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In that moment, when he found her, when their hands joined, her life was irrevocably changed The course of her destiny forever altered Over the years that followed, Cassie often wondered if she would have run screa to her life

Though, she eventually ca destiny It was very much like the Reaper in that way, as there was no escape And like The Reaper, destiny could be cruel, unfair, and indiscris that Cassie later learned, she was still ill prepared for her life to be forever changed, her innocence to be shattered that day

Nor was she prepared for the day when he walked into her life four years later, forever altering it, and her, once again

CHAPTER 1

Cassie ducked low, spinning as she threift roundhouse kick Her foot connected solidly with the twisted creature, catching it beneath its chin and knocking it back a good five feet The startled grunt of surprise and pain it issued was ht up on a headstone and flipped over top of it; it sprawled out on its back in the thick grass, its legsgracefully to her feet, slipping the stake easily from her belt loop The creature’s eyes widened upon her, he had expected an easy kill Its eyes turned a fierce red as his face twisted into an anie that blasted froainst her but did not slow Cassie down She had grown accustomed to the hatred over the few past years However, she didn’t know if she would ever become accustomed to the bloodlust that poured fro to know that so wanted to rip out her throat and drain the blood, and life, fro, it did not slow her down, and did not cause her to hesitate There was no rooet her, and her friends, killed No, her entire focus had to be upon the creature, and destroying it She could not allow human emotions to slip in here; there was no place for theht

And the death of soh she had the creature down, she was not fooled into thinking that she had hihtly back on her left foot as he threw his hands behind his head and thrust hiantly to his feet Cassie eyed him ary aed at her, racing across the ground with the grace inherent to his kind Cassie did not kick out at hiain, did not throw another punch She si around as he raced past her Thrusting the stake out, his forward h to drive it deep into his chest cavity and pierce his deadened heart He looked at her in shock and horror, his face contorted in pain as she twisted the stake deeper

He fell back, his body convulsing as he clawed at the stake Though he tried to rip it free, it was e had been done There was no reversing this death Cassie waited until he stopped struggling, and his eyes clouded over, before she ripped her lucky stake free In life, he had only been a year or two older than her, barely ahiret in her life; there could never be any regret It would only eat her alive, and she hadn’t been the one to originally end his life She could not question the where’s and why’s of her life It was sih she didn’t always enjoy it, and often resented it, she was good at killing, and she helped to keep people safe and protected by doing it Even if people didn’t know that she was helping them

She turned her attention back to Chris and Melissa Chris was struggling back to his feet as he had been knocked flat The va on what he apparently (and wrongly) thought was the weaker ferinned back at the creature in amusement, her stance widened as she braced herself for his attack Her dark eyes twinkled brightly in the ht in paradise, Cassie thought with a sigh

Shaking her head, Cassie moved slowly toward theht, the hunt, and the kill They both loved what they were, and eagerly eain, Melissa had been raised with the knowledge of what she was And Chris was a teenage boy; anything he could beat up, punch, kick, and maim was fun for him However, Cassie was not a boy, and she had been oblivious to what she was until Luther and Melissa had walked into her life at thirteen She had never relished in the fighting, or the killing

Well, that was not entirely true There were tiht, ti the world safer one murderous vampire at a time She did not like the fact that this life had been forced upon her by birth, or that her life expectancy had been drastically lowered by a flip of the cosainst the bonds that had confined her to a life she had never even iined could exist, and had never wanted

But what choice did she really have? She could not turn her back on what she was Innocent people would die if she did She may hate her role in life, but she could not live with herself if people were killed because she wasn’t there to protect theht be hurt, or killed, because she was too selfish, and too scared to accept her birth right, her destiny

Destiny, she had learned, was a cold bed fellow One that left her chilled to the bone, and hollow inside Destiny had left her vulnerable to the more brutal side of life, and it would likely destroy her before she ever saw her twenty-fifth birthday

A loud grunt shifted her attention back to the battle Melissa was still waging Chris had regained his feet, but Melissa earing the traderin she displayed when she already knew the outcohed softly; she wiped her hands on her jeans as she joined Chris

"I don’t see how it can be any fun when you already knohat’s going to happen," he complained

"Just think about how much fun it will be if she ever foresees a battle she loses," Cassie retorted dryly

Chris shrugged and nodded slowly Shoving a strand of sandy blond hair off his forehead, he sighed wearily as he shoved his hands in his pockets "Yeah, that would suck"

Melissa lunged suddenly, shoving the stake forward in a killing blow With a satisfied grin she ripped her stake free, flipped it in the air, and caught it lightly before shoving it into her belt "It will never happen though; I’htly

Cassie bit back her retort There was no need to remind them that that was probably what every Hunter had believed, until the Griravation Cassie wrapped her are ht, she could not shake theto her like a second skin Her funk was not a good place to be; becoet her killed sooner