Kindled (Book 3 The Kindred Series) (32 page)

  
She knew she was far from where she was supposed to be,
and that was about all she did know
.

   Slowly she forced her eyes open again, blinking against the bright light that flared harshly from the fluorescent
light in the ceiling
. The walls were
concrete,
white
.
Half of the wall
across from her
was taken up by a giant
piece
of one way glass. She blinked at th
e
glass,
her skin crawled
at the realization that there was probably someone on the other side, watching her.

    Gathering her shaking arms beneath her
,
she managed to shove herself into a sitting position
.
H
er eyes dart
ed
swiftly around the small, sterile room.
Her heart lurched painfully in her chest; her skin was coated in a thin layer of sweat. She realized almost instantly that
she was
in a
prison room
and that
she
was the
prisoner
.

   Turning slowly, Cassie’s heart thumped even harder at the sight of another
, smaller
window
behind her.
There would be absolutely no privacy in this room. Her attention darted to the door next to the
glass
across from her. She knew it would be locked, but she wasn’t about to just sit here.

   Shoving herself to her feet, she stumbled slightly, almost falling over. She crashed into the wall, wincing as pain lanced through her
bruised
shoulder. Sucking in a deep lungful of air, she
tried her hardest
to ease the dizziness
and nausea
rolling through her. For a moment she feared she was going to vomit, or pass ou
t
.
She fought fiercely against the darkness trying to pull her under;
she most certainly didn
’
t want to be unconscious in this place again.

   It took a few minutes before she felt steady enough to move again.
She passed by another door that was cracked open to reveal a small bathroom beyond.
Shuffling past the bathroom she r
each
ed
the
main door.
S
he grabbed hold of the handle, not at all surprised to find it locked. Frustration and fear tore through her as she yanked
desperately
at the handle
, panic and a crushing sense of claustrophobia descend
ed
o
ver
her
.

  
A small cry
of
aggravation escaped a
s
she slammed her hand against the door
, resting her forehead
on
the cold metal as she tried to gather her shaken wits
. She didn
’
t scream for help, for she knew no one would come,
or
at least no
one that she
wanted
to see
.
Standing on tiptoe she stared out the small window in the center of the door.

  
There was a long hallway outside, bright light bounced off the white linoleum
floors
of the hall. She saw no movement, sensed no sign of a human presence out there.
She tried to summon her rage, to gather th
e
vast strength that had helped her to destroy Isla,
and might help her get out of this. B
ut it did not come surging to the forefront.
In fact, i
t seemed buried inside of her, trapped by something that she had no control over.

   She recalled the shot they had given her
.
There was a
foggy, drugged feeling still cloud
ing
her mind. What had they
done
to her? What had they given her? And what the hell was she doing here?

   “You’re
awake.
”

   Cassie jumped back, nearly falling over as she stumbled
away from the door. Her gaze d
arted wildly around the room as she tried to pinpoint the source
of the voice. Her gaze landed on the
speakers
she had not noticed
beneath the larger mirror. Light suddenly flooded on
behind the mirror
, revealing the man that had spoken to her. Cassie’s mouth dropped, shock rivet
ed
her as she recognized the man on the other side as Dani’s brother
,
Joey.

  
She moved slowly away from the
mirror
, her calves brushing up against the back of the
small cot
. Her mind was spinning with a million
questions, none of which she could actually form into words.
A
nother
man moved in
to stand beside
Joey
, Cassie vaguely recognized him as
one of the men that had come onto the porch to retrieve her.

   “Where am I?” she managed to choke out.
“What do you want with me?”

   The
strange
man stepped forward, hitting a button
to allow him to speak
. “You are a danger to people
,
and to your race; we could no longer allow you to be free.”

   Cassie’s mouth dropped, panic slammed heavily through her. She glanced wildly around the room as she tried
to understand exactly what was going on
,
and just how bad her situation was. She was very afraid that she hadn’t even begun to grasp the true depth of this awful situation. “So
you plan on
keeping me here
to keep others safe
?” she demanded.

   The
men exchanged a look. Joey’s auburn hair was the color of blood in the bright light of the fluorescents, his light brown eyes
distant
. The man at his side
remained impassive
.
H
is face
was
a mask of
indifference,
his hair neatly trimmed,
and
graying at the edges
.
H
is dark blue eyes
were
as cold
as granite. It was the look
of speculation and curiosity in his gaze that frightened her most. He stared at her as if she were a bug, something to be picked and prodded at, something that he wanted to torture and dismantle.

   Cassie
fought to keep her composure
as
a crushing sense of doom threatened to descend upon her.
“No, we have other plans for you,” the man answered.

   Swallowing heavily, Cassie fisted her hands as she fought the shaking that was trying to rattle through her. “And what would those plans be?”

   “You’re a fascinating specimen Cassandra.” Cassie shuddered at the word specimen, her stomach twisted with nausea.
“There is a lot of power and ability in you. You
did
kill Isla after all
, and she was
almost
an
E
lder
. We want to try and harness that power, try and use it to our advantage. We do need an advantage
desperately.
The only problem is that you have no control over your abilities.”

   Confusion swirled through her as she gazed wildly back and forth between them. “You plan on teaching me how to control it?” she managed to g
ra
t
e
out.

   “No, because we cannot control
you
,
” he said flatly. “We plan on trying to harnes
s it, on trying to learn from it
.”

   “I don’t understand.
”

  
“We are losing the war; we need all the weapons that we can get. You will be one of those weapons.
We just need to learn how to use you. We need to learn how to make The Hunter race even stronger, and you may very well be the key to that. Your blood may be our way to do so.”

   Cassie’s legs gave out as she slid onto the small cot that was now her bed. “You’re supposed to be the good guys,” she whispered.

   “We are, but in every battle innocent lives must be lost. And you are not
an
innocent Cassandra, consorting with the enemy and all.”

   Her head shot up, her eyes widen
ed
in horror. “Devon is
not
the enemy!” she snapp
ed. “He is one of the good guys.
He’s saved my life numerous times and he is a
good
man!”
   “He’s a monster,” Joey growled, disgust twisting his f
eatures. “And you’re a disgrace.
”
   “At least I didn’t run!” she snapped, anger giving her strength as she leapt to her feet.
“I stayed and fought the battle.
I stayed and fought the
war
!
You ran and hid like the coward you are!
”

   Joey took an angry step forward, but could go no further than the wall before him. “You’re a damn
whore
!”
he spat at her.

   Cassie glared fiercely back at him, her hands fisting as some of the anger she had been searching for came to the forefront. The man rested a hand on Joey’s shoulder, pulling him back a step. “You allowed the vamp
ire
to feed from you, but I am assuming that you did not take any of his blood.”

   Cassie glanced sharply at the
man at Joey’s side. “I’m assuming that this
exchange
did not
occur
because the vamp
ire
was afraid of what it may do to you.” Cassie clenched her jaw, refusing to say any
thing
more as she turned her ga
ze to the ceiling, taking note of the
strange
vents
above her
. “I
also
wonder what
his
blood would do to you.
”

   Her gaze snapped back to h
im, terror t
ore
through her, melting her resolve not to speak again.
“Yo
u leave him alone!”

   Joey groaned in disgust
as he
roll
ed
his eyes.
“Quick to defend your lover.”

   Cassie glared at him, her teeth grinding tightly. “We don’t need him,” the other man said softly. “
We have something just as good.”

   A cold chill washed through her and she
was
almost
forced to
s
i
t again as her legs buckled slightly. She would not give them the satisfaction of seeing such a weakness in her though.
She absolutely refused to let them see her cower in fear.
“What do you mean?” she choked out
, terrified of the answer
.

   The man reached down and flipped another switch. A wash of light flooded fro
m the window behind her. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she felt a set of eyes burning into
her back
. A shudder tore through her. Her mouth was completely dry as she turned slowly
, dread pulsed
rapidly through her
.

   Julian was standing
behind
the
glass
, his
arm
s raised above his head as he gra
sp
ed hold of the
top of the
window
sill. His handsome face was hard, his eyes a violent shade of red as he stared murderously at the men behind her. Slowly
,
his gaze
shifted
to her. Cassie remained immobile, shock rivet
ed
her as his eyes turned
slowly
back to their
startling
ice blue color
.
O
ddly though
,
the nearly white band around his pupils remained a violent shade of red
.
It was a startling effect that robbed her of her breath.

   “Hello princess,” he purred.