Kindred (Book 1 The Kindred Series) (23 page)

   Devon
was a distraction that was
risky
to her, and her friends. Yet she knew she was not going to let him go.
Devon
was the only selfish thing she had done since Luther
had
disrupted her ordinary childhood
, and she
could not bring herself to give
him
up
. Not yet anyway. If
she
couldn
’
t find a way to balance her life with him in it, then she would let him go. She would have to.

   But she was determined not to let that happen.

   She needed th
e
little bit of happiness
,
and
the
little bit of hope
,
that he brought
in
to
her life. She had
known
all along
that she was unhappy and lost, but she had
not realized
just
how
much
until
he had arrived.
She didn’t know if she could
stand to
retreat behind he
r
wall again. She was g
reatly afraid that it might destroy
her, maybe not physica
lly, but spiritually
.

   Shuddering deeper into her windbreaker, she wrapped her arms tightly around herself.
Though it was not a c
old
night, there was a chill deep in her bones.
The clicking of the tree branches
,
and the soft rustle of the leaves
,
did not help
the melancholy
that
enshroud
ed
her
. It fe
lt eerie
out
tonight, somehow wrong,
o
r maybe that was just her.

  
“Are you ok?” Chris asked
softly
.

   Cassie glanced up at him, noting the worry in his blue eyes.
“I’m fine, why?”

   He shook his sandy hair
back. “You
’ve been out of it for awhile Cass
, slow, ungraceful, ill coordinated…”
   “Thanks
for the vote of confidence
,” she muttered.

   “I’m just saying.” He shrugged his massive shoulders
and
shov
ed
his hands into his pockets. “You
’ve been off
, which is very unusual
.”

   “I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

  
“Hm
m
.”
They crossed the street, stepping
briefly
into the spill of streetlights as they reached the sidewalk.
The soft rustle of a coyote in the woods caught Cassie’s attention. It moved slowly through the shadows, staying low to the ground as it hu
nted
a small rabbit
. Cassie shuddered, an ominous feeling descend
ed
upon her.
“Is this
because of
him?”

  
Cassie jerked as she tore her gaze away from the cruel reality of life. She knew how the rabbit
f
elt
because she also felt t
rapped, desperate, hopeless, with no wa
y out. And there was no way out;
no way to escape her heritage.

  
Chris was study
ing her intently, worry gleamed
in his eyes. She should have known
he
would
notice her strange reaction to Devon
.
E
ven if he wasn’t using his ability,
he
didn’t
miss much.
Guilt tugged at her, s
he had never kept anything from Chris, had never wanted to
.
B
ut
s
he wasn’t
sure that she wanted to talk about this
now
.
These feelings were
so very new to her, so very private and fragile, and confusing.

  
Shrugging absently,
Cassie
brushed back a straggling piece of hair. “
I do have other things on my mind, besides a boy.”
  
“Usually yes,
lately
no.
You really like him?”

   Cassie was silent, her eyes
focused
on her Nikes as they moved slowly along. She did not know how to answer that question, for she wasn’t sure there was one. Yes, she really liked
Devon
, but it was far more than just like.
She had
never
felt this drawn to someone before,
never wanted to be near someone with as much intensity as
this.
S
he
had never
even
imagined
that
feeling
like this
could
eve
r
be
possible.

   But it was
also
more. It was something almost primeval and instinctive.
She could not say that
it
was love, for she hardly knew him, but he touched something deep within her soul.
He touched s
omething that she had
n
ever
thought
could be touched
.
Before she had met him
she
had
never even known that
this piece of her
even
existed.

   “Yes,” she
finally admitted.
“I suppose you could say that I like him.”
   Chris was silent for a few moments before sighing softly. “I could sense that he liked you too.”
   Cassie perked up, her head snapp
ed
around as an instantaneous smile sprang forth.
“Really?”
   He gave her a sad smile as he nudged her shoulder gently. “Of course, who wouldn’
t?
” he teased.

   “Chris,” she groaned.

   His kidding demeanor vanished
, his smile faded as he became completely serious
.
“
H
e definitely fe
e
l
s
something for you.”

  
“Did
you sense something wrong with
him?” she asked tremulously.

   He glanced at her in surprise
. “Are you actually asking about what I sensed
from
someone
, again
?”

   Cassie shrugged absently, a dull blush stain
ed
her cheeks as she glanced quickly away. She never inquired about what Melissa
and Chris knew;
it seemed an invasion to her. She wouldn
’
t want other people knowing about her life if they had access to two such gifted people, she felt th
ey
deserved the same right. She was also afraid to know what Melissa saw, as all of their futures were so very uncertain. If C
hris s
ensed
any danger in a person
he would share it with them, whether they wanted to know or not
,
so there was never a need to ask
him
.

   Sighing heavily, her shoulders drooped slightly as she shook her head. She could not invade Devon’s privacy in such a way; she could not press Chris about what he had sensed in him. “No, I suppose not.”

   Chris
draped an arm
casually around her shoulders. “I didn’t sense anything bad in him, just something different.”

   Cassie frowned as she glanced up at him
, her curiosity
was
peaked
.
“Different how?”

   “I don’t know.” His
eye
brows drew
tightly
together
;
he frowned as he thought carefully before answering
.
“Just different
.
There was n
o harmful intent, but
there was
a
strange
sort of
darkness inside
him.”

   Cassie
frowned, her hands clench
ed
on her arms
as she thought over Chris’s odd choice of words
. “What kind of darkness?”

   “I don’t know, not an evil one, maybe
its
loneliness
or
loss
or pain
. It’s hard to say Cass; some people are just harder to read then others. But there is no ill intent in
him;
at least not toward you
,
of that I
’
m sure.”

  
Cassie bit nervously on her bottom lip.
“But toward others?” she asked worriedly.

   “
No,
I don’t think so
.
W
hy don’t you ask Melissa if she has seen anything?”
Cassie fervently shook her head, she may ask Chris a few questions, but she would
never
ask Melissa
. That seemed like a dangerous path to tread
.
“Y
ou never ask her about anything she see
s
. Why is that?” She shrugged, not wanti
ng to get into it with him.
“Is it because you don’t think you have a future?”

   Cassie glanc
ed sharply at him, anger boiled
r
apidly inside of her. “Did you read me?” she demanded fiercely.

   Chris was taken aback, his eyes widen
ed
slightly. “Of course not Cass, I wouldn’t do that to you.
Besides, you know that it doesn’t work like that. I can’t tell what people are thinking, just what they feel and who they are.
I don’t have to read you to know that
you’ve shut down
since we found out what we are.”
   “I have not, I…”
   Chris held up a silencing hand. “You go through the motion
s
of living, but you don’t truly
live
anymore
. We
’ve always been
together Cass, I know the girl you used to be, and you locked that girl away the day that Luther and Melissa walked into our lives.”

   Cassie remained silent;
her eyes dart
ed
over the wooded, shadowed streets. She saw nothing out there; no distraction from Chris’s probing questions and keen insight. She
’d
thought she
’
d hidden herself well
, kept her fear
buried behind her wall.
Apparently
she had not.
“Do you think you have a future?” she inquired softly, her eyes slowly coming back to his.

  
He looked sad and lost
as he studied her worriedly
.
“
I
t may not be as long as I had once hoped, but yes
,
I think I have a future. I
often
wonder
about marriage and kids
,
and maybe one day
I might
even retire
,
and
spend my days
fishing.”

  
Cassie huffed as she smiled softly at him.
“You hate fishing.”

   “Not the point.”

   “I know,” she sighed.

   “But you don’t think of those things, do you?”

  
“No,” she admitted reluctantly. “I don’t.”
   “You should
.
L
ook
at your grandmother, she
’
s a H
unter and she
’
s still alive.”

   “She’s the
only
one that has lived past fifty. Most of us don’t make it to twenty
,
and the remainders usually die before they
’
re thirty. I know
some of
our history
too
Chris
, my grandmother is an oddit
y.”