Cassie (The Coven's Grove Chronicles #3)

by Virginia Hunter

After cleaning up, Caleb asked Brody, “You gonna be around for a while?”

  “Yeah. Why, what’s up?”

  “I need to pick up a few things. You mind if Cassie hangs out here?”

  “I’m not going?” Cassie asked a bit surprised.

  Caleb looked her up and down. “In those clothes?”

  Oops. She’d totally forgotten that the outfit she was wearing wasn’t hers, and that it really wasn’t an outfit anyway. “Oh, yeah, kinda not appropriate.”

  Brody chuckled. “If you want her to stay here. Alone. With me. I’m fine with that.”

  Caleb raised a brow at his friend. “Well when you put it that way...”

  “I’ll be fine,” Cassie said with a giggle. It was nice to have boys fighting over her, even if it was just for fun. “Don’t forget to pick up something for me to sleep in.”

  “Will do.” Caleb grabbed his coat, and rummaged through the inside pocket. He pulled out a handgun. “I want you to take this.”

  She put her hands up, “I don’t want that.”

  “I would feel safer if you had it with you.”

  Brody stepped forward, and held his hand out. “I’ll make sure it’s close by. Go run your errand. I’ll look after her. I promise.”

  Caleb handed Brody the gun. “Thanks. I won’t be long.” He went to the door, and glanced back as he stepped out. “No funny business.” He pointed his fingers at his eyes, and then at Brody and Cassie.

  She laughed. Foolish man.

  Brody locked the door behind Caleb. He turned to Cassie. “You must be in some serious trouble. Caleb wouldn’t leave without his gun otherwise. You want to tell me what’s really going on?”

  “You seem nice, Brody,” she said. “It’s probably better if you don’t know.”

  “To hell with that. Caleb and I grew up together. He’s my friend, and if he’s in trouble, then I’m going to help.”

  “Maybe we should wait until Caleb gets back...”

  Brody smirked. “He’s not going to give me a straight answer. I know he’s trying to protect me, but he should know ignorance isn’t a very good shield.”

  “You’re not gonna let this go are you?”

  “I was serious about knowing what I was getting into,” he replied. “Tell me. And none of that garbage Caleb gave me over the phone. I want the truth.”

  Cassie took a seat on the couch, and folded her legs underneath her. She nibbled on her lower lip in indecision. Brody’s argument about ignorance being a poor shield was pretty compelling, and he more than deserved to know the truth. The problem was: would he believe it?

  Brody sat in the recliner across from her.

  Still struggling about what to say, Cassie said, “Why don’t we start with what Caleb told you about me.”

  “He said you killed your English teacher about five years ago. He said the guy tried to rape you, and that his death was an accident. That sound about right?”

  She swallowed, “Yeah, that’s right.”

  “Caleb also said that you were young and scared at the time, so you ran.”

  She nodded.

  Brody leaned forward, looking her straight in the eyes. “People make mistakes. I get that. If Caleb thinks you’re solid, that’s good enough for me. But that story doesn’t explain why he gave you his gun, and why he’s so damn jumpy. Something else is goin’ on.”

  “What he told you is true,” Cassie paused. This was the point of no return, and she still had no idea what to do.

  “And?”

  Fuck it, she thought. “What he didn’t tell you is that when I killed that piece of shit Mr. Carson, I kicked him across a twenty-foot room.”

  Brody blinked, “What does that mean, exactly?”

  “I literally kicked a grown man twenty feet away from me. He hit the wall with such force, it shattered his skull.”

  Brody stared at her blankly. He wasn’t getting it.

  “I’m stronger than your average bear.”

  He frowned, “So much for the truth.”

  “Look, I can prove it. Do you have something really heavy I can lift without breaking?”

  Brody rolled his eyes. “We don’t have to do this. Just tell me—”

  “I’m serious,” Cassie interrupted. “Give me a chance, okay?”

  “Okay, fine.” He got to his feet, opened the door, and pointed outside. “See that big ass rock over there. Pick it up, Super Girl.”

  Cassie got up, and peeked out the door. “Rock” was an understatement, though “big ass” was a fitting description for the freakin’ bolder Brody had singled out. The thing must have been five feet in diameter, and partially buried. I had to go and open my big mouth.

  “Let me guess,” Brody snarked. “Your super strength only works on Saturdays, right?”

  Cassie pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes at him. “Okay, smartass.” She stomped out to the bolder. Her power was already coursing through her veins by the time she got there. She slapped her hands on either side of the monstrous rock. Her fingers dug into the hard, stone surface, as if it were dried clay. Planting her feet, she heaved on the boulder with all her might. Inch by inch the rock came up from the ground, until it finally tore free. She lifted it over her head, and turned to face Brody with a smile.

  The only thing visible in the doorway were the bottoms of his shoes.

  “Oh, shit!” Cassie dropped the bolder back in place, and ran over to Brody’s sprawling body. She leaned down next to him, and patted his cheek. “Brody, are you okay? Wake up!”

  He blinked his eyes open, and moaned.

  She let out the breath she’d been holding. “Thank God!” She pulled him into a sitting position.

  Brody rubbed the back of his head. “What happened?” He looked over at Cassie. His expression suddenly went rigid with fear, and he scrambled away from her. “Holy shit!”

  Cassie held up her hands. “Hey, I’m not going to hurt you. I know it’s a lot to take in, but you can trust me, please.”

  “What the hell are you?” he blurted. “Some kind of alien?”

  “I don’t think so, though I actually thought that for a while,” she answered. “My...affliction is more mystical, or so I’ve been told recently.”

  “Magic?!” Brody shook his head. “Bullshit!”

  “Well, you saw me lift that rock, right?”

  Brody closed his eyes, as if he were trying to shut her out. “I don’t know what I saw.”

  “You must have hit your head pretty hard when you fainted,” she replied, with no small amount of irritation.

  His face flushed with embarrassment. “Sorry. I’m a little freaked out is all.”

  Guilt punched Cassie right in the gut. She’d had five years to come to terms with her weirdness. Brody, and even Caleb, didn’t have that luxury. “Yeah, me too.”

  They sat in silence for a while, until Cassie got up, and closed the door. “Good thing your neighbors aren’t too close.” All of the houses in this neighborhood were on pretty decent sized plots of land. No fear of peeping toms.

  Brody chuckled, “Yeah, that could have been really awkward.”

  She smiled and leaned against the door. “So, what now?”

  He scratched his chin for a moment. “I’m going to take a shot in the dark here, and assume that what’s chasing you guys isn’t ‘normal’ either.”

  Cassie tapped a finger on her nose.

  “Well, at least that explains Caleb’s odd behavior.”

  “And why we can’t stay for long.”

  Brody got to his feet. “I told Caleb I would help, and I meant it.”

  “You’re a good friend,” Cassie said. She’d never had anyone willing to look out for her in that way, except her dad. It was nice to know those kinds of people still existed. “What’s coming for us is too much to ask of you, Brody. We need to leave, and you need to go on vacation. Please, believe me on this one.”

  “I’m starting to,” he said. “But I want to talk with Caleb before I decide anything
.”

  Cassie sighed, “Fair enough.” She knew she should argue the stubbornness out of him, but she just wasn’t up to it. No sense in making the situation any more awkward than it already was.

  “Would you mind helping me move my refrigerator?” Brody asked. “It’s blocking the outlet, and it’s a real pain to get anything plugged in over there.”

  She laughed. “Yeah sure, no problem. It’s the least I can do.”

  Carreau lifted his head into the howling wind, as he took a deep breath, inhaling as much of the crisp air as possible. He searched for his prey, though it wasn’t her scent he was after. It was the feel of her essence that came to him from the air and earth. Part of her was contained within him, he would always know how to find her. Unfortunately, the elusive witch had escaped again. Each time he failed in his task, the pain of being on this plane of existence intensified. It was a stinging fire that raged through his body, slowly eating away at his ability to reason. A low growl rumbled from his throat.

  “Do you sense her?” the master asked.

  “Yes,” Carreau replied. As much as he wanted to tear the heart from this frail human that had summoned him, he could not. The magic was too strong.

  “Where?”

  Carreau pointed south. The witch’s sweet essence urged—no, demanded—that he follow. If only he could devour her once she was caught. He could almost taste her flesh, the want was so strong. The man-bone that had been used to summon him wanted her too, but not to eat. Its wish was domination, and to fornicate with the seductive whore, but the man-bone would be denied as well. She was to be the master’s.

  “Get in the truck,” the master commanded. He limped to the vehicle, and climbed into the passenger seat.

  Carreau gnashed his teeth in frustration. He tore his gaze from the hobbled man, and lumbered to the back of the moving truck. This was the second time they had stopped to verify their path. They were getting closer. Soon the witch would be found, and the pulses of searing pain would come to an end. Soon he would be able to kill. Soon, he would be free.

  Cassie waited patiently, as Brody added weight to the thick metal bar suspended above her. “Seriously, I just told you there are monsters chasing me, and you want to see how much I can bench press?” After the bolder incident and moving the fridge, she’d laid out the whole story for him: the run-in with the bounty hunters, the crazy cult guys who thought she was a witch, and worst of all, the demon.

  “Humor me.”

  She chuckled, “I am.”

  The last plate clanked into place. “Okay, let ’er rip!”

  She had no idea how much weight Brody had added, or what he thought to achieve by having her push slabs of metal into the air. But if it put him at ease, she was willing to try.

  The bar was cold to the touch, and bit into her palms, as she tightened her grip. She willed her power into action with a few thoughts of how shitty her life had been before meeting Caleb. The familiar burning at the pit of her stomach spread out to her limbs like the warmth from a shot of whiskey. She popped the bar off the stand, and pressed it once. The resistance was akin to doing a push up, so she did a few more reps. “How many times do I need to do this?”

  There was no answer.

  Cassie glanced at Brody, afraid he might have passed out again. Fortunately, he hadn’t, but he stood there gawking at her.

  “Hey, you okay?” she asked.

  “I...that’s over four hundred pounds!”

  “Really?” she quipped, as she continued to churn out reps. “Doesn’t seem that heavy.”

  “Doesn’t seem...put that down!”

  Cassie racked the weights, tickled at Brody’s exasperation. “I picked up a logging truck once. That was a bit more difficult than this.” She sat up, and patted the bar.

  Brody’s eyes bulged. “A what?!” He shook his head. “This is crazy. It’s just not humanly possible.”

  “Yeah, been there. I’m actually starting to consider the witch thing as a real possibility.”

  The sound of the front door opening interrupted Brody’s response. He grabbed the gun he’d set on the fridge, as he ran toward the living room. Cassie jumped off the bench and followed.

  “Ya know, locking doors is a big part of safety,” Caleb said, as he came in.

  Brody and Cassie came to a sliding halt by the sofa, nearly running into each other.

  Caleb closed the front door, and slowly turned the latch back and forth. “This is how it works, see: locked, unlocked.”

  “Smartass,” Cassie mumbled. She was relieved that he was back, but also a bit apprehensive. She’d let the cat out of the bag with Brody, and after they’d agreed not to.

  “We were a little distracted,” Brody said sheepishly.

  Caleb frowned at his friend. “I thought I said no funny business.”

  Brody laughed, “Hey, I can’t help that I’m a chick magnet.”

  Caleb pursed his lips. “Hmm.”

  “I told him,” Cassie blurted. “About everything.”

  An awkward silence fell. A lot of those seemed to happen whenever Cassie’s power was involved. People just didn’t know how to handle it.

  Caleb sighed, “Well, that’s that I suppose.” He looked over at Brody. “Sorry, man. I just—”

  Brody held up a hand. “Don’t. There’s no need. You guys can stay as long as you need to. I’ll bug out for a week or so after you leave.”

  “Thanks, man,” Caleb said. He walked over, and patted Brody on the shoulder. “Again, I can’t tell you how much you’ve helped us out.”

  “Not a problem.”

  “Where will you go?” Cassie asked.

  “I’ll be over at the job site,” Brody replied. “The boss lady is pretty cool, and actually told me I could stay in one of the cottages while I was working.”

  “Is it far from here?”

  “A few miles,” Brody looked at her questioningly.

  “I just want to make sure you’ve got some distance from here, in case that thing shows up,” she said.

  He nodded in understanding.

  “So she did tell you everything,” Caleb said.

  “Once he found out about my power, I didn’t see the point in not telling him about what was chasing us.” She went and sat on the couch.

  “Since we’re on the subject,” Brody said. “Did that creature really brush off a hit from your car? If so, we may need to consider bigger guns.” He held up the pistol Caleb had given him.

  “Yeah, but it was with her car actually.” Caleb took a seat next to Cassie. “And I don’t think the size of the gun is going to matter. That thing eats pain like candy.”

  “What the hell is it?” Brody asked.

  “We aren’t really sure,” Caleb answered.

  “It has a name,” Cassie said in sudden realization. “I just remembered.”

  “It has a name?” Caleb repeated. “That’s messed up.”

  “What is it?” Brody asked.

  “The cultist guy called it, Carreau. And he also said it was a demon.”

  “You got a computer, Brody?” Caleb asked.

  “Yeah, in the study.”

  “Do you really think anything we find on the internet is going to be of any use?” Cassie asked. She sure as hell hoped so, but the odds were against it.

  “I don’t know, but I’m not a fan of going into a fight blind, so I say we give it a shot,” Caleb said. “Besides, it’s not like we have any better options at this point.”

  He was right about that, and they had to start somewhere. She shrugged. “Go for it.”

  The three of them went into Brody’s study. It had the same beautiful woodwork and earth tones that were in the living room, though this was smaller, and that much more cozy. Brody fired up his desktop and started searching. “How do you spell it?”

  “I don’t know,” she replied. “I only heard him say it.”

  “We’ll try a few terms then.” Brody went to tapping on the keyboard. “The word ‘demon’
should get us close enough.”

  Cassie could feel Caleb’s gaze. She glanced at him, and caught his deep blue eyes lingering on her hips. Naughty boy. Just to be a tease, she hooked her thumb on the waistline of her shorts, and pulled them down a bit.

  Caleb’s brow rose, as did his gaze. He grinned when their eyes met.

  “Found anything yet?” Cassie asked Brody, as she smiled back at Caleb.

  “Not really,” Brody said, still typing and clicking.

  “How about something to drink?” Caleb asked. “Can I get you anything, man?”

  “Yeah, a beer would be good.”

  He looked Cassie up and down as he stepped to the door. “Anything for you?”

  “Maybe,” she answered with hooded eyes. “I’ll come with.”

  Brody seemed none the wiser of their flirting, and remained at his desk, as the pair made their way into the kitchen.

  Cassie pressed against Caleb’s back, wrapping her arms around him, when he opened the refrigerator door. She nestled into his broad shoulder blades, and breathed him in. “I missed you.”

  “You sure?” he asked. “You and Brody got pretty tight while I was away.”

  “Awww. Is Caleb jealous?” she teased.

  He turned around, and bear hugged her. “Maybe,” he drawled. “I’m sensitive, you know.”

  Cassie barked a laugh. “Whatever. I happen to know a Taser that would beg to differ. I also—”

  Caleb kissed her. His lips were soft and hungry, devouring her with tingling passion. He continued to drive her mad with his touch, as his hands roamed down her back, settling on her butt. Just as things were beginning to get interesting, he eased away.

  “You’re good at interrupting me,” Cassie purred. She clawed his butt, pulling him closer. “You should do it more often.”

  Caleb flashed that grin that made her want to tear his clothes off. “Oh, I intend to, but we’ve got monsters to kill.”

  “Hey, you started this, Mr. Googly Eyes.” She pouted, and ripped his back pocket off.

  “Ho, shit!” He laughed, as he tried to snatch the piece of denim from of her hand.

  Even though he was over a foot taller than her, she kept him at bay with minimal effort. “Like to have this back, huh?” she taunted, waving the pocket behind her.