Kindled (Book 3 The Kindred Series) (41 page)

   “Don’t be. This is not a bad thing. In fact I think it
’
s a good thing. You’ve made me different and
I
thank you for it. Please don’t cry princess.”

  
Cassie wiped
the
tears from her eyes, biting on her bottom lip to try and stifle the tears. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him again, couldn’t stop the swirling confusion rolling through her. He was right
though
, what she felt for Devon was true and right and so unbelievably good
and real
. She just didn
’
t want Julian to be hurt because of it. “What ever happened to Victoria?” she asked softly.

   “She was killed during what you call The Slaughter.”
Cassi
e looked at him in surprise
. “What
,
you thought it was only
your
kind that was killed?”

   “Yes,” Cassie admitted.

   He shook his head. “Nope, your kind did put up a fight
against us;
they
took a few of us with them.
One of which was Victoria.
”

   Cassie pondered that for a moment. She had never thought about
it
, hadn’t even realized that it had happened.
“I’m sorry
for your loss
,” she said softly.

   “Don’t be, I hadn’t seen her in over a hundred years by that point.”

   Cassie nodded, stifling a yawn as whatever they were pumping int
o her room started to take hold
.
“We need to get out of here.”

   “Yes, we do.”

   Instinctively, she rested her hand against the glass, sighing in relief as he pressed his large palm against hers.
For a moment she had feared that he would shut her out, that her inability to return his feelings would turn him against her.
“We
will
get out,” she said softly.

   “Not counting on Devon to rescue you anymore?”

   Cassie was
silent as she pondered his question. She had no doubt that Devon was tearing the earth apart in search of her, but it was unreasonable
of her
to expect him to find her. She had been here for so long, if he was able to find her, he would have by now. “He won’t stop until he finds me,
but it may not be in time. W
e need to find a way to get ourselves out.”

  
“My thoughts exactly princess.”

   She rolled her eyes, shooting him a cross
look. “Stop calling me princess,” she grumbled. He grinned back at her, pressing his palm tighter to the window. “Didn’t you believe in Annabelle and Liam’s love?”

   He frowned for a moment before shaking his head. “I didn’t know much about Annabelle and Liam. Devon kept me away from her, she was his own private project
,
and I let him have her because I thought it would be fun to watch
the show
.
Thought it would be f
un for him. I never
thought that
what happened
between them would happen.
I never thought that Devon could change.
At th
e time
I would have interfered if I had
known
what was coming
.”

  
“But not now?”

   He sighed hea
vily, his amazing eyes darkened
to a
n
almost sea shade of blue.
“No. No matter how much I resent Devon for turning against his own kind
,
his very nature,
and me,
I am glad that he brought you into our lives.”

   Cassie’s head snapped up, her fatigue
was
forgotten in the face of his words. Her heart thumped loudly, her breath was labored as she tried to think of some way to comfort him, some way to sort through the tumult of emotions tearing through her.
He turned toward her slowly, the vulnerabl
e expression on his face caused
tears to bloom in her eyes
once more
.

   “Julian…”

   He shook his head;
his blond hair f
e
ll across his forehead as he offered a tremulous smile. “It
i
s ok princess, I
understand
.”
   She was glad that he
understood,
because she didn’t
anymore. She dropped her head to the window, taking comfort when he rested his head against hers once more. Tears rolled silently down her face, she bit on her bottom lip to contain her sobs. She loved Devon, she knew that, but the idea of causing Julian pain was tearing her to shreds inside. He was her savior, her friend, and she was growing to love
and need
him more and more with every passing moment.

***

   “Where the hell are we?” Chris inquired, stifling a yawn as he
slowly roused from the backseat.

   Devon glanced down at the GPS.
“Cedarville.”

   “And where is Cedarville?”
  
“Upstate New York.”

  
Chris was silent for a moment as he studied the dark woods surrounding them. Moonlight filtered over the skeletal trees,
it
cast light across the snow covered hills and mountains.
They had been steadily rising in elevation for the past twenty minutes.
“So
we’re in
the boonies,
”
Chris said softly.

   “Yeah,” Devon mutter
ed, glancing toward the woods at
his side.
He hadn’t seen Annabelle and Liam in awhile, but he knew they were out there somewhere, keeping pace with the slow moving vehicle
.
Liam
was
hunting
for any animal that may have seen something, and still remembered it. They had been
searching
New York
for over a day now
,
and Devon was trying hard not to give
up
hope that they would
find
her. That the trail had not grown
completely
cold
.
B
ut since crossing the border
yesterday
,
they had found no
new leads
.

   He shuddered at the thought, his hands gripp
ed
tight to the steering wheel as he fought not to rip it free. “Have you heard from them?” Chris asked quietly, climbing over the middle to slide into the passenger seat. Melissa and Luther were still sleeping in the far back of the Escalade.

  
“No.”

   Chris sat silently, his gaze focused on the dark forest, his eyebrows furrowed tightly together. Devon could tell he was trying to pick up Cassie’s presence, and having no luck at it.
“Maybe the trail ends here because she’s somewhere near here,” Chris
muttered
after a few moments.

  
Devon wished it was that simple, but he didn’t believe so. In his heart he feared that they had lost her for good. Pulling out his phone, he
checked the screen but t
here were no new messages. He slid it back into his pocket before he
could
snap it in half. “Pull over Devon,” Chris said softly.

   His head snapped toward him. “You sense something?”

   Chris shook
his head. “I have to piss
.”

   “Oh.”

   Devon pulled over to the s
ide of the road for him. He waited impatiently, his hands tapping against the steering wheel as
Chris disappeared into the night
.
Devon frowned as he studied t
he
oddly silent
woods, nothing stirred within them.
It was too quiet out there, something was not right.
Chris appeared by the passenger
door again
, his eyes troubled.

 
“Something
’
s not right
in this town
.”
Devon nodded his agreement as he continued to study t
he forest.
“We
actually
might be in the right area,” Chris said softly.

   Devon tried not to get his hopes
up
, tried not to let his heart soar at the thought, but he could not stop the spurt of excitement and need that shot through him.
He turned his attention to the night, listening for any sound
,
but
it
remained eerily silent. “This quiet usually means vampires,” he said softly. “Get back in the car Chris.”

   “Wait, what?”

   “Get in the car!” Devon ordered sharply. He flung his door open
and
stepp
ed
swiftly into the chilly night. He studied the woods intently, searching for anything out there, but he could only sense Annabelle and Liam
moving steadily closer to the vehicle.

   The back window opened and Melissa stuck her head
out
. “Wha
t’s going on?”

  
Devon shook his head, moving slowly toward the back of the SUV.
He shot
Chris a dark look as he appeared on the other end of the vehicle. “I told you to get back inside,” he growled.

   Chris shook his head;
his gaze dart
ed
over the forest once more.
“I don’t sense anything out there,” Chris said softly.
“Absolutely nothing.”

   Liam and Annabelle appeared at the edge of the woods, moving sw
ift
ly forward. Annabelle’s gaze darted constantly over her
surroundings while Liam’s gaze
was focused behind them.
“What is this place?” Annabelle asked softly.

   “Cedarville,” Chris said flatly.

   Devon
glowered at him.
“This place is strange. There’s something off about it.
We need to leave here,” Annabelle
whispered
.

   “I don’t sense any other vampires though,” Liam mumbled.
“And for the past two miles there have been
very few animals. None of them could help us.”

  
Devon
’s chest
clench
ed
at the thought that they had run out of leads. That this could very well be the end of the trail
,
and there was no Cassie here. He couldn’t concentrate on that thought, he
would snap if he
did.
T
here was something off about this place, something not right at all
,
and he had to stay focused on that
. He had to keep hold of the hope that whatever was wrong here would somehow lead him to Cassie.
“We need to go into town.”
  
“For what?”
Chris asked in surprise.

   Devon glanced quickly at him
. “Because we need to find out what is going on here.”

   “
But what about
Cassie…” Chris’s voice trailed off as his eyes darted
t
o the forest. “You think she’s here
?
”

   Devon’s jaw clenched tightly
as he managed a brief nod
. He didn’t know what to think, but this place was strange, and it was where their trail ended.
It was the only hope that they had.
The only hop
e
he
had.
“Are
you going to ride with us, or stick to the woods?” Devon asked Annabelle and Liam.

   “I’d like to stay in the woods, see if I can find something,” Liam answered. “There has to be some
more
wildlife out there.
Somewhere.”

   Devon nodded as he hurried toward the front of the vehicle, eager to get int
o town and see what it had to offer.
To see what secrets it could be hiding. “What’s going on?” Luther inquired the moment they were back inside.

   “There’s something strange about this place, we’re going to go into town, maybe find some answers,” Devon answered.

   He pulled swiftly
back onto th
e road, hitting the gas pedal hard in his eagerness to find the center of
t
own. He glanced back at the GPS
. A hotel had popped up on the screen
;
it was about five miles away. A gas station was even closer
,
but there were no other spots popping up. “Small to
wn,” Chris muttered
.