Kindred (Book 1 The Kindred Series) (10 page)

  
There was
a
wealth of
sadness in her, a longing
and need
that
called
to him
.
It
touch
ed
something in
him
,
spark
ed
to life something
that he had
t
hought cold and dead centuries ago.
Hell,
she touched something that
he hadn’t even known he possessed
.
It had taken him awhile to
name
the strange emotion
building inside him
,
and
i
t
had shocked him
when he finally
recognized
it
as
hope.
Seeing her
again now
,
he felt
th
e strange
hope
once more
,
and a
strange
spark of
life that
kept him
rooted
in place
.
She
made it
damn near impossible
t
o
even
think
as he struggled with the
astonishing
feelings threatening to consume him.

   He had not felt like this since Annabelle. Had not felt this pull, and need, and
…
obsession? Yes, it was definitely obsession he felt for this girl, but
it
was different from
what
he had felt for Annabell
e. This felt good, it felt
right
.
This girl affected him in such a different way than Annabelle
had
. He had simply had to have Annabelle,
had to possess her, had
to break her, but this girl…

  
T
his girl he wanted to protect and hold and cherish
for some unknown reason
. This girl made him feel oddly alive again,
almost normal, almost
human
even
. He didn’t understand her hold over him, but he could not fight the sensations pulling at him. No, this girl was completely different than Annabelle.
With Annabelle it had been a game
, one that had changed him forever.

  
But l
ast night, when
this girl
had turned to him
,
his heart had
leapt in his chest, or at least it had felt like
it
for a moment.
He had not thought of
h
is heart
o
r
the
missing
beat o
f it
in centuries
,
because
he
had
not felt anything in the region of his heart in years
.
However, h
e
swore he could hear it beating now, could almost feel it pulsing blood through his
deadened
veins once more
.

  
This girl
was beautiful, spectacular, perfect, but it was not her looks that captivated him
.
It
was
the
s
plendor
of her wounded, bright spirit. Though she radiated loss and loneliness, he also sensed a steel rod of strength and pride running through her.

 
Looking upon her, seeing her,
he
i
nstantly
felt as if he were complete, as
if he had found his home.
Somehow, in her, he
had found the one person that could make everything all right
. He knew with a
bsolute
certainty that she could
ease the aching loneliness that had eaten at his soul for centuries.
That had nearly destroyed him time and time again.
He did not understand
his
strange reaction
to
her
. In all
his many years
,
he had never felt anything like what he
suddenly
felt for her
.
After all of his time on earth,
he had n
ever
expected to be shocked or thrown off balance again.
He had thought that he had seen it all, that he knew it all.

  
He had been wrong.

   H
e was
completely
thrown off balance
now.
He was unsettled and en
chanted by
this
girl, a
teenage
girl no less.
He needed to know more about her, see more of her. He needed to understand the strange
effect
she
had
up
on
him.
He n
eeded her to ease the ache that filled hi
s
deadened
spirit
, and he knew that she could do it
.

   He watched silently as the halls began to fill up, the chatter and laughter gr
e
w louder as students milled about. Lockers opened and slammed as they prepared for the day. He found himself oddly captivated by the simplicity of their lives,
amazed by
the easy flow of their days. It
was something that he had never witnessed before as he tended to stay away from humans
,
and
the
allure
of their warm blood
,
and pumping hearts.

   Though he had control over his baser
,
more murderous
instincts, he felt it best to
avoid
tempt
ation
a
s much as possible
.
And humans were a great temptation, no matter how much control he had now.
Even after all of these years, h
e could
still
clearly recall the taste of their warm blood, recall the
thrill of the
hunt
, and remember the surge of power that their deaths had brought to him.
However,
no matter how much of a temptation their blood was,
he had been drawn here by her, and he
was
loath to leave her
now
.

   Slipping from the shadows, he ignored the startled looks his sudden emergence caused the students closest to him.
He sensed the fear, curiosity, and lust that followed hi
s movements
.
I
gnor
ing
them all,
he became
intent upon his goal as he made his way toward the offices
he had seen
at the front of the
building
.

   If he was going to stay close to her, and get to know her better, than there was only one thing he could do. He glanced around the crowded hallways, ignoring the fluttering beat of
the
hearts surrounding him as he took in the people that he would be spending the rest of the day with.

CHAPTER 4

   Cassie played idly with the pages of her notebook as the principal droned
on about
the daily announcements. She honestly didn
’
t know if she was going to make it through th
is
day. She
was
wound tight as a spring
and a
bout ready to snap. Closing her eyes, she folded her arms and dropped her head on the desk, stifling a yawn. Chris shot her a questioning look, but she ignored it as she allowed her eyes to drift shut.

   The morning announcements
finally
came to an
end and attendance began. Cassie shot her hand up, not bothering to lift her head when her name was called. Chatter started up the minute that attendance was over
.
H
omework was discussed;
plans for the weekend
were
made in the few minutes left before the day started.

   “You ok?”

   Cassie opened her eyes, her lids fel
t
like lead as she met Chris’s worried gaze. “Fine, just a little tired,” she assured him.

   The class suddenly quieted, a strange silence settl
ed
over everyone. Cassie frowned at the startled look that came over Chris’s face.
He froze where he was, his hand tighten
ed
upon her desk as his eyes became riveted upon the front of the class.

   A feeling of foreboding stole through her
.
T
he strange tingling sensation once again raced down her spine. Her already frayed nerve endings leapt to
blazing
life, seeming to sizzle
and crack
with electricity
. She remained frozen
,
unable to lift her head to see what had captivated everyone
’s attention
;
she was certain she already knew.

   She just wasn
’
t certain how
she was going
to deal with
it
. Swallow
ing
heavily,
she
tri
ed
hard to rid her throat of the fierce lump that had lodged itself there.
Taking a deep breath, she gathered all o
f
her courage, and whatever strength she had left
,
to lift her hea
d. Her eyes instantly found him
at the front of the classroom
.
H
er heart leap
t
like a trapped bird
in her ribcage at the sight of his powerful body
that seemed
so out of place in
the
class
room.

  
Her
classroom!

  
It took her a moment to truly comprehend that he was
really
there, that she had not fallen asleep, and
that she
was no
t
dreaming
about him.
She had to be
awake
though
, for she could never dream anything so
wonderful
,
or
so
frightening.
She
also
never would have
dreamed that he was
a high
school student
.
H
e seemed far older than her, or
any of her other classmates.
He exuded a raw power and confidence that none of them possessed. Yet
he was standing there as if he
truly
be
longed
;
s
tanding there
as if he didn
’
t look as
out of place
as a platypus
would
.

  
Even
Mrs. Mann
looked slightly flabbergasted as he
spoke softly with her,
and
extend
ed
a slip of pa
per
to her
. Cassie stared at
the paper as she struggled
to get her wildly spinning mind focused upon something other than
the
snapping of her body, and his
startling
presence in her normally calm
day.

  
With a bolt of certainty she knew that
she was never going to have another calm day again.

   He turned slowly away from Mrs. Mann, his bright emerald eyes instantly latching upon her. Cassie inhaled sharply, tears once again flooding her eyes as a sense of peace and rightness stole through her. She wanted to cry, wanted to sob
with
the joy that suffused her
entire being
. She wanted nothing more than to go to him
and
bury herself within his embrace
.