Kindred (Book 1 The Kindred Series) (35 page)

   She nodded, not knowing what to say. She didn
’
t want him to leave, didn
’
t want to be apart from him for even a moment, let alone an hour. He took a deep breath, seeming to brace himself before striding over to her
.
B
ending down
,
he
dropp
ed
a soft
kiss upon the tip of her nose.
S
miling
brightly up
at him
, her hand lightly strok
ed
over his forearm
, taking note of the thick, corded muscles that flexed beneath her touch
.
She marveled at the feel of his skin and the dark hair sprinkled over
it
. She could have stayed in bed, touching and feeling him all day long.

   He hesitated for a moment, and then pulled quickly away. Slipping his sneakers back on, he moved with startling grace
,
and speed
,
to the window.
C
ast
ing
a quick glance over his shoulder
,
he
smil
ed
softly at her
before disappearing swiftly out
side
. Cassie
gaped for a moment before
toss
ing
her blankets aside
and
springing to her feet
.
S
he hurried to the window
,
surprised to find that he had already disappeared
from view
.

   Frowning, Cassie realized that she had not heard his car start. Had he walked over here
last night
?
The sudden realization hit her that
she didn’t even know where he lived.
It was more than a little
disturbing. She was falling helplessly in love with him,
seemingly bound
to him in a
way that she had never wanted to be
bound to
anyone, a
nd
had never thought possible. Yet,
she knew nothing about him.
She felt
that
she knew what kind of man he was, but that was all
she
knew.
Leaning her head against the window, Cassie took a deep breath in order to try and calm the
disquieting
thoughts racing through her.

  
S
lid
ing
the window shut
,
she
thr
e
w the lock a
nd
hurried to the bathroom to get ready for the day. She tried not to dwell on her
upsetting
realization
about Devon
as she went through her morning ritual.
But try as she might
,
she could not keep the endless questions from running through her mind.
Brushing her hair out, she clip
ped
it
up
to
keep it
off the nape of her neck.

   H
urr
ying
downstairs,
she braced herself for the conversation
she was going to have to have now
.
Her grandmother
was
already
at the stove, humming happily as she danced around the kitchen to
Toby Keith
singing about
America
. Her strawberry blonde hair had been pulled into a ponytail that bounced against her shoulders. She was
a small woman, barely five foot, but she was slender with an athletic
, fluid
grace.

   She turned to Cassie, her beautiful face lit up as her sky blue eyes landed upon
her
. The lines around her eyes crinkled merrily as she slid a bowl of oatmeal to
Cassie
. “Brown sugar and crème, the way you like it.”

   “Thanks grandma.” Cassie took the bowl, but she did not sit,
or
grab hold of the spoon.
T
his
was a
conversat
ion
she
was certain would turn into a battle
, but it was inevitable; she had to warn
her grandma, she could not leave her unprepared, and vulnerable.
She
returned to
singing merrily
a
s
Montgomery Gentry
came over the radio
. “Grandma, we need to talk.”

   Her grandmother turned back to her, the merry smile slipp
ed
from her face. Her light
eye
brows drew sharply together over the bridge of her delicate nose.
Her eyes darkened
,
going from sky blue to
deep brown
in an instant
. Cassie was not
unnerved;
she was used to this trait
of her grandma’s. Though
some
people thought it was
a
genetic flaw
,
it was
in fact
what happened when
h
er grandmother reached out to her spirit friends, communing amongst them.

   Cassie sighed
and
plopp
ed
onto the
stool. Sometimes her grandma would talk to he
r
spirits
for long
periods of
time, even forgetting that other people were present. Cassie played with her oatmeal as she waited. Though the three spirits that visited
h
er grandma had become her
grandma
’s
friends over the years, he
r grandma
had never known them in life, and she had never been visited by someone
that
she had known. Sometimes through her
three “friends”, her grandma
was able to communicate with other
people’
s loved ones, but never her own.

   Cassie
found
it a cruel twist of fate
for her grandmother
to have
her husband
,
and her daughter ripped away from her
,
but
never
be able to
speak with them
again
.
Cassie’s grandfather had been kille
d three years before her mother;
he had lost a battle to a vampire. Just like they all would.
Her grandmother did not think it was cruel
.
S
h
e had once told Cassie that it would have been more painful if she had been able to speak with
her loved ones
.

  
“Something has come to town,” she said softly.

   Cassie dropped the spoon;
she
focus
ed
on her grandma’s once more blue eyes. This time however there was no humor in them, but a grave sadness
.
Though she spoke often with her “friends” they were never able to tell her anything that might impact
t
he course of
her
fate, or
Cassie’s. Telling
her grandmother that something had come to town was their vague, roundabout way of trying to warn her of the danger that had arrived.

   “Yes,” Cassie answered. Slid
ing
off her stool,
she
rest
ed
her hand on the countertop. “Luther believes that
there is
an E
lder
here
.”

   Terror flashed across her grandmother’s delicate features. She took a small step forward before leaning back against the counter. Cassie
reached for her
, afraid that her grandmother was going to collapse. Then, she straightened her delicate shoulders and stepped away from the counter.
“Does it know that you are here?”

   “I don’t know,
but it looks that way,
” Cassie
answered honestly.

   “
Y
ou cannot stay here. You must leave. All three of you must get somewhere safe.”

   Cassie had known that this was coming, and she had been dreading it, but she had not changed her mind. In fact, after last night, she was more convinced than ever that she could not leave. She would not
let
the town
go
unprotected, and she could
never
leave Devon
unprotected
.
Taking a deep breath, Cassie braced herself for the battle that was about to ensue.

   “No gr
andma, we aren’t going anywhere.
”

   Her grandmother’s mouth dropped. “What do you mean you aren’t going anywhere?” she demanded
fiercely.

   “We can’t abandon
this town
, we cannot leave
everyone
to face this danger alone
,
and unprotected.
The Hunter’s
were made to protect innocent people; it’s
w
hat we were created for
. We have been prepped for
our
short
ened
life spans
, for the threat of death that constantly overhangs us
. We cannot simply run because this may be a difficult time.”

   Her grandmother stared at her in startled disbelief. “
May
be
difficult?
May
be
difficult?
” Cassie winced at her grandma’s hysterical tone and the raw panic in her voice.
“
Cassie
,
if this thing finds you, if it figures out what you are, it
will
kill you! There is no difficulty in that!”

   “Grandma…”

   “Don’t you grandma me! You get up those stairs and get your bags packed,
now!
I have lost my husband, my daughter, and my son-in-law to these monsters! I will not lose my granddaughter!”
   Cassie’s heart ached for her, and the losses that she had experienced, but she couldn’t back down. No matter how much she
hated
the
anguish in her grandmother
’s eyes, she could not leave this town
. “You wouldn’t leave if it were you grandma. Think of all of the innocent people
that will lose their lives
if we do
.”

   Her grandmother’s eyes flashed brown for a brief moment before she focused her full attention on Cassie
again
.
“
I left with
you
. I left innocent’s behind then.”
   A knife twisted in Cassie’s chest. S
he could not argue with that.
She
had
given up everything for Cassie
, and now, when her grandmother desperately wanted her to, Cassie could not return the favor. That fact was killing her, but she couldn’t back down, she simply couldn’t.

   “I’m
only
telling you
about
this so that you are aware of the danger
,
and
you can
stay safe.”

   “Cassandra…”

   Before she could finish the sentence, Cassie stepped forward
and
hugg
ed
her tightly. Tears slid
silently down her face as she clung to her grandmother’s slight frame. “I’m sorry grandma, you know I would do anything for you, but I can’t do this. You know that this is right;
you know that we cannot leave
them. I know
that you are scared for me,
I
am scared, but we must stay.”
   Her grandmot
her shuddered, her head dropped
to Cassie’s shoulder. “You will be safe
r, more aware out there
.”

   “Always,” Cassie vowed.

   Her grandmother squeezed her tight and pulled quickly away. Her bright eyes shimmered with tears, but her cheeks remained dry as she met Cassie’s gaze again. “My b
rave girl, just like your mom
.”
   A cold chill went through Cassie. She had been told
she was just like her mother her
whole life
.
S
he looked like her mother, she moved like her mother,
and
she acted like
her mother
.
The only difference was that
Cassie was not gifted
and
her mother had
possessed t
he
powerful
ability to
mov
e
objects with her mind.
Cassie didn
’
t mind lookin
g and acting
like
her mother
.
S
he did not
,
however
,
want to die young
like
her mother.
Yet, right now,
her life seemed to be heading along th
at
same path
.
O
nly she would
be
seven years
younger than her mother
’s
twenty four
when she died
.