Ashes (Book 2 The Kindred Series) (35 page)

Her gaze darted past him to the line of
people standing by the door. The only thing that got her moving was
the thought that her grandmother would be disappointed in her if
she was rude to them. She clasped hands, exchanged hugs, and
murmurs and was greatly relieved when the last person filtered out.
Closing the door behind them, she leaned heavily against
it.

“Melissa and I are going to stay again
tonight,” Luther said softly.

She opened her eyes; her vision was
slightly blurry with exhaustion as she nodded. “If you feel you
must.”

“We don’t want you to be alone,”
Melissa said softly.

“I’ll be fine. Dani still lives
here.”

Dani shifted nervously, obviously
unsure how to handle the situation. “Do you want me to leave?” she
blurted out.

Cassie shook her head, stepping away
from the door. There may be little left of her, but she wasn’t
going to throw the girl out on the street. “No, you can stay for as
long as you need to.”

Dani glanced worriedly at the other
three, not knowing how to take Cassie’s answer. It had not been
inviting, but she had not been booted to the curb either. “I think
it’s best if we stay,” Luther said firmly.

They weren’t worried about her being
alone; they were worried about what she would do. She knew they
watched her, knew that Devon was camped outside, but they could not
watch her all the time. They would have to go home at some point,
and eventually Devon would have to feed. And now that the funeral
was over, Cassie had much more time on her hands to think about how
she would get away. How she would carry out her revenge.

“I’m going to sleep.”

Though she uttered the words, she knew
they weren’t true. She hadn’t slept in three days; she didn’t
expect to sleep tonight. She moved away from the door, ignoring
them all as she wearily climbed the stairs. She had become a bitch,
a miserable cold bitch; she knew that, she just couldn’t bring
herself to care.

But then, she didn’t care about much
anymore. All of her caring, her love, her life had all been burnt
away by the rage that now festered within her. There was nothing
left inside her. It was best if she stayed alone, best if she kept
every one away from her. It was better if they didn’t know how
little there was left to her. Better they didn’t know that all that
was left of her were smoldering ashes of the person she had once
been.

A person she would never be
again.