Kindled (Book 3 The Kindred Series) (9 page)

   “Damn it!” he hissed, futility and frustration tearing through him. “Damn it!”
   Chris stared questioningly at him as Devon turned away
. He
grabb
ed
one of the gloves
from
the bench
and
stormed into the outfield,
to
tak
e
his position in left. Marcy moved into center, Chris beside her, and Kara on the other side of him. Folding his arms over his chest,
Devon
waited impatiently for the game to commence.

   They moved swiftly through the first inning, and the second. Devon thought his team was winning, but he couldn’t be sure.
The only sport he had ever been interested in was hunting, a
nd he had excelled
at
it.

   Switching again, Devon
was
in the outfield once more as Melissa came up to
the plate
. The ball cracked off the bat
with a resounding thud that echoed throughout. Devon ran for it, pulling up short as Marcy collided with him
.
W
rapping her arms around h
is
waist
,
she laughed
loud
ly
as she clung to him
. Chris retrieved the ball, throwing it in time to stop Melissa at second.

   Devon tried to extricate himself from Marcy’s arms, but she was laughing happily, her leaf green eyes twinkling merrily
as she grabbed his ass
. “I’m sorry,” she said brightly, her arms tightening briefly.

   Devon scowled at Marcy
, grabbing hold of her petite shoulders he pulled her
forcefully
away from him
. She continued to grin up at him for a moment before turning on her heel and sashaying away. Chris was staring at him with wide eyes. Then,
Chris’s
shoulders stiffened
,
his face
turned ashen
a
nd
he turned slowly toward
Cassie. She stood at the plate, the bat resting loosely on her shoulders,
her eyes narrowed against the light as she focused on
Devon
.

   He could feel the anger radiating from her, the hate
.
T
he
sense of
betrayal.
But there was something more. There was a shaking inside of her, a whirl of confusion that shivered through the bond that connected them
, that would
always
connect them
.
A shattering of
spiri
t radiated from her, leaving Devon
motionless.
Chris turned deathly
white, his mouth part
ed
slightly. A shiver of foreboding crept through
Devon;
judging by Chris’s reaction to her this was not going to be good.
Devon
wanted to go to
Cassie
, to hold her, to feel her
.
T
o get h
er the hell out of there before she exploded, which he was certain she was about to do.

   She blinked, her attention once more return
ed
to the game. Her eyes were narrowed, squint
ed
against the glare. He could feel the hurt
that the light caused her, but beneath it
he
could feel the hurt in her soul, the anguish
, the
rage
. She connected with the ball, a solid crushing blow that sent
it
soaring over their head
s
,
before it
crash
ed
against the back wall with a resounding thud that echoed through
out
the gym.
It was a blow that no
normal
human could have delivered to the ball
,
let alone a girl.
No one moved to retrieve the ball as it bounced over the floor before rolling under the bleachers with a soft clinking sound that was exceptionally loud in the still room
.

  
Cassie stood unmoving
,
the bat dangl
ing
loosely from her fingertips.
The clatter of the bat hitting the ground snapped everyone’s attention back to her. She didn’t run the bases, she didn’t
move. She simply stood there, looking lost and confused
, and heartbroken
.
“Freak!
”
Mark’s hiss was soft, but it reached Devon’s ears.

   Cassie turned slowly toward him; she stood stiffly, her shoulders back, he
r eyes narrowed. “Yes, yes I am,
”
she
agreed
softly
.

   Walking away from the plate, she grabbed her sunglasses
before striding out of
t
he gym. The teacher didn’t
bother to stop her
as she remained standing in shocked silence
. Melissa turned toward them,
her eyes wide with horror
. Then, she turned swiftly and fled the gym after
Cassie
. Devon had had enough of pretending to be a high schoo
l student, of pretending to be human
.

   He’d had enough of being alienated from the only person
he had ever truly cared about.

  
Marcy snorted loudly, rolling her eyes in disgust. “What a drama queen.”

   “Shut the hell up Marcy
!
” Chris snarled. Devon lifted a
n
eye
brow, surprised by the fury in his voice. Chris was always good natured and easy going
. “Just shut the hell up.”
   Devon
strolled out of the gym,
leaving behind the kids and the game. The boy
’
s gym teacher opened his mouth to protest, but one fierce look from Devon caused him to snap it quickly shut. He hurried into the locker room, not bothering to grab his clothes as he broke into a swift trot, running past the lockers, blurring as a sense of urgency drove him faster. He could not shake the
tumultuous
emotions that had radiated from Cassie, emotions he had never felt from anyone
before
.

   Bursting free of the boys locker room, he quickly searched the abandoned hallway before turning and darting into the girls
locker
room.
He
had a feeling that
he was already t
o
o late. He
skidded around a corner, halting as he came across Melissa. Her
dark
head was bowed, her hand tightly clench
ed
Cassie’s shirt
before her
. Her eyes were closed, her breathing even and slow.

   Then, she shook back her hair
and
her eyes lift
ed
to his. “She’s gone.”
   “Where?”
he demanded sharply, fear
gripping
hold of
him.
“
Where
?”

  
Melissa shook
her head, hopelessness radiated
from her
as she held the shirt
out
.
“I don’t k
now, I can’t see it.
I can’t
see
it!
What good
are premonitions
if
they
do nothing for me when I need t
hem
!?
” Frustration filled her voice as she glanced down at the clothing in her hands.

   Devon turned away from her, ignoring the shocked looks of the girls filtering in
to the room
as he bolted past them
and
slamm
ed
out the back door. An alarm ran loudly
but he ignored it
. Scanning the snow covered fields; he searched for any sign of her.
“Not here, she’s not here anymore.”

   Chris pulled up beside him, his breath h
ung
heavily in the crisp air. “I know,” Devon growled.
“I’ll find her.”

  
Devon
took off across the field, not feeling the cold against his skin. There was only one thing he cared about at the moment
, only one thing he could
feel
, and that was Cassie
. Tuning out the rest of the world, he focused his attention on her
.
Scanning through all of the minds around him, he searched rapidly for the only one that mattered to him. T
he
few
drops of blood he had savored from her
when he had closed the life threatening wound
s
in her neck
, and the fact that she was not far from him, allowed him to latch onto
her
mind
quickly
.
Though he could not pinpoint her location, he hoped to be able to track her.
He could feel her out there, running, fleeing, trying to escape.
Trying to do the impossible and outrun
herself
.
P
anic pushed her further, faster;
harder.

   Reaching the woods, Devon allowed his power and abilities to surge forth. Blurring with speed, he tracked her through the forest. Though there were still a few hours of daylight left, he
knew that he had to find her soon.
It would get dark early, and with the cloud cover there was a chance that Isla and Julian would wander out if they sensed her alone.
She could not be
by herself
right now, not in her state of mind. He didn’t know what she would do
,
and it scared the hell out of him.

  
B
urst
ing
free of the woods,
he
barely t
ook
in the cemetery as he dodged easily through the headstones. He was getting closer; he could feel her, sense her amongst the cold stones. And he knew exactly where she was. Veering sharply
to the left, he darted over the ground, not feeling any exertion from his run.

   Coming over top of a hill, he spotted her
amongst the rows of granite
. She was kneeling before the grave, oblivious to the snow
coated ground
against her bare skin. A small moan of despair escaped him as her anguish washed over him
, poured through him, suffus
ed
him within her pain
. He slowed, not wanting to rush up on her, knowing that he had to approach
her
slowly. Walking silently up behind her, he simply stood back, waiting for her to need him, or
to
tell him to go.
Which he would
not
do.
He was not going to leave her out here in the cold, and he didn’t think he could handle being pushed away again.

   She kept her head bowed;
her golden hair f
e
ll forward to shield her beautiful face.
One of h
er hands w
as
clenched upon her thigh
, the other re
sted
against the name on the grave as she leaned slightly forward.
Her
sun
glasses rested
be
side the grave
, tossed precariously aside
.
A
subtle stiffening of her shoulders
told him that she was well aware of his presence
, but she did not tell him to leave
,
and he di
d not feel anger coming from her
. He glanced briefly at the stone as she lovingly stroked her grandmother’s name
, Lillian Rose Callahan
.

   “Someone left her flowers,”
Cassie
whispered, her voice choked
and broken
.

   He glanced at the roses and lily’s that rested against the stone, some of them had gone past, but most were new. He had left a bouquet just yesterday. “Yes,” he said softly.

   A shudder raced through her, shaking her slender frame. Though she had to be freezing,
he
knew he
r shiver
had nothing to do with the cold.
Her hand slid away from the stone, falling limply
t
o her thigh. “I haven’t been here.”