A Dark Temptation (7)

"Dad, what do you know about this?"
His dad nodded. He turned to Cassandra, "The person you are probably talking about is Mark."

Beside her, Eric tensed, "Him?" he spat.

"Yes," Charles said. To Cassandra, "Mark is Eric’s brother, he is a soul eater but he is also a shape shifter,"

"You mean, he can change shape?"

"Yes," Charles replied.

"That’s why the scent I smelt was so familiar. What does that two-faced toad want now?"

"I do not know. But we will call a meeting with all the other families in our range. If he is here then no one is safe. We will have to issue warnings to everyone."

"There are more families?" Cassandra asked weakly.

They both nodded.

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Later, Cassandra sat down with Eric in the library.

"Tell me about Mark," she said.

He clenched his fist. "What do you want to know about him?"

"Why is everyone so afraid of him?"

"He… He’s more powerful than any of us and he’s a shape shifter. But that’s not why we are cautious around him. Mark is my brother. But for brothers we are so different. Matthew kills for the fun of it, he will kill anyone anywhere. He has killed over 100 soul eaters and over 500 humans in the last decade alone. That girl in the alley way, the one you saw me with. That was his doing. I wanted to see if I could change her into one of us. But I couldn’t. Mark isn’t safe. He has always wanted what I have. And I have you so-"

"Hold on, hold on, just wait one minute. You. Do. Not. Have. Me. No one does, Ok?" she poked her finger at his chest to emphasis each word.

"You keep saying, yet you keep coming back to me."

"I do not-"

Eric flung himself across the table and grabbed her. He rolled her on to the floor and lay on top of her. "Who owns you? Whose are you?" he said.

"No one," she gasped.

He grinned, "Wrong answer."

He kissed her. ‘No’ Cassandra thought. If she opened her mouth, he might suck her soul or turn her into one of him. So she kept her mouth shut. But it was definitely tempting. The kiss was warm and seemed to draw up all of her strength. She sighed. The kiss lasted for a few seconds, Eric trying to coax her lips open. But she wouldn’t give in.

Eric pulled back with a resigned sigh. "It’s no fun if you aren’t into it. But getting back to the subject, since I am …. closely around you, I think he wants you as well that’s why he took your mother as bait, he’ll probably send a message to you soon, saying to meet him somewhere if you want to see your mother again…. I think you should be here at the meeting as well. It does involve you. You know a little more than most humans and he took your mother. So dress in an evening wear, it’s like a ball, these things. I know what. I’ll buy you a dress,"

Cassandra was about to interrupt when Charles walked into the room.

"Cassandra, do you have anywhere safe to stay, while your mother is currently not here?"

"Um, I guess I could always stay at a friend’s place. Is my mother going to be alright?"

"We will do everything in our power to keep her safe."

"That isn’t good enough. What if that creep hurts her or something. What if I never see her again?"
Eric came over to her and put his arms around her.

"Don’t worry, I’ll make sure she’s okay. You can trust me. You can trust us,"

Cassandra sniffed.

"In the mean time, look after yourself, we will offer you our full protection. I would also offer you a place to stay here, but I’m not sure if you would be entirely comfortable…." He threw a meaningful look at Eric.

Eric grinned. "I suppose you’re right, best to keep you out of temptation’s way."

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The next day.......

"Hey Tanya, I was wondering, my..my mother is going to be out of town for sometime and I was wondering if I could stay at your place." Cassandra said.

"Sure!" she squealed.

Cassandra smiled. She walked over to her locker. When she opened it. There was a parcel with a rose on top of it. She read the tag.

‘Wear this tonight,’ it said ,’come for the meeting at seven, I’ll be waiting upstairs in the library.’
Cassandra smiled. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all…..