Kindled (Book 3 The Kindred Series) (33 page)

   Cassie’s breath exploded out of her, terror and confusion left her numb
as she began to tremble all over
.
What the hell was Julian do
ing here? And just what the
hell
did they expect to have happen? She could hardly tear her gaze away from him, frightened b
y the power and anger she sensed rushing out
of him, frightened by his
strange
presence in the same hell that she was trapped in.
T
here were endless possibilities about what his presence
here
meant, and none of them were good.

  
Ever so slowly she turned back to her captor
s
. “Julian is also an
E
lder
with some amazing a
bilities from what I understand,
”
the strange older man informed
her
with a c
alm reasoning that shook her
.
For the first time
,
she began to understand that the man was
truly
crazy.

   She couldn’t find words, could barely even find her breath. Unwillingly, she slid back to the cot, her legs unable to hold her any longer. “You plan to experiment on us,” she whispered.

   “We plan to do a lot with you. Now I would suggest getting some rest, you’re going to have a very active day tomorrow.”

   Her head snapped up as the light flashed off. Joey and the man disappeared from view. Bowing her head, her hands clenched upon the bed as she gasped for air, trying to get some
oxygen
back into her
tortured
lungs. “Don’t breathe too deep.”

  
She turned slowly toward Julian, trying hard not to shed the tears burning her eyes. “What?” she inquired dumbly, unable to think past the confusion and fogginess clouding her
brain.

  
He lifted a dark eyebrow;
a small sc
owl twisted
his hard mouth. His muscles flexed and bunched as he leaned closer to the w
indow, his electric eyes blazed
with anger and frustration.
“Don’t breathe to deep; they pump something into these rooms, some kind of tranquilizer. Though I don’t particularly need air, it still gets into my system. It also comes in the blood they give me, as I imagine it will come in your fo
od, two things that we both need in order to survive.
”

   “Oh God,” she moaned, dropping her head as she began to rock slowly back and forth, trying desperately to soothe herself.

   “
There is no God here, only men trying to play God.
Don’t fall apart on me princess, we’re going to need
you
to get out of here.”

  
She looked up at him in surprise.
“Me?” she croaked

  
He nodded.
“Well I c
a
n’t do it alone, and with that nifty little getting pissed off and destroying things trick you have
, I’m thinking between the two of us we can
escape
.”
   Cassie shook her head, trying hard not to completely fall apart.
Trying hard to keep her wits through the
horror
and confusion beating against her.
Was she really having a conversation with
Julian
about joining together in something? Was this truly happening to her?

   Cassie blinked, trying hard to rid herself of the awful fogginess
,
and surreal reality surrounding her. Though she wanted to deny it, she knew that this was very real, and that she was in a lot of
trouble.
As was Julian.
And if it meant having to help him to get herself out of here, then she would do whatever it took to get back to Devon
,
and her friends again. She would do anything she could to escape the madmen that now held her life hostage.

  
“I can’t…” she broke off
as she inhaled
a shuddery
breath. “I tried
getting mad already
,
and I can’t
. It must be something that they gave me, or are still giving me,” she whispered, her gaze darting to the vents in the ceiling. They were too small
for her to
crawl out of,
but
apparently just big enough to constantly pump a stream of
tranquilize
r into her
. “Plus, even if I could
get mad
, I can’t control it. I become something else, something dangerous and volatile.
Something that has no reason or ration
ality, you don’t want that
thing
coming out.
There is no way to know what the consequences of
it
happening w
ould
be.
”

   Julian was silent for a moment, and then a loud crash sounded from behind her. Cassie jumped in surprise, whirling as he smashed his hands against the thickly layered glas
s again.
It rattled in the frame, but held firm beneath his fierce blast. Cassie stared at the glass, wondering just how thickly layered it was, and what they had used that could keep a vampire at bay.

   Julian’s
eyes were a bright blazing red
, his face twisted in fury. “I do
n’t give a damn what you become,
” he snarled. “Without it, we are going to turn into lab rats in here! They are going to poke and prod at us until they are satisfied, and
then they are going to
kill us.
So
princess
,
” he spat.
“Y
ou need to tap into that little ability
of yours
,
or we
a
re both going to rot in here. And from the sounds of it
, what they plan on doing to me
is nothing compar
e
d to what they want to do to
you
!”

   Cassie stared at him with wide, horrified eyes. Her gaze darted back to the
thick metal door on the other side
;
she
desperately s
earched for
some way to escape this horrendous situation
. But
what could she do if she was tranquilized?
What help could she possibly be if she couldn’t tap into the rage that helped to fuel her strength
,
and agility
,
to higher levels?

  
She turned back to the vents, studying them for a moment. The ceiling w
as
a good twelve feet high; even if she stood on the bed sh
e wouldn’t be able to reach it
, wouldn’t be able to attempt to block the
vents
somehow
.

   Cassie glanced back at Julian
. His strong
jaw
was clenched tight;
a muscle jump
ed
wildly
in his cheek. His
eyes were once more
their chilly
ice blue
,
th
e bands of nearly white around his
pupil
s was
back in place. His gaze was
locked on hers
,
determination blaz
ed
from
him
. His normally spiked white blond hair
hung limply against his
sharply refined features. Even though he was a brutal murderer,
and
a
vicious bastard,
she couldn’t help but admire his harsh beauty. He was a
creature
that was used to getting and taking whatever he wanted
,
when
ever
he wanted
it.
He was
not
used to
being caged like an animal
.

  
“How long have you been here?” she asked quietly.

   His mouth twisted into a snarl, his fangs extend
ed
slightly as h
e
turned
now
blood colored eyes toward the darkened window across from her. “Too long,” he growled. “Over a week now, maybe even two.”

  
Cassie gaped at him in surprise. They had been worried about him hunting in their town, and he had been locked in here almost the entire time.
“But how did you get here?”

   “Same way as you I suppose, that little bitch Grounder of yours.”
  
“Da
ni?”
Cassie squeaked
, her thoughts turning instantly to Annabelle and Chris
.
Were they ok? What had Dani done to them? She did not believe that they were in here with her; Dani had said that they had been taken care of. But what exactly did that mean? Had she hurt them, or simply left them incapable of trying to defend Cassie?

   Cassie shuddered, fighting hard not to shed the tears of frustration
, terror, and anger burning her eyes. They had to be ok; she
needed
them to be ok. But as of now
,
there was absolutely nothing that she could do about it, other than hope that Dani still had enough decency in her not to hurt innocent people. Cassie didn’t know how likely that was considering the fact that Dani had so easily turned on her.

  
“How is that possible, Dani was with us?” she whispered.

  
“
I didn’t say she was the one that took me,” he mumbled. “I’m just assuming that she had a hand in it. They knew where I was hunting, knew what my ability was, and knew how to take me. Her brother has
one
hell of
an ability
too
.”

   Cassie’s eyebrows shot up, her eyes darted nervously toward the glass. She hoped that they weren’t listening to them, but she highly doubted it. “Joey? What can he do, and how do you know he’s her brother?”

   “Yes, Joey,” he rumbled
. His eyes were intent upon her. “How do you not know what one of your
own
can do?”

   Cassie glowered at him, her hands clench
ed
on the thin blanket upon the cot. “We didn’t all keep in touch after The Slaughter,” she retorted sharply. “Hell Chris and I didn’t even know what we were until we were thirteen, and there is no way to know how many Hunter’s are left out there, never mind what they are capable of.”

   “
Ahh
The
Slaughter,” Julian sighed softly, his eyes bec
a
m
e
distant and fond. Cassie’s temper
prickled;
a slow rippling flowed through her at the joy she sensed beneath his words
. Joy at the fact that he had helped participate in the event that had nearly decimated her race, and destroyed her parents.
“Good times.”

   “Screw you!” she spat, launching to her knees as
a
burst of rage flowed through her. “Screw you, you ass!”

   Julian’s eyes narrowed upon her, a small smile quirked his mouth. Cassie’s hands fisted at her sides, she wished the glass wasn’t between them because she desperately
wanted to punch him
,
wanted
to pummel that smug look off his face.
“Angry now princess?”

   Cassie wanted to feel the flash of rage, suddenly wanted to lose control
be
cause she was fairly certain she could rip this glass apart to get at him
if she did
. B
ut though she wanted it, and though
she felt the slow slither of it
coiling within her, the full force of it would not come forth. Helplessness and frustration filled her, burying the anger beneath the tidal wave of self pity that threatened to consume her. Cassie slumped back, her head bowed as she folded her hands before her.

   “What have they done to me?” she whispered.

   Julian sighed, his hands slid down the window as he knelt before her. She lifted her head to meet his steady gaze.
She had expected to see smugness still in his gaze; instead there was understanding, and compassion. Cassie was taken aback, her eyes widened as he continued to study her intently.

   “They’ve drugged you princess, and like me, you are unable to fully break through the effect of those drugs. I was hoping that you would be different, because you
are
different, but apparently they have taken that fact into account.”