Kindled (Book 3 The Kindred Series) (24 page)

   “And if my mother wishes to stay behind?” Chris asked softly.

   “I will watch over her too,” Devon said briskly.

   Cassie instantly began to protest. “But this town, these people…”

  
“Will be safe.
I am an Elder and Liam is a powerful vampire in his own right. If The Commission comes, they will not stay long if they realize that you are gone.
They will not be a threat, neither will other vampire’s. Not when they realize that
only
Liam and I are here.”

   Cassie swallo
wed heavily, her hands clenched and unclenched
as she fought the urge to scream in frustration. “And what if The Elder’s decide to come looking for us?” Melissa asked softly.

   Cassie’s eyes widened, horror filled her at the thought. Devon’s arm tightened around her as he shook his head. “The Elder’s have been in hiding for almost
fifteen
years, and before that they had retreated for nearly a hundred years. They will not come out now, not even for this. They hate
the world, they have for centuries. They may have orchestrated and participated in The Slaughter but that was to wipe out The Hunter line…”

   “And now that they know it isn’t wiped out?” Cassie interrupted sharply.

   Devon shook his head. “It’s decimated enough not to worry them
overly
Cassie. They figure the rest of the vampire’s, with any sense, will eventually be able to take the remaining stragglers out.
That is why I must keep you safe now.
”

   Cassie looked helplessly t
oward Chris, Melissa, and Dani. She wished that they could
come
up with some other argument, some brilliant plan that none of them had thought of yet. But they looked just as dumbfounded as she felt.

 
“I suppose we should pack then
,” Melissa said softly.

CHA
PTER 12

  
Cassie was standing by the window when he entered her roo
m. Her hair cascaded around her;
the light of the moon caus
ed
it to
shimmer
a silvery gold
. Her arms were wrapped tight around her chest, her head bowed as she stared out at the dark night.
She turned slowly toward him
, her eyes haunted and lost as she watched him.

   “You will come back to me,” she said her voice a soft whisper in the room.

   Swallowing heavily
, h
e managed a small, reassuring nod
. “Always Cassie, I will
always
come back to you.”

   She
nodded
,
her arms f
e
ll back to her sides.
“Really?”

   He frowned at her
, hating the doubt and fear he felt in her
.
“Of course.”

   She glanced back at the window, a sad, defeated slump to her shoulders. “You told me once that
I would have to join you, or that you would have to leave
me
. You told me that you
didn’t think you
could continue to control yourself around me, and now it seems as if I will never be able to join you.”
   “We don’t know that for sure
,” he said softly.

   “No,
but it is a good possibility. Will you be able to stay around me?”

   H
e crossed the room to her swiftly. She looked up in startled surpr
ise, her beautiful eyes widening
upon him. “I was a fool to say that to you Cassie. I was wrong, and I was being selfish.
I
can
stay with you.
I
will
stay with you, no matter what it takes. No matter what I have to do, I will not leave you.
”

   She shook her head;
her long hair f
e
ll across one of her eyes
to
hid
e
half her face. “
I felt your need;
I felt
your struggle
Devon
. You fed from
me;
you were a part of me, inside of me. I know how hard it is for you to be around me, and I don’t want you to have to go through that
all
the time
.”

   He seized hold of her hands, pulling her forward a step. Gently clasping hold of her
face, he pushed her hair aside as he stroked her silken cheek. “Cassie I would go through Hell and back if it meant being by your side, and I mean that. We
will
get through this, I swear to you we will.”

   She bit her bottom lip nervously, her gaze f
e
ll
away
. “But the fight that you have to wage with yourself is…”

   “Is easier now,”
he interrupted swiftly. “It is much easier now Cassie
. Letting me feed on you helped to ease the hunger and need.”

   Her eyes flew back up to his, swiftly searching his face. He tried to keep
his expression
as impassive as he could. Though it was not entirely the truth, it was not a lie either. When she had given her blood
,
she had helped to ease the demon inside him.
However, i
t would not be entirely appeased until she was by his side, safely immortal
, but he wasn’t about to tell her that. Not when there was a chance that he would never be able to turn her.

   He shoved the thought aside, unable to deal
with it at the moment. The monster inside of him didn
’
t take well to that knowledge.
Neither did the man. He couldn’t stand the thought of her growing old, of her dying while he stayed young and alive. For the first time he wished that the sun’s rays were still deadly to him
,
because the minute
he lost her, he would walk
straight
into them.

   “Devon…”

   “It will be ok Cassie
,
everything will be ok,” he promised. “Once the threat here, and to you
passes
,
we’ll see if we can’t find some more information without drawin
g attention to ourselves again, ok?”

   She stared up at him with wide, questioning eyes. He could see the doubt in her gaze, but she managed a small nod.
“Ok,” she said softly. “You had better keep yourself safe.”

   “I will,” he promised, bending to kiss the tip of her nose.

   Her smile widened as
she stood on tiptoe.
H
olding his face gently in her hands she dropped a soft kiss on his lips. “Will you feed from me tonight?” she asked softly.

  
E
xcitement spurted through him as his hands clenched upon her.
The thought was so very tempting but he knew that
he shouldn’t.
“I don’t think that’s a
good idea Cassie, it’s too soon…”

   “I feel fine, I swear. And we don’t know how long we’re going to be apart for,” her voice broke for a moment, her hands clench
ed
on him.
“It will be alright Devon, but I need this tonight, and I think you do too.”

   His jaw locked as he glanced out the window. He did need this, he need
ed it desperately. He needed
her
.
He had almost lost her tonight, she had almost been killed. And there was still the very good
, very awful
possibility
he would
los
e
her. There were so many people
,
and things out there that didn
’
t want them together
,
or even want them alive. Yes, he did need this, but he didn’t want to hurt her.

   Then, she leaned up and kissed him again
.
T
he
soft brush of her lips against his robbed him of all
reason. He pulled her tighter against him, holding her
gently
. She melded to him
, pressing flush to him as her legs gave out.

   He held her
up, swinging her easily into his arms as she burrowed closer to him, nuzzling his neck gently. He tried to ignore the fact that this might be their last night together
for awhile
. If he
dwelled on it too much he was afraid that he may hurt her, or snap
,
and change her. It was
what he
wanted, and what she
finally
wanted
. And now that she wanted to be with him forever
it could not be done. He didn
’
t know what she would become
if she was
change
d
,
or even
if he could stop her if she became something truly malevolent.

   The thought terrified him.
For all her faults,
Cassie was
still
everything good and loving, for that to be taken away from her was something that he could not allow to happen. No matter how badly he wanted her with him, he had to
come to terms with the fact
that
t
here was a possibility it could n
ever
happen. He just didn
’
t
want to realize that tonight.

   Tonight was simply about the two of them, and that was the way that he was going to keep it.

   He laid her down on the bed, following swiftly behind as he pulled her tightly against him once more. He lost himself in the touch and feel and scent of her as he shut out the rest of the world
,
and the far too many people that wanted to tear them apart.

***

   Cassie couldn’t stop nervously ringing her hands as she paced before her window. She glanced back at Devon, who was
still sleeping, his arm tossed over the spot that she had recently vacated. Though she had only gotten a couple hours of sleep, she was wide awake.
The sun would be up soon, Annabelle and Liam
might also be
here soon.

  
She didn’t know how she felt about that. Though she didn
’
t want to leave here, she want
ed
to get this
encounter
over and done with. The sooner it was over, the sooner she could be with Devon again. Her skin crawled, her chest constricted at the thought of being apart from him for any significant length of time. If it hadn’t been for the irrational anger fueling her, she never
would have made it through the two weeks without him. How would she get through it now, when she wasn’
t angry?

  
In fact, she was terrified. Terrified of losing him, terrified
of what she was now, and what she could become. What if something happened and he wasn’t there to pull her back, and Annabelle was also unable to? She would be lost forever, a monster, a danger to everyone around her.
A danger to everyone she loved.
Cassie shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself as she stared down at the deserted street.

   And then there was Annabelle herself. She didn’t know how to feel about meeting the woman that had so drastically changed Devon. The
woman
that had made him the man he was now. Though he had never truly loved her,
Annabelle
had
been
a huge impact on his life, and she was very special to him.

  
Cassie
tried hard not to feel jealous, but she couldn’t help it. Leaning forward,
sh
e rested her fingers lightly against the glass of the window, enjoying the cool feel of it.
Arms wrapped around her waist
causing a small cry of surprise to escape her. He had been completely silent in his approach.
Devon hugged her tight, pressing her back firmly against his chest. He nuzzled her neck gently, his lips brushing over the fresh marks on her neck. Cassie shiv
ered in response, desire curled
her toes. Her skin tingled all over
;
a feeling of rightness st
o
l
e
through her as his touch soothed her.