Kindled (Book 3 The Kindred Series) (44 page)

   Confusion and
fear tore through her.
She didn
’
t want
to hurt Julian
, and she didn
’
t want Devon to be hurt.
She loved them both too much to be the cause of their pain. Unfortunately, she feared that there was no longer anything she could do about it. One, or both of them, would be hurt. And she would be the cause.

  
Cassie shuddered;
she
wrapp
ed
her arms around her legs as she pulled them against her
chest. She hugged them tightly to her, hating the situation that had caused her this confusion and
misery
.
That had caused Julian this misery.
T
ears roll
ed
down her face as her thoughts turned to Devo
n. She ached for him constantly;
she missed him more than she would miss the loss of her own arm.
And yet she was sitting here, confused, uncertain, and in turmoil because of her growing feelings for Julian. Biting on her bottom lip, she tried hard to keep her sobs down, tried hard to keep her
tears from Julian, but she knew she
had
failed miserably when his
palm suddenly pressed against the glass.

   Cassie knew that she shouldn
’
t touch it. She knew
she
should start to sever the tie between them, but she couldn
’
t bring herself to do so, not now. Not when she was so alone, and frightened, and in need of his strength and love. And not when she knew that he needed this even more than she did. She was being selfish, and she hated
herself for it, but she couldn
’
t stop herself from pressing her hand to his.

   She burie
d her face in her knees;
her tears flow
ed
freely down her
cheeks
as
she pressed her hand tighter to the glass
.
She needed to get them the hell out here before she destroyed all of their
lives by crossing a line she had never thought
she would
. She knew where her heart belonged,
knew who owned her soul,
but
things were so different in here. They were confusing, scary, and she had grown to love Julian in a different way than Devon.

   Julian w
as going to
be hurt if they ever made it out of here
,
and Devon would not understand he
r
strange new feelings
f
or a man that
had been the
ir
worst enemy
,
before she
had been thrown in here. No, Devon
would not understand it at all
,
and he may never forgive her for it.

   She didn’t know if
she
could forgive herself for it.

   She curled up against the wall, keeping her hand tight to the glass
.
S
he allowed the drugs to pull her under, grateful for the
escape from the world she so desperately needed
.
An escape from the hell she had been forced into
and
could not escape while awake.

***

 
Cassie started awake;
she
blink
ed
rapidly
against the drug induced sleep that tried to
pull
her
back
under. It took her a moment to figure out what had woken her, but when she did, confusion
and fear
took
hold
of
her. An alarm was b
laring somewhere, red lights flash
ed
through the small window in
her door. Her
forehead
furrowed as she tried to puzzle out what was going on
, what all the commotion was about
.

   Shouts filled the air, feet slapped against
the tiled floor. Cassie watched as two people raced by, their heads bowed
as they sprinted past
. Shoving herself up, she struggled against the drug
ged stupor
cl
i
ng
ing
to
her.
She swayed slightly, the flashing lights doing nothing to help her disorientation and dizziness.

   Moving slowly, she turned toward Julian’s room, but it was dark
in there now
and she couldn
’
t see him
. More
shouts
rang out as a siren began to wail. Fear curdled through her as she rose slowly, stumbling slightly
as she
staggered
to
ward
the door. She fell into it
.
S
tanding on tiptoe she watched
as
another group race
d
by, heading in the opposite direction of the people she had seen earlier.

   A pain filled scream rent the air. Cassie’s eyes widened, terror pour
ed
through her as that scream continued
wretchedly
on for a few more seconds before ending abruptly. She took a small step back from the door,
a fierce
shaking wrack
ed
through her as she wrapped her arms tightly around herself. She didn
’
t know what
was going on out there, but
she did know that
it was not good.

   Stepping back to the door, she rested her hands upon it as more
shouts
rang out, reverberating loudly
through the concrete hall. She turned back to Julian’s room, but it remained dark
and empty
. The siren grew even louder, becoming nearly unbearable.
She took another step back as
fresh
screams
rent
the air. She placed her hands over her ears
in an attempt to block out the
horrendous
noise
as she backed up a few more steps.

   Panic fill
ed
her, confusion
and horror
swirl
ed
through her as another tortured scream rebounded through the halls. She bit down on her bottom lip, trying hard to stay calm. Maybe this was another form of torment that they had designed for her?
Maybe they wanted to see if this would finally break her?
Another scream echoed down the hall and she knew instantly that this was not some new form of torture, but very real. No one could scream like that, unless they were in very real
, very
agonizing
pain.

   She turned and fled over to
Julian’s
window, climbing onto the bed
she began to pound against the glass
. She needed Julian right now
. Needed him to explain to her exactly what was going on.
Needed him to wake up and help her figure out a way to get out of whatever disaster was occurring right outside their doors.
She
beat
hard against the glass
as she screamed his name
, but he didn
’
t respond to her.

   What if something had already happened to him?

   True panic began to fill her as she turned swiftly back to the door. More people ran by, their feet squeak
ed
on the floor, their footsteps echo
ed
. She needed to get the hell out of here, and she needed to find Julian. She crept slowly back to the door, straining to see out the window again.

   A face suddenly appeared before her. Cassie gasped, jumping back in surprise as it peered in at her
.
I
ts red eyes
were
filled with rage and insanity.
It
s
face
was twisted and disfigured, its lips
pulled back from its
teeth
as it hissed at her.
L
ong fangs
cut into its lip
causing b
lood
to
pour down its chin, but it seemed oblivious to that fact as it stared hungrily at her.

  
She recognized what it was instantly
.
She knew immediately that i
t was
one of those things stuck in between, a monster with no soul and no rational thought.
It was t
he same thing that lurked inside of her. Nausea and disgust twisted through her, and f
or the first
time Cassie was truly grateful for the
thick
metal door that held her within this room.

   It
continued to
watch
her
, drool slipping down its chin as it sniffed the air
at the edges of the door
. She remained unmoving,
frozen in place without the strength to even pick up her feet and
get away from it. It continued to sniff at her door, moving slowly over the window
. Cassie’s breath froze in her lungs as the door handle rattled. She stiffened, waiting to see if it would get in.
Waiting to see if it could break into the room she hadn
’
t been able to break out of.

   The knob rattled harder
, the thing began to jerk hard upon it. Excitement radiated from
the creature
, along with hunger and rage.
Cassie braced herself for a fight
, positive that this thing would get into her room
.
It was only a matter of time
before it succeeded. The monstrosity
ran on pure bloodlust and destruction,
but she sure as hell was not going down without a fight. Its head suddenly snapped around. Cassie’s mouth dropped as a bolt of electricity shot down the hall, slamming into the creature and knocking it back.

   Dani appeared before the door, h
er
gold streaked eyes wide with
fear
and worry as she met Cassie’s terrified gaze.
Dani
’s head
bent
;
the flashing red lights br
ou
g
ht
out the blood red
streaks in her
hair. She fumbled with something for a moment before the handle turned and the door was flung open.

   Cassie gaped at her in shock. “We need to go!” Dani yelled at her
when she remained immobile
.
“No
w Cassie!
We have to go
now
!”

   Cassie could only stare at her for a moment longer, puzzled and confused by everything that was happening. Then, her survival instinct
s
kicked in.
At the moment i
t didn’t matter what Dani had done before, if there was a chance for her to escape this hellhole, she was going to take it. She stepped into the hall, her eyes widening as she took in the complicated twists and turns that convoluted the place.

  
“This way!”
Dani seized hold of her arm, pulling her to the left.

   “Wait! Wait!” Cassie dug her feet
in
, trying to pull away from her. “I need to find Julian, where is his cell?”

 
Dani stared at her in surprise;
her eyes dart
ed
wildly over Cassie’s shoulder. “Cassie we don’t have time! We
must
go!”
   Cassie’s jaw clenched tightly as she defiantly met Dani’s horrified gaze. “I’m not leaving her
e
without him!” she yel
led over the roaring alarm. Dani shook her head for a moment. Cassie grabbed hold of her shirt, dragging her forwar
d
she thrust her face into Dani’s
. “You
helped
put me
in here!” she hissed. “You
will
help me get him out of here!”
    Dani’s eyes widened, fear flash
ed
through them. “He’s a monster,
”
she gasped.

  
Cassie’s teeth clenched,
anger tore through her.
“No more then you!
Take me to him Dani, or I
will
kill you.”