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To Cassie’s utter around to an abrupt halt Everything around her fell away, the crowd disappeared; Chris and Melissa no longer existed as he became the central point of her world All she could see, all she could feel, was hi into her extre her His presence eased the painful hole she had been living with Though it made no sense to her, and she certainly couldn’t explain it, he so, and broken, and wrong within her

Unknowingly, tears sprang to her eyes She would be ok; everything would be ok as long as he was here The thought blazed into her h it seeht She didn’t understand how he ht, but he did She needed hie ha However, she knew that the thought was completely true She kneith the same certainty that she knew she needed air to survive

"It’s about time," Melissa said softly

With those three words the world snapped back into frightening, lurching focus The force of it left Cassie stunned and breathless Her hand trely slid down her cheek She was completely shaken by the bizarre encounter, unnerved, and yet coh she tried, she could not break eye contact with the stranger If she looked away it would only reopen the giant hole within her He didn’t seem to want to look away either, as his eyes never left hers His piercing gaze kept her pinned to the spot

Though she had no special gifts, no abilities like Chris and Melissa, she knew instantly that her life would never be the sae e in her life

Coh her

CHAPTER 2

"Bout ti fiercely at his chocolate shake as he lifted a dark blond eyebrow quizzically at Melissa

"Oh, uh, it’s about tio," Melissa answered absently She neatly wiped her hands before tossing her napkin aside

Cassie spun wildly in her seat, desperately needing to flee, needing to run She had to get as far away froreed

Leaping to her feet, she ignored the surprised looks that both Melissa and Chris shot her She hastily grabbed her tray and tossed the plates haphazardly onto it "Hey!" Chris cried as she grabbed his few re fries and threw theently, her voice trehtly To her utter surprise, and horror, so were her hands

What was the matter with her? She didn’t know thisto her She simply knew that he affected her on a physical level, so as she acting like a loony? Why was she so certain that he was going to drastically change her life?

She had no way of knowing for sure, but so instinctual and pri that she did not want to happen It was so she could not allow to happen

Her life had already been turned upside down once; she couldn’t go through it again, she didn’t think she was strong enough to survive it Just four short years ago she had been a perfectly happy thirteen year old girl Now she was a Hunter, spending far toova she had thought of as amade up for movies and books in order to entertain people, or scare the she had ever considered real Neither had she ever entertained the notion that she would be expected to kill the that she would inevitably lose the fight one day

No, she absolutely did not want her life to change drastically again She had just gotten it straightened out, just gotten it to the point where she could accept her heritage, even if she didn’t like it And she knew that this e, so, and not hie

"Cassie…"

"I’o hoht, but she bit lightly into her lower lip as she refrained fro more Cassie’s heart beat fiercely as she hurried to the trashcan "My fries," Chris mourned morosely

"I’ll buy you two batches next tiry retort Chris’s eyes widened slightly but he didn’t say anythinghis fries was far better than arguing with her further It was a good decision as she felt half crazed at the nore it, she could feel the stranger’s eyes burning into her with every step she took Her hands were shaking; her heart pounded loudly in her ears, and her throat was so dry that she could hardly s

She could not deal with this, not right now The strange sensations pounding through her were causing her co to happen, and he was going to be the cause of it She didn’t know if that soh, could not sort through it, not with the eh her She could not handle losing everything that she had ever known, ever thought, felt, and believed all over again Yet, deep in the very e s, and more, if she allowed hih