Chris was studying her intently, worry gleamed in his eyes. She should have known he would notice her strange reaction to Devon. Even if he wasn’t using his ability, he didn’t miss much. Guilt tugged at her, she had never kept anything from Chris, had never wanted to. But she wasn’t sure that she wanted to talk about this now. These feelings were so very new to her, so very private and fragile, and confusing.

Shrugging absently, Cassie brushed back a straggling piece of hair. “I do have other things on my mind, besides a boy.”

“Usually yes, lately no. You really like him?”

Cassie was silent, her eyes focused on her Nikes as they moved slowly along. She did not know how to answer that question, for she wasn’t sure there was one. Yes, she really liked Devon, but it was far more than just like. She had never felt this drawn to someone before, never wanted to be near someone with as much intensity as this. She had never even imagined that feeling like this could ever be possible.

But it was also more. It was something almost primeval and instinctive. She could not say that it was love, for she hardly knew him, but he touched something deep within her soul. He touched something that she had never thought could be touched. Before she had met him she had never even known that this piece of her even existed.

“Yes,” she finally admitted. “I suppose you could say that I like him.”

Chris was silent for a few moments before sighing softly. “I could sense that he liked you too.”

Cassie perked up, her head snapped around as an instantaneous smile sprang forth. “Really?”

He gave her a sad smile as he nudged her shoulder gently. “Of course, who wouldn’t?” he teased.

“Chris,” she groaned.

His kidding demeanor vanished, his smile faded as he became completely serious. “He definitely feels something for you.”

“Did you sense something wrong with him?” she asked tremulously.

He glanced at her in surprise. “Are you actually asking about what I sensed from someone, again?”

Cassie shrugged absently, a dull blush stained her cheeks as she glanced quickly away. She never inquired about what Melissa and Chris knew; it seemed an invasion to her. She wouldn’t want other people knowing about her life if they had access to two such gifted people, she felt they deserved the same right. She was also afraid to know what Melissa saw, as all of their futures were so very uncertain. If Chris sensed any danger in a person he would share it with them, whether they wanted to know or not, so there was never a need to ask him.

Sighing heavily, her shoulders drooped slightly as she shook her head. She could not invade Devon’s privacy in such a way; she could not press Chris about what he had sensed in him. “No, I suppose not.”

Chris draped an arm casually around her shoulders. “I didn’t sense anything bad in him, just something different.”

Cassie frowned as she glanced up at him, her curiosity was peaked. “Different how?”

“I don’t know.” His eyebrows drew tightly together; he frowned as he thought carefully before answering. “Just different. There was no harmful intent, but there was a strange sort of darkness inside him.”

Cassie frowned, her hands clenched on her arms as she thought over Chris’s odd choice of words. “What kind of darkness?”

“I don’t know, not an evil one, maybe its loneliness or loss or pain. It’s hard to say Cass; some people are just harder to read then others. But there is no ill intent in him; at least not toward you, of that I’m sure.”

Cassie bit nervously on her bottom lip. “But toward others?” she asked worriedly.

“No, I don’t think so. Why don’t you ask Melissa if she has seen anything?” Cassie fervently shook her head, she may ask Chris a few questions, but she would never ask Melissa. That seemed like a dangerous path to tread. “You never ask her about anything she sees. Why is that?” She shrugged, not wanting to get into it with him. “Is it because you don’t think you have a future?”

Cassie glanced sharply at him, anger boiled rapidly inside of her. “Did you read me?” she demanded fiercely.

Chris was taken aback, his eyes widened slightly. “Of course not Cass, I wouldn’t do that to you. Besides, you know that it doesn’t work like that. I can’t tell what people are thinking, just what they feel and who they are. I don’t have to read you to know that you’ve shut down since we found out what we are.”

“I have not, I…”

Chris held up a silencing hand. “You go through the motions of living, but you don’t truly live anymore. We’ve always been together Cass, I know the girl you used to be, and you locked that girl away the day that Luther and Melissa walked into our lives.”

Cassie remained silent; her eyes darted over the wooded, shadowed streets. She saw nothing out there; no distraction from Chris’s probing questions and keen insight. She’d thought she’d hidden herself well, kept her fear buried behind her wall. Apparently she had not. “Do you think you have a future?” she inquired softly, her eyes slowly coming back to his.

He looked sad and lost as he studied her worriedly. “It may not be as long as I had once hoped, but yes, I think I have a future. I often wonder about marriage and kids, and maybe one day I might even retire, and spend my days fishing.”

Cassie huffed as she smiled softly at him. “You hate fishing.”

“Not the point.”

“I know,” she sighed.

“But you don’t think of those things, do you?”

“No,” she admitted reluctantly. “I don’t.”

“You should. Look at your grandmother, she’s a Hunter and she’s still alive.”

“She’s the only one that has lived past fifty. Most of us don’t make it to twenty, and the remainders usually die before they’re thirty. I know some of our history too Chris, my grandmother is an oddity.”

He rolled his eyes, his arm tightened briefly on her shoulder. “There’s the optimistic Cassie I love,” he teased lightly. She frowned at him, slightly wounded by his comment, but knowing that he was right. She was far too pessimistic most of the time. “But seriously, Luther thinks you are one of the best Hunters to ever come along, I’m sure that will make your lifespan longer.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” she atoned just to get him to stop talking about it, but she was not fooled into thinking he believed her.

His arm remained tight around her shoulders as they walked on. “Just be careful ok.” At her questioning glance he expanded further. “I don’t want you to get hurt by him.”

She bristled slightly over the fact that he didn’t think she could take care of herself. “I won’t get hurt.”

Chris sighed as he shook back his shaggy hair. “I mean it Cass; you don’t have much experience with guys so just take it slow here.”

She shot him a fierce look. “I have dated before Chris.”

He grinned annoyingly down at her, his arm slid forward to drop around her neck as he hugged her against his chest for a brief moment. “Yeah, but you’ve never really noticed guys before…”

“Of course I have,” she interrupted sharply.

“Not like this. You’ve paid attention to them before, the same attention you would give a puppy, but you have never really noticed them.”

Cassie’s nose wrinkled slightly at his analogy. She did not treat boys like puppies, and of course she had noticed them before, she just hadn’t felt anything for them. Not like she felt for Devon, nothing even close to that.

“Not like you notice him,” Chris continued softly.

Cassie was pulled back as Chris stopped walking. His arm fell from around her as his intense sapphire eyes burned into hers. Cassie shifted uncomfortably, she and Chris shared everything, but this was a topic that had never come up before, and she had never seen him this concerned. “Chris…”

He held up a hand, fending off her words. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt. I have to pull the older brother caring bit, even if I’m not your brother.” Though he smiled, it did not reach his eyes. “Ok?” She managed a nod. “I would expect you to do the same.”

She grinned up at him, but she did not feel lighthearted as she punched him lightly in the shoulder. “But you notice all the girls,” she reminded him.

Chuckling softly, he draped his arm back around her shoulders and pulled her along. “That I do, that I do. You are going to have to pay more attention in training, and especially in the field.”

“I know,” she said softly. “I will. I won’t ever let anything happen to you or Melissa.”

He grinned at her. “Of course you won’t, but you better not let anything happen to you either.”

“I won’t,” she told him, knowing that it was a promise she couldn’t keep. Anything could happen to them.

They walked the rest of the way in silence. Music drifted from Chris’s house, the sound was muffled by the loud laughter braying from inside. Chris groaned in disgust, his arm fell away from her shoulders. “I’ll have grandma make you a plate,” Cassie told him.

He nodded before making his way tiredly toward his front door. Cassie watched after him, dismayed by the sad, weary slump of his shoulders. No matter what life threw at him, Chris retained hope. She wished that she could be the same way. She wished that she could have the inner strength that Chris and Melissa possessed, the fierce hope, and will of steel they radiated. She may be the strongest fighter, but she was by far the weakest of them.

Shrill shouts rang from Chris’s house; his mother started screaming at him for some unknown slight. Cassie winced; her heart ached for him as the shouts propelled her faster to her house. She wanted to get his plate ready, the mattress out, and the baseball game on before he arrived. It would be another silent night, but she felt that they both needed it after today.

Running up her steps, she froze at the edge of the stoop as the hairs on the nape of her neck stood up. Her hand on the knob, Cassie turned slowly to survey the darkened night. Though she could see a hawk in its nest, and a fox at the edge of the woods, she saw no one amongst the tree cover. Yet she could not shake the unsettling feeling that something was watching her, that someone was watching her. It was the same feeling that had encompassed her the other night.

Though she sensed no hostility from the presence out there, she still hurried into the house. She was eager to escape the eyes she couldn’t see, but knew were there.

***

Cassie pulse rate picked up, her heart trip hammered loudly as she watched the Challenger drive slowly by. She waited breathlessly, her hands resting lightly on the hood of Chris’s mustang as the Challenger pulled into a spot three cars away.

The door opened and Devon slid gracefully from behind the wheel. His eyes were shadowed by dark sunglasses, but she knew the moment that they locked upon her. The constriction in her lungs eased and she was finally able to draw her first easy breath since they had parted yesterday. Closing the car door, he ignored the curious glances of the students as he moved toward her with mesmerizing, easy grace.

The strange urge to cry with joy took her over. Everything was better now; the hope was back, the world was finally right again. There was no hesitancy as he took hold of her hand, enfolding it in both of his. She breathed a sigh of relief, her hand tightened around his as she held him, desperately needing his strength and comfort.

The smile that lit his face revealed his perfect white teeth, and two small dimples she had not noticed before. Her heart lurched as she took an instinctive step closer to him, needing to be as close to him as possible. Chris studied them with a worried frown; his eyes were intent upon Devon. Melissa stood beside him, a small, knowing smile on her face.

That knowing smile caused Cassie’s heart to plummet. The sudden, awful insight that Melissa had received a premonition about Devon filled Cassie. Worry crept through her, chilling the marrow of her bones. She did not want to be the object of Melissa’s prophecies, and she certainly did not want Devon to be a part of them.

The last thing that she wanted was for him to be hurt, or wounded, because he had become a part of her life. Her selfishness not only put the three of them at risk, but could also get him killed. Her life was dangerous; no ordinary human could survive it.

The chill inside her grew; her body became hollow as the hope inside her curdled like three month old milk. It was just as sour as milk as it sat in a tight knot in her stomach. She could not risk him getting hurt; she could not drag him into this world with her. Her world was horror and death, it was cruel and brutal; it was not fair to him.

Melissa turned toward her, her gaze growing questioning and curious. Though she did not possess Chris’s ability, Melissa’s insight into a person was uncanny and she did not miss a thing. She especially did not miss the sudden terror that was suffusing Cassie. Cassie had not known that she had been holding her breath until it exploded from her. She inhaled sharply, drawing much needed air into her denied, burning lungs. Her clenched fingers began to ache, and she realized that she was holding Devon’s hand so tight that her nails had dug into the palm of his.