Kindred (Book 1 The Kindred Series) (36 page)

   Cassie
fought the bone
wracking shudder that tore though her, she
desperately wanted those seven years.
They may not seem like
much
, but they would be precious
,
a
nd she had a very bad feeling that she was going to be cheated of them.
“There are times I wish that Luther had never found you.”

   Cassie tr
ied
to push aside the cold terror
,
and aching hurt
,
that was firmly embedded in her belly. “
T
here are times I wish
that
too,” she admitted softly.

  
If Luther had never found her that day, then she
and Chris
never
would
have
known
t
hat
they were
Hunter’s
.
Chris’s
mother
,
and her grandmother
,
had
decided
to keep
the truth
hidden from them
.
They had been
determined to keep them safe
,
and
to
raise them
as
normal
ly
as
possible.
Until Luther arrived, C
hris’s
power
had been passed off as a psychic ability that
some
normal
people
may have
possessed.
At the time
,
Cassie’s grandmother believe
d
that
they
were
the last of
T
he
Hunter line, and that
no one would come looking for them.

   They had been wrong.

   “You will be safe, right?”
Cassie asked worriedly
.

   Her grandmother smiled, but it did not reach her eyes.
“Don’t worry about me dear, don’t you ever worry about me. You don’t get to be my ripe old age without knowing how to take care of yourself.”

   Cassie nodded, but she was not completely soothed. She knew her grandmother; she was not one to sit idly by, especially if she thought she would be keeping Cassie safe. She could only hope that she didn’t do something crazy.

   “Eat your breakfast dear, Chris is on his way over.”

   Cassie glanced back at her bowl of oatmeal,
but
she had no appetite. “I’ll see you tonight grandma, I love you.”

   She dropped a quick kiss on her soft cheek as she grabbed hold of her bag and slung it over her shoulder.
“
Love you t
o
o dear.
Have a good day.”

   Cassie glanced back at her, but she was still staring out the window, a distant look on her pretty features. A chill of apprehension slid down Cassie’s spine.

CHAPTER 1
6

   Cassie played with the applesauce on her plate, twirling it over on her s
poon;
her thoughts
were
distant and distracted. She could not get the lonely image of
her grandmother out of her head, or shake the foreboding that had seized hold of her.
Devon took hold of her hand
,
h
is touch sooth
ing
some of
he
r
tension.

   Looking up at him, she managed a wan smile as she met his troubled gaze. “What is wrong?”

   Shaking her head, she dropped her
spoon;
seizing hold of his hand
she
once again
not
ed
that it was abnormally cold. She frowned as she ran her finger over his skin, savoring in the feel of him. His circulation had to be poor for him to be this chilled
.
E
ither that
,
or he
had just come from outside as it was a little brisk for September.

   Shrugging it off, she managed a small smile for him.
“Nothing, just not that hungry.”

   He didn’t seem to buy it as he stared hard at her. “Are you sure?”

   “Yes.”
She studied him carefully for a moment, her questions from earlier returning to her.
“Devon, where do you live?”

   Quirk
ing
an
eyebrow, a small smile flitt
ed
across his full lips. “Is that what has you so distracted?”

   Cassie shrugged absently. “I just realized that I don’t know much about you.”

   Something flickered in his eyes
. It was a quick flash, but she was certain that she saw it. She
couldn’t be sure what it had been
though
, but for a moment she thought it was fear. But why would her question cause him fear?
“Well, we will have to remedy that,” he
said softly, his hand tightened
briefly around hers. “My place is in Oyster Hills.”
   Cassie blinked in
surprise;
she didn’t know much about Oyster Hills, except for the fact that
it was very expe
nsive, and highly upscale. “Wow.
W
hat do your parents do?”

   His jaw clenched tight, a muscle jump
ed
in his cheek. “They
’
re
dea
d
.”

   Cassie gasped, horror fill
ed
her. “I’m so
sorry;
I know how awful that
is.”

   He shrugged absently, his finger caressing her hand lightly. “It was a long time ago.”

   “But the hole never heals,” she whispered.

   His distant gaze came back to hers, tender and loving as he studied her. “I suppose not.”
   Swallowing heavily, she leaned closer to him, hoping to ease some of the pain she knew such a passing left. “Do you mind me asking what happened?” she inquired softly.

  
He hesitated for a moment, before shrugging.
“
They were killed.”

   Cassie’s eyes widened
, anguish filled
her as she studied hi
s hard countenance
. Though curiosity filled her, she decided against pressing further. She knew how much it could
upset someone;
how the wound never completely healed
.
N
o matter how much time passed
.
“I’m sorry,
I didn’
t mean to pry.
”

   He smiled at her, kissing her hand gently
. “Anything you wish to know, you just ask.”

   Leaning closer to him, she was surprised to realize that she had completely forgotten
about the noise and confusion of
the cafeteria. He had a way about him that made it very easy to forget that the rest of the world even existed.
He had a
way that made it impossible to focus on anything, except him. She rested her head on his shoulder, savoring in his
scent
as he gently caressed her hair.

   Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to drift into him
, relishing in the comfort that h
e brought
her. “Would you like to
s
ee my place
today?”

   She glanced up at him, grinning brightly as she nodded. “I would.”

   His eyes twinkled merrily as he dropped a chaste kiss upon her forehead. The memory of the passionate kiss they had shared last night assailed her, leaving her longing for more. For a moment a tremor of fear trickled through her. What would happen if
they went to his place alone?
Though the thought did arise some fear, she couldn’t stop
her pulse
from
racing with excitement.

   A new commotion snapped her eyes to the center of the cafeteria.
Marcy
had
grabbed a chair
and was
pulling it into the center of the room
. Mrs.
Kindel
shook her head, but did
n’t
stop
her
as
Marcy
brought forth a microphone
and climbed onto the chair
. Cassie
had no idea
where the microphone had come
from;
she didn’t want to know either.

   “Hello, testing.” Everyone in the room winced as the microphone squealed loudly. “Ok, I have
some announcements to make
,
” Marcy
continued when the noise
died down.

   Cassie glanced at Melissa, who smiled superiorly back at her and gave a quick wink.
G
roan
ing
inwardly
,
she
slid slightly down in her chair
,
hop
ing
that she could somehow be overlooked.
Devon was frowning in confusion;
his dark
eye
brows
were
drawn tightly together as he studied Marcy
like some
strange bug.

   “What’s this about?” he asked quietly.

  
“Homecoming
nominations
.”
  
Uncertainty
swirled in his eyes. Cassie stared questioningly at him, but he didn’t
say anything more
.
For a moment
,
she could have sworn that he hadn
’
t known what she was talking about. But that couldn’t be possible, no matter how small a school
he had come from
,
they
would
still ha
ve
homecoming,
would
n’t they?

  
He leaned slightly back, his emerald eyes darting to Marcy as a mask of indifference slipped over his face. Cassie
’s
hand tighten
ed
briefly around his as
doubt
continued to
swirl through her
.
He glanced back at her, his eyes darker and more intense than normal. Their eyes locked forcefully, Cassie’s heart
beat
picked up. All of her doubts vanishe
d as she was lost to hi
m once more
. His thumb stroked
over her skin, causing her body to he
a
t everywhere. She could not
wait
to be alone with him later.
 

   “
Now, when I call your name please come up here. Thanks.
Nominees for homecoming king are Mark Young,
Hector Rodriguez, Jack Wells
,
Chris
T
emp
en
…
.”

  
Cassie
beamed happily, c
lapping loudly
a
s Marcy called off Chris’s name.
Chris
’s fair skin blazed red
as he stood to a raucous
chorus
of cheers and whistles
.
He
b
ow
ed
and wav
ed
to everyone
as if he were royalty
.
Marcy frowned angrily, her voice breaking off
as
the
c
heers
continued.
Chris and Jack
were pounded on the back by the rest of the football team
as they made their way to the center of the room, and Marcy
.

   “Ok, settle down!” Marcy called into the microphone.
She waited impatiently, her foot tapping, and her arms folded across her chest as the cheers slowly died down. Marcy rolled her eyes
but
as she glanced down at the piece of paper in her hand, a sl
y
smile play
ed
across her lips.
A
feeling of foreboding st
o
l
e
through her
.
“The final nominee is Devon Knight.”