Kindred (Book 1 The Kindred Series) (38 page)

  
Cassie’s mind stuttered, searching for words that momentarily failed her.
Swallowing heavily, she tried hard to
think of something
that would somehow ease the tension of the situation.
“I have never led you on Mark,” she said gently, fairly certain that he was about to explode.

   “You walk around here,
strutting around like you’re
better than all of us
!” he snapped.

   Bile rose in Cassie’s throat, her stomach turned and knotted painfully. The words stung like a whip, but it was the cold fury radiating from him that made her want to throw up. She did not know what was wrong with Mark, what had sparked this fury inside him, but she did know that he was swiftly losing control.
She looked quickly around; searching for some kind of help, but everyone was busy congratulating the nominees, or escaping for their next class. She couldn’t even see Devon anymore, Mark completely blocked him out. 

   She was on her own.

   “Mark, I’m sorry, I…”

   “You’re a whore
!”

   Cassie’s mouth drop
ped open
as shock and horror once more slammed through her
. Her arms encircled her stomach in an effort to try and keep her lunch down. She wasn’t entirely certain that it was going to work as her stomach lurched threateningly.
“Mark…”

   “A no good whore
,” he growled.
He reached for her, but Cassie turned aside, just barely dodging his beefy hand. Disgust filled her, slowing her to the point that she could hardly move.
Rage
blazed
through his eyes,
it
flar
ed
his nostrils.
For the first time, she was
afraid of the fury that suffused him.
She was not entirely sure that she could beat someone that was as crazed as Mark obviously
seemed to be
right now
.
“Whore!
Giving it away to everyone…”

   Mark was
suddenly
ripped back;
his feet c
a
m
e
off the floor as he was pulled two feet
up and away
from her
. Cassie’s eyes widened in surprise, her mouth dropp
ed
.
For
a stunned moment
she didn’t know what had happened,
who had grabbed hold of him. And then she saw Devon as
he
shoved Mark against the wall, hi
s hand wrapp
ed
fiercely
around
Mark’s throat. His green eyes were dark and
dangerous
, his lithe body taught with the
anger that radiated from him
.

   “Don’t you ever talk to her like that again!” he snarled, his hand tightening around Mark’s neck. Mark coughed, beginning to struggle within Devon’s grasp as
his eyes bulged. “Do you understand me?”

   Mark nodded enthusiastically, coughing again
as he struggled to breathe. H
is fingers clawed at the tight hold Devon had upon him
, but Devon’s grip did not lessen
. Though Devon was slightly
shorter
and
not as broad as Mark,
it was more than obvious
that he was quite capable of beating Mark in a fig
ht. In fact, Cassie
was fairly certain that Mark wouldn
’
t stand a chance.

   Devon’s hand tightened briefly, causing panic to flash across Mark’s features. “
If
you ever
even
talk
to her again,” Devon growled his voice pitched so low that even Cassie had to strain to hear him. “
I will make you pay for it
,
and
I will make this look like it was a good time.”
   A chill swept down her spine at the threat, a threat she was certain he
w
ould make good on.
Mark managed ano
ther brief nod, his gaze darted
briefly
toward Cassie, his eyes rolled
with panic. Devon shoved him back
hard again
, releasing him at the same time.
S
lump
ing
forward,
Mark rested his hands on his knees as he
gasp
ed
for air. Devon took a step toward her, putting his body effectively between the two of them.

   Cassie
peer
ed
around Devon’s back
, to
o
flabbergasted to fully comprehend everything that had just happened
. Mark
’s
face was be
e
t red, either from lack of oxygen
,
or anger. His shoulders were set tightly, but he did not look at either
of them as he stormed into the crowd. Cassie’s eyes widened as she took in the students still
present to witness what had just happened. Though the cafeteria had emptied a lot, there were a
t least
twenty of them
still
gathered about. It would only be
a matter of time before
this incident
was all over the school. Oh well,
she thought with a sigh,
she hadn’t wanted to campaign for homecoming queen anyway.

   Devon turned toward her, his eyes fierce
and dark
, his hard jaw clenched tight.
“Are you ok?” Cassie blinked at him in surprise, unable to get her malfunctioning brain to work correctly
as she tried to focus her full attention on him
. “Cassie
,
are you ok?”

   He seized
gently
hold of her, pulling her a step closer to him. The touch she had always found so soothing
,
now only served to confuse and disorient her more.
What she had just seen, it couldn’t have been possible, could it? She studied him carefully, her mind spinning. Could a human be that strong?

   But what else could he be, but human?

   She scanned him rapidly
,
feeling slightly sick. “Who are you?”
The words popped out in a choked whisper before she could stop them
.

  
The hands on her arms tightened briefly as his body hardened subtly.
A look of resignation filled his eyes and Cassie had the gut sinking feeling that she had
somehow managed to
push him away from her.
“Did he hurt you?” he asked, the words coming through clenched teeth but carrying no hint of anger.

   Cassie shook her head, trying to clear it of the stunned fog that clung to her. “No
,” she managed to whisper. “No, I’m fine,” she said with
a little
more conviction.

   His gaze ran over her, but it did not warm. “Let’s get you to class.”
   Panic tore through Cassie. This was not the Devon she knew
.
This was
not the man that gazed at her warmly
,
and touched her reverently. This man was hard and cold and distant, and
she
was the one that
had
caused
this
change in
him
. He had been trying to protect her
,
and she had pushed him away with her confusion and doubts. She may not know as much as she would like about him, but he was new
to town
,
and part of the fun in a relationship was supposed to be getting to know the other person. Wasn’t it?

   Her gaze darted to where he had pinned Mark against the wall, lifting him as if he weighed
no more than a feather
. The strength
it had taken was amazing, startling. It was a strength
she had never seen in a
human being
before
. She turned slowly back toward him, tilting her head to study him as her doubts slowly started to build into full fledged panic.

   Who was he?
What
was he?

   He
gently
took hold of her arm, but she could feel the cold distance that lingered in him.
Slowly, she looked toward Melissa and Chris. Melissa’s head was tilted curiously to the side, her dark eyes intense. Chris stood stiffly, his arms folded over his chest. He gave Devon a brief nod
of approval
, one that Cassie instantly recognized as a
“
guy
”
thing. Chris found nothing wrong with what had just
happened
, he was
just
impressed that Devon had stood up for her, and that he had beaten Mark in their brief encounter.

   Cassie rolled her eyes at
Chris
as she heaved a sigh. She would never understand men
,
and their vast amounts of testosterone.
“Come on Cassie,” Devon urged
,
though his tone was gentle she could still hear the tension in it.

   She followed him slowly out of the cafeteria, so lost in her own thoughts
,
and doubts
,
that at first she didn
’
t notice the whispers and glances cast their way. Slowly, they penetrated her haze.
Every student they pas
sed
shot them looks while whispering behind their
hands. Cassie frowned fiercely;
her pride shov
ed
aside her hurt and confusion as she straightened her shoulders
and
determined to
ignore all of the
ir
gossip
.

CHAPTER 1
7

   Cassie
played
idly
with a blade of grass, pulling it
lazily
from the ground
before
letting it drop back down. She was tired, achy, and more than a little chilled.
T
he
sudden drop in temperature that had started earlier in the week
, had made
the night far cooler than she
was
prepared for with her light windbreaker. She huddled deeper into her coat, knowing that it was not only the night that
c
hilled her, but also the events of the day.

   She had seen Devon only briefly at the end of the day.
He had still been cold, detached
,
and
not completely himself. He had not mentioned coming over to his
place
again and neither had she. She had needed to get away from him
for a little bit
, to clear her mind, but it was
not working out as well as she had hoped
.

  
She tried not to think about the
distance
that had lingered around him, or the doubts that conti
nuously plagued her
now. She tried to keep herself focused on the here and now. But her mind would not cooperate as it kept jumping back to the tenderness and wonder of last night
. Then
she would recall her extreme
lack of knowledge about him, and the strange strength
that
he had possessed today
and her
stomach
would turn
and her mouth
would
go dry
.

   She shuddered, huddling deeper as she flipped her collar up. “It’s not that cold out,” Chris muttered, his gaze rapidly scanning the cemetery
.

 
Cassie
shrugged absently before she
re
turned
to picking at the grass. She wanted to get home
as soon as
possible;
she
hop
ed
that Devon would come to her room again tonight
, but she was doubtful that it would happen
. Her heart lurched in her chest, her pulse pounded in her ears as excitement
and desire tore
through her. No matter what had happened today, no matter he
r
doubts and confusion
, she
desperately
wanted to see him again. She did not care about anything other than seeing him
,
and easing the distance she felt between them
now
.