Ashes (Book 2 The Kindred Series) (27 page)

Ever so carefully, she cleaned and
bandaged her wounds with the ample medical supplies she kept under
the sink. She was not at all surprised to find that though the
gashes were still deep, the blood had stopped, and the healing
process was well under way. She had always healed fast, ever since
she was a little girl, and she had never been sick.

She used to wonder about it until
Luther walked into her life, now she just chocked it up to her
Hunter capabilities. Even if Chris and Melissa did not heal quite
as fast as her, they had never had a cold either. Once her wounds
were bandaged, she fingered her cracked rib lightly, wincing as a
sharp pain tore through her. Though she could not use disinfectant
and bandages on it, it would heal just as swiftly as the gashes on
her side.

Slipping her favorite baggy sweatshirt
on, Cassie wrapped her arms around herself as she made her way to
the kitchen. Chris and Dani were already sitting at the counter,
their spoons clicking against their bowls. Chris pushed a
strawberry sundae with no whip cream and extra cherries toward her.
Though she had asked for the sundae, she shook her head, her
appetite gone. Her body was already a block of ice, she didn’t want
to add more coldness to it.

Making her way to the window, Cassie
stared out at the dark night. She recalled when she had first met
Devon, when she had sensed his presence out there, watching over
her. That was before he had started coming to her room. That was
when things had been simple and easy, when she had thought him
human and had wanted to keep him protected. How foolish she had
been. She could no more protect him then she could stop a charging
elephant. Her protection was unnecessary, her strength nothing
compared to his.

Now as she searched the night, she felt
nothing out there, no good or evil. It was simply an empty void
that did nothing to ease the void inside of her. Even Chris’s house
was silent; his mother apparently having passed out already, or
retreated to bed with whatever man she had brought home
tonight.

Cassie turned swiftly away, focusing on
Chris and Dani. “Did you tell her anything yet?”

“No.” Chris pushed his bowl aside, but
instead of reaching for hers as he normally would have, he leaned
back in his chair. Apparently the events of the night had affected
his appetite too. Folding his long legs before him, his eyes were
sad and distant as he surveyed her. “I thought that you should be
here.”

Cassie nodded, leaning against the sink
as she began to fill Dani in on the details of the night. When she
could not continue on, Chris picked it up for her. Dani sat
silently, her eyes growing wider, her half eaten sundae forgotten.
When Chris finished, Cassie turned back to the window, once again
searching the empty night.

“So, now there are two?” Dani asked
quietly, her voice hoarse with fear.

“Yes.”

“Is this Isla also an Elder? What can
she do?”

“We don’t know,” Chris answered. “We
didn’t ask Devon yet.”

“Piss me off,” Cassie mumbled, ignoring
the twinge that pulled at her heart as hurt and jealousy reared
their ugly heads once more.

“How are you feeling?” Chris inquired,
obviously eager to change the conversation.

Cassie shrugged absently. “I’ll be
fine.” She turned swiftly away from the window, unable to stand the
silence of the night anymore. “I’m going to go to sleep,” she lied,
knowing that there would be no sleep until Devon arrived, safe and
sound. Knowing she would not sleep until he answered some of the
many questions swirling rapidly through her mind.

“Cassie.” Chris stood swiftly, his
stool sliding out from under him. She turned slowly back to him,
feeling like a wooden marionette. Chris stared silently back at
her, his eyes troubled and sad. “I’m going to stay on the couch
tonight.” She opened her mouth to protest, but he held up a hand,
silencing her. “My mom will be fine for one night, she’s already
home.”

Cassie nodded slowly. She fled from the
room before the tears that burned her eyes fell. She had already
cried once tonight, she would not do so again. Racing up the
stairs, she closed the door, leaning heavily against it as she
tried to breathe evenly, as she struggled to keep control of her
tumultuous emotions.

Before she had met Devon she had never
cried, she had never been emotional. But ever since he had walked
into her life, she had been a basket case, unsettled and rattled.
Devon had shaken her to the very core of her foundations, breaking
through the walls that had kept her separated from her emotions,
most humans, and pain.

Only Chris and Melissa had known who
and what she was, though they had never been able to truly reach
her. Never been able to get her to truly live again, once the
knowledge of what she was had completely shut her down. But Devon
had changed all that. He had shattered her walls, torn into her
heart, and ripped into her soul to bring her back to
life.

For the first time in years she had
allowed herself to trust again, and she was terrified that that
trust had been misplaced. Terrified that this wonderful reprieve
she was experiencing with life, and hopes, and dreams, was ruined.
She was terrified that she would become the lost, walking dead
person she had been before. And she did not want to be that person
again. She did not think she could survive the loss of everything
again.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed away
from the door, determined to stay in control. There was no point in
losing it now when she didn’t know the whole truth. It wouldn’t do
either of them any good if she turned into a raving loony. Cassie
paced restlessly, flipping the TV on in the hope that it would
drown out her thoughts. It didn’t work.

She watched the clock tick the minutes
by with excruciating slowness, but still he didn’t come. At eleven
she slumped onto the bed. Her nervous energy was no longer enough
to keep her exhausted, wounded body moving. Drawing her legs up to
her chest, she rested her chin on her knees as her thoughts turned
even more troublesome.

What if he didn’t come to her tonight?
What if seeing Isla reminded him of what he was missing? Of what
she could never be? What if he decided that Isla was what he truly
wanted in a woman, and that she was just a dull
comparison?

Cassie bit down on her trembling bottom
lip. She would not cry. She would not. He would come, she told
herself. Though she tried to reassure herself of this, doubt kept
rearing its ugly head. Isla had managed to plant a field of
uncertainty in her.

A subtle shifting of the shadows
snapped her head around. A cry of delight rose up in her throat; it
strangled and died before she could release it. Devon sat outside
her window, his emerald eyes eerily bright in the light of the half
moon. Cassie could only stare at him, unable to move as she was
captured by the mesmerizing beauty of him. She wasn’t sure she was
ready to hear the answers to her questions, and she certainly
wasn’t ready for their relationship to end tonight, if that was
what it came down to.

Gathering the last dregs of her
remaining strength, she forced herself up from the bed. Though the
window was unlocked, she knew that he would not come in unless she
let him in. She stopped at the window, her hands shaking, her heart
pounding. Sliding the window up, she stepped slowly back to allow
him access.

He hesitated for a moment before
slipping as silently as a wraith inside. Her breath hitched, her
fingers itched, and it took all she had not to fling herself into
his arms. He was the one that she sought out for comfort and
protection. The one that she took solace in when she wanted to shut
out the rest of the world. Now, he was the one that she wanted to
shut out, or at least she wanted to shut his past out.

There was a fierce hope in his eyes,
such a ferocious need that she almost caved. She almost flung
herself into his arms as she lost herself to the love, comfort, and
shelter that he offered. But she could not do that. She could not
continue to be an ostrich with her head stuck in the sand when it
came to him.

She had been avoiding his past for too
long, and tonight it had nearly cost them all their lives. She
could no longer plead ignorance, for to do so may very well be the
death of one of them. No, no matter how much it hurt, and no matter
how much she did not want to hear it, she was finally going to hear
it. She was going to be strong again, not the weakling that she had
become. She was going to be strong, and she was going to learn
everything she could about him. And it was going to be painful, she
was certain of that.

She opened her mouth and popped out the
first question that came to mind. “Who is Annabelle?”

CHAP
TER 18

Devon closed his eyes, his hands
twitched at his sides. He had known that this was coming, that she
would want answers, that one day she would wonder about his past.
He had just hoped that it would be under better circumstances. He
had just wished that it would not happen when she had that hurt,
lost look in her lovely eyes.

Pain and confusion radiated from her,
beating at him with the force of a tsunami. He wanted nothing more
than to take hold of her, pull her close, and ease the anguish that
he had caused her. But he knew that she didn’t want his touch now,
that she couldn’t handle it. He could not make the first move here;
she would have to come to him. He just wasn’t sure if she would
come to him when he was done.

He was going to cause her more hurt
before this night was over, and there was nothing he could do about
it. He was going to kill Isla and Julian when he saw them again. He
would make sure that they paid for wounding her in such a way. Her
physical pain had been nothing compared to the emotional chaos
radiating from her. Her physical wounds would heal; he was not sure
the emotional ones would.

Taking a deep breath, Devon slowly
opened his eyes. He had fed well due to the toll that this night
had put on him, but he was not sure it had been enough. This was
going to be much more draining then the fight earlier. Her misty
eyes held his, the startling violet in them standing out vividly to
his heightened sense of sight.

How did he tell her who Annabelle was
without driving her further away? Without increasing the doubt and
lack of self confidence that she radiated now? Taking a deep
breath, he decided to just plunge in; putting it off any longer
would only cause her anxiety to grow.

“Annabelle was a woman that I was in
love with.”

She inhaled sharply, biting into her
bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. Devon winced for her, it was
not her physical pain, for she did not feel that, but he could feel
the twisting emotional agony that wrenched through her. She did not
flinch though; her eyes did not even flicker. She remained as still
as stone, only four feet away from him, though it suddenly seemed
like miles.

“Or at least I had thought I
was.”

She released her bottom lip. His eyes
latched onto the drop of blood that quivered on her mouth. This was
not the time or place, and although he had glutted himself, he
could not stop the thrill that shot through him. The need. If she
sent him out of here tonight it would destroy him, but if she
didn’t…

Well, if she didn’t, he may well
destroy them both.

He didn’t know which was
worse.

Then he met her unwavering gaze again,
and he knew. He could keep control of himself for her; he could do
anything for her. He could stay by her side, for to lose her would
be far worse than the ninth circle of hell. Yes, though it was the
hardest thing he would ever do, he would stay by her. If she would
still have him.

Fear tore through him. He may lose her,
but he could not lie to her. Not about this.

“What happened?” she asked
softly.

“I happened.” Confusion marred her
brow. “Maybe you should sit.”

She frowned at him, but she turned
toward her bed and moved stiffly forward. She stopped before it,
but did not sit. Instead, she turned back to him, hugging herself
tightly. She seemed to simply have forgotten to sit as she watched
him closely, her eyes weary and lost. In fact, she seemed to simply
have wanted more space from him.

The subtle shifting of the trees
outside cast shadows over her face and hair, hugging her lithe
body. He stared at her for a long moment, his heart hammering with
the fear that he may never be welcome in this room again, may never
be able to hold her and love her again. “Go on,” she said
softly.

Devon sighed as he ran a hand through
his disheveled hair, he tugged on it as he began to pace.
“Annabelle was a simple farm girl when I met her.”

“When did you meet her?” Cassie
interrupted, her voice soft but carrying a steel edge of
resolve.

He stopped pacing to face her. “Over a
hundred and fifty years ago.”

Her eyes widened as she swiftly made
the connection to the time when he had stopped feeding on, and
killing, humans. Turmoil spun through her eyes, her hands clenched
tighter upon her arms as her breath froze. “I see.”

Her voice was choked, her eyes distant.
He could see the swift retreat she made from him, the walls she
slammed into place to keep herself sheltered from hurt, and pain.
To keep sheltered from life. He was looking at the woman that he
had originally met, the girl who had avoided life. This was the
girl who had kept herself locked away from the world in order to
keep herself from experiencing the pain she had originally
experienced with the harsh truth about the death of her parents,
the monsters of the world, and the knowledge of what she truly was.
She retreated swiftly behind her walls before he could shatter
everything that she was.