Kindred (Book 1 The Kindred Series) by Erica Stevens Read Free Book Online Page B

to wander far from her since he had first seen her . Somehow, strangely, s he was a shining light against the darkness re siding in him , and he had to get closer to her . Though he had not wanted to come here, h e’d had to see her again in order to try and figure out the strange hold she had over him, or to see if he had just imagin ed it. He had neither figured it out, nor had he been imagining it. In fact, her pull over him felt even stronger today. Hence , why he was here, and why he had stood outside o f her house last night for a bit .
       There was a wealth of sadness in her, a longing and need that called to him . It touch ed something in him , spark ed to life something that he had t hought cold and dead centuries ago. Hell, she touched something that he hadn’t even known he possessed . It had taken him awhile to name the strange emotion building inside him , and i t had shocked him when he finally recognized it as hope. Seeing her again now , he felt th e strange hope once more , and a strange spark of life that kept him rooted in place . She made it damn near impossible t o even think as he struggled with the astonishing feelings threatening to consume him.
       He had not felt like this since Annabelle. Had not felt this pull, and need, and … obsession? Yes, it was definitely obsession he felt for this girl, but it was different from what he had felt for Annabell e. This felt good, it felt right . This girl affected him in such a different way than Annabelle had . He had simply had to have Annabelle, had to possess her, had to break her, but this girl…
       T his girl he wanted to protect and hold and cherish for some unknown reason . This girl made him feel oddly alive again, almost normal, almost human even . He didn’t understand her hold over him, but he could not fight the sensations pulling at him. No, this girl was completely different than Annabelle. With Annabelle it had been a game , one that had changed him forever.
       But l ast night, when this girl had turned to him , his heart had leapt in his chest, or at least it had felt like it for a moment. He had not thought of h is heart o r the missing beat o f it in centuries , because he had not felt anything in the region of his heart in years . However, h e swore he could hear it beating now, could almost feel it pulsing blood through his deadened veins once more .
       This girl was beautiful, spectacular, perfect, but it was not her looks that captivated him . It was the s plendor of her wounded, bright spirit. Though she radiated loss and loneliness, he also sensed a steel rod of strength and pride running through her.
      Looking upon her, seeing her, he i nstantly felt as if he were complete, as if he had found his home. Somehow, in her, he had found the one person that could make everything all right . He knew with a bsolute certainty that she could ease the aching loneliness that had eaten at his soul for centuries. That had nearly destroyed him time and time again. He did not understand his strange reaction to her . In all his many years , he had never felt anything like what he suddenly felt for her . After all of his time on earth, he had n ever expected to be shocked or thrown off balance again. He had thought that he had seen it all, that he knew it all.
       He had been wrong.
       H e was completely thrown off balance now. He was unsettled and en chanted by this girl, a teenage girl no less. He needed to know more about her, see more of her. He needed to understand the strange effect she had up on him. He n eeded her to ease the ache that filled hi s deadened spirit , and he knew that she could do it .
       He watched silently as the halls began to fill up, the chatter and laughter gr e w louder as students milled about. Lockers opened and slammed as they prepared for the day. He found himself oddly captivated by the simplicity of their lives, amazed by the easy flow of their days. It was something that he had never