Shadow Realm

11

Cassie exhaled a sharp breath, as if her frustration had dissipated. Nathan walks and goes to sit at the foot of the bed where Cassie sleeps. Cassie put her head in her hands and exhaled again. At the time Cassie looked so fragile that Nathan she was afraid she wouldn't be able to leave. Then Nathan realized it was Cassie, and when it was about Cassie, people would never be able to come to a conclusion, Cassie was an unexpected girl!

"I don't have a destination now because of my mother..." Cassie's voice broke but, to Nathan's great surprise, she didn't cry this time either.

"Robert came here for this reason. Robert wants to talk to you."

"Talk to me about what?" cassie said, raising her head.

"You better join him in his study. Come on, I'll keep you company."

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Cam can't sleep all night and can't wait to hear from Cassie. She still can't believe Cassie's mother is dead and the best friend almost died too.

After morning class Cam tries to call Cassie and after her phone rings several times Nathan answers for her and tells her that Cassie is sleeping and she will tell him to call her when Cassie wakes but it is late and still no news.

"Cameron!" mother called.

"Mom, what's going on?"

"I just found out about Abigail..."

"Yes" said the boy, looking away from his mother "I know..."

His brother put a hand on his shoulder "They did not find Casalia. .. Maybe..."

"No" Cam answered briefly.

His mother put her hand on his chest "Poor girl! Where is he now?"

Cam shook his head "For now I can't tell you where he is ..."

"Are you sure he's okay?"

Cameron nodded and at that moment his phone started ringing. That's Cassie. He finally woke up. He left the house and answered. "Cassie!"

"Cameron!" Her voice was the same as usual, but Cam knew nothing would ever be the same again.

"Nathan told me that you were trying to call me..."

"Yes, I want to know how you are doing" even though he knows very well that it is a silly question.

"I'm fine" Cassie hurriedly said.

"I want to thank you for yesterday ... You shouldn't ..."

"No, don't tell me I shouldn't interfere because it's ridiculous! I was wrong not to drive you home. If it wasn't for Nathan, I guess..." Actually he felt guilty for ignoring Cassie lately.

"Forget Cameron, I don't want to talk about it. That's how it is now..." His tone of voice was different at this moment.

"I like to call you too because I need help."

Cam nodded and remained silent to listen. Then he put the phone back in his pocket and, without even telling his family, he walked over to Cassie's house.

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Returning to her home after what happened the previous night certainly did not leave Caasie indifferent.

"Has anyone else ever come in here?"

Robert joined him and stood beside him, "Yes, I sent some of my friends to clean up before we got here."

Cassie turned and looked at Robert. The first thing he focused on was his eyes. Obviously Robert didn't wear contact lenses, he could see them. Surely Robert had used other means to conceal his true nature, there was no other explanation. He wasn't crazy, he was sure he had seen Robert pull out his fangs

"So you're a hybrid too?" Cassie asked in one breath.

Caasie thought Robert would deny or she would get angry, but the man simply nodded while looking straight ahead.

"I hope now you understand why I've been watching you all this time."

"So it's not just my dad?"

Robert smiled "Your father is my friend, I respect him, but it has nothing to do with this story"

Robert turned around and met the girl's gaze "I feel obligated to protect you now that the situation has become more complicated .. .."

"Now you want to say that my mother is dead" he said bluntly. The man looked at her with concern.

"Casalia, you don't have to pretend with me! I'm a lot older and I know what it's like to lose someone you love. You can keep it as hard as you want, but I know you're hurt. It won't be easy but..."

Robert did not continue his sentence when Cameron arrived at the time. Her hair was tangled and her eyes were dull. Without saying a word, Cam approached Cassie and gave her a hug, inhaling her perfume strongly. He had never done it before, even though they had been friends for years. At first she stiffened but then she hugged him back and buried her face in his shoulder.

"What do you need?" The boy moved to look into his eyes.

"We need you to help us get some of Cassie's stuff into my apartment" Robert said seriously.

Cam looked at Cassie "What? Are you - did you move?"

"I have no other choice Cameron .."

"For now Cassie needs protection. I conquered Morgan, but he's a Nephilim, so I don't know how effective it is! He might remember something, and if he remembered, he would tell his grandfather. At that time, the first thing they'll do is find Cassie here."

"And what would change if they came to your house?"

"My house is protected by various spells, but other than that Casalia will be under my protection so they will have to step over my corpse before touching it, as you can imagine, I am not someone who can be killed easily!"

Cassie picks up important items and shows Cam the items that need to be loaded into Robert White's truck. After they have everything, the three of them get into the car and head to Cam's house.

"Are you sure what you're doing?" Cam tells Cassis before entering the house.

"We can always find a solution! Can I ask my parents if ..."

"No, it'll be too dangerous. You've risked a lot last night. I could never forgive you for that, you know that?"

Cam looked at her and became serious "And I will never be able to forgive you that you almost decided to let yourself be killed without considering that in reality you will not be alone, that I'm here with you!"

"Acameron..."

"You can't imagine how grateful I am to Nathan for saving your life and how useless I am for not having the same courage..."

Cassie hugged him, surprising him "You came there for me, that's all that matters!" Then Cassie let go of his embrace and looked him in the eye.

It's clear that Cassie's words aren't comforting and Cam still feels guilty for doing nothing. He knew how strong Cassie was and the fact that she was almost knocked out at the first blow certainly upset him. He thought about Nathan again, about his anger attacking Morgan. Until the last second he was sure that Nathan would not move, that Nathan would let him die, but Nathan did not. He knew he had to thank Nathan, but he couldn't understand why Nathan did it, and most importantly, part of him couldn't forgive him for being so weak.

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Cassie is glad Robert took her under his wing, she knows that staying at Nathan's house is the only right thing to do, but he doesn't know if he can stay with Nathan because he's so mad at him.

Unfortunately, Robert White's apartment wasn't very large, and there were no rooms except the owner's room and the room Cassie slept with that night and now shares with Nathan.

Adult hunters have been bred to share rooms with the opposite sex that don't even have long-distance relationships, so Robert thinks there's no harm in them both sleeping in the same room. The others in the package were also used to this sort of thing, but Cassie never shared a room with anyone other than her mother.

Being around Nathan made him even more nervous. Cassie couldn't sleep and now she's looking up at the ceiling.

"You suffer from insomnia? nathan said suddenly.

Apparently their bed was much closer than Cassie thought. Cassie was a little surprised because not only was the boy's voice so close, but also the perfume. He hasn't analyzed it well and hasn't realized that he recognized Nathan's perfume until last night. Now that everything had calmed down, he sighed. Winter, fresh rain on the ground... That's what the scent of the boy reminds me of.

"I never sleep long."

"Nightmare?"

"How do you know?"

"Okay, I'm just asking... I also can't sleep well at night because of nightmares."

What kind of nightmare could a person like him have? Nathan is like him so he can be found at any time, Cassie knows, but Nathan always gets away with it and if Nathan becomes a professional hunter so young, there must be a reason!

Cassie turned around, watching Nathan's expression as their eyes met. There wasn't much light in the room, but Nathan was a wolf, he could see even at night.

"What's wrong?"

"Pulse... It's okay..."

"That's not true! When I turn around, you're scared. These are my eyes, I can't sleep with my contact lenses..."

"From tomorrow, I don't think you need it, there's a way to make your eyes look like the eyes of all wolves"

"That's impossible! Someone else will know"

Then Robert's eyes popped into Cassie's mind. Robert didn't wear glasses, but he never realized they were red until last night.

"There's spells. You can do this without wearing dark contact lenses! That's what I do to look like the Nephilim .."