Ashes (Book 2 The Kindred Series) Read Online Free Page A

granddaughter. “Cassie, Cassie can you hear
me?”
    He could see her lids lift, but he was
unable to see the bright color of her eyes. “Grandma?”
    The sound of her voice was the sweetest
thing he had ever heard. “Yes dear, I’m here. It’s ok; you’re going
to be just fine.”
    Cassie’s hand grasped hold of her
grandmother as the woman bent over to give her a surprisingly
fierce hug before pulling slightly away. “Devon? Where’s
Devon?”
    Her grandmother glanced worriedly at
him before taking a small step back. “Here, I’m right
here.”
    He was surprised to find that he could
barely get the words past the tight constriction in his chest and
throat. He moved swiftly toward her, eager to see her again, eager
to feel her again. Eager to know how she felt about him now.
Stopping at her side, his body froze as her brilliant eyes clashed
with his. The startling azure violet of them was bright and
wounded, the pure amethyst flecks speckled throughout them shone in
the harsh light of the room.
    “Devon,” she breathed, tears filling
her eyes and spilling down her delicate cheeks.
    “Shh, don’t cry love.” Bending over
her, he gently wiped the tears from her skin, relishing in the feel
of her. “Don’t cry.”
    “I wanted to kill you,” she whispered,
a sob shaking her fragile body. “I thought that you were that… that
thing and I wanted to kill you.”
    This revelation did not surprise him.
He had suspected as much. Though he felt that he should be angered,
or feel betrayed by it, he was not. Their kind knew nothing about
the vampire’s that did not feed on humans; they knew nothing about
the ones that had shunned human blood. All she had known was that a
monster was hunting her community, killing people, and somehow she
had managed to figure out what he was. She had no way of knowing
that he wasn’t a murderer anymore, though at one time he had been
even worse than Julian. At one time her assumption about him would
have been completely right.
    More tears spilled free, coming so fast
that he could no longer keep up with wiping them away. Worry for
her health seized him as sobs shook her. “Cassie…”
    “I wanted to kill you, and you saved my
life.” Her face was filled with agony as she seized hold of his
hand with surprising strength. “I should have known that you
weren’t a monster, I should have trusted you. You would never do
anything to hurt me. Please forgive me.”
    His body constricted with anguish. He
had been worried that she would not forgive him, and instead she
was pleading for his forgiveness. It was something that she would
never have to do. There was nothing she could do to turn him
against her, nothing she could do to make him stop loving her.
Gathering her in his arms, he cradled her gently, relishing in the
feel of her once more. “There is nothing to forgive Cassie. I was
worried that you would not forgive me.”
    Her body trembled in his arms. “For
what?” she mumbled.
    “For what I am.”
    A shudder rocked through her as she
buried her face in his neck, her tears wetting his skin and shirt.
“You are a wonderful man Devon.”
    His gut twisted as his grip on her
tightened. That was the worst part about all of this, he was not a
man, and at one time he had been a brutal monster. He did not know
what he had done to deserve her, but he would spend the rest of his
life doing everything he could to earn her unwavering love. His
hand wrapped into her hair, gently easing through the tangles that
marred its golden beauty. Holding her tight, he closed his eyes as
she buried herself against him.
    Never in his life had he felt anything
as wonderful as she was, and he knew that nothing would ever
compare to her. He cradled her for a long time, rocking her as her
sobs and tears slowly subsided. She pulled slightly back from him,
her eyes reddened from her tears but still breathtakingly
beautiful. He wiped the tears gently from her wet cheeks, hating
the sight of them. She