Phoenix Rising (Book 5 The Kindred Series) (23 page)

The child unnerved him but he seemed fond of Cassie and she seemed content to have him beside her as she smiled beautifully at Devon. "What are you two discussing?" she inquired.

"We were planning on leaving tonight and going further north," Devon informed her.

Cassie nodded as her gaze drifted toward the front door. "How will we get the children out of here?"

"There's a van in the garage we'll use until we can find another vehicle."

Cassie knelt at the child's side. "Are you ok with that Gabriel?"

He popped his thumb out of his mouth as he nodded. "None of us like it here."

"Gabriel?" Julian inquired.

"It's his name," she informed him. "Though I prefer Barnacle."

"I suppose both are acceptable, Solar."

Cassie's eyebrows shot into her hairline as she frowned at him. "Solar?"

"Yeah I don't like that either, even if you do prefer it," Julian informed Devon as he slipped past him. "I was just trying a new nickname, but don't worry you're still Buttercup to me."

Julian's laughter trailed down the hall as Devon and Cassie scowled after him. "How are you feeling?" Devon inquired.

"Better."

"Your wounds?"

Cassie knelt at Gabriel's side again. "Luther's in that room over there, why don't you see if he can find you something to eat." Gabriel nodded as he climbed awkwardly down the last step and headed down the hall to where the others were gathered. Cassie waited to make sure he was out of earshot before she turned back to him. "They're healed. The blood may have been drugged but it helped me too."

"You did the right thing Cassie." She remained unblinking with her hand upon the newel. "I would have done the same thing."

"But I'm different than you and any other vampire."

"You're not. Well you are, but you're not. You're more in control of yourself than you realize, than even
I
realized. Don't fear what's inside of you Cassie. It will become your greatest ally, it will save us all."

"But..."

"No." He took a step closer and rested his hand on top of hers. "No buts Cassie. You'll get through this, we both will, together." Tears shimmered in her eyes; he wiped away the one that slid down her face. "I'm not afraid of it Cassie and you shouldn't be either."

"You're not," she whispered. "You're really not."

He smiled as he rested his forehead against hers and stroked her cheek with his thumb. "No, I'm not."

Her mouth quirked at the corners as her nose briefly touched against his. "You told Julian he was
wise
!?"

He winced at the reminder and kissed the tip of her nose. "Let's not ever mention that again."

She laughed as he took hold of her hand and led her toward the kitchen. Chris and Luther had cleaned Meredith's blood from the floor but Devon detected the enticing scent of it over top of the stringent chemicals. He realized that Cassie had been covered in Melissa's blood, saturated in some of the most potent blood on the planet and she had turned away from it.

He was an idiot. His hand tightened around hers as he hoped to convey this realization into her, hoped to give her strength and confidence. She turned toward him and grinned as she cocked an eyebrow mischievously. She held her thumb and index finger centimeters apart as she mouthed the words, 'Just a little."

She turned away as Gabriel tottered toward her with a donut in his hand. He lifted powder coated fingers to her and opened and closed his right hand. Her smile was radiant as she bent down and scooped the child into her arms.
Barnacle was a good name
, Devon decided as Gabriel wrapped one chubby arm around her neck. He continued to munch on his donut as he watched all of them.

"Nice dinner," Cassie commented dryly.

"I've never been known for my culinary expertise," Luther responded. "But I managed to keep Melissa alive."

"That's because all she eats is rabbit food," Chris muttered around the chocolate donut he was chomping on.

Devon wiped the trail of powder smeared across Cassie's cheek away. Barnacle watched him as he took another bite out of the donut. "The other children are scared of us," Cassie told him. "But I think they'll come around. Joey and Dani are talking with them now."

"Is that the best idea?" Julian demanded.

"I think they're the only ones that the children can relate to. They grew up in that town with them, neither of them trusted us at first, and they both put their misguided faith in The Commission. I still don't completely trust Joey but I don't sense any ill intent in him and I think he's doing his best to help us now."

"They have no choice but to come with us," Julian grated. "We can leave the Guardian children behind if we must, but we cannot leave The Hunter children behind with The Elders hunting them."

"We're not leaving anyone behind," Luther said.

"They'll come around," Cassie insisted as she shifted the child on her hip. "Barnacle trusts us."

"
You
." They all looked to the child as he grasped hold of Cassie's cheeks with his chubby hands. "I trust
you
."

Cassie became as still as stone as the child's gaze burned into hers. Devon had never seen anything like it, and he caught Julian's astonished look from the corner of his eye. Chris froze in the act of biting into his donut.

"Thank you," Cassie whispered.

Two tiny white handprints marked her cheeks when he released her. He held a hand out to Luther and opened and closed his fingers again. Luther hopped into action and offered another powdered donut to the tot. Luther studied the child, his eyes narrowed and his mouth pursed as he tilted his head from one side to the other.

"He is surprisingly trusting of you," Luther murmured.

"He's the child from my dream. He believes I'm an angel," Cassie explained.

Chunks of chocolate donut sprayed from Chris's mouth as he released a snort of laughter. "You most certainly weren't one of those even before you became one of the living dead."

Cassie scowled at him, but Luther's question distracted her. "
This
is the child that you dreamed of in the woods?"

"Yes."

Luther folded his hands behind his back as he began to rock on his heels. "I'd assumed that the child in the dream was merely a phantom to enhance your premonition, the fact that he's real changes things."

"Changes things how?" Devon inquired sharply.

"Well there's obviously some kind of connection between them. I think that you are probably related."

Cassie's mouth dropped, Barnacle continued to chomp happily on his donut. "How is that possible?" Cassie demanded.

"It doesn't have to be a close relation. I'm not saying your brother or sister, or even first cousins, but your grandmother had siblings and so did your other grandparents. He's more than likely a distant cousin and because of that genetic connection you were able to draw him in. Perhaps
he
was even able to reach out to
you
. His ability may be something similar to premonitions, or even Devon's abilities."

Cassie's mouth parted as realization set in. "No, his ability isn't like Devon's, but a distant relation probably explains why I was able to absorb his ability without touching him. When he's old enough to use his ability he'll be able to make the world seem like it's spinning out of control. But even when it was going crazy, at the center of it was I remained immobile and calm. It was really disorienting."

"A Spinner," Luther murmured. "Powerful little boy."

Barnacle wrapped his arms around Cassie's neck as he polished off the second donut. Devon was struck immobile as he gazed upon the two of them, both golden and beautiful. They would never be able to have children together but as he took in the look on Cassie's face, and the absolute trust on the child's, he felt a new love begin to form and grow.

Family,
this
was his family now. He'd never expected to find them, never even aspired to have a family after his own disastrous one, but miraculously he had. This beautiful woman and the people within this kitchen, the people within this house, were all his family now. He hoped that the children with Joey and Dani would grow to trust them. But if not, he still had this small piece of heaven, and he was going to do everything in his power to keep them
all
safe.

Movement in the doorway caught his attention as Melissa, Annabelle, and Liam emerged from the shadows. Melissa was still ashen beneath her olive complexion but he saw no hint of a bulky bandage beneath her new shirt. "How are you feeling?" Cassie inquired.

"Like I got shot with an arrow, but much better than I was an hour ago."

"Will you be up for moving tonight?" Luther asked.

"If it gets us out of this hell hole I'm up for walking there if it's necessary," Melissa told him.

"Nothing that extreme," Julian assured her. "You'll be able to sit shotgun."

"That sounds fantastic to me."

"We'll get the other children together, hopefully Dani and Joey have made some progress with them," Luther said as he lifted his head to study the ceiling above his head.

CHAPTER 20

Cassie
handed Gabriel over to Melissa and tried to get the car seat situated into the back of the Caddy. The windows in the van weren't tinted, and she intended to keep Gabriel with her. She hadn't realized how difficult it would be to get the thing to fit right though. She was pretty sure NASA scientists wouldn't be able to figure out how to buckle this thing down as she cursed and fought the urge to start yelling. Melissa bit on her bottom lip as she strained not to laugh.

"Need a hand Buttercup?" Julian inquired.

"I need a damn instruction manual," she retorted but she stepped out of his way as he nudged her shoulder.

The rest of the children stood on the other side of the garage, talking quietly amongst themselves. Though they still seemed nervous about this trip, and them, Joey and Dani had made some headway as the children had agreed to the move. The four teenagers were the most suspicious, but the younger children seemed more curious.

A young girl of about six or seven was oddly fascinated with Julian and had followed him over to the SUV. She was holding a teddy bear as she watched him adjust the car seat. Cassie couldn't tear her eyes away from the little girl, there was something so familiar about her...

"The farmhouse," she whispered.

Melissa frowned at her before turning to look at the child. Her shoulders slumped and her lip trembled as she smiled. "We found her."

"We did," Cassie agreed.

Julian turned away from the vehicle and smiled smugly at Cassie. "Done."

"Thank you. You have an admirer," she told him with a nod to the child.

He caught sight of the young girl and shook his head. "If you're not an angel then I am most certainly not someone to be admired. She should find another role model."

"Julian," she hissed.

"It's true." He walked over to the young girl and planted his hands on his hips as he frowned at her. She smiled up at him, giggled, and ran back to the other children. Cassie was struggling not to laugh as Julian's scowl deepened.

"Little young for you isn't she?" Devon inquired as he emerged with a bag load of food from the pantry.

"Bite me," Julian retorted.

Chris took the bag from Devon and tossed it into the back of the minivan. Most of the children would be riding in the van but it was going to be a cramped ride for all of them until they could get somewhere safer. Annabelle tossed a couple bags of clothes and some toys for Gabriel to her. He was the youngest of the children, and though she'd grown fond of him, she was glad that he was out of diapers. She could only imagine how awesome
that
would be with her enhanced olfactory system.

Luther emerged with armloads of paperwork tucked against his chest and a bulging briefcase. "What is all of that?" Julian inquired.

"Reports and detailed journals on what was done in this home, in that town, and on the remaining known Hunters and Guardians," Luther told him.

"Do you really want to read that?" Chris inquired.

"Not even a little bit." Luther plopped it all into the back of the Caddy and glanced at the children in the corner. "But there might be a chance they could lead us to other Hunters and Guardians. Give me a hand, there's some more."

Melissa handed Barnacle back to her as he began to squirm and squawk. Cassie's arms ached from holding him most of the day but she was more than a little infatuated with his chubby cheeks and puppy dog eyes. Barnacle grasped both of her cheeks with his pudgy hands and giggled as he pushed her lips into a fish face. Cassie couldn't help but laugh as he pressed his nose against hers and continued to make fish lips.

Ok, so she was a little more than infatuated with him. She met Devon's gaze over his shoulder as he kissed the tip of her nose and released her. Devon's eyes gleamed as he stepped closer to her. Resting his hand in the small of Barnacle's back he leaned around the child to kiss her cheek. Barnacle leaned his head against Devon's and closed his eyes.

Tears burned Cassie's eyes as she swallowed the lump that formed in her throat. "I love you," Devon whispered in her ear before kissing her cheek and walking away to help Annabelle with more supplies.

She was so unbelievably lucky and blessed to have all of these people in her life. To still
have
a life. No matter how frightening and uncertain it was, she wouldn't change one thing about it.

Barnacle shifted in her arms, she went to take a step toward the car seat but froze in midstride. The Caddy disappeared as the garage walls faded into nothing. All that remained was Gabriel, the children in the corner, and
Zane
.

Zane stood across from her, his honey eyes gleaming as a wicked smile curved his full mouth to reveal his glistening fangs. Woods sprawled out behind him, a pond, and the remaining four Elders.

Zane lifted his fingers and gave a brief wave before lifting them to his mouth and blowing her a kiss.