The Naturals, #2
Killer Instinct
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Contents
Chapter 8
Overview
Dean leaves after identifying his father’s MO in the new murder, fracturing the team’s calm. Lia explodes at Cassie and storms out, exposing raw loyalties. Sloane frames their Natural abilities as forged by difficult childhoods, and Michael steadies her. Cassie resolves to give Dean space, uncertain he’ll be okay.
Summary
After Dean confirms the Colonial University killing mirrors his father’s methods, he leaves the room. The team sits in heavy silence, Cassie fixated on the video of the bound, hanged victim and wondering if fate is cruelly echoing their past cases.
When Cassie voices the eerie pattern connecting recent cases to them, Lia lashes out, insisting this isn’t about Cassie and accusing Cassie of not understanding Dean. She storms out, leaving Cassie, Michael, and Sloane stunned. Michael notes Lia’s anger may be more than situational, and Cassie reasons Lia feels displaced as Dean’s confidante.
Sloane bluntly observes that Dean likes Cassie, intensifying Lia’s reaction. She then explains that being a Natural is shaped by childhood—exposure to instability, extremes, or abuse hones their abilities. The team quietly acknowledges their histories: Lia’s deception detection, Michael’s emotional acuity, Cassie’s profiling.
Uncomfortable, Michael departs after reassuring Sloane. Alone with Cassie, Sloane wonders if Dean is in the garage. Cassie concludes Dean needs space and admits she can’t just wait, yet she can’t force it. When Sloane asks if Dean will be okay, Cassie answers honestly: she doesn’t know.
Who Appears
- Cassie HobbesNarrator; questions the pattern linking cases to them and decides to give Dean space.
- Lia ZhangExplodes at Cassie over Dean, leaves the house, revealing protective loyalty and hurt.
- Sloane TavishLinks Natural abilities to difficult upbringings; seeks connection and worries about Dean.
- Michael TownsendDiagnoses emotions, defuses tension, comforts Sloane, then departs.
- Dean ReddingConfirms the copycat’s MO matches his father’s, then withdraws to deal alone.