.
Sand
filled her sneakers as she
slipp
ed
in
it
,
but
she
continued
to push herself
onward
. Her lungs burned fiercely and her legs were beginning to ache, but she kept going,
to
o
frightened to stop. If she stopped she would have to think, and if she thought, she didn’t know if she could survive it.

   Her feet slipped out from under her. With a soft cry, her knees hit the sand, her fingers slipp
ed
into its grain
y depths
and
d
u
g beneath the surface.
It was cool to the touch, wet from the incoming tide
as it lapped against the shore
.
Her shoulders
trembled
, she labored for air
.
T
ears finally slipped free,
spilling
o
nto the
beach
as sobs
shook her body and soul.

   She couldn’t move,
she
could barely breathe as agony and pain twisted through
her
gut. She sobbed for all of the unfairness in the world, for all the loss and pain she had experienced. She sobbed for the parents she
could not remember
,
and
had never cried for before.
She sobbed for
Devon,
who had come to mean so much to her in such a short amount of time, and whom she
feared she
would have to let go of.
Once the tears started, they would not stop, and she had no control over the torrent that poured from her.

   Memories rolled forth, old wounds were sliced open, leaving her ragged and torn.
She recalled her early years, years spent
on the
run
and
moving constantly. Though she and Chris had been
to
young to understand the reason behind the constant moving, it had been stressful and lonely for them.
Chris’s mother had
fled with
them to Cassie’s grandmother in
Florida
, and from
there they had moved
to Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Vermont,
Pennsylvania, New York,
Maine, and
had
finally settled on Cape Cod after
six
years.

 
She
and Chris had
never known t
hat they were
moving to avoid
being hunted by the same monsters that had murdered their parents
,
until Luther arrived.
They had been given six wonderful years of peace in which they hadn’t had to move, and they had actually been able to make friends outside of each other.
Though she hated the fate that Luther
had
handed
them
, she
did take some
joy
in
avenging her parent’s deaths by ridding the world of the monsters that walked upon it.

   Cassie
rested her hand
s
on her knees, her tears slowly subsid
ed
as the gentle ebb and flow of the sea
drew her attention.
A soothing calm settled over her, drying he
r
tears
. She was surprised
at
how much better she felt, surprised by the
tranquility
that settle
d
over her. She hate
d
the path that
fate
had laid out for her, but there were
many
people who
had it
far worse than she
did
. She may hate the path, but she would walk it, and she would stop
struggling
against it.

   She had been given the ability to
destroy some of t
he evil in the world
, given the ability to help people;
she should start to consider i
t
a
gift, not a liability. Though she had lost a lot because of what she was, to continue to fight it would only destroy her. She had to make a choice, either accept her fate, or continue to live in misery for whatever short time she had left.

   Staring silently at the ocean, the strength within her began to grow
.
It
slipp
ed
out to her limbs
and
dri
ed
the remaining tears on her face. Her parents had died to keep her safe, had died to
protect her
,
and the world. She could not deny her heritage any longer; she could not deny what she was.
And w
ith the strength
finally
came
a calming
peace
that she had not experienced in a very long time
. For the first time
in four years
there was
serenity inside
her
,
a sense of true tranquility. By
finally beginning to accept what she was,
he
r
path seemed to unfold swiftly, winding easily along instead
of being broken and fractured.

   A car door slammed, Chris and Melissa appeared at the top of a sand
d
une. Chris’s face was drawn tight with worry, Melissa looked aggravated. Cassie sighed softly, turning her attention back to the d
eep
blue sea. Dark clouds
had begun to
roll in along the horizon, but it would be a
while
before the storm hit.

   “What a
re you doing?” Melissa demanded;
her black flip
flops appear
ed
next to Cassie.

   Cassie
didn’t look up at her as she
patt
ed
the sand at her side for Melissa to sit.
“Thinking.”

   “Thinking will get you in trouble,” Chris remarked, trying to sound light, but the tension in his voice betrayed him.

   “Are you ok?”
Melissa asked softly.

   Cassie glanced at Melissa as she settled beside her, drawing her legs up Indian style.
“Yes, better actually.”
   “You’ve been crying.”
   “I have.”
   “I’ve never seen y
ou cry.” Chris knelt beside her;
his eyes
were
worried as he scanned her face.
“Never.”
  
Cassie smiled reassuringly at him and squeezed his hand gently.
“
Once it started
I couldn’t stop,” she admitted. “But I feel better now, different somehow, stronger and more peaceful
. It’s weird
, but it’s ok
.”

  
He nodded, but his eyes were still troubled as he searched her face.
“Tears can be soothing.
” Melissa rest
ed
her hand lightly on Cassie‘s arm. “Are you sure that you
’
re alright?”

   “Yes.
You’ve
had a premonition about Devon
?”
It was a question but came out more as a statement.
   Melissa blinked in surprise, the pupils of her
dark
eyes dilat
ed
slightly. “Do you really want to know?” When Cassie nodded, she continued on. “Yes, I
had a vision about him
arriv
ing here;
I knew he would
touch something within
you
.
I just didn
’
t know when
,
or how deeply
,
he would touch you.” 

   Cassie was silent, her gaze focused on the ocean as the tide
continued to roll
slowly in. Her mind clicked along, recalling the n
ight when she had first seen Devon
at B’s and S’s. “When you said that it was
“
about time
”
th
at first
night
he arrived
, you weren’t talking
about time to leave were you?”

   Melissa gave her a small smile as she shook her head. “I’ve been waiti
ng
over a year for him to arrive
.”
   Cassie and Chris both frowned at her, their brows furrowed in confusion. “Why
were you waiting for him to arrive
?” Cassie demanded.

  
“To wake you up of course.
”
She grinned at Cassie, leaning lightly against her side.
“
I knew that he would shake you up, make you come alive again.”

  
Cassie stared at her in surprise, confusion flow
ed
through her.
“
Well, t
hat he did,” Cassie whispered.
“I
think I
have to give him up.”
   “Cassie…”
   She shook her head fiercely. “It’s
t
o
o dangerous
for all of us, for
him
. I cannot bring him into this life, cannot put him, or us
,
into that situation. I
’ve been
distracted
, luckily only
in training
so
far
.
I
f I’m distracted in the field I could get us all killed. This is our fate, our heritage; he can’t be a part of it.”