Kindred (Book 1 The Kindred Series) (9 page)

   Grabbing the lasagna from the mi
crowave, she cast another
glance out the window. Nothing moved amongst the shadows, but Chris’s mom had come o
nto
her porch. She held a beer bottle in one hand, a cigarette in the other
,
as she stared into space. A man emerged behind her
; he
wrapp
ed
his arm tightly around her waist. Cassie had never seen him before, but then
,
she rarely saw any of
Mary’s
men twice in a row.

  
T
h
e man
explained why Chris
was here
tonight
.

   Shaking her head,
she hurrie
d back up
stairs, eager to get the food to Chris.
She was also e
ager to
help
ease some of the hurt that clung to him
,
eager to
tr
y
and
bury
some of
her own swirling emotions
. She swung into he
r
room, not at all surprised to
find
the air mattress already set up. “Thanks,” he muttered
as he
t
ook
the plate from her.

   Cassie nodded
and
plopp
ed
herself on
to
the bed beside him. This was going to be one of the nights that Chris didn
’
t want to
speak;
one of the nights when he had no words to convey his unhappiness. That
was just fine by her
,
she wasn
’
t much in the mood for talking either
, but there was one thing that she had to know.

   “Chris?”

   “Hmm,” he murmured
around a mouthful of lasagna.

   Swallowing nervously, Cassie’s hands knotted in her lap. “Do you remember that man from earlier?” When he shot her a confused look, she elaborated.
“The one standing next to B’s and S’s?”

   He nodded
as he
t
ook
another large bite of lasagna. “What about him?” he inquired when he swallowed.

   “Did you um
,
well did you feel anything from him?” she hedged.

   Chris’s eyes narrowed on her. She never asked him these questions, never wanted to know anything about
what
h
e
or Melissa
kn
e
w
. But she could not stop herself from asking
.
S
he had to know why she could not get the
stranger
out of her thoughts
, a
nd Chris
might be able to
help her with that. “No, not really,” he answered slowly. “Why?”

   She turn
ed
her attention back to the game, hoping that
Chris
wouldn
’
t notice
or pick up on
the anxiety, excitement, and fear wracking through her. “Just wondering, haven’t seen him around before.”

   It was not a lie, she tried to reassure h
er
self. But she didn’t think Chris bought it. Fortunately,
he
knew her well enough to know not to push her anymore.
Si
t
ting
silently,
she
gain
ed
some sense of comfort from his steady, reassuring presence.
Without Chris in her life, s
he
had no idea
what would
have
become of her.
He kept her sane in a world of madness and confusion.

   Sighing softly, she dropped her head to his shoulder. For the first time all night
,
she
finally
began to feel normal again.

CHAPTER 3

   Cassie slid her
sun
glasses on
to the top of
her head;
she
survey
ed
the crowded school parking lot as she stepped away from Chris’s beat
up Mustang. Though the
car
looked like junk now,
Chris planned to restore it to its former nineteen sixty four prestige. Cassie had no doubt that he
c
ould do it,
t
he only thing she doubted was that he would ever
get the
time
he
needed
to devote to it.
Just as he had
n’t had time for his job
once school
had started
again
.
Not with
hunting vampires, thrown in with some school work and football practice.

   Melissa slid out
of the car
beside her;
her black hair
was
pulled into a sleek French braid that hung almost to her waist. “Freaking death trap,” she muttered.

   “I heard that!” Chris shouted from inside as he fiddled with the on
ly
thing he ha
d up
dated
in the car, the stereo
.
Disturbed
blasted
loudly
from the large speakers stuffed in the trunk moments before Chris popped
his head above
the
roof
. “I’ll have you know that this car is a classic.”

   “More like an antique,
”
Melissa retorted
.

   He shrugged, dropping his hands on the
roof
as he leaned forward. “And one day it’s going to be awesome.”

   “Well
,
until that day
,
it
is
a death trap,” Melissa retorted sharply.

   Chris made a face at her before ducking away again and turning the music
up more. Cassie rolled her eyes;
she
heav
ed
a large sigh
as she
grabb
ed
her backpack
and
sl
u
ng
it o
ver her shoulder. Cars were lined up and down the senior parking lot, music blar
ed
from most
of them
as
students
t
ried to outdo
t
he stereo
s surrounding them
.
Puffs of smoke floated from
some
cars
, drifting into the air in slow tendrils that marked
the
vehicle
s
.

   Students milled
e
verywhere, calling greetings to their friends as they moved swiftly through the cramped spaces. Some juniors had wandered over from the lot below, but most stayed by their own cars, trying hard to make their systems heard over the rising cacophony.
Cassie usually enjoyed the noise and confusion of the mornings, it helped to wake her up
.
But t
oday she found herself wishing that everyone would keep their music at a normal level, and
their voices pitched below screaming. She had
gotten very little sleep, and the dull throbbing in her temples was a constant reminder of that
fact
.

   “I’m going in,” she muttered to Melissa.

   Melissa frowned at her. “Are you ok?”

  
Cassie frowned as she nodded
and
pull
ed
her glasses back over her tired, aching eyes.
“
I didn’t sleep well, and that sun is awfully bright.”

   “Yeah, i
t tends to be.”

   Cassie didn’t have the energy to come up with a
witty
re
tort
as she tightened her
grip on the straps of her bag and made her way into the crowd. People called out loud greetings to her that she returned with a forced smile
,
and
a
cheery demeanor she didn
’
t feel. Her skin was still oddly electrified to the point
that
she wanted to rip
it
off
, her mind still focused upon one clinging thought
.
Him
.
Being bright, cheery, and happy was not in her today, but she did a good job of f
aking
it.

   Swiftly climbing the steps, she was grateful when she reached the cool interior of the dimly lit
foyer
. The shade
felt
much nicer against her skin and eyes than the hot, bright sun.
On days when she was run down, the sun was oddly draining
,
and painful
to her. It
stung
her eye
s more, and made her skin feel tight
and itchy
. She had never understo
od it, but that was the way
it was
.
I
t
was
easier to avoid
sun
light
when she was
overtired
. And she was most certainly
tired
today.

  
A sophomore boy held the door open for her, making a grand, sweeping gesture that brought the first true smile to her face.
With few students in the halls, it was far easier to move as she gathered her things from her locker and strolled to homeroom.

***

   Devon stood silently in the shadows, leaning against the cool wall as he watched her
move
slowly
down the hall
.
H
er head
was
bent
forward;
her golden hair cascad
ed
in thick waves to the small of her back. Though he couldn
’
t see her face,
t
he utter perfection of her beautiful
, delicate features
had been burned into his memory last night
.
Cassie,
he recalled the
small girl from last night call
ing
her.

  
Sighing softly, he stepped away from the wall as she disappeared into one of the
near empty
classrooms. He didn
’
t know what he was doing here, he had never stepped foot in a high
school
before
. He
had never had
any
intention of
ever
doing so. But for some reason, somehow, he found h
imself standing amongst the stark
, foreign
halls.

   Well, he knew the reason, and it was
her
.

  
Ever since he had first
laid eyes on her, first
smelled
her, he had been inexplicably drawn in. He had
been
passing through town, heading for the woods in search of food,
when he
had
c
aught her scent
.
T
he blood flowing through her veins
was
strong
,
it
s
fragrance
deliciously
alluring
.
It had
reeled
him in like a
fish on a hook
, snagging
hold of
him
and
refusing to
let go
.
She had been a bright beacon against the dark night encompassing her. 

   Though he hadn
’
t fed off
a
human in
a very long time
, he had been
un
able
to resist the appeal
of her enticing aroma.
He was so ensnared by it that he had
n’t
been able to
wander far from her
since
he had
first
seen her
.
Somehow, strangely, s
he was
a shining light against the darkness
re
siding in him
,
and he had to get closer to her
.
Though he had not wanted to come here, h
e’d had to see her again in order to try and figure out the strange hold
she had
over him, or to see if he had just imagin
ed
it. He had neither figured it out,
nor had he
been imagining it. In fact, her pull over him felt even stronger today.
Hence
,
why he was here, and why he had stood outside o
f her house last night for a bit
.