Kindled (Book 3 The Kindred Series) (47 page)

  
Cassie
started, her mouth part
ed
on a gasp.
Instinctively, she
jerked away from him
as she
back
ed
up a couple of steps.
She needed to flee; she needed to get far away before she hurt one of them.
“What
!
?”

   “Cassie…”

   Dani came at her, but Cassie kept back
peddling until she came up against a
chair
. Her knees gave out, buckling
suddenly
. She sat
heavily
on the
chair
, her breath rushing out of her
i
n a
loud
whoosh.
“Get away!” she
cried
, holdi
ng her arms out in a vague attempt
to
defen
d them from her
.
  

   It was Julian that seized hold of her, gripping her arms so tight that she winced in response.
“Cassie
stop
!”

   She fisted her hands, closing her eyes against the impending wave of hatred and pain that would swamp her body
soon
. It would c
onsume her
again;
it would
leav
e
her w
ithering
upon the floor
, twisting in agony
, useless, and on the verge of
becoming a
monster. “You can fight against this,” Julian hissed, pulling he
r hands tight against
the hard muscles of
his
chest.

   She blinked at him in surprise, waiting for the pain to rise up. But it didn’t come. And the longer Cassie sat there, the more she realized that it wasn
’
t coming. Though she had been frightened and angry, she
did
not fe
el
th
e
loss of control and hatred that had consumed her when she
had
killed Isla. This
time she had
been
motivated by
survival instinct,
it had been
pure reaction and adrenaline that
had filled her, and
still
fueled her now.

   But she had been fueled by those things before
,
and her eyes had never turned red
.
S
he had never exhibited the same kind of physical strength she had when she had demolished the creature’s chest
, at least not before Isla
.

   A cold chill swept down Cassie’s spine, ice filled
her veins. For a moment, she couldn’t breat
he.
F
or a moment
,
she truly feared that she might pass out. Then, ever so slowly the air came back into her chest and the feeling
returned
to her muscles. She turned towa
rd Danielle, her hands clenched
tighter upon Julian’s as she met
Dani’s
worried gaze.

   “What did they do to
us
in there?” Cassie asked softly.

   “Cassie…” Danielle started.

   “What did they do to
me
in there?” she demanded sharply, rising off of the ch
air
.

   Dani looked helplessly back at her
, tears fill
ed
her eyes. “I don’t know,” she said softly. “But we need to go Cassie. There are more of them.
Many
more.
We need to go.”

   Cassie looked helplessly back at Julian, fighting back the tears that
filled her eyes. “Come on Cassie
,
”
he said forcefully, helping her to her feet.

   She blinked back
the
tears, nodding slowly as she clung tighter to
his
hands, unable to stand this strange new world without his comfort. She kept both of her hands wrapped around his right one as he weaved swiftly through the tables
, guiding her along
. She couldn’t stop the shaking that wrack
ed
h
er, the trembling and terror
that she fe
ared
may have taken up permanent residence in her body.

   Dani reached one of the emergency doors
and
fl
u
ng it open to the dark night. Cold
air
rushed in
.
Cassie’s
scrubs were little protection against the howling wind, her bare feet froze
immediately
,
but it was the most wonderful thing she had ever felt in her life.

  
Free
! They were
free
! Stumbling outside, Cassie nearly fell to her knees
, wanting to
sob
with
joy
as she inhaled heaping gulps of blessedly fresh air
.
They all stood at the edge of the doorway, staring out at the dark, cold night. Julian turned slowly toward her, a bright smile lighting his beautiful face. The moon played over his hard features, lighting the beautiful blue of his eyes.

   She couldn’t help but
return his jubilant
smile, her heart leap
t
wildly in her chest as tears simmered in her eyes. Julian’s smile widened, making him appear so wonderfully innocent and joyful. Suddenly, he pulled her forward, drawing her tight against his chest. Before Cassie could react, his head bent to hers, his lips seized hold of her
s
. Cassie gasped in surprise, allowing him access to her mouth.

   Unable to move, frozen beneath the gentle press of his mouth and tongue, a fresh surge of emotions tore through her. She wanted to jerk away from him, wanted to pull away from the
wrongness of his kiss, but there was something that did not feel wrong about it. Desire and belonging did not pool through her like it did with Devon, but a strange swell of love bloomed through her, curling her toes as tears slipped down her cheeks. Though this was not right, in a
strange
way it
was
, which only served to confuse and unnerve her more.

   Julian pulled slightly away, his hand caress
ed
her cheek. Cassie stared silently at him, awe and pain filling her. She was an awful person, horrendous. Devon
never
would have kissed another person. He
never
would have considered it. And yet she had just kissed Julian, or he had kissed her, but she had returned it with even more feeling than she had thought possible.

  
And he was staring at her with such sadness and understanding that it was breaking her heart.

  
Cassie turned away, anger and self loathing washing through her as D
ani
stared at her in horror
. She was so awful she was even being judged by Dani
now
, one of the worst forms of human life that Ca
ssie had ever encountered
.
Her fingers lingered over her lips as she glanced helplessly back at Julian, guilt and anguish wash
ed
through her. She loved him, she truly did, but it was not the same as Devon, it could never be the same.

   Julian stared silently down at her, his ice blue eyes warm and gentle. His fingers stroked over her cheek once more. His head bent to hers, his forehead rest
ed
lightly against hers. “Julian,” she breathed.

   He
sighed softly, his eyes closed
as his hand briefly tightened on her face. “I know Cassie, I know.
I just
need
ed
it
.
”

   She was glad that he knew, because she sure as hell didn’
t. As light as a butterflies c
a
r
ess, his lips brushed over hers once more
before he pulled slowly away. She remained gaping up at him, unaware of the cold wind that beat against them.
He smiled brightly, pinching her cheek lightly as he used his humor as a defense again.

   “Come on princess let’s get as far away from this hel
l
hole as we can.”

   Before she could respond, or even stop to think what that kiss
had
meant
to her
, what Julian knew
, or what her feelings about this situation were, Julian was tugging her
forward
. They
rushed onward;
they
sprint
ed
across
an
open
baseball field
before finally
reaching
the sanctuary of
the woods.
She didn
’
t know what was awaiting them out here, nor did she care. She was just happy to be free, to be breathing
fresh
air,
no matter how cold or uncertain the world surrounding them was.

   She clung tighter to Julian’s hand as they plunged into the
forest
, grateful for his strength and his presence. They needed to get free of this town, and she needed to find Devon
.
Soon.
She had to know that he was safe, and she had to ease the torment she was certain he was going through. And she needed him to ease the tumult of emotions and confusion consuming her.

  
She studied the man before her as he led her easily through the
trees
, his hand strong and sure in hers. Though she tried to deny it, she knew that her feelings for him were not entirely platonic. She may not feel the same way about him
that
she felt about Devon, but there was definitely something there. She could only hope that
she would not be even more confuse
d about her feelings for Julian when she finally got the chance to see
Devon again
.