Free Inferno (Book 4 The Kindred Series) by Erica Stevens Page A

back into it, rising slowly to her
feet. She winced as pain lanced through her bruised and battered
feet, but she hobbled over to the lit lantern, lifting it from the
bags of feed.
    She peered around the room, surprised
to note that everyone except Liam and Julian was asleep in the
room, and that the sun had set. Frowning, Cassie tried to figure
out how long she had been asleep, but it was impossible to tell.
Limping away, she made her way back into the main store, heading
for the bathroom they had discovered behind the coolers.
    She washed her face and hands, and used
a small towel to sponge down the rest of her. Though she would have
killed for a shower, the simple act of washing herself felt
wonderful. Picking up the small hairbrush someone had left by the
sink, she patiently began to unravel the tight knots matting her
hair. She bit into her bottom lip, wincing as she diligently worked
through the tangles. Finally, the brush flowed freely through her
hair, leaving it shiny and flowing once more. Dark circles still
shadowed her eyes, but some of her color had finally
returned.
    Sighing softly, she made her way slowly
back out of the bathroom and toward the front of the store. “Turn
the light down princess,” Julian whispered to her.
    She jumped slightly in surprise; she
had not seen him amongst the dark and shadows. Her hand fumbled
with the switch that turned the small electric flame down, leaving
it merely a flicker within its plastic casing. “Where are you?” she
whispered.
    “Front window.”
    Cassie shuffled wearily forward until
he came into view. He was standing by the window, leaning against
the wall as he watched her from beneath lowered lids. Though he had
gotten no sleep, he did not appear on the verge of exhaustion.
“What time is it?” she inquired softly.
    “About nine.”
    “Don’t you think you should get some
sleep?”
    He shrugged negligently, the lazy smile
she remembered slipped into place. She couldn’t help but return it.
“I’ve become accustomed to someone talking my ear off till I fall
asleep from boredom.”
    Cassie couldn’t stop herself from
laughing softly as she crept steadily closer, grinning brightly at
him. “Where is Liam?”
    He nodded across the way. Cassie turned
to find Liam sitting in a chair. He was leaning against the wall,
his eyes closed, his head tipped back as he slept soundly. She
quirked an eyebrow in surprise, trying hard not to laugh. “He’s a
good guard.”
    “I think he’s mainly supposed to be
guarding me.”
    “They don’t trust you yet.”
    “No, they don’t. It’s understandable
though.” He shifted slightly, crossing his legs as he peered out
the window again.
    “They’ll learn to,” she said softly,
placing the lantern on one of the shelves as she hobbled closer to
him.
    “If you say so princess.”
    “I do. Has there been anything out
there?”
    He glanced back at her, his strange
eyes oddly aglow in the flickering light of the lantern. The white
blue band encircling his irises seemed to glow. The darker,
brighter blue of them shone as he watched her move toward him. “A
few of those things skittered across the road about an hour ago,
but I haven’t seen anything since.”
    Cassie nodded, biting nervously on her
bottom lip as she joined him by the windows. “There might be others
that survived whatever happened down there.”
    “There probably are, but if I find them
they won’t be alive for long.”
    “Julian…”
    He turned back to her, his eyes
flashing briefly red in the light. “I’ll stay here with these
people, and I won’t hurt them because of you. I may even stop
killing, when we get out of this town, if it will make you happy.
But if I come across those bastards that put us in that hell hole I
will kill them. They do not deserve to live,” he
growled.
    Cassie’s lips parted at his words. It
was not the fact that he planned to destroy the people that had
tortured them that surprised her, but the fact that he would