Though, she eventually came to realize that there was no outrunning 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 indiscriminate. Though these were things 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 threw a swift 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 music to her ears. The man/monster got caught up on a headstone and flipped over top of it; it sprawled out on its back in the thick grass, its legs momentarily caught up over top of the headstone. Cassie sprang gracefully 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 animalistic snarl of fury.
The rage that blasted from him pounded against 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 from the monsters in nearly suffocating waves. It was daunting to know that something wanted to rip out her throat and drain the blood, and life, from her.
Though it was slightly overwhelming, it did not slow her down, and did not cause her to hesitate. There was no room for hesitation here. The smallest distraction could get 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 them now. Here, there could only be the fight.
And the death of someone. Preferably not her.
Though she had the creature down, she was not fooled into thinking that she had him beat. Bracing herself, she leaned slightly back on her left foot as he threw his hands behind his head and thrust himself elegantly to his feet. Cassie eyed him with wary amusement; he was predictable.
With a fierce snarl, he lunged at her, racing across the ground with the grace inherent to his kind. Cassie did not kick out at him again, did not throw another punch. She simply ducked low, spinning around as he raced past her. Thrusting the stake out, his forward momentum was enough 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 more than obvious that the damage 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 a man yet. Though Cassie felt a twinge of regret about killing him, she quickly buried it.
There could be no regret 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 simply her duty, her birthright. Though 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 vampire they were fighting rushed past Chris, focusing on what he apparently (and wrongly) thought was the weaker female. Melissa grinned back at the creature in amusement, her stance widened as she braced herself for his attack. Her dark eyes twinkled brightly in the moonlight.
In their lives it was just another night in paradise, Cassie thought with a sigh.
Shaking her head, Cassie moved slowly toward them. Unlike herself, Chris and Melissa relished in the fight, the hunt, and the kill. They both loved what they were, and eagerly embraced their heritage. Then again, 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 times when she loved the thrill of the fight, times when she loved the fact that she was making 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 cosmic switch. She chafed against the bonds that had confined her to a life she had never even imagined 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 them. She could not live with the fact that Chris or Melissa might 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 was wearing the trademark grin she displayed when she already knew the outcome of a fight. Cassie sighed 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 know what’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’m never going to lose!” she announced proudly, smiling brightly.
Cassie bit back her retort. There was no need to remind them that that was probably what every Hunter had believed, until the Grim Reaper had called for them far too early.