Oblivion

  seemed to focus on what she’d just interrupted.

  Her mouth dropped open.

  It wasn’t often that I surprised her…like this. I grinned. “Hey, there, sis. What’s up?”

  “Nothing,” she said. “What are you doing?”

  “Nothing,” I replied, jumping from the swing. I glanced at a silent, dazed-looking Kat. Her gray eyes were still hazy and wide. Freaking beautiful. Damn, I needed to nip this in the bud right now, before something worse than just a trace happened. I met her gaze. “Just earning bonus points.”

  Kat went ramrod straight, her eyes flashing and hands curling in her lap as my words sank in.

  Ah, there it was—there was the kitten coming out, claws sharpening. The warm, cuddly creature was gone in an instant. I’d done that. Taken her up and slammed her right back down to earth, to reality. That was all me.

  I wasn’t proud, but at least this way she’d live. We’d all live.

  I spun toward the steps, leaving her with my sister, who was staring at me in confusion. I felt like the biggest ass on the planet.

  Hell, in the universe.

  The sun had set when my bedroom door burst open and Dee whirled in like a tornado, dark hair streaming from behind her and eyes gleaming with excitement.

  “What in the world did I interrupt?” she demanded.

  I closed the lid on my Mac before Dee could see what I was looking at. “You’re back from the colony early.”

  She danced over to the bed, rising up on the tips of her toes. “Not like that’s really important, but if you must know, I think Ethan was just getting super annoyed with me and decided to let me leave.” She paused, grinning mischievously. “Plus, they’re having some kind of dinner reception for the females who are getting married Tuesday night and I said I’d come back…with Ash.”

  My brows rose. “Uh, does she know that?”

  “Yes. And she’s totally ticked off at me, but she can’t say no. But that’s not important!” She clapped her hands as she rocked back and forth. “What were you doing on the porch with Katy?”

  I sat the Mac on my nightstand. “I was sitting out there with her.”

  Dee’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah, duh, but you weren’t just doing that. Don’t play with me.”

  Had Kat said more? The urge to ask rushed to the tip of my tongue, but I mentally punched myself in the face. Wasn’t going to go there. “I’m not playing with you, sis.”

  “That’s poppycock!”

  “Poppycock,” I repeated slowly and then laughed. “Are you high?”

  She lifted her hand and flipped me off. “You looked like you were about to kiss her.”

  A muscle thrummed along my jaw as I leaned back against the headboard, folding my arms behind my head. “I think you are projecting or something.”

  “While I think Katy is hot, I don’t want to make out with her.” She winked.

  “Glad to hear that,” I muttered.

  “Ugh, why can’t you just admit you were about to do something!” She threw herself onto the bed, shaking the entire frame. Girl looked small but she was like a damn train. “You were going in for the kiss. Your hand was on her chin.”

  Closing my eyes, I decided the last thing I needed was a blow-by-blow description of how close I came to complete disaster.

  “And then add in the fact you made up some lame excuse about keys and bonus points?”

  “The bonus points thing wasn’t a lie. You used to make me do that all the time,” I reminded her.

  She punched my leg, causing me to grunt. “Yeah, when I was, like, five years old.”

  My lips twitched.

  “So why did you make up an excuse to hang out with her?” she persisted.

  I sighed. “Like I told you when I texted you, I haven’t been particularly nice to her and I needed an excuse. Otherwise she would’ve said no.” The last part was definitely not a lie. If I hadn’t virtually blackmailed her into going to the lake with me, she would’ve said no. Tonight? I really hadn’t had to say anything. Interesting.

  “But why—?”

  “Dee,” I growled, opening my eyes to find my sister lying on her stomach with her chin in her hands. She was grinning up at me. “Shouldn’t you be focused on something a little more important.”

  She batted her lashes. “I think I am focused on something super important.”

  I resisted the urge to knock her off the bed. “You can’t tell me you didn’t notice the trace on her.”

  “Oh! Yeah. That.” She tapped pale blue nails against her cheek. “How did that happen?”

  For a moment, all I could do was stare at her. Obviously, she wasn’t that concerned, which made me fear for her well-being. “We went on a walk—”

  “How romantic,” she cooed.

  My lips turned down at the corners. “It wasn’t romantic.”

  “I think it is,” she went on happily. “When Adam and I take walks it always ends with us—”

  “If you want Adam to stay alive, I suggest you don’t finish that sentence.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, so you went on a totally not romantic walk and…”

  I was going to knock her off this bed. “And we happened across a bear. It charged us and I had to do something. I didn’t think you’d be happy with me if I let a bear maul her to death.”

  “Gee, you think?”

  I mouthed a not very nice four-letter word that included “you” at her.

  She giggled. “So how did you explain that one off?”

  “Well, the energy kind of knocked her out, and I blamed it on the storm—lightning.” I exhaled loudly. “I was lucky.”

  “Katy was lucky.”

  My gaze shot to her. “How so?”

  Dee moved in one fluid motion, sitting cross-legged in less than a second. “That you were there to save her.”

  It seemed too obvious to point out the fact that she wouldn’t have needed me to protect her if I hadn’t dragged her out into the woods in the first place.

  “Can I ask you something?” Dee poked my knee with her fingers of death.

  I arched a brow. “Do I really have a say in that?”

  “No.” She flashed a quick grin. “Do you…do you like Katy?”

  Every single part of me locked up. My sister waited while a hundred different responses ran through my head. Did I like her? What in the hell kind of question was that? I lowered my arms and sat up a little, throwing one leg off the bed.

  “Daemon?”

  I didn’t look at my sister as I stood. “No.”

  “What?” she whispered.

  “You heard me.” I rubbed my palm over my jaw, sighing as I walked over to the dresser and picked up the remote. “Look, I’m sure she’s a great girl and friend, and if she wasn’t…human, she’d be about three thousand times awesome, but no, I don’t like her.” Dee was quiet as I returned to the bed, and she didn’t look up when I sat back down. Her lips were pursed, and now I felt like shit. “Want to watch a movie?”

  “Sure.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes, and I wished I hadn’t even looked at her. “Do you think she’ll be safe at least? With the trace?”

  “Yeah. I’ve got this.” The pressure was back on my shoulders, and I flipped on the TV. “As long as she stays put for the next couple of days, she’ll be fine.”

  Dee moved until she was sitting against the headboard, shoulder to shoulder with me. After a moment, she pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. I started flipping through On Demand and she sighed morosely.

  I opened my mouth and then closed it. Another moment passed and I lowered the remote. “I lied.”

  She turned to me. “About what?”

  “The first question you asked.” I didn’t look at her as I shook my head, staring at the list of movies on the screen. “I lied, just a little.”

  Chapter 8

  “I was beginning to wonder if you were becoming a recluse or something.” Andrew sat on the narro
w railing surrounding the raised deck, his legs dangling into empty space. A near-empty bottle of beer was perched on the railing beside him, and if he’d been human, he would’ve been the poster child for the dangers of underage drinking. “Or if you just didn’t like us anymore.”

  Sitting in a chair with my feet kicked up on the patio table, I smirked. “It would be the latter.”

  Andrew snickered. “You’re a jackass.”

  I didn’t disagree with that statement.

  Across from me, Adam mirrored my same position, except he was staring out into the woods, a thoughtful expression on his face. Sometimes being around the brothers was hard, because it reminded me of how it used to be with Dawson.

  Andrew and Adam were identical in physical appearance, both tall and strong, blue eyed and blond, but their personalities couldn’t be any more different. They really were like Dawson and I used to be. I was the hothead. Dawson was the calm one. Andrew was the asshole and Adam was the peacekeeper.

  Not that I’d ever tell Dee, but I was glad it was Adam she appeared to be taking more seriously. I really didn’t know how much their relationship had progressed, and I tried not to think about it, but yeah, I was glad. Andrew was too much like me.

  As I watched Andrew finish off his beer, my mind wandered. Coming over to their place Tuesday evening didn’t feel right, not when Kat had a trace on her, but Andrew had been right. I hadn’t seen the guys in a while and Dee had told me that Kat was staying home. She would be okay there, since it was doubtful an Arum would get that close to the colony, and as long as she wasn’t out running around publically with Dee, endangering her, I really shouldn’t care.

  I didn’t care.

  Dee’s question had been haunting me. Do you like her? I’d said no, and I had lied a little. What I felt for Kat was complicated and twisty. I liked her, but I didn’t. I also liked wolves, but I didn’t want one as a pet.

  Picking up my bottle of water, I took a long swig of it as Adam glanced over at me. “Do you know when the girls are getting back?”

  I raised one shoulder. “Don’t know.”

  “Ash was pissed.” Andrew chuckled as he looked over his shoulder. “She said she was leaving as soon as Dee finished stuffing her face with food.”

  “Gotta love a girl with an appetite,” Adam murmured, lips tipping up at one corner.

  My eyes narrowed on him.

  Adam’s grin faded. “Or not.”

  “Sounds about right,” I commented, idly spinning the bottle of water.

  Andrew leaned backward and flipped over, landing on his feet like a damn cat. He twisted around, picking up the empty bottle. “I need another drink.” He looked over in my direction. “You?”

  “I’m good.”

  “Pansy ass.”

  I flipped him off.

  He chuckled as he disappeared into the house, closing the door behind him. My gaze traveled behind the deck, to the heavy edge of the forest. From our vantage point, I could see the tips of Seneca Rocks. I liked it out here. Like where Matthew lived, there really weren’t any other houses nearby, and it was almost always quiet. The only noise came from the wildlife, and as night was steadily falling, the hum of crickets increased. I looked up. Darker storm clouds were starting to roll in.

  “I know,” Adam announced.

  Frowning, I looked over at him. “Know about what?”

  He glanced at the door before he continued. “I know about the girl who moved in next door.”

  The foot I’d been moving stilled. “I’m going to take a wild guess and say Dee told you?”

  Adam nodded as he leaned back, folding his arms. “Dee really likes her.”

  “Hmm.”

  “I haven’t said anything to Ash or Andrew. Not planning to, because you know how they’re going to react. I’m guessing Matthew knows?” When I nodded, his thoughtful expression returned. “Got to admit, though, I’m kind of surprised you haven’t said anything.”

  I sat the bottle on the table. “Don’t know why you’d think I’d actually bring it up. Not like I sit around and think about the girl.”

  Adam cocked his head to the side, his grin slow to appear. “Well, I wasn’t insinuating that you sit around and think about her, but normally, you’d be bitching to anyone who’ll listen about Dee making friends with a human girl.”

  A muscle flexed in my jaw. “It’s not important.”

  “It kind of is,” he replied.

  “And I don’t sit around bitching about things.”

  Adam’s shoulders shook with a silent laugh, and I started to tell him exactly what I thought about that when my phone vibrated in my pocket. Stretching to the side, I yanked it out of my pocket. Dee’s name flashed across the screen.

  I answered it. “You done with that dinner thing already?”

  Adam perked up across from me, and I decided I really didn’t like that. “I think we have a problem,” Dee started, her voice pitched high.

  Pulling my feet off the table, I tensed. “What kind of problem?”

  “Is there any chance that Kat is with you?” she asked, sounding hopeful.

  A ball of dread settled in my stomach like lead. “No. No chance in hell.”

  “Oh no. I just got back to the house and her car is not in the driveway. So I stopped over to just be sure she wasn’t there and no one answered.” She paused, her breath ragged over the phone. “She’s left the house, and she has a trace on her.”

  I was standing without even realizing it, walking over to the edge of the deck. My voice was low. “You said she was staying in tonight.”

  “I know.” Her voice rose. “That’s what she told me, but she didn’t.”

  “Dammit.” My hand tightened around the phone. “Of course she didn’t.”

  “Is everything okay?” Adam asked from behind me.

  I ignored him as Dee spoke up. “Don’t be mad at her, Daemon. She doesn’t know it’s not safe for her out there right now. She has no idea. This isn’t her fault.”

  Her fault or not didn’t matter. It was still a huge pain in my ass.

  “I’m going to go and see if I can find her. I bet she’s at the library and I will—”

  “No, you won’t. You aren’t going anywhere. You keep your butt at home.” Anger rushed over me, but underneath that, dread was expanding. “I’ll take care of it.”

  “Daemon—”

  “I’ll text you as soon as I find her.” I resisted the urge to turn the phone into a missile. “I’m sure she’s fine. Just…just stay home and don’t worry.”

  Hanging up, I dropped the phone back in my pocket. “I’ve got to go.”

  Adam stood, concern etched into his features. He already had his phone in his hand, and I hoped like hell Dee knew to keep the whole trace thing to herself. “Is everything okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah.” I placed my hands on the railing. “Tell Andrew I’ll catch up with him later.”

  I vaulted over the railing, dropping a good fifteen feet below, landing in a crouch. I rose and took off toward the front of the