Kindred (Book 1 The Kindred Series) (32 page)

   Her
hand tightened around the phone.
She knew, of course
,
that there were humans with their own special gifts. There were those wi
th ESP, telekinesis, telepathy,
and many other strange abilities that manifested in
them
.
She suspected that perhaps Devon was one of them.
She didn
’
t
know
exactly w
hat
hi
s
ability was, but it seemed to be somewhere along the lines of Chris’s
talent
.

   What surprised her most was the fact that
Chris had not
pick
ed
up on it. He had sensed no power inside of Devon, no special gifts.
He would have told her if he had.
She thought
that
Chris
would have
recognized
it immediately, especially if Devon’s gift was similar to his own. Instead, he had
felt
nothing except for a strange darkness. Maybe that darkness was Devon’s gift. Maybe because their abilities were so similar
that
Devon’s acted as a block against Chris’s own
power
.

  
Sighing softly
,
Cassie closed her eyes
. She
rubb
ed
her temple as confusion and
angst
tore through her. This was one more thing that she simply could not deal with at the moment.
There was already to
o
much on her plate to even attempt to put the pieces of this puzzle together right now.

   Pushing aside all
questions and doubts,
she focused upon h
er conversation with him
once more. “I will,” she promised softly.

   He was silent for a moment more, and she could almost feel the tension radiating from him through the phone. “Good night Cassandra.”

   He purred her name, making her shiver in delight as she closed her eyes
,
savor
ing
in the sound of his voice. “Goodnight Devon.”

   She reluctantly hung up,
hating the loss of connection between them. Sli
pp
ing her phone into her pocket, she
turn
ed
slowly back to the
others
. She had no intention of telling them what she had just discovered about Devon. They had
more than
enough
t
o
deal with right now
.
B
esides
,
she wasn’t one hundred percent
certain
that she was right
,
and s
he didn
’
t want to divulge something about him that he
probably
prefer
red
to keep private
.
Maybe
he
wasn’t even
sure
that he had such a gift.

“He’s fine.”
 

   “Good,” Chris said briskly. “Now, do you think we should tell your grandma and my mother about this?”

   Cassie sighed heavily as she was drug back into
t
he
har
sh
reali
ty
of her world
.
  
 
  

CHAPTER 14

   Devon stepped around the
back of the
tree, folding his arms over his chest as he watched Cassie disappear safely inside. He breathed a sigh of relief as the door closed behind her, the click of the lock reach
ed
him even at his distance of two hundred feet. Crossing his legs, he leaned against the tree, prepared to stay there for the entire night.

   He was not going to leave
her unprotected
until he knew who it was that had been in the woods tonight. He knew
what
it was, as
he
had
recognized one of his
kind
immediately. He also knew that they were angry, hungry, powerful, and power
thirsty
. It wanted blood, and Devon had felt its fierce interest in Cassie
.
He
had
also
felt
the
intense
desire
the creature
directed at her
.
For that reason, h
e was more inclined to believe
that it was
a
male
.

   Anger bristled through him as he shifted slightly
. He did not want anyone else looking at her, or wanting her in such a way.
Let alone someone that wanted to hurt her.
As soon as he found who was out there, he was going to destroy them.
They
could not
be
allow
ed
t
o run free, not in this town, and not with Cassie
present. They would go for her, and he could
not
have that. No one was going to touch her, no one was going to hurt
her
, and absolutely
no
one was going to taste her blood, or turn her.

   She was his, she belonged to him, and as long as he was alive he would keep her safe from any harm.
Including
himself
.

   Hunger sparked
in
his veins, burning through him. His canines pricked, feeling heavier and sharper as his thoughts turned briefly to feeding. He
’
d
had
no time to hunt tonight, not food anyway, as he had been t
o
o
busy trying to find the creature that was stalking the town.
Now,
with thoughts of Cassie on his mind, the hunger spark
ed
to life with a vengeance. He ran his tongue over his teeth,
surprised to find that they
had lengthened
on their own. He usually had control over such a thing, unless he had gone to long between feedings and was extremely hungry, or
primed for the kill. He was neither of those things now. It was simply thoughts of
her
that excited him so
.

   Heaving a large sigh, he ran his hand absently through his hair. It was going to be a long night, as he had no intention of leaving
in order
to sat
iat
e his hunger
. The light in her room flicked on. He waited, anticipation clutching
at
him as she moved in front of the window, her lithe body
was
outlined by the curtains. She peered out
for a moment
, her gaze scanning the woods. Though he knew that she could not see him, he slid into the shadows, hiding behind the large oak
once more
.

  
When he came back around, she had disappeared from view. He leaned against the tree, trying not to think about the fact that this was what he was doing at the moment. In
all his seven hundred and fifty
two ye
ars
,
he had never thought that
he
would be
standing outside of a girl’s room, watching her, keeping her safe.
Humans
were
only good to feed off of, to hunt, to stalk, and he hadn’t done that
in over a hund
red years
so he had
simply taken to avoiding temptation
.

   His gaze drifted back to the window. She was no longer in sight, but the knowledge that she was there soothed the aching loneliness in him. She was all that he needed to get through the endless days and nights of his solitary existence.

   His thoughts turned to Luther. It was the first time he had seen the strange man that Cassie had spoken of in her dream. Confusion twisted through him as he recalled the strange, thin man
,
standing in the shadows of the restaurant. Why did Luther have such a pull
over her, such an e
ffect on her, on all of them?

   Devon’s hands clenched on his arms as he recalled the confusion and slight fear that had eclipsed her in their dream, recalled the hesitance that had filled her when she had spoken of Melissa’s father. And tonight, the minute the man had appeared they had all swiftly disappeared to follow him back to his house. A house they all spent a fair amount of time at, a
strange
amount of time at.

   What the hell was going on with them?

  
He dropped his head into his hand
,
he
rubb
ed
the bridge of his nose as he thought over all of the strange things that seemed to circle around the three, no
four
, of them. A strange niggling began to take hold of him. It was all oddly familiar, and yet strangely unfamiliar. Frustration fill
ed
him; he was so close to putting a finger on it, yet the answer continued to elude him.
  

   He
lifted his head,
frown
ing
as the light in her room went out
,
though
t
he
flicker of the TV could
still
be seen
.
Glancing over at Chris’s house, he was surprised to fi
nd that he
appeared to have no intention of leaving
for the night
.
After a few minutes t
he light in
hi
s room
also
went out
.
Devon waited, leaning against the tree, but Chris did not emerge.

  
Devon
shoved aside all of his doubts and questions as a fierce desire claimed possession of him. He
slid from the shadows, moving swiftly
across he
r
open yard.
Not fully understanding what drove him, he g
rasp
ed
hold of the tree he had watched Chris climb
before.
H
e made his way quickly up the branches, climbing with the agility and grace that only one of his
kind
could possess. He paused outside her window, not sure what he had been thinking, not sure what to do. He just knew that he
wanted to see her again. He
had
to see her
again
.

   There was something out there that wanted her with a ferocious hunger. Something that wanted to take her
away
from him
,
and he could not have that.
That knowledge spurred him into action;
he couldn’t be separated from her for a moment longer.
Not pausing to think about it, he reached out and rapped lightly on
t
he window.

  
His breath caught when she appeared before him, a beautiful angel silhouetted against the dark night. Her golden hair tumbled around her shoulders in thick waves
that framed her exquisite face
.
The long blue t-shirt she wore fell to mid thigh, baring her creamy skin. His baser instincts leapt to life, his mouth water
ed
as his
hands clenched the tree branch
.
This was quite possibly the biggest mistake he had ever made, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Not when he got to look at her like this.

   Her stunning eyes widened
when
she caught sight of him, her rosebud mouth part
ed
slightly as she st
ared
in
astonished
silence. Then, she was moving swiftly, unlocking the window, sliding it up as she leaned toward him. Her sweet scent of
strawberries
and spices assailed him,
the beat of her heart p
ounded in his ears,
instantly arousing the hunger that was ever present whenever she was near.