The number on the address turned out to be a lawyer’s office, based on the plaque outside. Above the entrance and the large windows were the same damn reddish-black stones Kat and I had seen at the warehouse. Jackpot. Opening the glass door, I walked inside the lobby. Keeping my chin down, I bypassed the elevator and went for the stairwell. I passed the windows, seeing little white boxes tacked along the top of them. My gaze flipped to the ceiling, and I saw a glass-breaking sensor. The building was obviously wired for security.
On the third floor, I found the office at the end of the hall. Unlike the rest of the offices on the floor, this one had the stone above the door and over the small window. I could see that there were people inside the waiting room. On the door a sign had been taped. Closed For New Year’s Day.
Perfect.
I hurried back to where I parked the SUV. Getting in, I tossed Kat a quick grin and pulled out of the parking lot. “It appears to be a lawyer’s office. Has at least two floors above the main one. They’re closed for New Year’s and obviously on Sunday. Bad news is they are outfitted with an alarm system.”
“Crap. Know a way around that?”
“Fry their systems. If I do it quickly enough, I shouldn’t trigger an alarm. But that’s not all. Above the entrances and windows is that same damn blackish-red gemstone.” I smiled. “This is good, though. Whatever those stones are, they have to mean something.”
“What if it’s guarded?” she asked.
I didn’t answer, because I think she already knew the answer. The office looked legit, but it was obviously connected to everything going on. I had to get in there.
Kat let out a low breath. “When are you going back?”
Tomorrow was the plan, but right now, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to drag Kat into it, especially after what happened at the industrial park. If things went south, I didn’t want her in danger, and I also didn’t want her to see what I’d…what I’d have to do if the situation turned sour.
“So are you going to Ash’s party?” I asked, changing the subject. I knew Dee had invited her to the party tonight.
“I don’t know.” She fiddled with the button on her sweater. “I can’t imagine her wanting me there, but back to—”
“I want you there.”
She glanced at me, her cheeks flushing pink.
“Kitten?”
“Okay. I’ll go.”
My lips tipped up at the corners.
“Dee said she’d drive me over,” she added, dropping her hand to her lap.
I winked. “I’m taking you home.”
Kat opened her mouth, and then a strangled laugh came out. “Is that so?”
“Yep.” I hit the highway, but didn’t pick up speed. The roads were congested. “We need to talk.”
Her fingers went back to messing with the button. “About what?”
I smirked as I shot her a quick glance. “You know. What happened last night between us isn’t something I’m going to forget. It changes everything.”
“Changes everything?” Her eyes widened.
“Don’t pretend like last night didn’t happen.”
Kat let go of her button. “I’m not pretending like nothing happened last night. I…I don’t want to.”
I wanted to pull the car over and show her just how thrilled I was to hear that. “Good, because if that wasn’t the case, then you probably shouldn’t have kissed me.”
“You kissed me,” she argued.
I arched a brow. “You kissed me first.”
“I…” Kat threw up her hands. “You’re right. I did kiss you first.”
“Glad we’re on the same page,” I replied drily.
There was a moment, and then Kat laughed huskily. “We…we’re on the same page.”
Reaching over, I found her hand and threaded my fingers through hers. I squeezed, and she responded with the same. A lot was unspoken between us and everything was up in the air, but there would be time later.
We would have tonight.
After dropping Kat off, I took a quick shower and then headed over to the Thompsons’. I took my car since I’d need it to take Kat home later.
The Thompsons’ house was much larger, closer to Matthew’s and deep in the woods, a lot more secluded. I found Dee helping Ash cut up orange slices in the kitchen. There was already a huge bowl on the gray granite counter. “What’s up with the oranges?” I asked. I wasn’t sure why Ash put so much effort into the party since she didn’t invite anyone from school, but who was I to judge?
Dee glanced over her shoulder. “For the punch.”
“That’s a lot of punch then.” I eyed the bowl.
“I like my punch,” Ash replied, cleaving an orange in two with a quick swipe as she smiled sweetly at me. “Want to help? You can hold the oranges for me.”
Okay.
“Yeah. I’ll pass on that.” Pursing my lips, I wheeled around and walked into the sunken living room. The guys were there, sitting side by side on a sectional, their fingers flying over their controllers. On the wide screen was one of the Call of Duty games.
I dropped down on the couch and stretched out my legs. “You guys seem real busy.”
Adam smiled without looking over at me. “Whoever loses has to run out to the grocery store and get—”
“Wieners and crescent rolls!” Dee shouted from the kitchen.
Adam grimaced. “That.”
“Those things are the best,” Andrew added, his eyes narrowed in concentration. “I can eat an entire—dammit!”
I glanced at the screen as Adam tossed the controller to the couch. Popping to his feet, he raised his arms. “Oh yeah, see you later, ass.”
Andrew cursed under his breath. “This is bullshit.”
I laughed.
Rising to his feet, he flipped off his brother and then turned to me. “Is it true?”
Arching a brow, I stared back at him. “Is what true?”
“Katy is coming over?”
My smile was tight and about a thousand miles in the opposite direction of friendly. “You got a problem with that?”
As he walked past, he gave me a wide berth. “Do you want an honest answer?”
“Not really,” I replied, tilting my head back as I watched him. “Mainly because I don’t care.”
Andrew looked like he wanted to say more, but wisely kept his mouth shut as he dug his car keys out of his pocket and headed into the kitchen.
“One of these days, he’ll be okay with it.” Adam flipped off the TV. “Want to step outside?”
“Sure.”
I followed Adam out on the deck as I heard Andrew make his way out the front door, slamming it behind him. “He’s really going to need to readjust that attitude before Kat gets here. I don’t want her to feel like she’s not welcome.”
“Do you believe she thinks she’s welcome?” he asked as he lifted himself up on the railing.
Folding my arms, I leaned against the side of the house. “No. She knows Ash and Andrew would rather see her propelled into a different galaxy than be at their house.”
He flashed a quick grin. “So why would she come?”
“Because Dee asked her.” I paused. “And because I asked her.”
Adam eyed me for a moment. “Cool. So, any more news? About Bethany or Dawson.” His bright gaze flickered to the sliding doors. “I haven’t said a word to Dee, but I’ve got to tell you, that isn’t easy.”
“I know, and I appreciate you keeping it quiet,” I told him, tipping my head back. Thick clouds were rolling in. It was going to snow again. There wasn’t much I felt like I could tell him. Since I’d taken out two DOD officers, the less Adam knew the better. Plausible deniability. “We haven’t found much, but I’m hoping that’ll—”
“You’re lying,” he cut in, brows raised.
A reluctant grin pulled at my lips. “If I was, I have good reasons.”
“I’d hope.”
The sliding glass door opened and Dee stuck her head out. “
I’m heading over to get Katy.”
“I’ll go with you.” Adam jumped off the railing.
“What if I wanted to go?” I asked.
Dee rolled her eyes. “I would like some alone time with her. Well, no-Daemon time, actually. I haven’t had a lot of that.”
Which was why I wasn’t pushing it. “Whatever. Don’t take forever.”
She made a face at me as she stepped aside, letting Adam through. “I’ll take however long I like.”
“Hey, Ash, I’ll be back,” Adam yelled at his sister. “Make sure Andrew’s pulled his head out of his ass by then.”
“Not my problem!” she shouted back, still in the kitchen I assumed.
As Adam walked through the house, he folded his arm along Dee’s shoulders. I smiled as I flipped my gaze back to the sky. Adam…yeah, he was good for Dee. He was good all around. So were Andrew and Ash, but they were a little sharp around the edges.
Sharp like broken glass.
Even though it wasn’t particularly warm outside, I stayed out on the deck. It was quiet here. Not that it wasn’t peaceful at home. It was different here. So much stuff was running through my head that it was damn near close to an hour before I headed inside. Andrew still wasn’t back, and I could hear Ash humming from the kitchen.
I waved my hand. The remote flew off the arm of the couch. I flipped the TV on and leaned over the back of couch. Seemed weird as hell to be doing this—partying on New Year’s Eve when I could be hours away—
My phone vibrated in my pocket. Pulling it out, I saw that it was Dee. I answered. “What’s up?”
“Something is going on with Kat,” she said in a rush. “She’s inside the house, but she won’t let us in or come out.”
Dread curled along the base of my spine. “What?”
“She said these…these terrible things to me, Daemon. Things she would never say.” Emotion clouded Dee’s voice. “Something is wrong.”
“Shit. Okay. I’ll be right over, but I want you and Adam to stay away from the house until I get there. Okay?” When Dee didn’t answer, my fingers tightened on the phone. “Did you hear me, Dee? I don’t want you going near that house. Drive down the road and stay there until I get there. Promise me.”
There was a pause. “I promise.”
Dee hung up, and I…I didn’t believe her for one second.
Chapter 26
I took off on foot, running faster through the woods than I ever have before. I was nothing more than a blur, my feet not even touching the ground.
Fury and panic ripped into my skin, shredding muscle and tissue. I pushed it away, shoved it down, and shut it off as I raced across Petersburg.
Snow had started to fall as I burst through the trees, hitting the snow-covered access road leading to our houses. I saw Dee’s car, but she and Adam were nowhere near. Dammit. I knew they hadn’t listened. The thick, oily presence of the Arum was the first thing I noticed, and as I cleared the small hill, I saw two cars in front of Kat’s house.
Blake’s truck.
An Expedition.
Intense white light radiated from Kat’s living room, shining through the window. Energy shifted inside me, pulling me forward. In an instant I knew it was from Kat. How she was pulling the Source from me, I had no idea, but I felt it. The tugging motion didn’t weaken me nor was it unpleasant, but the fact that she was doing it sent me flying forward. I didn’t slow as I raced up the porch steps and threw open the front door, coming face-to-face with fleeing Arum.
In their true form, they appeared as if they were made of smoke and oil, their black tendrils crawling up the walls and smacking into the ceiling.
“Leaving so soon?” I said. “I’m offended.”
I shifted immediately, drawing on the Source. I took out the closest Arum with a blast, followed by the other. It spun up in the air, shattering like the ceramic bowl Ash had dropped. Inky fragments floated to the ceiling and faded into thin wisps.
What I saw in the living room enraged me.
Dee was on the floor. Her chest was rising and falling in shallow breaths. Lying beside her was Adam and he… Adam was gone. His nearly translucent form was still and no blood pumped through the network of silvery veins.
Adam was dead.
Raw pain lanced me, nearly taking my knees out from under me. Adam was a brother to me, and it was like losing Dawson all over again. The hurt twisted into a red-hot, deadly fury as I lifted my head.
I saw another Arum between Kat and me, and Kat…holy shit, she was in the air, her long strands of hair floating around her head. She was glowing a bright white tinged in red, like me. Her light pulsed, and mine flared in response as she drew the Arum closer to her.
We were two sides of the same coin.
Beyond the glow surrounding her, I saw the bruises on her, on her cheeks. I saw the dried blood around her mouth, under her nose. And I knew then that what I’d always suspected about that bastard had been true. He had been the one hurting her.
Tell me what happened, I asked, not speaking out loud.
The light around her throbbed brightly. It was Blake. He was working for the DOD the entire time, with his uncle. It’s Vaughn. Blake was sent here because they have the one who mutated him. Chris. They’ve been using him as leverage over Blake… She struck out at the Arum, pushing him back toward me. Vaughn was going to make some kind of exchange that Blake didn’t know about. Vaughn was going to let the Arum—Residon—take Adam’s—take his body and Dee. I couldn’t let that happen.
I’d heard enough.
Kat turned her head toward where Vaughn was trying to work the window open. When that didn’t work, he grabbed the floor lamp. Kat stopped him with a wave of her hand, whipping the lamp out of his hands.
The bastard Blake rushed past me and the Arum darted, shifting up toward the ceiling. Spinning around, I took off after both of them. Three forms streaked up the driveway—Andrew, Ash, and Matthew. I wanted to stop them. They didn’t need to see Adam like that, but there was no time. The Arum and Blake were getting away.
The Arum raced down the driveway. I hit him with a blast of the Source, stronger and more concentrated than the blow inside. All it took was one hit. The Arum spun into the air and then froze. A heartbeat passed, and then the Arum imploded, dark ash mixing with the falling snow.
Whirling around, I scanned for Blake. I saw him standing near Kat’s car, but then Vaughn launched out from behind it, stumbling to his knees. On his feet, he ran for the Expedition, ducking behind it with a gun in his hand.
Oh no, he was going nowhere.
I threw out my arm, flipping the Expedition in the air. It landed on its roof. Metal crunched and gave way. Glass exploded.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Blake start to run. I crossed the distance in an under a second. His eyes widened when he saw me. He opened his mouth, but I caught him around the throat, cutting off whatever it was he was going to say.
I flipped him over, slamming him down on the hood of Kat’s car. I shifted into my human form. “You have no idea how painful I’m going to make this for you. Every bruise you gave Kat, I’m going to return to you tenfold.” I lifted him off my hood. The boy’s feet dangled in the air. “And I’m going to seriously enjoy this.”
“Daemon!” Kat shouted, running off the porch.