Gabriella Poole: Blood Ties (Darke Academy)

Ranjit blinked in surprise. ‘Sir Alric gave you the Tears?’

‘Oh yeah.’ She winked. ‘I’m a special case, me.’

‘Wow.’ Ranjit shook his head anxiously. ‘Did he mention—’

‘That I can’t do it all the time? Yeah, he did. Thanks for the reminder.’ Cassie’s jaw clenched. So much for feeling relaxed.

‘So now you’ve got to learn to feed.’

‘So I’m told.’

‘Right … um …’ Ranjit seemed to read the displeasure on Cassie’s face, and played for time by swallowing hot coffee too quickly.

Sucking in a breath, he winced. ‘Is it going to be Isabella?’

‘I don’t know. Look, do we have to talk about this now?’

Ranjit smiled apologetically. ‘No. Sorry.’

Cassie took a sip of coffee. She didn’t want to be angry. Not now, not with him. With a sigh, she set down her cup and ran her finger

round the rim of it. ‘How much time do you reckon I’ve got before I have to decide?’

‘A few weeks. Maybe less.’ Ranjit lowered his voice to a murmur as a waiter passed by. ‘Your hunger has developed faster than anyone

could have predicted. It’s incredible, Cassandra.’ With something like admiration, he added, ‘Unprecedented!’

‘You sound like Sir Alric,’ Cassie replied. ‘And not in a good way. He’s the only other person who calls me Cassandra. Well, apart from …’

‘Estelle,’ Ranjit finished. ‘Would you rather I called you Cassie?’

‘You know what? I think I would.’

‘Then I will. Cassie.’ With a smile, he put his hand over hers.

Damn, she thought. That did feel good. And strong. And supportive. Slowly she linked her fingers into his.

‘You never wanted me in the Few, did you?’

‘No, I didn’t. I didn’t want you involved in any of this.’ He smiled ruefully. ‘But it’s done now.’

‘And I would have been involved anyway,’ said Cassie, with sudden realisation. ‘One way or another. It was Isabella who was supposed

to be initiated, wasn’t it? She was the obvious candidate. So I guess I would have been her life-source?’

Ranjit’s hand tensed. Then he nodded slowly, his eyes roaming her face. ‘Perhaps. But I would have done what I could to stop that too.’

Cassie frowned. She’d have preferred that scenario to the one in which she now found herself. Wouldn’t she? If Isabella had joined the

Few – if she’d asked Cassie to be her life-source – what would Cassie have done?

She knew perfectly well what she’d have done. She’d have refused. Run a mile. Screamed the place down and called the cops.

As if reading her thoughts, Ranjit said, ‘You know, you can feed without her knowledge. Even though she knows what happened to you,

there are ways round—’

‘No,’ she said firmly. ‘I’m not going to lie to my best friend. Sir Alric says he’ll teach us both.’ In a mutter she added, ‘If she agrees, I mean

…’

‘It’s for the best, Cassie. You have to know how to feed safely. And if it’s done right, it really doesn’t do any harm.’

Shutting her eyes, Cassie gave a frustrated moan; then she felt Ranjit’s hand squeeze hers once again. He sighed deeply and turned to

Cassie with an attempt at a smile.

‘Look, I’m just glad you’re here, and you’re OK. We’ll get through it … together.’ He leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips,

lingering for a moment before pulling away. ‘And about this …’ he murmured, pressing his forehead to Cassie’s.

‘Yeah?’ Her voice was hoarse.

‘I think it might be a good idea for us to try and take it slow. I mean, I don’t know what happened in the atrium but it felt almost … out of

control?’ He looked cautiously at Cassie, and she nodded and smiled.

‘It did. Not that I’m complaining.’

‘Me neither. It’s just that, given our circumstances and … past experiences, I just don’t want anything to go wrong for us. We should be

careful.’

Ranjit ran a reassuring hand along Cassie’s arm and turned to drain the rest of his coffee. Cassie stared down at her own barely touched

drink. She’d hardly thought about it before, but the way he’d said past experiences, and the expression on his face when she mentioned

that she had been destined to be Isabella’s life-source, spoke volumes. How could she have forgotten?

Jessica.

Jake’s sister had been involved with Ranjit before she died. In fact, she was meant to be meeting him the night she was lured to her

death. The girl who finished up drained of her very essence by Katerina and Keiko was the same girl everyone said looked like Cassie. The

thought of it made her head spin. OK, this could be weird.

‘Cassie?’ Ranjit’s voice brought her out of her reverie. ‘We should get going. You look tired.’