Free Ashes (Book 2 The Kindred Series) by Erica Stevens Page A

boyishness that was charming and heart melting. “I
can hear your stomach rumbling.”
    Blushing slightly, Cassie ducked her
head, silently cursing his enhanced hearing. Squeezing her tight
once more, he turned her, moving with the flow of students toward
the cafeteria. Though she still received looks, the whispered
asides were drastically cut back. Mainly because none of the girls
wanted Devon to think that they were catty and cruel, and none of
the boys wanted to risk his wrath.
    Devon’s arm tightened briefly around
her, the smile slipping from his mouth as he stared hard around the
halls. Apparently they weren’t as discreet as they had thought, at
least not around him as he was picking up things that no human
would ever hear.
    His jaw clenched, his hand locked upon
her waist. “It’s ok,” she said softly. “I’m becoming used to
it.”
    He glanced sharply at her. “You
shouldn’t have to,” he growled.
    Cassie shrugged and dropped a quick
kiss on his cheek. Though there was nothing that he could do about
it, she thrilled at his fierce desire to keep her safe in every
way. “I’ll meet you at the table.”
    His hand tightened upon her as she
tried to pull free. “I’m coming with you.”
    Quirking an eyebrow, she shook her head
at him. “You don’t eat.”
    “I don’t care.”
    “You can’t follow me everywhere Devon,
I can do this myself.” A muscle in his cheek jumped. It was obvious
that he didn’t want her to face this alone, but she had to. She had
to face a good chunk of her day alone as it was, and if she didn’t
start developing a thicker skin now, then it was going to be a very
long, very hard year. “I’ll be fine.”
    Slowly, reluctantly, he released his
hold upon her. Cassie gave him a small, reassuring smile before
heading in to swim with the sharks. The buzz instantly grew around
her; the murmurs became louder and nastier as she wound her way
through the crowd. She did her best to tune them out, but they only
got worse the farther from Devon she got.
    Her rumbling stomach clenched, her
appetite vanished. Instead of all the talk dying down with time, it
seemed to be growing in force, becoming angrier. Regretting her
decision to leave Devon behind, she almost turned away from the
lunch line, but she could not give them the satisfaction of
realizing that they were getting to her.
    She kept her chin held high as people
snickered and whispered behind their hands. Though she didn’t know
why they bothered to stay behind their hands, their whispers were
as loud as gunshots to her. “Well, look at who it is.”
    She didn’t even bother to look up as
Mark Young appeared by her side. Mark had followed her around for
years, hounding her to go out with him. Having sensed something off
about Mark, Chris had cautioned her away from the muscular boy a
long time ago, but Cassie would have stayed away even without
Chris’s warning. She had never felt anything for Mark, but he had
been relentless in his pursuit, and often highly annoying. He had
also been one of the first people to turn against her when she
began to see Devon, and it had been his actions that had given the
rest of the student body an excuse to hate her.
    “Ah but you’re not so special anymore
are you?” Cassie continued to ignore him as she moved slowly
through the line. “How the mighty have fallen. Guess that’s what
you get for being a slut.”
    Though she had not wanted to give him
the satisfaction of reacting in anyway, she could not stop herself
from shooting him a dirty look. He chuckled softly, enjoying the
fact that he had finally gotten a reaction out of her. Cassie
shivered; her skin crawled with disgust as his arm brushed against
hers. “Truth hurts, doesn’t it?”
    She kept her chin held high, but inside
she was a seething mass of raw nerves and revulsion. She wished
that she hadn’t sent Devon away, she wished that she had never
stepped foot in this line. She wished for many things, but none of
them were