Kindled (Book 3 The Kindred Series) (39 page)

   His eyes were hard as they met hers briefly before nodding toward her arm. “What do you think they gave you?”

   She refused to look at her arm again; she would vomit if she did. And she sure as hell didn’t want to think about what they had put in her. She would go crazy if she did.
“I don’t know. I don’t
want
to know.”
He was silent for a moment, his eyes hard, and the band of white momentarily flashing red. “Should I be worried, Julian?” she breathed. 

   He shook his head, his eyes becoming normal again
.
“
No princess, you’re fine, but t
hey will give you more. Maybe even something else. We can’t stay here
and
be their guinea pigs.” Cassie bowed her head to her knees
;
she had to
fight against the fierce shivers that wanted to
wrack her. Her flesh was chilled, goose bumps covered her skin.
“I know you believe in Devon, but you have to face the fact that he may not be able to find us. Between the two of us, we
can
get out of here.”

   “Or I could turn on you,” she replied miserably.

   He was silent for a moment, his jaw clench
ed
tightly. “I can take care of myself princess.”

   “Yeah, that’s why you’re here,” she retorted, tired of being called princess.

  
He stared at her
, his
eyebrows raised sharply
.
A
muscle twitch
ed
in his cheek
before
he burst into loud laughter. Ca
ssie’s mouth parted in surprise,
h
is laugh was actually very nice. It was warm, and bright, and had a surprising amount of humor in it. She found herself watching him in fascination, unable to stop
herself
from smiling along with him.

   His strange blue eyes twinkled with amusement as his laughter faded away and he turned his attention back to her.
“Very true princess, very true.
But let’s not worry about me in
this;
let’s worry about getting our asses out of here.”
   Cassie continued to grin at him. “You know, you’re not so bad
when you’re in here
.
And you have a nice laugh.
”
   He chuckled softly, resting his forehead against the glass as he stared down at her. “
I don’t remember the last time I laughed,” he admitted. “And you had better be careful
,
it
almost
sounds like you’re
flirting with me princess
.
”

  H
e
r mouth parted in surprise, and then a burst of laughter escaped her.
“Hardly,” she retorted.

   “Come on
,
admit it, you find me a little appealing.”

   Cassie shook her head at him, unable to stop herself from laughing.
She did find him a little appealing; in fact she was actually beginning to like him a little. Even if she didn’t trust him not to drain her dry
the moment
he got the chance.
“Well
,
you’re not as repulsive as these people at least.”

   His grin widened, revealing all of his perfect white teeth. “That’s good to know, at least I’m moving up on your list.”

   “Y
ou are.”

   She rested her head against the glass again, wishing that Devon was with her, to comfort her,
to take her away from here. Closing her eyes, she pictured his face in vivid detail. She could clearly recall the smell of him, the feel of him.
She could almost
taste
him again,
fe
e
l
his
lips
against
hers. For a brief moment it was as if he were there, as if she could actually touch him.

   And then it was gone, and she was left alone in her small cell
with no one to comfort or touch her.
Cassie sighed softly, fighting back the tears that burned her eyes.
“Don’t fall apart on me princess, you’re tougher than that.”

   Cassie bit her bottom lip, trying hard to suppress the
sobs that wanted to shake her. Tears rolled down her face as her breath hitched painfully out of her.
S
obs tore from
her;
she hugged herself tighter
, fervently
wishing that she was anywhere but here. “Hey,” Julian said harshly. “Look at me.”

   She turned toward him, blinking rapidly against the tears streaming down her face. His hand was pressed against the glass, his face hard
. “Put your hand on mine.”

   She stared blankly back at him for a moment before lifting her hand and pressing
it
against the glass. Though
they were not touching,
the gesture
still
helped to
sooth the ragged pain and misery inside of her. She missed being touched with kindness, missed the simple beauty of knowing she had her friends
,
and Devon
,
to rely on.
She missed Chris
(if Chris was even still alive, but that was something that she couldn
’
t allow herself to think about, otherwise she would lose complete control of her emotions)
and Melissa and Luther
.
She
missed their comfort
,
support
,
and unwavering love.
She had no
ne of that here. She had
nothing
here.

  
Except for Julian.
             

   She lifted her gaze to his
as she inhaled
a shuddering breath
. He was watching her intently, his bright eyes glowing with a strange sort of ligh
t. “Now listen to me. We
are
going
to get through this. We are going to get out
of here, b
ut you have
got
to keep it together.
If you break down
in
here, they win. You don’t want that, do you?” Cassie shook her head. “Good, so stay calm princess and we will get through this.”
   Cassie swallowed heavily, blinking back her tears as she nodded.
“Yes
.”

  
“Alright then.
Why don’t you tell me a little about
yourself?
”
   She frowned at him
as she
settl
ed
back on her bed
; it seemed like such an odd request coming from him
. She kept her hand pressed against his on the glass
unable to break
the small
connection to someone else it gave her
. “I thought you knew it all
already
,” she said softly.
“You have touched me, and
you have
given me a good beat down before.”

   He grinned at her. “
You gave as well as you got,” he reminded her. “
I know a lot
about you
, but I’d rather hear it coming from you
.”

   She watched him for a moment, trying to assimilate this man with the monster she had know
n, with the killer that had hunted her town, and killed so many innocents.
Confusion twisted through her as she shook her head.
Where was th
e
monster
that had tried to destroy her
?
He most certainly wasn’t here with her now. This person was completely different, this person was someone that she didn
’
t know, but was truly beginning to trust and like.

   Cassie shuddered at the odd realization, her hand tightened momentarily on the glass as she stared into his beautiful, sad, compassionate eyes. She was fascinated by him, captivated by this stranger across from her.
This stranger who was becoming her friend
.
Julian was the only person she had to count on right
now, and she needed him. She wouldn’t survive this without him.

   “What would you like to know?” she asked softly.

   He grinned at her. “Why don’t you tell me a
bout your tree
house
?
”

   She couldn’t help but smile back at him as she settled in for the long night.
He leaned against the glass, his hand still pressed against hers
. For a moment she could
almost
feel the warmth of his hand against hers, the comfort of
his
touch. Slowly, fondly,
she told him about the tree house she and Chris had spent painstaking weeks building
when they were ten years old
.
Only to have it fall apart on them a day after they finished it.

CHAPTER 18

 
  
It was the talks that got
her through the next few days. Every night she would curl up on her bed, place her hand against the glass and talk with Julian. She told him stories of
her childhood, stories he probably
already kn
e
w
,
but
patiently
listened to anyway
. They would talk until the drugs kicked in and she drifted into a nightmare filled sleep that was nearly impossible to wake from.
They would talk until her throat hurt, and she was sure that he was sick of listening to her. And the more that she talked, and the more that he listened, the closer she began to fe
e
l to him. The closer
they
became
.

   The
men
c
a
me for her every
day
,
and although she didn
’
t have to endure more electrical shocks, they came up with other forms of torture. At one point she was locked into a windowless room with a set of strobe lights. It had been a pain filled
torment
that had been brutal against her sensitive eyes. She had left
the room
with a massive headache
,
and had been unable to see for a good hour afterward.

   They gave her three more
of the same
shots; each one had
the same effect on her. The strange discoloration would take hold, but by morning it would be gone. She didn
’
t have another freak out, but she wasn’t sure she
c
ould take much more of
i
t. She held out hope that Devon would find her, that he would rescue her, but it was getting harder and harder
to keep her spirits up.

  
Julian did not give up hope though. His spirits didn
’
t diminish. He kept her sane when it was getting harder and harder to keep her sanity. He was determined that they would escape, determined that
she
would be the one to get them out. The only problem was that he couldn’t think of how she was going to do it.
He only knew
that she
would
.

   She tried to keep silent through the tortures, tried to hold Devon’s image close t
o her in order to get through each new thing they came up with for her
. But most of the time they broke her.
She would end up screaming, and in the room with the lights, they had brought her to tears.
It was a fact she was ashamed of, and one
that
she didn
’
t share with Julian. She couldn’t bring herself to admit
to him
that she was
even
weak
er than she had
ever
thought she was
.

   “Cassie.”

   “Hmm,” she lifted her head slowly, every muscle in her body scream
ed
in protest as she met Julian’s inquisitive gaze.

   “Are you ok?”

   She nodded
as she
rubb
ed
the bridge of her nose tiredly. Today they had locked her within a dark room with no windows
,
and no light. She had spent hours curled up in a corner, wondering if they would come back for her, or if this was it.
Wondering i
f t
his was where they were
finally
going to leave her until she died. The thought had been terrifying, the room nerve
wracking
,
and lonely. She had
pictured
Devon as she huddled in the corner, frightened and alone
, trying not to shatter
.
But it was getting harder to draw upon his image, to remember all of the details in this hideous place.