Kindred (Book 1 The Kindred Series) (39 page)

   It was unreasonable, unnatural the way she felt
.
Her concerns should s
low her down, should make her w
arier of him
, but
t
he
y
di
dn’t. She cared more about seeing him than she did about the possibility that there mig
ht be something
wrong
with him
. That there may
even
be something truly deadly
,
and off
,
about him.

   Cassie shivered again, huddling deeper into her light coat, hating the chill
in
her bones. Melissa threw aside the English essay she had been working on. For a moment Cassie thought
that something had arrived. That a fight was finally about to ensue, and Cassie was spoiling for a fight.
Then, Melissa pinned her with her intense, steady gaze.

   “Ok, what’s up?”

   Cassie
blinked in surprise. “Nothing
,
”
she answered automatically.
   Melissa gave her
the
‘
I’m not an idiot look,
’
and
lift
ed
her dark
eye
brows almost to her hairline. “Come on Cassie, we all know you better than that. Something’s on your mind and it has you pretty upset. Now spill.”

   Cassie glanced quickly over them, noting the inquisitive looks that Chris and Luther gave her.
Heaving a big sigh,
she
tossed away the remaining blades of grass she had picked and climbed swiftly to her feet. Though she felt as if she might be betraying Devon by talking with them, she knew that Melissa and Chris were the two people
that
would have the most insight into him.

  
She paced slowly back and forth, not sure how to begin. Finally
,
she just decided to jump in. “What exactly
have
you see
n
about Devon?”

   Melissa stared at her in surprise, her dark eyes becoming turbulent and distant
. Shaking back her
black
braid, her eyes focused on Cassie once more. “Aside from his arrival, I’ve seen nothing else about him.”

   “What did you see
about that
then?” Cassie demanded, a sense of urgency filling her.

   Melissa tilted her head curiously. “Not much Cass, I just saw hi
m coming
,
and
I saw brief glimpses of the two of you together. I knew that he was coming for you.”

   Those last
three
words caused a chill to run down Cassie’s spine. Coming for her, he was coming for her.
But why?
What did he want with her? Cassie shuddered, feeling like a turtle as she tried to pull
all
of her exposed skin into her jacket
.
It was
a poor attempt
at trying
to hide from the world. “You saw nothing wrong with him though?” she asked softly.

   The three
of them exchanged surprised, w
ary looks
,
before focusing their attention on her once more.
“No Cassie, not at all. I would have warned you if I had. Why are you asking this?”

   Cassie chose to ignore the question as she turned to
Chris. “And what did you feel from him?” she asked softly.

  
Chris looked briefly confused before
shaking his head. “Not much,” he admitted slowly. “
I told you
I can’t
really
read
him
.”

   Cassie absorbed this information slowly, not knowing what to make of it. Chris could get a glimpse of everyone. He was one of the main reasons she had
never dated Mark
. Chris had sensed something off about him, although
Mark
had never done anything wrong, never acted badly in any way
before
today
.
His
doubts about Mark
had
been spot on though
.

   “Why is that?” she asked softly, the chill in her becoming an ice storm that seemed to freeze the blood in her veins.

   Chris shook his head, looking thoughtful and distant. “I don’t know Cassie, I really don’t. For the most part there is an impenetrable wall around him that I can’t pierce, and believe me I have tried. That guy is a challenge
that I would love to master, but I can’t.”

   She swallowed heavily, trying to huddle deeper into her jacket, but there w
as nowhere for her to go
.
There was nowhere for her to hide anymore. Chris’s words only caused her doubt
,
and confusion
,
to escalate higher.
What did that mean? How did a human keep Chris at bay? Unless
,
of course
,
he really did possess the same ability as Chris
,
and
somehow
it did
ke
ep
Chris blocked out.

   Then, she caught something that he had said. “For the most part?” she inquired
softly
.

   He nodded, folding his arms over his chest as he leaned against a white oak.
The leaves were still mostly green in the tree, almost black in the dark night, but a hint of color had made its way into the outer leaves. Th
at hint of
color
was now the
shade
of blood
. Cassie’s stomach rolled
with that realization.

  
“There is one thing that he can’t keep blocked out.”

   “What
’
s that?” Melissa asked eagerly when Chris did not continue.

  
Chris’s gaze pierced Cassie.
“His feelings for you.
He can’t keep those hidden, they radiate out of him like a lighthouse beacon calling home the ships. It’s why I
kinda
like the guy
.
I know that he cares deeply for you
,
and
he
would do anything for you. I have to like someone like that.”

   Warmth swept through Cassie
, slightly melting the iceberg that had enshrouded her. “Really?” she whispered
hopefully
.

   “Yes.”

   Tears burned
the back
s
of her eyes, but she would not shed them. Not here,
not in
front of them. Her doubts and fears lingered, but Chris’s words had warmed her to the tips of her toes. “Why are you asking this Cassie?” Luther inquired softly.

   “I was just wondering,” she tried to bluff.

   It was more than obvious that he didn’t
believe her.
“You never just wonder
, now what is going on?
”

   She paced restlessly back and forth, not sure how much she wanted to say. Sighing heavily, she spun to face them. “Didn’t you find the incident in the cafeteria
today
odd?”

   Chris’s face darkened with anger, Melissa nodded eagerly. “I c
an
not believe Mark said those things to you
!
I was going to punch that guy myself if Devon hadn’t got there first!
”
Chris spat.

   “
H
e was
wicked
quick
to defend you.”

   Melissa’s eyes took on a dreamy look.
Cassie sighed
loudly
;
apparently Melissa had decided to jump on the
“
I love
Devon
”
ba
ndwagon also. But
that was not what frustrated her right now. W
as
she the
only
one
that
had noticed something
off about
what had happened today
?
And just how quick had
Devon
been?
The last
time
Cassie had seen
Devon
, he had been
across the cafeteria, and then suddenly he was there, tossing Mark around like a rag doll.

  
“
A
nother reason I like the guy,” Chris muttered.

   Luther studied them all carefully before piercing her
once again with his intense gra
y eyes. Nothing ever slipped past Luther, and he often saw far more than she wanted him to.
“T
here is more, isn’t there
?
”

  
“Yes.” Taking a deep breath,
Cassie
decided to just plunge in. She needed to unload some of her confusion, doubts, and burdens on someone. And she trusted these three
with her life. “I’ve
come to care for him, a lot.” That was the understatement of the year, but she did want to keep some things to herself. “And I realize that I know nothing about him.”

   “Well, he’s new,” Melissa defended. “It takes time to get to know someone.”

   Cassie licked her lips nervously, turning she began to pace again. “I know that, I understand
that. What I don’t understand is how he sensed that evil presence the other day…”

   “What?” Melissa interrupted sharply.

   “He knew that it was there,
even
before we did. I felt it
in him, felt the tension that took hold of him
moment
s before
we
even
felt it. He knew it was there…”

   “There are humans with special abilities,” Chris interjected.

   “Yes, I know that, but this was different Chris. I don’t know how to
explain it, but it was
. It got me thinking about how little I
really
do
know about him. Then today
,
in the cafeteria, the strength he displayed. What human could do that?”

   They exchanged quick glances. “Some humans are very strong.”
  
“
That
strong Melissa?
”
Cassie demanded sharply.
“
He lifted Mark with one hand, and Mark is not exactly a light weight
.
One hand
!
”
Cassie realized her voice had taken on a slightly hysterical pitch, but she could not rid herself of it.

   Silence met her. Their gazes became distant
. “What are you trying to say Cassie?” Luther asked gently. “Do you think he
might be
a Hunter also?”

   “I don’t know
.
T
hat’s why I’m talking to you guys about this. But woul
dn’t you know if he was
?”
   Luther frowned, shrugging absently. “I don’t know
.
I would like to think so
, but
thin
gs are so different now. I can look for Hunter’s, but there is no guarantee that I will know them when I find them. Melissa had a premonition about your
s
and Chris’s location. You were easy enough to
find as
I had met your mother once
,
and
you look a lo
t like
he
r. However, even with the few premonitions
Melissa’s
had about other locations, I have never fo
und another Hunter. I don’t
know
if I would recognize him if he is one.”

  
Cassie digested this slowly, she supposed that would make sense, but it still did not ease the anxiety clutching at her.
“
He said that his parents had been killed, but he didn’t say how,
may
be
they were actually killed
during
The Slaughter.
But if he does have Chris’s ability, wouldn’t he be able to sense us? Wouldn’t he come to us?
Wouldn’t he
want to be with people
like him,
instead of
on his own
?”

   “
He may not know what we are,” Melissa said gently. “If he is keeping Chris blocked, then Chris may be doing the same thing to him.
”