She eased her grip, but did not release him as she was not ready to let go. Not yet anyway. She could feel his curious gaze upon her, but she did not look at him again. She was afraid she would start to cry, and never stop, if she did.

Feeling like a wooden marionette, she followed stiffly as they filtered slowly into the school. She knew that she was not going to make it through this day.

CHAPTER 11

Cassie escaped from the school the first chance she got. Bursting free of the large brick building, she sprinted across the baseball field and darted into the woods. Her lungs began to burn, but she kept going, leaping over fallen logs, dodging branches, and other dangers with the easy grace that those of her kind possessed.

Her kind, she thought bitterly. She wanted nothing to do with her kind. Other than Chris and Melissa, they were not hers, and her heritage had been anything but kind to her. It had robbed her and Melissa of their parents, taken Chris’s father from him. It had destroyed his mother.

When Luther had found them, the revelation that their parents had not been killed in a car accident had been a shattering blow to both her and Chris. It was disheartening to learn that it had not been an accident that had taken their families from them, but a calculated mission to destroy their loved ones. A slew of vampires had gotten together to seek out the Hunter line and viciously slaughtered as many of them as they could find.

What was she thinking to expose Devon to such a life? To such brutality and death? Though it had been awhile, they were all still fearful that the vampires would band together once more and finish what they had started sixteen years ago with The Slaughter. She had no right to risk Devon getting hurt, or even worse, killed. She had no right to put him in danger, especially when he didn’t even know about the danger she might inadvertently place him in.

Though she barely knew him, she did know that it would destroy her to lose him because of her selfishness.

Cassie darted past some briar patches, her arm got caught on one. She didn’t notice the pain as it tore across her skin and spilled her blood. Though it was impossible, she continued to try and outrun everything that she was, everything that she had become. She did not recognize the person she was now, for it was far different then the young, hopeful, innocent girl she had been just four short years ago. That girl had dreamed big and loved every moment of her easy going, fun filled life. The person she was now was a stranger inside her body, it wore her skin, but it was no longer her.

Pushing herself harder, she tried to run from the twisting pain that wrenched at her heart, and shredded her insides. Stumbling out of the woods, her feet hit sand as she reached the beach. Sand filled her sneakers as she slipped in it, but she continued to push herself onward. Her lungs burned fiercely and her legs were beginning to ache, but she kept going, too frightened to stop. If she stopped she would have to think, and if she thought, she didn’t know if she could survive it.

Her feet slipped out from under her. With a soft cry, her knees hit the sand, her fingers slipped into its grainy depths and dug beneath the surface. It was cool to the touch, wet from the incoming tide as it lapped against the shore. Her shoulders trembled, she labored for air. Tears finally slipped free, spilling onto the beach as sobs shook her body and soul.

She couldn’t move, she could barely breathe as agony and pain twisted through her gut. She sobbed for all of the unfairness in the world, for all the loss and pain she had experienced. She sobbed for the parents she could not remember, and had never cried for before. She sobbed for Devon, who had come to mean so much to her in such a short amount of time, and whom she feared she would have to let go of. Once the tears started, they would not stop, and she had no control over the torrent that poured from her.

Memories rolled forth, old wounds were sliced open, leaving her ragged and torn. She recalled her early years, years spent on the run and moving constantly. Though she and Chris had been to young to understand the reason behind the constant moving, it had been stressful and lonely for them. Chris’s mother had fled with them to Cassie’s grandmother in Florida, and from there they had moved to Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Vermont, Pennsylvania, New York, Maine, and had finally settled on Cape Cod after six years.

She and Chris had never known that they were moving to avoid being hunted by the same monsters that had murdered their parents, until Luther arrived. They had been given six wonderful years of peace in which they hadn’t had to move, and they had actually been able to make friends outside of each other. Though she hated the fate that Luther had handed them, she did take some joy in avenging her parent’s deaths by ridding the world of the monsters that walked upon it.

Cassie rested her hands on her knees, her tears slowly subsided as the gentle ebb and flow of the sea drew her attention. A soothing calm settled over her, drying her tears. She was surprised at how much better she felt, surprised by the tranquility that settled over her. She hated the path that fate had laid out for her, but there were many people who had it far worse than she did. She may hate the path, but she would walk it, and she would stop struggling against it.

She had been given the ability to destroy some of the evil in the world, given the ability to help people; she should start to consider it a gift, not a liability. Though she had lost a lot because of what she was, to continue to fight it would only destroy her. She had to make a choice, either accept her fate, or continue to live in misery for whatever short time she had left.

Staring silently at the ocean, the strength within her began to grow. It slipped out to her limbs and dried the remaining tears on her face. Her parents had died to keep her safe, had died to protect her, and the world. She could not deny her heritage any longer; she could not deny what she was. And with the strength finally came a calming peace that she had not experienced in a very long time. For the first time in four years there was serenity inside her, a sense of true tranquility. By finally beginning to accept what she was, her path seemed to unfold swiftly, winding easily along instead of being broken and fractured.

A car door slammed, Chris and Melissa appeared at the top of a sand dune. Chris’s face was drawn tight with worry, Melissa looked aggravated. Cassie sighed softly, turning her attention back to the deep blue sea. Dark clouds had begun to roll in along the horizon, but it would be awhile before the storm hit.

“What are you doing?” Melissa demanded; her black flip flops appeared next to Cassie.

Cassie didn’t look up at her as she patted the sand at her side for Melissa to sit. “Thinking.”

“Thinking will get you in trouble,” Chris remarked, trying to sound light, but the tension in his voice betrayed him.

“Are you ok?” Melissa asked softly.

Cassie glanced at Melissa as she settled beside her, drawing her legs up Indian style. “Yes, better actually.”

“You’ve been crying.”

“I have.”

“I’ve never seen you cry.” Chris knelt beside her; his eyes were worried as he scanned her face. “Never.”

Cassie smiled reassuringly at him and squeezed his hand gently. “Once it started I couldn’t stop,” she admitted. “But I feel better now, different somehow, stronger and more peaceful. It’s weird, but it’s ok.”

He nodded, but his eyes were still troubled as he searched her face. “Tears can be soothing.” Melissa rested her hand lightly on Cassie‘s arm. “Are you sure that you’re alright?”

“Yes. You’ve had a premonition about Devon?” It was a question but came out more as a statement.

Melissa blinked in surprise, the pupils of her dark eyes dilated slightly. “Do you really want to know?” When Cassie nodded, she continued on. “Yes, I had a vision about him arriving here; I knew he would touch something within you. I just didn’t know when, or how deeply, he would touch you.”

Cassie was silent, her gaze focused on the ocean as the tide continued to roll slowly in. Her mind clicked along, recalling the night when she had first seen Devon at B’s and S’s. “When you said that it was “about time” that first night he arrived, you weren’t talking about time to leave were you?”

Melissa gave her a small smile as she shook her head. “I’ve been waiting over a year for him to arrive.”

Cassie and Chris both frowned at her, their brows furrowed in confusion. “Why were you waiting for him to arrive?” Cassie demanded.

“To wake you up of course.” She grinned at Cassie, leaning lightly against her side. “I knew that he would shake you up, make you come alive again.”

Cassie stared at her in surprise, confusion flowed through her. “Well, that he did,” Cassie whispered. “I think I have to give him up.”

“Cassie…”

She shook her head fiercely. “It’s too dangerous for all of us, for him. I cannot bring him into this life, cannot put him, or us, into that situation. I’ve been distracted, luckily only in training so far. If I’m distracted in the field I could get us all killed. This is our fate, our heritage; he can’t be a part of it.”

Melissa sighed softly, her hand tightened on Cassie’s arm. Cassie turned slowly toward her, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall. “There was a reason that I saw him coming Cassie, and I think that it was more than just to wake you up,” Melissa said softly.

“What then?” she whispered.

Melissa shrugged, shaking her head slowly as her black eyebrows drew tightly together. “Unfortunately I only catch glimpses of the future, not the whole plan Cass. I don’t know why it’s important for him to be here, but it is. And I believe that it is very important for him to be in your life.”

Cassie squelched the hope that bloomed momentarily in her chest. “So you think that I shouldn’t push him away?”

Melissa shook her head as she bit nervously on her bottom lip; her face was composed in thought. “He’s only been in your life for a week and already you’re happier than I’ve seen you in years. You need that, we want that for you. We’ll find a way to keep him safe Cass. The three of us can do anything together. Give it some time; you don’t need all the answers right now. You just need to focus on being happy.”

“And if something does happen to him?”

“We won’t let it,” Chris vowed.

Cassie fought back the tears of gratitude and love that filled her eyes. She was so very lucky to have two such wonderful friends in her life. “Should I tell him? Shouldn’t he know about this danger?” she whispered.

Chris stiffened; her question touched a very sore spot in him. His mother had never known about his father. She had been human, and Chris’s father had thought it best not to tell her what he was, and the danger that he faced every day. Mary had simply thought that Chris’s father was working a second job at night in order to support his wife, and young son.

The harsh truth had not been revealed to Mary until the night she’d fled with Chris and Cassie. Over the years, whether due to the fact that she had lost her husband and feared losing her son, or to the fact that she could not handle the reality of everything she knew, Mary had retreated further and further into an alcohol induced stupor. And further and further away from Chris.

“You know my feelings on that,” Chris said softly.

Yes, she knew that Chris would never keep such a secret from someone he loved; he believed it was what had destroyed his mother. Chris felt that Mary’s resentment at being lied to, and cheated of the dreams she’d possessed, were what had made her the cruel drunk she was now. And he was very likely right. But Cassie wasn’t in love, she couldn’t be in such a short time, she hardly knew Devon.

“I think that you should tell him one day. But maybe you should get to know him a little better first.” Melissa released her grip on Cassie’s arm, needing her hand to clamp back her hair as the wind began to pick up.

“But I do know him,” Cassie murmured. “I know that sounds crazy, and if it were one of you telling me this, I would be suspicious too. But I do know him. I know him in a way that I never thought I could know anyone. It’s so strange, so different…”

Cassie broke off, unable to put into words exactly what it was that she felt for him. It would be impossible to explain to them, when she couldn’t even explain it to herself. “I understand that Cass, but I think it’s too soon. I think that you should wait for a little bit.”

“Or until you find out how the hell he can afford such a kick ass car,” Chris said softly.

Cassie rolled her eyes, but she had to admit she had wondered the same thing. As much as she felt she knew Devon, there was still a lot that she didn’t know. But she was certain she knew his heart, his soul. Melissa’s dark eyes were caring; Chris’s were turbulent as they studied her. Nodding, she took hold of both of their hands, squeezing them tightly. “When you guys are ready for me to tell him, I will.”