Kindred (Book 1 The Kindred Series) (47 page)

   Devon broke out of the woods, racing across the cemetery,
jum
ping stones and tombs with
smooth
,
easy leaps. Whatever he was pursuing was slower than he was, not as fleet in its retreat. He was gaining ground on it.

  
Leaving the cemetery, t
he woods encircled him once more. He poured on the speed
, becoming nearly a blur as he
chased
his prey. Excitement and bloodlust pounded through him. It had been
so long since he had pursue
d any real game, any real kill
. Animals didn
’
t amount to the same thrill as a human, or another vampire. Both of which he
had not touched in a very
long time.

   A scream echoed loudly through the air, a young girl
’
s voice penetrat
ed
the dark night. Devon realized that the creature had not been fleeing from him, but
had been hunting its own prey
instead
.

***

   Cassie
had just stepped
out of
Luther’s car when
the terrified scream echoed throughout the night.
It r
a
ng off the headstones
and
echo
ed
throughout the eerily still night. Chris and Melissa stiffened, freezing in mid-step
as their mouths parted in surprise
. The thick silence that followed the scream was even more nerve wracking.

 
“It’s out there,” Chris said softly.

   “Let’s go.”
   Cassie took a step forward, but Luther grabbed hold of her arm, halting her. “Wait.”

   She spun on him, anger
fisting her hands as it
t
o
r
e
through
her. “We have to stop him!” she snapped.

   Lu
ther’s eyes narrowed
sharply upon her, the light gra
y of them inquisitive and keen.
“Him?”

  
S
he realized her mistake
instantly
, they had always referred to
the monster a
s
it
, and Luther had not missed the fact that she had called it
him
this time.
Cassie glared fiercely at him,
she didn’t have time to explain
her newfound knowledge, nor did she want to
.
She didn’t want to hear their gasps of shock and surprise; she did not want them to dissuade her from what she
knew. She was right, she had no doub
t that Devon was in those woods.
J
ust as she had no doubt that
she
would be the one to take him out.

  
Though he had fooled all of them, it was her that he had focused
up
on
. It was
her
that he had teased with promises of love and hope, only to rip
it all
cruelly away. She hated him
the
most for making her hope and dream
.
S
he had been surviving well enough
,
hiding behind her wall, safely protected from the hurts of the world until he had walked into her life, tossing it upside down, and shredding it to pieces.

  
Cas
sie ripped her arm away from Luther
, spinning back toward the woods.
Her blood was boiling with the fury
pulsing through her
, she knew that she was reckless right now, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. She didn’t care about anything anymore, except for keeping the people surrounding her safe. Her gaze
rapidly scanned the forest, trying to pinpoint where the scream had come from. Another scream shot through the air, bloodcurdling
,
pain filled
, and terrified
. Horror
filled
Cassie
, her heart leapt wildly in her chest; s
he had never heard anyone
make that
sound
before.

   And it was entirely her fault.

  
Her love for Devon had completely
blinded
her to the fact that he was a
monster. Her stupidity and ignorance had allowed him to continue to kill
.
He
had destroyed the lives of many innocent people, and she was not going to allow that to happen again.

   “Come on,” she said briskly.

   “Wait!” Luther said sharply
, seizing her once more
. “Melissa.
”
   Melissa had gone completely still, he
r
eyes
were
distant, her face
blank
and pale
. Cassie sighed impatiently; it was a hell of a time to receive a premonition
, especially one of the ones that took complete control of her
.
Melissa gasped suddenly, bending forward
she grasped her stomach
as
she struggled to breathe. Chris
g
ra
bb
ed
hold of Melissa’s
heaving shoulders as she choked and panted for air.

   Another scream echoed throughout, but this one
was far
weaker
than before
. Whoever was out there was losing the battle, and
Cassie
was not about to let that happen. Tearing her arm away from Luther
again
, she spun on her heel
and sprinted forward. It did not matter that Chris and Melissa were not with her, she would put a stop to this on her own.
It was better if they stayed out of it anyway, she did not want them to be hurt.

 
Cassie ran as fast as she could, her long legs
carrying her swiftly across the ground.
She didn’t bother dodging the headstones but vaulted herself easily over them. Reaching the woods, she darted into the
thick foliage
, using her hands to deflect the branches and twigs that slapped at her.

  
“Cassie
noooo
!”
Melissa’s
shrill
, terror filled
scream followed her into the forest
,
but did not slow her down
.

CHAPTER
2
1

   Devon burst into the clearing
.
H
is heightened senses
,
and
the adrenaline
pulsing
through him
,
allowed him to take
in all of the details
at once. The first thing he recognized was the young woman in the arms of the monster.

  
The
second
was
the monster.

   He skidded to a halt, dirt and leaves kick
ed
up beneath him.
Shock slammed into him
as he gazed into the
familiar
red eyes of his prey
,
but it was
quickly buried beneath the fury that
surged rapidly forth
.
Stiffening slowly, his hand
s
fisted at his sides as he met
th
ose
eyes across the clearing from him. This was a fight that he was more than prepared for, and
one that was
well
over a hundred years in the making.
“Let her go!” he snarled.

   Julian had lifted his head from Marcy’s neck when Devon emerged,
but he had not released her.
Julian
broke into a small smile, a dark eyebrow quirked with amusement.
“Well, if it isn’t the prodigal sire,” he purred. “I was
hoping
we would finally run into each other
again
.”
   Devon took a step closer to him,
tension thrumm
ed
through him as he braced himself for the fight
. “
I didn’t create you Julian,” he growled.

   Julian’s blood smeared
mouth twisted into a sneer
. “You may not have
created
me, but you did
help to mold me into t
he best vampire that I could possibly be.
You taught me the thrill of the hunt, the pleasure of the kill.
”

   Devon’s teeth ground together as he glared fiercely at the man across from him.
Julian
had once been his best friend
, and greatest companion.
He was a
m
onster
that
still
wreaked havoc upon unsuspecting innocents with the same joy and
pleasure that Devon had once taken in it.
Though they had been nearly inseparable for over three hundred years, Julian had become one of his
greatest
enemies
. “W
hat are you doing here Julian?”
Devon spat.

   Julian
leisurely licked the blood from his lips, savoring the taste of it.
Devon’s eyes latched onto the blood, for a moment he could clearly recall how wonderful and fulfilling human blood was.
How powerful and thrilling it was.
How much he wanted
it
!
It had been so long
since he had tasted human blood
, and he struggled daily to keep his murderous urges under wraps
.
B
ut faced with it so temptingly close, he could feel his restraint starting to unravel.

   He struggled
to
maintai
n control,
t
he blood was a d
istraction
that
would get him killed; Julian was fierce, powerful, and deadly.
Devon would be a fine trophy,
and a lot of power to add to Julian’s
collection
of victims
.
Not to mention the fact that most of the vampire race cons
idered Devon
a traitor to their kind, and would far prefer him dead.

   Julian’s
eyes slowly turned back to the ice blue
color
that Devon was painfully familiar with. A
round the black pupils
of his eyes was
a
strange
band of lighter,
vivid,
almost white blue
color
.
“Same thing as you I assume, I was drawn by the power. Except, unlike you, I will make use of that power, take advantage of it
;
savor it.”
   Devon scowled fiercely at him, taking another step closer as they slowly began to circle one
another.
Marcy
was still
held loosely in
Julian’
s arms
as he
negligently dragg
ed
her body along with him.
Devon could just barel
y make out the faint beat of Marcy’s
fluttering heart. She did not have much time left.
“There is no power here.”

   Julian’s face twisted into a leering grin, his sharp canines gleam
ed
in the dim light of the
moon.
“Oh you silly
silly
fool.
Have you been that blinded?”

   Devon was growing more aggravated by the second. He did not like being toyed with, especially not by Julian. He was the one
that
had taught Julian, the one that had
molded
him;
he was not going to be played with by him.
“Don’t mess with me Julian,” he growled.

  
Julian quirked a black eyebrow, his mouth twisted into
a
wry smile.
“I would never,” he replied, his voice light and lilting as they continued to circle. “I am simply pointing out what you have missed.”
   “And what would that be?”