Oblivion

  “But…but…but…”

  Grinning, I slid my hands down her arms, stopping at her elbows. “Use your words, Kitten.”

  “But we can’t trust him. This is most likely a trap!”

  “We’re kind of damned if we do and damned if we don’t.” I shifted, dragging my hands along her lower back. “But I’ve given it thought.”

  “What? The whole ten minutes it took us to get home?”

  “I think it’s cute that you call my house home.” I liked her responding flush. “By the way, it is my house. My name is on the deed.”

  “Daemon,” she said, sighing. “Nice to know, but it’s not important right now.”

  “True, but it’s good knowledge to have, but anyway, since you went totally off topic there—”

  “What? You’re the one—”

  “I know my brother. Dawson’s going to go to Blake if we don’t agree,” I told her. “It’s what I would do if our positions were reversed. And we know Blake better than he does.”

  “I don’t know about this, Daemon.”

  I shrugged. “I’m not going to let him turn you over.”

  She frowned. “He’ll turn you over, too, and what about your family? Bringing Blake into the fold is going to be dangerous…and stupid.”

  “The risk outweighs the possible consequences.”

  “I’m shocked,” she admitted, dropping her arms to her lap. “You didn’t want me training with Blake because you didn’t trust him and that was before we knew he was a killer.”

  “But now we’re both going into this knowing what he’s capable of. Our eyes are open.”

  “That makes no sense.”

  It didn’t really matter if it made sense or not, because we really had no choice. Car doors closed outside, catching Kat’s attention. She glanced at the window. “The only reason you’re going to work with him is for Dawson and me. That’s probably not the wisest decision you’ve made.”

  “Maybe not.” I clasped her cheeks, drawing her attention back to me. I kissed her deeply, keeping us connected until she moaned into my mouth. Then I dumped her on the cushion next to me and stood. “But my mind’s made up. Be prepared. This meeting isn’t going to go well.”

  As expected, the meeting went as well as rolling around naked in a pit of fire ants would.

  Matthew looked like he was two seconds from drowning himself in a bottle of liquor. Dee, Ash, and Andrew wanted to find Blake and murder him slowly and in a very bloodthirsty way. Admittedly, it was disturbing seeing Dee as fired up as she was. Adam’s death had hardened her, just like it had me when we thought Dawson had died.

  And Dawson was ready to say screw it all and invite Blake right into the house.

  But Dee…damn, she was undeterred, even when Ash and Andrew, who’d lost their brother, seemed to realize the predicament we were in.

  “Then we find out who he’s talked to or working with and take care of them!”

  My mouth dropped open. “Are you serious?”

  “Yes!”

  I turned away, unable to look at her. This wasn’t my sister.

  Dawson leaned forward on the couch. “Is your need for vengeance more important than finding and stopping what they’re doing to Beth?”

  When I glanced back at her, she stood there, staring at Dawson with a grim, determined look on her face.

  “Because, little sister, let me tell you that what Adam went through pales in comparison to what she’s experiencing. The things I’ve seen…” Dawson trailed off and his gaze lowered as he shook his head. “If you doubt what I say, then ask Katy. She’s had a taste of some of their methods, and she can still barely talk from screaming.”

  The blood drained from her face as she glanced at Kat. They still hadn’t really talked, but Dee knew what had happened to Kat when Will had hold of her. Dee looked away far too quickly, and based on the shit she was spouting earlier at Kat, it was obvious that she still blamed Kat for Adam.

  “You ask a lot,” Dee said, her voice hoarse. Her lower lip trembled as her shoulders slumped. Her tear-filled gaze swept the room, then she turned and walked out the door.

  Andrew moved before anyone else, glancing in my direction. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”

  “Thank you.” I rubbed my palm along my jaw. “Well, that went wonderful.”

  “Did you really expect her or any of us to be okay with it?” Ash asked.

  I snorted. “No, but I have a problem with my sister so willing to kill.”

  “I can’t…” Kat didn’t finish. She scrubbed her fingers through her hair.

  “How do we contact Blake?” Matthew asked, getting the conversation back on track. “It’s not something I can or wish to discuss with him in class.”

  “What?” Kat asked when eyes settled on her.

  “You have his number, don’t you?” Ash stared at her nails. “Text. Call him. Whatever. And tell him we’re ridiculously stupid and plan to help him.”

  Kat wrinkled her nose, but she reached into her bag and grabbed her phone. Her fingers flew over the screen. I could tell he responded quickly, because she sighed. “Saturday evening.” Her voice sounded weak. “He wants to meet tomorrow evening in a public spot—Smoke Hole.”

  I nodded.

  She sent back a text and then said, “It’s done.”

  The two words landed like a ton of cement in the center of the living room. No one was really relieved, but what was done was done. Dee and Andrew hadn’t returned by the time Matthew and Ash left. Dawson had gone upstairs and Kat outside. I followed, walking up behind her, repeating what she had done for me this afternoon. I wrapped my arms around her, and she leaned into me. Several moments passed as neither of us spoke in the silence that was broken only by a distant call of a bird. In those few precious minutes, my thoughts raced over everything that had happened since Kat had moved into the house next door. Regret settled in my chest.

  I rested my chin atop her head. “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?” she asked.

  For a shit-ton, but I guessed I should start somewhere recent. “I shouldn’t have flipped out over the whole Dawson thing last weekend. You did the right thing by telling him we’d help. If not, God knows what he would’ve done by now.” I kissed the top of her peach-scented head. “And thank you for everything with Dawson. Even though our Saturday will take a turn into crapsville, Dawson… He’s been different since zombie night. Not the old Dawson, but close.”

  There was a pause. “You don’t need to thank me for that. Seriously.”

  “I do. And I meant it.”

  “Okay.” Several seconds passed. “Do you think we made a mistake? Letting Blake go that night?”

  Mulling that over, I tightened my arms around her waist. “I don’t know. I really don’t.”

  “We had good intentions, right? We wanted to give him a chance, I guess.” Then she laughed.

  “What?”

  Her eyes opened. “The road to hell is paved with good intentions. We should’ve blasted his ass.”

  I lowered my chin to her shoulder and thought about that. The old me? Yeah, I would’ve taken him out without thinking after what happened to Adam, but now? “Maybe I would’ve done something like that before you.”

  Kat turned her head toward mine. “What do you mean?”

  “Before you came along, I would’ve killed Blake for what he did and felt like crap afterward, but I would’ve done it.” I pressed a kiss against her neck, right where her pulse beat so strongly. “And in a way, you did convince me. Not the way Dee thinks, but you could’ve taken out Blake, and you didn’t.”

  She gave a little shake of her head. “I don’t know.”

  “I do.” I smiled against her cheek. “You make me think before I act. You make me want to be a better person—Luxen—whatever.”

  Kat twisted around in my arms and stared up at me with an earnest gleam in her eyes. “You are a good person.”

  “Kitten, you and I both know that’s incredibly rar
e.”

  “No—”

  I placed a finger over her lips. “I make terrible decisions. I can be a dickhead, and I do it on purpose. I tend to bully people into doing what I want. And I let everything that had happened with Dawson amplify those…uh, personality traits. But—” I removed my finger and smiled at her. “But you…you make me want to be different. That’s why I didn’t kill Blake. It’s why I don’t want you making those decisions or for you to be around me if I am choosing those things.”

  Then I kissed her, and for a little while, not nearly long enough, there wasn’t need for any words to be spoken.

  Chapter 8

  After catching one-on-one time with Kat that wasn’t nearly enough time, we headed to the Smoke Hole diner Saturday evening. Kat was like a live wire as we were seated in a booth in the back, near the crackling fire. I knew she expected this to be a trap and for us to be seconds away from the DOD bum-rushing the place.

  I wasn’t going to let anything happen to her.

  Besides, the DOD wouldn’t come at us in such a public manner, and we hadn’t come to the diner alone. Matthew and crew were hanging back in the parking lot, and some of the staff here were of the extraterrestrial persuasion, including our waitress, Jocelyn.

  Quite a bit of the Luxen living in the colony worked outside of it. Obviously the football coach and some of the administrative staff at the high school lived in the colony but were employed in the human world; however, I was kind of surprised to see that Jocelyn was still working here since she just had her babies and had to have her hands full.

  Kat was busy making kitten litter out of the napkin she was frantically ripping apart while Jocelyn appeared at our table. “Daemon, how are you doing? Haven’t seen you in ages.”

  “Good. How about you, Jocelyn?”

  Kat’s fingers stilled as she eyed the redhead curiously.

  “I’ve been real good,” Jocelyn said. “I’ve stepped down from managing since the babies. Working part time instead, since they’re a handful, but you and your family should visit soon, especially since…” She looked at Kat and her smile faded just a little. “Since Dawson has come back. Roland would love to see both of you.”

  “We’d love to do that.” I winked at Kat. “By the way, Jocelyn, this is my girlfriend, Katy.”

  Kat’s lips split in a wide smile as she extended her hand to the Luxen female. “Hi.”

  Jocelyn blinked and paled. “Girlfriend?”

  “Girlfriend,” I repeated.

  She gave a little shake of her head and then shook Kat’s hand before quickly releasing it. “Nice…nice to meet you. Uh, what can I get you two?”

  “Two Cokes,” I ordered, and Jocelyn rushed off to place the order.

  “Jocelyn…?” Kat asked.

  I slid over another napkin for her pile. “Are you jealous, Kitten?”

  “Pfft. Whatever,” she said. “Okay, maybe a little until I realized she was in the ARP.”

  “ARP?” I stood, moving to her side instead of sitting across from her. “Scoot.”

  She wiggled over. “Alien Relocation Program.”

  “Ha.” I dropped my arm over the back of the booth and stretched my legs out. “Yeah, she’s good people.”

  Jocelyn returned with our drinks, and I placed an order for a meat loaf sandwich. Kat didn’t order anything, and I knew she was too nervous to eat. When Jocelyn left, I angled my body toward hers and lowered my voice. “Nothing’s going to happen. Okay?”

  Kat drew in a deep breath and nodded. “I just want to get this over with.”

  No sooner did those words come out of her lush little mouth than Blake walked into the restaurant, his gaze zeroing in on where we waited for him. The punk-ass swaggered up to our table like he wasn’t at all concerned with the fact that the last time I’d seen him I wanted to kill him.

  Behind Kat’s head, my hand curled into a fist along the back of the booth. “Bart,” I drawled, forcing my hand out of the clench. “It’s been so long.”

  “I see you still haven’t figured out my name.” He slid into the seat across from us, frowning at the pile of torn napkins. “Hey, Katy.”

  I leaned forward, smiling coldly. “You don’t talk to her.” Kat pinched my leg under the table, but I ignored it. “At all.”

  Blake raised a brow. “Well, only talking to you is going to make this conversation real rough.”

  “Like I care?” I said.

  Kat exhaled slowly. “Okay. Let’s get to the point. Where are Beth and Chris, Blake?”

  Blake’s gaze slid to Kat again. “I—”

  Placing my hand on the table, I allowed a current of electricity to course across the table, shocking Blake. He lifted his hand with a hiss, his eyes narrowing on me.

  I smiled.

  “Look, you tool, you can’t intimidate me this time.” Blake’s voice dripped contempt. “So you’re just wasting time and pissing me off.”

  “We’ll see about that,” I replied.

  Jocelyn returned with the meat loaf sandwich and took Blake’s drink order. The moment she left, Kat refocused. “Where are they?”

  “If I tell you, I’d have to trust that you two, plus anyone else, aren’t going to give me a cement swim.”

  She rolled her eyes, and I almost laughed at the lame reference. “Trust is a two-way street,” she said.

  “And we don’t trust you,” I threw out.

  Blake drew in a long breath. “I don’t blame you. I’ve given you no reason to trust me other than the fact that I didn’t tell Daedalus about how well the mutation held.”

  “And I bet either your uncle stopped you from turning me over, or you thought he was doing his job,” she countered. “But he screwed you over for money.”

  Blake’s jaw hardened. “He did. And he put Chris in danger. But it’s not like I haven’t had to convince them otherwise after the fact. They think I’m happy to be an implant. That I’ve drunk the Kool-Aid and asked for seconds.”

  I snickered. “To save your own ass, I’m sure.”

  “The fact is, Daedalus doesn’t believe you’re a viable subject,” Blake said.

  “How do you know?” I picked up the fork, resisting the urge to implant it in his eyeball.

  “The only real wild card here is Will. Obviously, he knew and used that knowledge.”

  “Will isn’t our biggest or most annoying problem right now.” I took a bite, chewing slowly. “You either have a lot of courage or are incredibly stupid. I’m going to go with the incredibly stupid part.”

  Blake snorted. “Yeah. Okay.”

  I did not like his attitude. Once he had his drink in front of him and Jocelyn was gone, I leaned forward. Blake’s gaze met mine, and the stupid ass had the brains to recognize his mistake. “We gave you a chance and you came back here after you killed one of our own. You think I’m the only person you have to look over your shoulder and watch out for? You’re so wrong.”

  Fear churned in his eyes, but he hid it when he spoke. “The same goes for you, buddy.”

  I sat back, eyes hooded. “As long as we’re on the same page.”

  “Back to Daedalus,” Kat said. “How do you know they’re watching Dawson?”

  “I’ve been watching you guys, and I’ve seen them hanging around.” He folded his arms. “I don’t know how much work Will did to get him free, but I doubt he pulled the wool over anyone’s eyes. Dawson is free because they wanted him to be free.” He paused. “Here’s the deal. I know where they’re keeping Beth and Chris. I’ve never been there, but I know someone who has and can give us the security codes to get into the facility.”