“What were they talking about?” Daniel asked gently.
Cassie sucked in a deep breath. “I missed the beginning of the conversation, but my father said something about not needing the amulet any longer; he said he had his daughters instead, that he’d use us to get what he needed,” she whispered.
She felt Daniel stiffen beside her. “Do you know what he meant?” he asked through clenched teeth.
Cassie was alarmed for a second; the room had suddenly filled with a strange energy, but then it began to fade. “Not for sure, but I, umm, might have listened in before and Charlie accused him of being sick. Demetri got mad when he said that too; he asked my father if he was serious. My father said he’d been saving up for something big, letting me get strong. Demetri jumped to his feet, gave my father a dirty look, then stormed out of the room. That’s when I left and came here.”
Daniel was silent for so long, she began to think that he didn’t believe her. She opened her mouth to tell him that she wasn’t lying, but before she could, he said, “I wish I could get you away from the castle. I don’t like what’s happening around here.”
Cassie’s heart swelled with an emotion she couldn’t name but made her feel warm all over, including a tingling down deep inside her. “What is happening?” she asked, hoping that Daniel could explain it all to her. “First my sister shows up, and my dad tries to convince me that she’s evil, but now it seems more like it’s him who’s bad. I’m not prepared to deal with all of this; I don’t know who to believe.”
Daniel pulled her closer, “You can trust me, Cassie; I would never do anything to hurt you,” he said, his eyes locked on hers.
She knew the truth of his words, knew in that instant that he’d never do anything to hurt her. “I believe you, Daniel,” she said, wishing that he’d kiss her.
But instead, he said, “I think it’s time for you to meet Charlie.”
Cassie jumped to her feet and went over to the only window and looked out at the castle, “I can’t, Daniel; I’m not ready. She’s going to think I’m... Do you know what she is?”
Daniel got to his feet and walked over to her; he wrapped his arms around her from behind and said, “I know she’s a very powerful witch, I’ve heard the staff talking; half of them are scared of her, and the other half are in awe. I’m surprised he keeps staff as long as he does,” Daniel said, turning her around in his arms.
“It doesn’t bother you?” Cassie asked. “I mean, witches and stuff, it never really seemed real to me until now.”
“Oh, it’s real, Cassie, as real as you and I are,” Daniel said, pulling her closer. “You need to meet Charlie; I think she’ll be able to help you understand everything that’s happening around you.”
Cassie looked down embarrassed. “But I’m not a witch like she is. I’m just a regular human.”
Daniel tipped her head up. “Don’t ever say that you’re just regular, Cassie; you’re an amazing person and just because you’re not a witch doesn’t mean that you don’t have a lot to give.”
Chapter Eleven
***Daniel***
He knew it wasn’t the right time to kiss her, but he couldn’t help himself, and when she gave in to the kiss, he stopped caring. She was so small, but surprisingly soft and warm. When he lifted her into his arms, she sighed into his mouth and desire raced through him, but he knew he had to go slowly.
Instead of going to the bed, which would have been too much of a temptation, he sat down in the only chair in the room. His mouth never left hers as he shifted them into a more comfortable position, then kissed Cassie like he’d never kissed her before.
He could feel her pert breasts pressed up against his chest, the nipples hard enough to feel even through the fabric of their clothes. His hands itched to touch those breasts, to hold them in his hands, but he resisted, and instead began to nibble on her neck, making her squirm in his lap.
When she felt his erection, her eyes got big, and she tried to jump off his lap, but he held her still. “Don’t run away, Cassie,” he said, reaching up to stroke her face. “I won’t ask you to do anything you don’t want to.”
Cassie sighed and relaxed back into his arms. “I’m sorry, Daniel, but I’m not sure I’m ready for that. We barely know each other, and I don’t know what I’m doing, and I don’t know what any of this means, and I don’t know what you want me to do,” she said, the words pouring out of her in a rush.
Daniel hugged her. “This means that I like you, Cassie,” he said, taking a deep breath of her cinnamon smell. “Did you know that you smell like cinnamon?”
Cassie looked up at him and laughed; then her face got serious. “I think I’m ready to meet Charlie,” she said, hoping that the words were true. “I think I have to warn her about my father, our father.”
“Good, I think you’re going to like her,” he said, smiling at her, feeling the pull he always did when she smiled back at him.
***Cassie***
They spent the rest of the afternoon curled up together on Daniel’s bed; they’d reached an understanding that afternoon, and both felt more content than they had in a long time. Cassie still wasn’t sure where their romance was leading, couldn’t imagine Daniel living here at the castle with her, but she’d decided that if he cared about her, nothing else mattered.
She was finally living life, finally having experiences that most people her age had long ago had, and she wasn’t going to stop. Her father had announced just before she went up to her room last night that he was going to be gone for a few days and now she understood why he’d been so adamant about her staying in her room.
He was up to something, and it wasn’t good; just thinking about it made her stomach hurt, so she pushed him from her mind. He was gone, and she was going to enjoy herself. At least for this afternoon, she’d forget about her problems and just enjoy being with Daniel.
She was nervous about meeting her sister, still wasn’t sure that she wouldn’t turn away when she discovered that Cassie wasn’t magical. But Daniel had insisted that she wouldn’t, and she trusted him: trusted him more than was probably wise.
When it was time for her to go back to the castle, he walked her home, neither concerned about being seen since most of the staff was gone. He went as far as the kitchen but stopped there. “I’ll leave you here, just in case,” he whispered into her ear, making goosebumps rise on her skin.
“I’ll see you in the morning then,” she said, looking up into his blue eyes. “Thank you, for listening to me.”
“Thank you for confiding in me, Cassie. You’ll see this will all work out in the end,” he said, then gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “You’d better go before we wake someone up.”
Cassie slipped through the door of the kitchen and into the hallway, then listened until she heard the kitchen door close quietly. She floated to her room on a wave of joy and pleasure so immense she felt like she was flying. Falling in love was even better than reading about it in books, and now she understood why people spent their entire lives looking for it.
There was still that small part of her that believed that this was too good to be true and now it was telling her that someday Daniel would leave her. That he’d get tired of her and her childish body, and move on, leaving her broken-hearted and alone. But then she’d think about the man he was and push those fears away, determined to enjoy every minute with him, even if it meant pain in the future.
At least she’d have her memories and the knowledge that someone had cared about her, that a man had cared about her. Life was full of surprises, and Daniel was one of them; she wasn’t going waste what fate had given her worrying about the future. The future would come whether she wanted it to or not.
***Daniel***
Daniel got up and began to pace again; he’d tried to go to bed hours ago but couldn’t get to sleep. Finally, he’d gotten up out of bed and gotten dressed again. Steven and Charlie had left after dinner that night, taking Deacon’s absence as an opportunity to meet with
Penny and Quinten in the village, which meant that the nighttime run had been canceled.
He’d been looking forward to the opportunity, needed a chance to clear the energy inside him, and hopefully clear his head. After spending the afternoon and evening with Charlie, he’d discovered that there was so much more to her than he’d seen before.
She wanted the same things he did: to travel and see the world, to have new experiences every day. They liked the same books, and movies, and even shared a love of country music, which surprised him since she lived in Germany. By the time he’d left her in the kitchen, he knew that some of his feelings had nothing to do with the energy building up inside him.
None of those feelings bothered him; it was the driving desire he felt for her that worried him. She was so innocent, had never been beyond the castle walls, and he was afraid that he’d end up hurting her, and that was the last thing he wanted to do.
But if his desire was fueled by his need to shift, he might just do that, might give in to his desire and make a mistake. Understanding what he had to do, he headed down the stairs and out the barn door. There was no reason he couldn’t shift without Steven; he wouldn’t leave the castle grounds, and he wouldn’t stay a mountain lion long.
Taking a breath of the cool night air, he let his gift take over and felt the rush that always came before a shift. When he filled his lungs again, he felt the power moving through his blood and then the release as his body changed. Then he was looking through the eyes of a predator, eyes that could see through the darkness as if it wasn’t there.
He tensed his muscles, feeling the power flow through him, then sprang into a run. It had been too long since he’d shifted, and instinct took over, leading him across the lawn and into the forest behind the castle. He picked up new scents as he ran, then chose one and began to follow it.
When he reached the little den where the rabbit he’d been following lived, he sniffed around it, then walked away. He had no desire to catch the rabbit, had just wanted the chase. Some of his energy depleted, he set off at a trot, simply enjoying the night and its creatures, missing his home in the Colorado mountains.
***Cassie***
Cassie had been asleep for a couple of hours when something woke her, a noise she couldn’t identify. It almost sounded like the cry of a baby, but it was outside her window and far away. Getting out of bed, she went to the window and looked out at the dark night.
As her eyes adjusted, she noticed that the moon was full, and the sky was full of stars. Feeling restless, knowing that she’d never be able to get back to sleep, she picked up her book and headed for the window seat. It didn’t take her long to figure out that she wouldn’t be able to concentrate; thoughts of Daniel filled her head and wouldn’t go away.
Then she heard that same mournful cry outside and jumped up from the window seat and ran to the window. It sounded closer this time, like it was coming to the castle. Scared but strangely attracted to the sound, she slipped on her shoes and put a robe on over the long tee-shirt she slept in and headed outside.
Standing on the porch in the darkness, she realized that this was just another one of the stupid things she’d been doing lately, but still couldn’t stop herself from stepping off the porch. She’d only gone a few steps into the yard when she saw a streak of brown slip through the trees headed for the barn.
Suddenly afraid for Daniel, she began to run toward the barn to warn him. She’d heard about big cats in these mountains going after horses when they were hungry, but she’d never seen one before. Heart pounding, she headed for the barn as quickly as she could, occasionally catching glimpses of the cat ahead of her.
When she got to the barn, she burst through the door, calling Daniel’s name at the top of her lungs. The barn was silent except for the sounds of the horses moving in their stalls, so she headed for the back stairs. Daniel wasn’t in his room, so she went back downstairs, slowly opened the back door and looked for the cat.
She scanned the trees, then saw it moving restlessly not far from the barn; panicking, she screamed Daniel’s name again. The cat stopped moving and looked over at her, its blue eyes glowing in the darkness, then began to approach the barn. Paralyzed, she couldn’t move, couldn’t scream, could only watch the cat as it came closer.
Expecting it to spring at her any moment, she cringed, but then a strange light began to form around the cat, and it began to shimmer. She sucked in a deep breath, unable to believe what she was seeing, and as she let it out, Daniel appeared where the cat had been standing.
She stood staring at him for only a second before the shock of what she’d just seen overwhelmed her brain. Her knees began to buckle, and the world became hazy, then finally went totally black.
Chapter Twelve
***Daniel***
Daniel stood in front of Cassie, wondering if he’d made a mistake, but she’d been screaming and sure to attract attention, so he’d shifted. Even in the dark, he could see that her face had gone pale, and he thought he saw her sway just a little bit. Then her knees buckled, and she started to go down, but he reached out and caught her just in time.
He scooped her up into his arms and carried her into the barn and up to his room. When he set her on the bed, she opened her eyes, then closed them again. Pulling a blanket from the closet, he covered her up, then sat down next her and took her hand.
It took a few minutes for her eyes to open again, but this time they stayed open. At first, he saw confusion in her eyes, but that soon turned to fear, and it wasn’t long before anger replaced the fear. She sat up in bed and scooted away from him, narrowed her eyes at him and stared.
Finally, she said, “You’re a shifter.”
He nodded his head but didn’t say anything, not sure what he could say. “You could have told me,” she accused. “That was a bit of a shock.”
“I didn’t mean for you to find out that way. I mean, I was going to tell you. I just didn’t know if you knew about shifters. I mean, you said you weren’t magical,” Daniel said, stumbling through his explanation.
“We’ve had shifters at the castle before, never one like you, but I’m not a child; I know what’s out there in the world,” she said, scooting farther away from him and leaning against the headboard of the bed.
Daniel knew that he should say something, but the sight of her in his bed was making it difficult to think. She looked so young and innocent, but that didn’t stop his desire from spiking to the point that he had to scoot away from her. He’d had good reasons for not telling Cassie that he was a shifter sooner, had been planning to tell her when she met Charlie, but now he’d have to explain.
“Cassie, I didn’t tell you sooner because it’s really complicated,” he said, waiting for her to look at him. “I wanted to wait until you’d met Charlie and Steven.”
“Why? What difference does that make?” Cassie asked, looking at him suspiciously.
Daniel took a deep breath then said, “Steven is my brother. I came here to protect them from your father.”
Cassie’s eyes got big. “What do you mean? He says that Charlie is the one who’s dangerous.”
Daniel shook his head. “I’m afraid that’s just not true. I didn’t want to be the one to explain all this to you, I thought it might be easier coming from Charlie, but your dad’s not the person you thought he was. He’s lived his life only for himself; his only goal is to become rich and powerful, and in the process, he’s hurt a lot of people.”
Cassie shook her head. “I don’t believe you,” she said stubbornly.
“I wish it weren’t true, but it is, and I think deep down you know that I’m telling the truth. Do you want me to tell you about the Deacon I know?” Daniel asked gently, knowing that she had to hear the truth.
When Cassie nodded her head, he slid up next to her on the bed and pulled her into his arms, the desire still there but muted because he knew that this was going to be a difficult conversation.
***Cassie***
Cassie resis
ted the urge to relax into Daniel’s arms; suddenly he wasn’t who she thought he was. He was a stranger with secrets to tell, secrets she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear. But her body soon overruled her mind, and she found herself relaxing into the warmth of his body.
“I don’t know if I want to hear this, Daniel. I’ve spent my entire life looking up to my father. He took care of me all those times I was sick; without him, I don’t know what would have happened to me,” she said, looking up at him.
“I’m not saying that he doesn’t have a soft side, he must, look at you,” Daniel said, kissing her on the forehead. “But, Cassie, he’s done some terrible things, things that have caused people’s deaths, and I’m worried about you.”
“Do you think he’d hurt me?” Cassie asked, her question making her understand that she was a little bit afraid of her father.
“I honestly don’t know, but I keep thinking about that conversation you overheard. He said he was letting you get strong? What did that mean?”
Cassie didn’t have an answer; it had been bothering her too. “I think you’d better tell me what you know about my father,” she said, her heart pounding in her chest.
For the next hour, they sat on Daniel’s bed in the dark, and he told her stories about witches and shifters, about love and hate. He told her about a man who was so hungry for power that he’d destroy anything in his path to get what he wanted, a man who was willing to turn to evil if that was what it took.
When he was finished, Cassie sat silently for a long time, turning everything over in her mind. “It sounds like a novel,” she finally said, her voice shaky, “but I believe you. My father’s been acting strange ever since he came home last summer, and it seems like he’s aging in front of my eyes.”
Daniel (Fairplay Shifters Series Book 6) Page 7
