Free Kindred (Book 1 The Kindred Series) by Erica Stevens

amusement radiat ed from her as she smiled . Melissa glanced briefly at Cassie, her knowing smile widen ed . “What’s your next class?” He to re his attention away from Cassie , slipping the well used schedule from h is pocket as he handed it to Melissa . “Oh good, Cassie and I have American history now to o.”
       Cassie inhaled sharply, a look of utter panic descended over her face once more. He was becoming accustomed to that look, he didn’t like it, but he was adjusting to it. For a moment it seemed she w as going to bolt from the room again as her eyes darted frantically around . Then, her focus came back to hi m ; a steely resolve descend ed over her as she nodded briskly, turned sharply on her heel , and hurr ied to the nearest trash can.
       She dumped her mostly untouched lunch.
       
           
       
     
     
    CHAPTER 5
     
     
       Cassie shifted uncomfortably, her whole body hurt. She had taken quite the pounding in training today, pushing herself extra hard in the hopes that the exertion would help to bury the memory of the strange man that had walked into her life. It had not worked.
       Cassie rolled her shoulders, trying to work the tension out of them. The hot water of her shower had helped to ease some of the tightness in them, but it had not relaxed them completely. She dressed slowly, listening to the TV as she ran the brush through her tangled hair. She winced as it got caught on a snarl but pulled it swiftly through.
       Limping slightly, she pulled the door open. Chris was sitting Indian style on her bed, his hands folded before as he leaned toward the TV. The Red Sox were in the race for the playoffs and he was riveted. Cassie shook her head as he groaned loudly, pounding his fist onto the bed. “Damn , these guys are killing me!”
       Cassie laughed softly as she settled onto the bed beside him. “Is it over?”
       “Might as well be ,” he muttered.
       Cassie pat ted his knee gently. “Are you going to stay here tonight?”
       Chris shook his head before rising slowly to his feet. “No, it’s pretty quiet over there and I suppose I should go home once in awhile.”
       “I guess,” she muttered.
       “ A re you going to miss me?” he asked teasingly.
       “Always.” Though it was true, Cassie didn ’ t tell him that she didn ’ t wish to be alone tonight. If she was alone then she would think, and if she thought, she knew that her thoughts would be centered upon him .
       Cassie shuddered; she wrapp ed her arms tightly around herself. She didn’t want to think about Devon, she wanted to forget his existence entirely, but she knew that was going to be impossible, especially if Chris went home. Unfortunately she couldn ’ t bring herself to ask Chris to stay. He would know something was wrong if she did, and she didn ’ t want anyone to know just how much Devon affected her.
       Swallowing her anxiety, she drew on her pride as Chris swung a leg out her window to take his normal exit from her house. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
       Cassie nodded as he leapt onto the tree branch, swinging for a brief moment before scurrying down the limb hand over hand. His legs wrapped around the trunk as he swiftly used the other branches to climb to the ground. She watched as he loped across the street, disappearing through his front door.
       Sighing softly, Cassie closed the window most of the way. Turning off her lights, she slipped into bed, knowing that she would not be able to sleep. Staring blankly at the flickering TV she tried hard to shut her mind off of Devon, tried hard not to think about him, but the harder she tried the more she found herself fixated on him.
       Tossing and turning, Cassie finally managed to slip into a restless sleep at almost two in the morning. And the moment that she slept, she dreamed.
       Of him.
     
    ***
     
       Cassie squinted against the bright light of the morning, wishing that she had darker and