Ashes (Book 2 The Kindred Series) (16 page)

Cassie grabbed hold of his arm,
squeezing tight as she tried to calm him. His body thrummed with
tension, his hands fisted at his sides. Glancing back at her, he
seemed to relax slightly but it would not take much for him to
snap. “I told you, nothing but animals,” Joey spat.

“No, you’re wrong Joey, you’re wrong.”
Tears streamed down Dani’s face as she stared hopelessly at her
brother.

Cassie’s heart ached for Dani, the girl
was desperate to find acceptance, a family, anything. She was
desperate to get through to her brother and make him see her need.
Though Cassie wanted to go to her, to comfort her, she knew that it
would be the worst thing she could do. Devon would go crazy if she
was not near him, and Joey would not react kindly to her presence
in his home again.

“That’s enough Dani!” he snapped. “All
of you get out of my house.”

“Let’s go,” Luther said softly, gently
nudging Melissa toward the door. “I’m sorry that we have upset you.
But I want you to know that we are here if you change your mind and
wish to join us.”

Joey’s look of disgust was enough to
let Cassie know that was never going to happen. “My sister and I
will have nothing to do with you. Ever!” Tears continued to stream
down Dani’s face as she stared helplessly at them. Cassie gazed
sympathetically back at her, wishing that she could help the girl,
knowing that she couldn’t. “We will be leaving this
town.”

“No!” Dani cried sharply, her eyes wide
with horror. Cassie’s heart lurched, she took a step forward but
Devon shot her a fierce look that froze her in her steps. He was
close to losing it, and she could not push him further. “I don’t
want to leave!”

“Too bad,” Joey growled.

Tears streamed down Dani’s face as she
stared hopelessly back at him. Devon pushed Cassie back a step when
Chris, Melissa, and Luther reached the doorway. “We will be sad to
see you go, but if you feel that is best…” Luther
started.

“It is,” Joey said briskly, stalking
across the room as they stepped out of the apartment.

Cassie jumped in surprise as the door
slammed forcefully shut; the echo of it reverberated throughout the
small, dingy hall of the apartment building. “Well he was pleasant,
we should invite him over for tea and crumpets sometime,” Chris
quipped, rolling his eyes as he shoved his hands in his
pockets.

“Not funny,” Luther reprimanded softly,
his face drawn and sad. “We could have used their aid, especially
Dani’s. A Grounder,” he shook his head in amazement, running his
fingers through his disordered hair. “Maybe he will come
around.”

“No,” Chris said firmly. “He won’t be
coming around. He radiated hatred and disgust; there were waves of
it coming out of him.” He shuddered, huddling deeper into his coat
as if he were trying to ward off the emotions that still clung to
him. “He is set in his opinion, he will stick to it.”

Cassie was disheartened by Chris’s
assessment, but she was not surprised by it. She took hold of
Devon’s hand, trying to calm the anger that still radiated from
him. He wrapped his arm tightly around her waist, pulling her
against him. “Let’s get you home,” he said softly. “Luther can
explain about your powers there.”

Chris and Cassie groaned, not at all
looking forward to a lecture from Luther. “Maybe we should just
wait till tomorrow; it’s been a long day…”

“It’s about time you learned at least a
little about your heritage,” Luther interrupted, shooting Chris a
fierce look that dared him to continue protesting. “It will help in
your fight against Julian. It will also aid in your understanding
of where your abilities come from.”

“I have none,” Cassie reminded him, not
holding out much hope that that fact would get her out of
this.

“You do have abilities that a human
doesn’t possess,” Devon reminded her. “You need to know where those
come from.”

She made another face, her nose
wrinkling as she realized that she had lost the battle.

CHAPTER
11

Cassie’s grandmother met them at the
door, a strawberry eyebrow raised questioningly as she studied
them. Holding the door open, she ushered them inside, making a
sweeping gesture toward the living room. Crackers, cheese, bottles
of water, and glasses of soda had already been set out on trays.
The smell of shepherd’s pie drifted enticingly from the kitchen,
reminding Cassie of the fact that they hadn’t had a chance to
eat.

“Food,” Chris groaned, plopping himself
on the couch as he grabbed a handful of crackers and
cheese.

“You guys look like you’ve been through
hell,” her grandmother said softly.

Cassie glanced over them, for the first
time noting how dirty, bedraggled, bloodied, and exhausted they
looked. “Hell came to us,” Chris muttered, his words garbled by the
crackers he was chomping on.

Her grandma shook her head as she moved
into the living room, shooing Chris’s feet off of the coffee table.
He gave her a bashful grin, but it didn’t slow his chewing process.
“Good thing Adam told me you were coming,” she announced, sliding
easily into her favorite recliner. “Dinner should be ready
soon.”

“Have I ever told you how much I love
you?” Chris asked, grinning brightly at her.

Her grandmother rolled her eyes, but
she couldn’t stop the bright smile that spread across her youthful
face. “Suck up,” Melissa muttered, slapping Chris’s hand away as
she snagged a handful of crackers. He sulked for a moment before
darting in again after her.

“Who’s Adam?” Devon asked
softly.

Cassie’s smile was sympathetic. “He’s
one of the ghosts she talks to; the other two are Caleb and Julia.
She mentions them often.”

“So, who is going to tell me what
happened?” her grandmother asked softly.

Cassie sighed heavily as she squeezed
Devon’s hand gently and released it. Moving around the couch, she
stopped to drop a kiss on her grandmother’s head before grabbing
some of the few crackers left. “I will,” she said, sliding onto the
loveseat as Luther took up his customary position by the
fireplace.

In between munching on her crackers,
Cassie swiftly filled her grandmother in on the details of the
night. Her grandmother’s eyes grew darker, more troubled as she
progressed. When Cassie finished her grandmother sat back in her
chair, her eyes darkening to a deep brown as she began to converse
with her ghost friends. It was a few moments before her eyes
returned to their normal sky blue and instantly narrowed on
Cassie.

“I can’t believe you ran into the woods
on your own,” she scolded.

Cassie shifted uncomfortably, not even
bothering to look for help elsewhere in the room. None of them were
happy with her. “I was afraid that she was going to be
killed.”

Her grandmother quirked an eyebrow. “I
understand that, but you were reckless and you could have been
killed.”

“Not to mention Dani was better able to
defend herself than any of us,” Chris mumbled.

Cassie shot him a fierce look, not at
all pleased with his interference. “Very true,” her grandmother
agreed. “But none of you would have been able to know that. I have
only ever met one Grounder before, it was a little
frightening.”

Cassie, Chris, and Melissa nodded their
agreement. Devon stood stiffly, though his gaze did dart down to
his now healed arms. “It’s a lot of power for a young girl,
especially if she does not have control over it.” Luther shook his
head in disgust as he pulled his glasses off to rub the bridge of
his nose. “I could have helped her with that if her brother would
have let me.”

“Stubborn, foolish boy,” her
grandmother whispered, her eyes dark and distant once more. “There
will be no changing his mind though.”

“No, there won’t,” Devon and Chris
agreed simultaneously. They shot each other an amused look before
Chris’s attention was once more diverted by food.

Her grandmother’s eyes snapped back to
blue as she pinned Devon with her intent gaze. “If you continue to
hang out with our kind, I am sure that you will find that some of
them will feel the same way. Though, there are so few left I doubt
you will meet many more. It’s a miracle that they even moved into
the same town as us. Imagine the odds.”

“They move frequently, it was probably
only a matter of time before they stumbled upon Cape Cod,” Luther
said softly. “But yes, the odds are astronomical. I do wonder what
the brother is capable of, considering the power that his sister
possesses.”

Cassie sat back, trying hard not to
contemplate what that angry, hate filled man could do. Though she
felt that if it was anything as destructive as Dani’s ability, he
would have used it today, wouldn’t he? Her glance darted worriedly
to Devon, he was exceptionally powerful, but Dani’s power had left
him vulnerable and wounded. What if it happened again, but this
time they weren’t there to keep him safe from someone that wanted
to hurt him?

“What happened today won’t happen
again,” he told her. Cassie frowned fiercely at him as he grinned
at her. “I don’t have to be able to read minds to know what you’re
thinking, you wear your thoughts. Dani’s power knocked me and
Julian out today because neither of us expected it. I was not
prepared to defend myself against her, and neither was he. If I run
into her or her brother again, I will be better prepared. She won’t
knock me out next time, she may give me a good blow, but she won’t
knock me out.”

Cassie sighed in relief. “I don’t think
Dani meant to hurt you.”

“No, she didn’t,” Chris said
emphatically. “She felt pretty bad about it. Her brother though, he
wanted to hurt you. All of us actually.”

Devon bristled, striding forward he sat
beside Cassie, taking hold of her hand. “They’ll leave,” Luther
said. “Probably already packing their things now. What a waste,” he
mumbled sorely disappointed that he was not going to have the
opportunity to train Dani.

“I feel bad for her,” Cassie said
softly. “She wanted so badly to stay, to be a part of
something.”

“Maybe we’ll run into her someday in
the future, but for now, she is not a part of this group and we
must come to that sad realization.” Her grandmother rose to her
feet, smoothing her pants as she looked them over. “This is a
pretty powerful group here though.”

“Yes it is,” Luther agreed. “And I
suppose it’s time that we finally have that
conversation.”

Cassie and Chris exchanged sullen
frowns. “Just let me get dinner out of the oven first,” her
grandmother announced, breezing easily out of the room.

“I’ll help you,” Cassie
offered.

Her grandmother waved her back, shaking
her head firmly. “Sit, you need a break. I’ve got it.”

Cassie leaned back in the loveseat,
resting her head on Devon’s shoulder. No one spoke as they listened
to the noises coming from the kitchen. Silverware clinked, cabinets
opened and closed as her grandmother hurried around. She reappeared
in the doorway, carrying two big plates of steaming, delicious
looking food. Chris and Melissa eagerly accepted their plates,
Chris nearly salivating at the mound of meat and potatoes on his.
Melissa had a big slice of vegetable lasagna on her
plate.

“You drop any of that on my carpet and
you’re going into the dining room,” her grandmother scolded
Chris.

Chris nodded, but he didn’t respond as
he dropped the plate to the table and began to wolf it down. “Could
you at least eat like a human being?” Melissa asked
quietly.

“I’m hungry,” he retorted.

Melissa rolled her eyes, refraining
from eating until everyone else had been served. Chris finally
caught sight of this and slowed his onward rush to choke himself to
death. Her grandmother reappeared with two more plates, handing
them out to Luther and Cassie. “Thank you,” Cassie
murmured.

She dug into her dinner, savoring in
the wonderful taste, the eager rumbling in her stomach quieted with
every bite. Devon was studying her with shrewd, questioning eyes.
“You haven’t eaten today,” he said, the quiet tone of his voice not
reaching beyond her.

Cassie shook her head, her gaze darting
briefly around the room, but no one was paying attention to them.
“No, I had a headache.”

She was surprised to realize that the
headache was gone, apparently having disappeared when fear for her
life had taken over. “That is no reason not to take care of
yourself.”

She couldn’t meet his fierce gaze
again. Protectiveness and need radiated from him. She suddenly
realized that it took more than just him staying well fed, and
under tight rein, to be around her. She also needed to take care of
herself, and try to stay out of trouble. These things triggered his
protective urges and rattled his control. If she wasn’t going to
take care of herself, then he would do it for her. He would keep
her out of harm’s way by making sure that she couldn’t be hurt
anymore. Ever.

Grasping hold of his arm, Cassie met
his stern, unsettled gaze. “I promise it won’t happen
again.”

Though he relaxed slightly, tension
still hummed through him, causing a muscle in his cheek to jump. He
turned slowly away from her. Cassie’s heart ached for him. It took
everything he had to be around her, every ounce of self restraint
he had to be with her every day. It was so very apparent that he
wanted more, needed more than she could give him right now, if
ever.