Though Cassie could not get words past the lump of terror in her throat, she knew that Chris was right.
CHAPTER 18
“Looks like you have company.”
Cassie’s mouth parted slightly at the sight of the sleek Challenger sitting in her driveway. At the vast amount of relief that filled her, she realized she had truly feared she would not see Devon tonight, or ever again. But there he was, sitting at her house, doing God only knew what with her grandma. “I’ll be,” she murmured.
Chris managed to give her a shaky smile, but it was nowhere near the normal, self assured, cocky grin that she loved. Nor was there the familiar, jovial light in his usually merry eyes. She was truly frightened that she may never see either again. His eyes looked older, more worn and tired than she had ever seen them. His confident aura seemed to have vanished, replaced by one that seemed beaten. She didn’t want this Chris to stay, but she was terrified that this was who he was going to be from now on. He seemed to have aged twenty years in the past hour.
For the first time Cassie was truly grateful that she had not received any of the “gifts” that had been bestowed upon Chris and Melissa. It had to be draining and painful to know far more about the world than one desired to. What Chris had seen tonight, what he had been drawn into, had wounded him badly. It was impossible to know just how deep those wounds went.
“Chris…”
“I had better get going,” he interrupted, turning away from her as he shut off the car.
“Are you going to come over tonight?” she asked worriedly, despairing over his abrupt dismissal of her.
He sat silently for a moment before shaking his head. “No, I had better stay with my mom. She may need my protection.”
Cassie glanced at his house. All the lights were on, music and loud laughter poured from the open windows. There were five cars in the drive that Cassie did not recognize. A party was in full swing. These were the nights that Chris always fled from.
“Did you tell her what was going on?”
He shrugged absently, his hand already rested on the door handle. “Yes, but you know her, if she can drink it away than it doesn’t exist.”
“Chris…”
“Go on Cassie, I’ll be fine. You have company.”
“After he leaves…”
He turned back to her, the haunted look in his eyes robbing her of her breath. “I’ll be ok.”
Before she could say anything more, he flung the door open and climbed swiftly from the car. Cassie was too stunned to move for a moment. Then, she threw her door open and joined him in the brisk fall night. She desperately needed the refreshing air as she greedily inhaled gulps of it. She could not rid herself of the worry that she was losing Chris. She feared that she had already lost the innocent, relatively carefree man he had always been. The best friend she had always known and relied on. She needed to reach him before he retreated farther into himself.
“Chris…”
“I’ll see you in the morning.”
He didn’t look at her as he shoved his hands in his pockets and hurried forward. She watched him disappear into the house, her heart breaking for him. Whether any of them wanted it, or not, they had been forced to grow up even more rapidly tonight, and Chris had received the blunt force of it.
Cassie closed the car door, tears slid silently down her face as she made her way slowly back to her house. She paused at the door, wiping away her tears as she valiantly tried to regain control of herself. It took her a few minutes, but eventually the tears dried up and she felt stable enough to enter. Taking a deep breath she shoved the door open, and stepped into the bright, airy kitchen. The warm aura of the room seemed out of place with the dark cloud surrounding her.
Her grandmother was nowhere to be seen. The wonderful scent of roasted chicken and banana bread filled the air. Cassie’s stomach rumbled eagerly in response. But she was far more ravenous to see him then she was for food. Moving swiftly through the kitchen, she eagerly followed the drifting voices coming from the dining room.
Stepping through the threshold, she blinked in surprise to find her grandmother and Devon sitting at the oak table. A plate of banana bread and a deck of cards sat between them. Her grandmother glanced up, a bright smile lit her pretty face as her eyes gleamed with amusement.
“Cassandra, you’re home!” The vast relief in her voice caused Cassie a twinge of guilt. “Your friend stopped by.”
Cassie braced herself before turning her full attention to Devon. Her heart knocked against her ribs and her breath froze as his emerald eyes seared into her. He was sitting casually in the chair; his cards were held loosely in his long fingered hand, his long legs stretched before him. Though his posture was one of relaxation she could feel the tension vibrating through him. There was a hum of power in him that was out of place with a normal human, but she couldn’t resist it.
“Cassie.” She loved the sound of his voice, the melodic flow of it. It did not wipe away the awful events of the night, but it helped to soothe some of the raw hurt, guilt, and fear that had taken up residence in her soul.
“I told you she’d be home before ten, that’s when the library closes.” Her grandma threw a card onto the table, reaching forward she moved some pegs on the cribbage board. “Your dinner is still warming in the oven dear, why don’t you grab it while I finish beating your friend in cribbage.”
Cassie’s eyes flew back to Devon, widening in surprise. He was playing her grandma in cribbage? She stared at him in disbelief as he grinned back at her. “She thinks she’s going to beat me, but she’s wrong.”
“Oh, but I will.”
Cassie shook her head, turning slowly away. The whole night had been surreal, but this part of it seemed absolutely ludicrous. The object of her obsession, solace, and turmoil was sitting at her dining room table playing cribbage with her grandmother for crying out loud! She wondered if she had somehow managed to fall asleep in the cemetery, she felt that would make more sense than this.
Though she was no longer hungry, she robotically gathered the warm plate of chicken from the oven. The extra plate still sitting there, waiting for Chris, caused a tug at her heart. Her gaze darted to the window, but nothing had changed across the street. Turning stiffly away, she gathered silverware and napkins. She was reaching for a glass when she felt him against her. She started slightly, for he had been as silent as a ghost, but the feel of him was instantly soothing to her raw nerves. His chest pressed lightly against her shoulder, his hand reached slowly around her to grab two glasses from the cabinet.