Kindled (Book 3 The Kindred Series) (27 page)

   She didn’t know that she was crying until he pulled away from her
and
gently wip
ed
the tears from her face. “Don’t cry,” he whispered, kissing her cheeks.

   “I’m going to miss you so much,” she said, unable to keep the hitching sob from her voice.

   He kissed her lightly again, resting his forehead against hers as he held her tight. “I’ll join you as soon as I can,” he vowed.

   She swallowed heavily. “
You had better, and you had better stay safe.
”

   “I will Cassie, don’t worry about me, you need to take care of yourself.”

   “Of course I worry about you. I love you.”

  
He grinned at her, kissing her
again before pulling slowly away. “
I love you too.
Melissa and Luther are here.”

   Cassie nodded, her hands shaking as he helped her up. He waited as she threw her travel bag into her suitcases
before grabbing hold of them
.
“Devon.”
He paused in the doorway as he turned back to her.
She moved swiftly toward him, throwing her arms around him as she kissed him forcefully. Her suitcases thudded to the floor
as
he wrapped his arms around her a
nd
pressed her tight against him.

CHAPTER 1
3

  
Cassie
stared out at the d
ark night, listening as the tree
s clicked and creaked with the sway of the breeze shifting through the large maples and oaks. Aside from the noise of the trees
,
the night was eerily silent.
P
ick
ing
up her coffee,
she
h
e
ld it between her chilled hands
as she took a small sip. Chris sat silently behind her, his feet propped up on the banister, his hands folded into the sleeves of his parka
.

   Melissa stepped onto the wraparound porch
a blanket wrapped around her shoulders
. The screen door
squ
eaked as she eased it closed.
Though it had snowed throughout most of the day, the sky was clear, the stars bright in the dark night.
The moon shimmered over the pristine blanket of white snow. It was one of the most hauntingly beautiful and lonely things
Cassie
had ever seen.

   “It’s so peaceful,” Melissa said softly, wrapping her
blanket
tight
er
around her.

  
It was peaceful, too peaceful, and Cassie hated it. She missed being part of the action, missed the hustle of her small town
,
and her life
. And she greatly missed Devon, every fiber of her being ached for him every second of the endlessly long days and nights. She hadn’t slept more than t
wo
hours at a time since they had parted last week.
Her skin hurt, her body hurt, everything in her hurt incessantly. And so far she had found nothing to help
her
ease t
he hurt
that his absence had created
.

   The vibration in her pocket drew her attention to her phone. She pulled it out, her hands trembling slightly in anticipation. Cassie flipped it open, quickly scanning through Devon’s text.
H
e check
ed
in with her
as often as he could while
searching for
Julian. She had to know that he
was safe; otherwise she would go insane in this cabin, in the middle of nowhere, in
upstate Maine
. Though it had every new luxury she could dream of, the cabin was remote, lonely, and much too far from Devon. 

   She typed a quick response to him and flipped the phone closed. She held it tight for a moment, not wanting to lose the small amount of connection
the phone gave her to him
. Her chest was tight with agony; tears burned her eyes as she slid it slowly into he
r
pocket. She hated living apart from him, hated living like this
,
and feeling like this. She hated the not knowing of both of their futures. And she really hated being taken out of the fight and hidden away.

   Movement to the right caught her attention. Annabelle emerged from the woods,
gliding
gracefully across the snow even though it was almost up to her knees. Her hair shimmered in the light of the moon as she moved, a small smile play
ed
over her mouth. She was not as beautiful as Isla had been, not in the
seductive mysterious
sense anyway, but she was delicate, and pretty
,
and so very open and loving that it was impossible not to like her.

   Though she didn’t like it, Cassie fully understood why Devon had thought
he was in love with her.

   “Couldn’t sleep?”
Annabelle
inquired as she
strode
silently up the porch steps.

   “No,” Melissa answered.

   Annabelle stomped her feet, shaking the snow from her boots. Her gaze was questioning as she glanced over the three of them, her cheeks red from the cold. She had a glow about her that Cassie recognized as a sign
of having
fed well. “Where are Dani and Luther?”

   “Dani’s sleeping, I think
.
A
nd Luther, well
…
” Melissa shrugged as she shoved her hands in her pockets. “
H
e hasn’t left his books for more than a cat nap and a pee break since we got here.”

   Cassie glanced over at Melissa. The
y
had al
l
spent a lot of time buried amongst the musty books that Luther had br
ought
with him
, but Luther had been nearly inseparable from the pile
.
A
s the pile grew smaller, so did their hope
s
of finding any answers
.

   “Hmm,” Annabelle said softly.

   “Want some coffee?” Chris asked.

   Annabelle shook her head, her
long
curls bounced
around her shoulders. “No, not right now
,
t
hank you th
ough.
”

   Cas
sie nodded, her hands tightened
around her cup as she turned back to the quiet night. “
Devon and Liam are ok
.”
   Annabelle grinned at her, bouncing slightly as she clapped her
mittens together
. “Of course they are I would know if something happened to Liam.”

   They all gazed questioningly at her as she continue
d to clap her hands. “What?” Chris asked
, his chair hitting the floor of the porch as he dropped his legs down.

   Annabelle continued to smile brightly. “We share blood; we’re connected in that way. I would know if that connection was severed.”

   A small chill ran through Cassie as she thought over Annabelle’s words. “So you would know if something happened to Devon also,” she said softly.

   Annabelle’s eyes were kind and understanding as she turned to Cassie. Cassie hated that look in her eyes, hated the pity she saw there. She wanted to turn away, but she found herself
unable to
do so
.
“
It has been a very long time, m
y blood connection with Devon is much thinner and weaker now, but yes
,
I think I would know.”

   Cassie nodded as she wrapped her arms around herself. The loneliness inside her gr
e
w in leaps and bounds. She could feel tears burning her eyes a
nd
she tried hard to
bat
them back. Normally
she wouldn’t be this emotional, but she had been uncomfortable in her own skin for the past week. She hated this feeling, hated being lost and vulnerable
and self conscious.
Hated feeling out of sorts and wretched.

   Her fingers twitched on her sleeves, she hugged herself tighter. “You would know also,” Annabelle said softly.

   Cassie shook her head, trying hard not to shed the tears swimming in her eyes. “We don’t have that kind of connection,” she whispered.

   Annabelle frowned as she shook back her bouncing curls.
“No
,
yours is even deeper. You would know Cassie, believe me.”

   Cassie managed a small nod, but she didn’t feel reassured. She felt completely empty. The door opened again as Luther stepped onto the porch. His eyes were bloodshot and weary, his hair a disheveled mess. “Break time?” Melissa asked softly.

   Luther nodded as he pulled off his glasses and cleaned them on the edge of his shirt. “Have you heard from Devon?”

   Cassie frowned thoughtfully
; a small surge of hope flipped
her heart over. “Yes, why have you learned something?”

  
Luther shook his head as he slipped his glasses back on. “No. I was s
imply wondering if The
Commission may have appeared in town yet.”

  
“He hasn’t said anything about them, but then again
,
he hasn’t really seen anyone. Not even Julian.”

  
Luther stared thoughtfully into the distance, his
eye
brow
s
furrowed. “
I’m going to need to go back tomorrow to gather
some
more books.”

   Cassie’s heart lurched in excitement, her pulse picked rapidly up. “I’ll
go with
you,” she blurted
, the thought of seeing Devon easing some of the torment
in
her body.

   Luther shook his head no, his eyes caring but hard as they met hers. “Absolutely not Cassie,” he said firmly.

   “But you’ll need help!”
   “Melissa can come with me.”

   Cassie glanced wildly between the
m, anger and frustration boiled
through her.
“I can go!
” she retorted fiercely.

   Luther shook his head firmly. “No Cassie, if The Commission happens to show up I don’t want them to see you
. As of now they may know of you, but they have no idea what you look like.”

  
“But they aren’t there!” she protested vehemently, not willing to lose her chance
to
see Devon.

   “We don’t know that Cassie, they could be hiding. They could also arrive
at any time.
You need to stay hidden.”

   Cassie opened her mouth to protest
and
then snapped it closed. It would be pointl
ess;
he wouldn’t allow her to go
.
I
f she insisted upon it
,
he would
stay here and
they needed more books. No matter how
use
less the
books
seemed right now, it was the only source of hope she had in these lonely mountains.
They were
one of the few things keeping her from going completely insane.

   Her heart lurched as tears burned her eyes again.
“Ok,” she
reluctantly agreed
. “Will you see Devon?”

   “Yes.”
   Despite her
best intentions
a tear slid free. She wiped it hastily away, knowing that if she wasn’t careful she would turn into a sobbing mess.
She wanted to see him desperately, to touch
him, to know that he was safe. Her phone vibrated again, she pulled it swiftly out to find Devon’s reassuring message that he was still safe and everything was well. More tears slid free.

  
“Cassie.”
She looked up as Melissa wrapped her arm around her shoulder, enfolding her in the blanket. “It will be over soon.”

   “I know.”

  
“Come on let’s go inside, it’s getting chilly out here. Plus, I think we need a distraction, maybe a game of cards or Scrabble,” Annabelle said, a false cheeriness in her voice.