Kindred (Book 1 The Kindred Series) (11 page)

   His gaze did not leave
hers;
his eyes
were
bright and fierce.
H
e did not look at anyone else in the class as Mrs. Mann cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention
.
But everyone’s interest was
focused upon
the stranger in their midst.
F
ew new students ever moved to their small town, let alone one that was as strangely fascinating
,
and magnificent
,
as
he was
. He would be the center of attention for the rest of the year.

   “Class, I would like to introduce
you
to Devon Knight
.”

  
Something flickered in his eyes
;
a small
smile
curv
ed
his full mouth as he finally turned his
gaze
to the rest of the students.
That
strange sense of loss
suffused her
again
as his gaze left hers, but she found herself
finally
able to inhale once more.
With the connection broken, p
anic set in as
a
crushing sense of being trapped descended upon her. She could not be stuck here with him; she could not be forced into
a destiny
that she did not want
again
.

   And she
did not
want this, whatever it was, she told herself fiercely. Even thou
gh she
secretly
feared that she did.

   “You are lucky
Devon;
we have
plenty of people in this class who would be more than happy to show you around
.” Cassie slid further
down in her desk, trying hard to
become invisible
as Mrs. Mann’s gaze scanned the classroom.
Th
e last thing she wanted was
to be chosen for this task
.
“Melissa, w
ould you be willing to show
Dev
on around?
”

   Relief and disappointment crashed through Cassie in fierce waves that left her shaken and unsettled. Melissa stiffened sl
ightly, her shoulders tightened
in front of Cassie. “Of course,” she replied pleasantly.

   The bell rang, but nobody leapt to their
feet as they all
remained focused upon him
. “Have a good day everyone,” Mrs. Mann announced loudly.

   The enrapt trance seemed to snap as
everyone
moved into action. Melissa turned to Cassie, a strange gleam in her onyx eyes. “Would you like to join us?”

   Cassie opened her mouth to answer, but no words would come out. She snapped it closed,
and
shook her head
fiercely
.
She
lurched to her feet
,
knocking her chair back
. Both Chris and Melissa studied her in surprise as she scooped up her bag,
and
fl
u
ng it over her shoulder. “Cassie…”

   “I
have to go, I’ll see you later,
”
she interrupted abruptly.

   Her gaze darted back to the front of the class, where he was standing patiently, his eyes still focused on her. Cassie bent her head, afraid to stare at him much longer
in case she go
t sucked in
by him
again.
If she did, she knew she
would never escape.
Keeping her head down, she joined the crush of students pushing into the crowded hallway.

   She hurried down the hall, barely acknowledging the greetings she received. Pushing her way into the bathroom she ignored the girls huddled by the window smoking cigarette
s
. They didn’t acknowle
dge her presence either. Turning the faucet on, Cassie eagerly splashed her face with cold water
. She was
trying hard not to spill the tears that burned fiercely against the backs of her eyes.

   She would not cry, she
could
not
cry
. If she did
she knew she would n
ever
stop. Turning the water off, she placed he
r hands on the edge
of the
sink, gasping
in
air as she struggled to keep control o
f
her wildly swaying emotions
. She
wanted to sob over the events
that kept
throwing her life into a
fierce
tailspin.
That kept knocking her off balance and taking things from her.
She wanted to sob for the joy and electricity that still sizzled through her, making her feel whole and alive in a way that she never had before.
She wanted to sob in order to purify her spirit of the turmoil that plagued it.

   She did not know what was going on, but she wanted it to stop.
She w
anted it to end
and for him to go away
so that she could feel normal
ag
ain. “Are you ok?”

   She glanced up at
one
of the smok
ing girls
now
hover
ing
by
her elbow, worry marr
ed
her delicate
forehead.
Her hazel eyes were flecked with streaks of gold, and surprisingly caring for a stranger.
“I’m fine,” Cassie answered shakily.

   The girl gave her a worried frown as she handed her a wad
of paper towels. “Are you sure?
”

  
Cassie’s hands shook as she took the towels from the younger girl, slightly ashamed to realize that she didn
’
t know her name.
“Yes.
I’m Cassie.
”

   “I know.
” The girl
smiled as she nodded swiftly
.
H
er short brown hair, streaked with shades of green
,
bobbed around her shoulders.
“
Danielle
,
but my friends call me Dani
.”

   Smiling tremulously, Cassie’s hands tightened briefly around the crumpled towels.
“Nice to meet you Dani
, thank you.”

   A
small smile flitt
ed
across
t
he
girl’s
pretty
face
before
she
retreat
ed
back to her hazy corner. Drying her face slowly, Cassie
glanced only briefly at her reflection. She already knew that she was a mess
,
but her
frantic, bloodshot eyes
were a bit of a shock
.
She looked half crazed, and it was not a good look on her.
There was nothing she could do about he
r
eyes
though
,
she had no eye
drops, and she wasn’t even sure they would help right now. She didn’t think anything could help her now.

  
Taking a deep breath
,
she retrieved the backpack she had dumped hastil
y on the floor.
The hall was almost deserted when she poked her head out of the bathroom. She was still shaky and distraught, but at least she didn
’
t feel like she was
on the brink of tears
anymore
.
Making
her way slowly down the hall,
she
slipp
ed
quietly into her history class. People shot her questioning looks as she made her way to her desk, but thankfully
no one stopped her
.

   Sitting a
t
her desk,
Cassie dropped her head
in her hands
.
She
forced herself to remain seated and
not to get up and leave class
,
and school.
Though it was a tempting thought, she knew s
he
could not run forever, and apparently he was going to be in her life from now
on
.
O
r at least in her school
.
She would have to find another way
to deal with the situation
other than running
.

  
S
he felt that avoidance would be best.

***

   Devon searched the cafeteria as he made his way swiftly through the thick crowd, Melissa led the way. “No matter what, bring your
own
lunch on Thursdays
, the spaghetti
is
awful,” she was telling him in between the vast amount of hello’s she received, and
returned
. “I just bring my own lunch anyway as they have nothing healthy here
,
except for apples.”

   He turned his attention back to her as she stopped before him, her dark eyes searching his face. She was a nice girl, but the intense way she studied him
was more than a
little unsettl
ing
. He had the
strange feeling that she saw more of him than he wanted
her to. Her head tilted
, her exotically slanted eyes narrow
ed
as a small smile flitted over her full mouth
.

   “Thanks for the warning.”

   She grinned as she shrugged a dainty shoulder,
and
ma
de
her way back through the crowd.
“The senior
s sit in the back of the cafeteria, when it’s not nice enough to sit outside.”

   Devon hardly paid attention to her as his eyes returned to the mob
of students. He could sense
her
somewhere amongst the crowd; smell the wonderful aroma she emitted. He had not seen
Cassie
since this morning, when
she had fled the classroom in a
n obvious
panic. It was not the reaction he had
hoped for
from her, but at least he knew that she was feeling something
too
. He just wasn’t sure what.

   The crowd suddenly parted, opening to reveal her. She was sitting at a table, an apple held casually in her hand as she stared up at the boy st
an
d
ing
at he
r side
. The boy was tall and muscular, his brown hair curl
ed
at the collar of his shirt as he leaned forward, resting his hands on the table. She shook her head at him, placing
t
he apple down as her face hardened slightly.
Devon
did not like the aggravation that emanated from
her;
it was more than apparent that she was annoyed by the boy.

   “Who is that with your friend?” Devon inquired, trying to sound as casual as possible.

  
Melissa glanced toward the table, her eyes narrow
ed
.
“Mark Young. He’s been
chasing
Cassie since middle school; unfortunately he doesn’t take a hint.”

   Devon stiffened
,
h
is eyes narrow
ed
as Cassie
shook her head
more
fiercely
at Mark
. He already had enough competition
in the form of
Cassie’s
boyfriend
for her attention
; he did not need
,
or want
,
anymore. “And her boyfriend doesn’t do anything about it?”
Though he tried, he was unable to keep the aggravation from his voice.

  
Melissa frowned at him;
her dark
eye
brows dr
e
w ti
ghtly together over her petite
nose. “Cassie doesn’t have a boyfriend.”

   Devon’s eyes widened in surprise, his gaze dart
ed
back to the table a
s
the tall blond
he had seen with
her
last night
appeared
.
H
e
nodd
ed
briefly to Mark before sliding into the seat
next to
Cassie.
L
ean
ing
toward her,
he
grabb
ed
a handful of fries from her plate.
Devon
would have sworn the two of them were together
.
H
ell
,
the boy had crawled through her bedroom window last night
.
A
nd he had not come back out.