Текст книги "Oblivion"

Автор книги: Jennifer L. Armentrout

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Текущая страница: 11 (всего у книги 51 страниц)

“Yeah, cutting off heads usually does.” Her hands slid to her face and she sat there, cradling her head. “You’re an alien.”

I raised my brows at her. “There is a lot we can do, but not until we hit puberty, and even then we have a hard time controlling it. Sometimes, the things we can do can get a little whacked-out.”

“That has to be…difficult.”

“Yes, it is.”

She lowered her hands, pressing them to her chest. “What else can you do?”

I eyed her. “Promise not to take off running again.”

“Yes,” she said, and then nodded. Very cute.

“We can manipulate objects. Any object can be moved, animated or not. But we can do more than that.” I reached over and picked up a fallen leaf. I held it between us. “Watch.”

Tapping into the Source, I let the heat whip down my arm to the tips of my fingers. Smoke wafted from it, and then a tiny spark flew. Flames, bright and orangey, burst from my fingers, licking up over the leaf. In the time it took for the heart to beat, the leaf was gone.

Kat rose onto her knees and inched closer. I watched her, surprised. Flames crackled over my fingers. She lifted her hand, placing her fingers near the flames. When she pulled her hand back, her eyes were wide with wonder. “The fire doesn’t hurt you?”

“How can something that’s a part of me hurt?” I lowered my hand, shaking it so the flames were extinguished. “See? All gone.”

She scooted even closer. “What else can you do?”

I watched her for a second, and then I smiled before I moved quicker than she could track. One second I was sitting in front of her, and the next I was leaning against the tree, several feet away.

“How…in the world—wait! You’ve done that before. The creepy, quiet moving thing. But it’s not that you’re quiet.” She sat back, dazed. “You move that fast.”

“Fast as the speed of light, Kitten.” I darted forward and then slowly sat down. “Some of us can manipulate our bodies past the form we chose originally. Like shift into any living thing, person or creature.”

She glanced down and then back up. “Is that why Dee fades out sometimes?”

What the hell? “You’ve seen that?”

“Yes, but I figured I was seeing things.” Leaning to the side, she uncurled her legs, stretching them out. Of course, that drew my attention, because of…well, legs. “She used to do it when she was feeling comfortable, it seemed. Just her hand or the outline of her body would fade in and out.”

I dragged my gaze from her legs and nodded. “Not all of us have control over what we can do. Some struggle with their abilities.”

“But you don’t?”

“I’m just that awesome.”

She rolled her eyes but then popped up straight. “What about your parents? You said they work in the city, but I’ve never seen them.”

I returned to feeling up the grass. “Our parents never made it here.”

“I’m…I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It was a long time ago. We don’t even remember them.”

“God, I feel so stupid,” she said after a moment. “You know, I thought they worked out of town.”

“You aren’t stupid, Kat. You saw what we wanted you to see. We are very good at that.” I sighed. “Well, apparently not good enough.” When I looked at her again, she had this far-off look on her face. “You’re handling this better than I expected.”

“Well, I’m sure I’ll have plenty of time to panic and have a mini breakdown later. I will probably think that I have lost my mind.” She bit down on her lip. “Can…can you all control what others think? Read minds?”

I shook my head. “No. Our powers are rooted in what we are. Maybe if our power—the light—was manipulated by something, who knows. Anything would be possible.”

Anger sparked in her eyes, and she bristled up like a little angry kitten. “This whole time I thought I was going crazy. Instead, you’ve been telling me I’m seeing things or making shit up. It’s like you’ve given me an alien lobotomy. Nice.”

My eyes narrowed as I stared at her. “I had to. We can’t have anyone knowing about us. God knows what would happen to us then.”

Kat exhaled roughly, and I could tell she was struggling to let it go. “How many…humans know about you?”

“There are some locals who think we’re God-only-knows-what,” I explained. “There’s a branch of the government that knows of us, within the Department of Defense, but that’s about it. They don’t know about our powers. They can’t,” I nearly growled, meeting her eyes. “The DOD thinks we’re harmless freaks. As long as we follow their rules, they give us money, our homes, and leave us alone. So when any one of us goes power-crazy it’s bad news for several reasons. We try not to use our powers, especially around humans.”

“Because it would expose what you are.”

“That, and…” I rubbed my jaw, suddenly tired. I didn’t want to admit that I’d been putting her in danger. “Every time we use our power around a human, well, it leaves a trace on that person, enables us to see that they’ve been around another one like us. So we try not to ever use our abilities around humans, but you…well, things never went according to plan with you.”

“When you stopped the truck, did that leave a…trace on me?” When I didn’t answer, she started to put it together. “And when you scared the bear away? That’s traceable by others like you? So the Thompsons and any other alien around here know I’ve been exposed to your…alien mojo?”

“Pretty much,” I said. “And they aren’t exactly thrilled about it.”

“Then why did you stop the truck? I’m obviously a huge liability to you.”

Damn, wasn’t that a loaded question? Andrew and Matthew both would probably demand the same thing if I told them about Kat knowing what we were, and I was really hoping that conversation would never happen. I really didn’t know how to answer that question.

Or maybe I did, and I just didn’t want to speak it out loud.

Kat drew in a deep breath. “What are you going to do with me?”

I lifted my gaze. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Since I know what you are, that makes me a risk to everyone. You…can light me on fire and God knows what else.”

I couldn’t believe what she was saying. I knew I’d been a dick to her, but come on. She had to sense there was something more between us. Didn’t she? Shit. Maybe not. Maybe I was so good at my douchebag skills, as she called them, she had no clue how I was really starting to feel about her. I pondered telling her everything. How just being around her made me smile more than I had in years. How I admired her spunk and the way she stood up for herself, and especially the way she stood up to me and my bullshit. As a warm feeling started to grow in my chest, I nipped that shit in the bud pronto, with an image of my dead brother and the human he’d fallen for squaring my jaw. No, it was still better if we went our separate ways, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t ease her fears at least. “Why would I have told you everything if I were going to do anything to you?”

Her lips pursed. “I don’t know.”

Moving toward her, I reached out, but stopped short when she flinched from me. My stomach sank as my fingers curled around empty air. “I’m not going to do anything to you. Okay?”

She nibbled on that lower lip. “How can you trust me?”

Another loaded question that was hard to answer. This time when I reached out, she didn’t pull away. I curved my finger under her chin, holding her gaze to mine. “I don’t know. I just do. And honestly, no one would believe you. Plus, if you made a lot of commotion, you’d bring the DOD in, and you don’t want that. They will do anything to make sure the human population isn’t aware of us.”

Kat seemed to process that, and for a moment, our gazes held. We were connected by not just the physical touch but also the truth. When she pulled away from me, I didn’t particularly like it.

And I didn’t like that I didn’t like it.

“So that’s why you said all those things earlier?” she asked, her voice small. “You don’t hate me?”

My gaze fell to my hand as I lowered it. My tongue worked around the words. “I don’t hate you, Kat.”

“And this is why you don’t want me to be friends with Dee, because you were afraid that I’d find out the truth?”

“That, and you’re a human. Humans are weak. They bring us nothing but trouble.” Yeah, that came out harsher than I’d intended, but that’s probably for the best. She needed to know what was at stake—for all of us.

Her eyes narrowed. “We aren’t weak. And you’re on our planet. How about a little respect, buddy.”

Amusement flooded me. “Point taken.” I looked her over. “How are you handling all of this?”

“I’m processing everything. I don’t know. I don’t think I’m going to freak out anymore.”

Happy to hear that. I pushed to my feet. “Well then, let’s get you back before Dee thinks I killed you.”

“Would she really think that?” she asked slowly as though she were afraid of the answer.

I watched her from where I towered over her and when she met my gaze this time, I knew she saw the coldness in it. “I’m capable of anything, Kitten. Killing to protect my family isn’t something I’d hesitate over, but that’s not what you have to worry about.”

“Well, that’s good to know,” she murmured.

I cocked my head to the side. “There are others out there who will do anything to have the powers that the Luxen have, especially mine. And they will do anything to get to me and my kind.”

“And what does that have to do with me?”

Crouching down, I glanced around us. “The trace I’ve left on you from stopping the truck can be tracked. And you’re lit up like the Fourth of July right now.”

Her breath caught.

“They will use you to get to me.” I reached out, pulling a leaf from her hair. Then I touched her cheek, where her skin had been torn from the night she’d been attacked. “And if they get a hold of you…death would be a relief.”

Chapter 15

Kat was quiet most of the walk back. The trace around her was vibrant, like an all-white disco ball. That was going to be so incredibly problematic.

As the trees cleared, she spoke. “Can I…can I see Dee?”

I kept my steps slow so she didn’t have to struggle to keep up with me. “I think waiting until tomorrow would be a good idea. I need to talk to her, explain to her what I’ve told you.”

Her gaze turned woeful as we neared the houses, but she nodded. I followed her up the porch steps where light was on, casting a soft glow over Kat’s bowed head. Through the windows, I could see that her house was dark. Her mom was at work, as usual. After everything that had gone down, I didn’t think her being alone tonight was a good thing.

What if she woke up in the middle of the night and started calling everyone under the sun? Okay. That wasn’t exactly probable. Kat wasn’t stupid, but she could wake up and freak out. That would be understandable.

I held open the screen door for her as she reached for the main door. “Do you want to spend the night at my place?”

Kat stopped and turned to me slowly. One eyebrow rose. “Come again?”

A chuckle rumbled out from me. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Kitten.”

Her lips pinched. “My mind is not in the gutter.”

“Uh-huh.” I gave her a half grin. “You can stay at our house if you’d like. Then in the morning, Dee will be right there.”

She didn’t speak as her gaze searched mine, and then she nodded. “Okay. I just…I need to grab a few things.”

I nodded. “I’ll wait for you downstairs.”

Again, she studied me like she was trying to figure me out, and then she pushed open the main door. As she walked in, she flipped the light on in the foyer. Glancing over her shoulder, she looked back but didn’t meet my stare. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll be here.”

Kat darted up the staircase, her flip-flops smacking off the steps. While she was upstairs, I didn’t stay put. The layout of the house was the same as ours, so when I roamed off to my left, I entered the kitchen. I flipped on the overhead light and scoped out the place. I wasn’t really looking for anything. Mostly, I was just curious.

But what I saw tipped up the corners of my lips.

Everywhere I looked, there were books, just as it had been in the living room. Two were on the counter, near a toaster. One was on the fridge, and I had no idea why there’d be one there. There were three on the kitchen table, stacked next to two unopened packages.

How in the world could someone have so many books?

I heard her moving around upstairs. I turned off the light and returned to the foyer. A few seconds later, she started down the stairs, carrying a small tote bag. “I’m ready.”

Kat locked up, and then we headed toward my house. On the way, she kept peeking in my direction. I could tell she had more questions. Who wouldn’t after finding out they were living next door to aliens? But I figured she had to have a breaking point, and I really didn’t want to be the one to push her over the edge. That was one reason I didn’t want her talking to Dee.

But I also needed to make sure we were on the same page, that Kat realized what she’d just stepped in and the consequences of knowing what she did.

When we reached the front door, I stopped and faced her. There was no light on, and we stood in the dark. “There’s something I just need to make sure of, okay?”

She held the tote close to her body. “All right?”

I lowered my voice just in case Dee was hovering inside the door. She was somewhere in the house. I could feel her. “What I’ve told you? What you know? I can’t stress enough how much of a big deal this is. This goes beyond a normal level of trust. It’s my life—our lives—you’re holding in your hands,” I told her. “I don’t expect you to care too much about tossing me under a speeding bus, but you’d also be tossing Dee under it.”

Kat stepped closer, so close, her tote bag brushed against my stomach. “I do get that, Daemon. Honestly? What you said earlier was true. No one would believe me. They’d think I was crazy, but I would never do anything to betray Dee.” She paused, exhaling softly as she tipped her chin up. “And even though you’re a giant douchebag, I wouldn’t do that to you, either.”

My lips twitched. “Well, that’s good to hear.”

“I’m serious,” she insisted. “I’m not going to tell anyone.”

Some of the icy unease faded off, but the thing was, only time would tell if Kat could seriously be trusted. I hoped so. Not just for Dee’s sake or mine, but for her own.

I led her into the house and took her upstairs. She was looking around, her gaze bouncing off everything, and I realized this was the first time she’d been in our house. I figured Dee was in her bedroom, and I half expected her to jump out at any movement.

I walked Katy to a guest bedroom almost never used and opened the door. Flipping on the light, I stepped into the stale, cold air of the room. “You can stay in here.” I walked toward the bed. It was made. “There’re extra blankets in the closet there.”

Kat turned slowly, eyeing the closet.

“There’s a bathroom right across from this room. My bedroom is next door,” I explained as I rubbed my palm over my chest. “Dee’s bedroom is down the hall. Just let…let it all go for tonight. She’ll still be here in the morning.”

She nodded.

My gaze flickered to hers. Dark smudges of exhaustion had formed under her eyes. I suspected she’d be out cold the moment her head hit that pillow. “Do you need anything else?”

“No.”

I stood there for a moment, feeling like there was something else I needed to say, but I couldn’t grasp on to any words, so I nodded and then turned toward the door.

“Daemon?”

Stopping, I twisted around.

She was nibbling on her lower lip. “Thank you for saving my life tonight. I would be a pancake if you hadn’t.”

I didn’t respond to that, because there was really wasn’t a reason for her to thank me.

“And…” She stepped forward, lowering the tote. “And thank you for telling me the truth. You can trust me with it.”

My lashes lifted and I met her earnest stare. I wanted to believe her. “Prove it.”

It wasn’t lost on me as I left the room, closing the door behind me, that I had parroted Ash’s words. Heading down the hall, I stopped at Dee’s door and gently rapped my knuckles on it.

The door flew open, and my sister was standing there, eyes shining. “Does she hate me?” she whispered.

“What?” I frowned, stepping inside and closing the door. “God. No. She doesn’t hate you.”

Dee folded her hands together. “Are you sure? I’ve been lying to her, and how can she like me when all I’ve done—”

Wrapping my arm around her shoulders, I drew her in for a hug. “She understands why you couldn’t be honest, Dee. She doesn’t hate you for it.”

She face-planted in my chest, and when she spoke, her voice was muffled. “You told her?”

“Yeah.” I lowered my cheek to the top of her head and quickly told her what had happened with the truck. “I didn’t have a choice.”

Dee was quiet for a moment. “Yeah. Yeah, you did, Daemon.”

I knew what she was referencing, and I hated that Dee believed if it had come down to it, that I would do that.

“I also think it’s nice you brought her over here,” she continued.

No response to that.

“She thinks I’m a freak, doesn’t she?” she muttered.

I laughed as I pulled back. “No. She doesn’t.”

She didn’t look like she believed me. “Kat’s tired. She’s barely standing on her feet. Give her till tomorrow and then you can jump all over her, okay?”

Dee relented, and after chatting with her for a few moments, I headed back to my bedroom. Burned the hell out, I changed into a pair of sleep pants and was about the throw myself on the bed but was dying of thirst.

I really needed to put a small fridge up here.

Sighing, I walked out of the room. The hallway bathroom light was on as I headed downstairs. I grabbed a bottle of water and made my way back up, my brain strangely empty of all concerns, which proved just how tired I was.

As I neared my door, the bathroom door opened and Kat stepped out in the hallway. She froze. I froze. Shit. I became a damn statue.

Kat clutched a toothbrush and toothpaste in her hands. Her hair was up in a messy knot and the thin wisps around her face were damp. She’d washed her face, and looked like she’d gotten more water on the dark blue shirt she wore than she did her face. Speaking of that shirt…

It was all that she was wearing. And it was thin. And I was getting an eyeful that I very much appreciated.

The visual packed an intense punch and there was no stopping the way my body, which could be so freaking human at times, reacted. The shirt was loose and bulky, ending at midthigh, and good Lord, those thighs…

Who knew a shirt could be so damn sexy?

Her face was as red as a ripe tomato, but she…she was checking me out in the same way I was checking her out. Her eyes were most definitely not on my face, so I didn’t feel too much of an ass for staring at certain areas of her. Not when her gaze was trained on my stomach and then my chest…and then back down to where the pajama bottoms hung.

Kat sucked her lower lip in between her teeth.

Aw, hell.

I swallowed a groan, and she must’ve heard the noise, because her gaze flew to my face, and that blush deepened like a sunburn. She darted for the extra bedroom. “G-Good night.”

“Night,” was all I managed.

I walked into my bedroom and quietly closed the door behind me. Making it to the bed, I flopped down on it and stared at the ceiling.

It was going to be another long night.

It was weird, how I felt after telling Kat the truth. I thought I’d be more ill at ease. I’d never told a human before, and it had been bad enough when Dawson told Bethany the truth. I don’t know why I wasn’t as pissed off or panicked this time around.

Instead, I was more…relieved. I didn’t have to pretend anymore or hide what I really was around her. I didn’t have to be the constant douchebag she liked to call me. Sure, I needed to keep her at a distance, but at least I could explain the stakes in a way she could understand now. Home had once again become the sanctuary it had been before Kat moved in next door.

Like I said, it was weird.

I’d stayed MIA Saturday morning while Dee talked to Kat. I figured they needed their time to work through the big discovery, and when Kat finally headed next door sometime that afternoon, Dee explained that she’d actually shown Kat one of Dee’s strongest abilities.

In her true form, Dee had a knack at mirroring the image of another person. Most of us could do it, but for only short times. Dee could hold the mirror image for a hell of a lot longer than all of us.

Dee had apparently made herself look like Kat.

I kind of felt bad for Kat at that point.

I stood in the kitchen, rinsing off plates before placing them in the dishwasher as Dee bounced around. Excitement buzzed in her voice as she went over every detail from her talk with Kat. I couldn’t hide my grin, just like Dee couldn’t hide her relief.

“I told her that you can do just about anything,” she said. “She asked what you could do after I mirrored her.”

My grin spread. I bet Kat loved hearing that.

“I totally reinforced the fact that the government doesn’t know about all our abilities and how important it is that they never find out.” She bounded over, grabbing the plate out of my hand and placing it in the dishwasher. “It didn’t seem like you told her much about the Arum.”

The grin on my face started to slip.

Dee closed the dishwasher door and danced over to the kitchen table. “I explained what happened to our planet and how the government doesn’t realize that the Arum are a totally different species.”

I slowly turned around. “What else did you tell her?”

“I elaborated on the whole trace thing.” Her forehead scrunched. “She didn’t seem surprised by that, so I’m guessing you talked to her about some of it. I told her she didn’t have to worry. We would keep an eye on her, and now since she knows what she’s dealing with, I think it will be easier to keep her safe.”

“Yeah.” I shoved my fingers through my hair. I didn’t mind that Dee had talked to Kat about this stuff. After all, I had started the conversation last night, but I wondered how Kat was handling all of this.

“She can really be trusted,” Dee continued on as I lowered my hand. She picked up the jug of tea and walked it to the fridge. “She knows what will happen if the DOD finds out that she knows about us. She’s not going to say anything, Daemon.”

I nodded as I folded my arms across my chest. “No one else needs to know that she knows the truth. Not even Adam.”

Dee opened her mouth.

“I mean it, sis. Adam is a good guy. He’s not like Andrew, but you know this is a big deal, especially after…after Dawson and Bethany. The others will worry, especially Matthew. We can’t take the risk that one of them will panic and report Kat.”

Her eyes widened as she closed the fridge door. “Do you think one of them would do that?”

I considered that question. “I don’t know. I want to say no, but…anything’s possible. And there’s always the risk that one of them might accidentally say something in front of the other Luxen. We just need to be careful.”

Dee fiddled with the hem of her shirt. “Okay. No one else needs to know.”

Pushing away from the sink, I started toward the stairs and then changed my mind. “I’m going to go check on Kat. You want to come?”

She started to speak and then smiled broadly. “Nah. I think I’ll stay here for now. I’ll see her later.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Why are you smiling like you’re high?”

“No reason.” She rocked back on her feet, smiling so wide I thought her face might crack. “No reason at all.”

Frowning, I shook my head and pivoted around. I made it to the door before Dee called out, “Take your time.”

I shot her a dark look over my shoulder, and she burst into a fit of giggles. Whatever. I crossed the front yard and saw Kat through the kitchen window. Well, I saw the white glow around her… I headed for the back door and knocked.

The door swung open, and unfortunately she wasn’t wearing only the shirt like last night. Actually, that was probably a good thing. But that trace on her. Damn. The others were going to see it first thing Tuesday morning, after Labor Day, and I was going to have to come up with one hell of an excuse.

“Hey?” she said, sounding unsure.

I nodded in response.

Wariness flickered over her face. “Um, do you want to come in?”

Not feeling down when it came to enclosed spaces and Kat, I shook my head. “No, I thought maybe we could go do something.”

Her brows flew up, and I almost laughed. “Do something?” she asked.

“Yeah. Unless you have a review to post or a garden that needs tending.”

“Ha. Ha.” She started to close the door.

I lifted my hand, stopping the door without touching. Shock replaced the irritation, and I grinned. “Okay. Let me try that again. Would you like to do something with me?”

She hesitated. “Where did you have in mind?”

I pushed away from the house, walking backward as I shrugged. “Let’s go to the lake.”

“I’ll check the road before I cross this time,” she said, and I turned around. “You’re not taking me out in the woods because you changed your mind and decided your secret is not safe with me, are you?”

I busted out laughing. “You’re very paranoid.”

She snorted. “Okay, that is coming from an alien who apparently can toss me into the sky without touching me.”

“You haven’t locked yourself in any rooms or rocked in any corners, right?”

Her eyes rolled when I glanced over at her. “No, Daemon, but thanks for making sure I’m mentally sound and all.”

“Hey.” I raised my hands in mock surrender. “I need to make sure you aren’t going to lose it and potentially tell the entire town what we are.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about that for several reasons,” she replied drily.

I gave her a pointed look. “You know how many people we’ve been close to? I mean, really close to?”

She wrinkled her nose, and I wondered where her mind went, and that made me chuckle. “Then one little girl goes and exposes us. Can you see how hard that is for me to…trust?”

“I’m not a little girl, but if I could go back in time and do it all over I wouldn’t have stepped out in front of that truck.”

“Well, that is good to know.”

“But I don’t regret finding out the truth. It explains so much. Wait, can you go back in time?” Her expression was serious. “The possibility hadn’t crossed my mind before, but now I honestly wonder.”

I sighed, wanting to laugh. “We can manipulate time, yes. But it’s not something we’d do, and only going forward. At least I’ve never heard of anyone being able to bend time to the past.”

“Jesus, you guys make Superman look lame.”

I smiled as I dipped my head to avoid a low-hanging branch. “Well, I’m not telling you what our kryptonite is.”

A moment passed. “Can I ask you a question?”

I nodded as our feet kicked at the leaf-covered ground.

“The Bethany girl who disappeared—she was involved with Dawson, right?” she asked.

I tensed. “Yes.”

“And she found out about you guys?”

Several seconds passed before I could decide how to answer this question. “Yes.”

Kat glanced at me. “And that’s why she disappeared?”

“Yes.” More or less, that was the truth.

“Did she tell someone? I mean, why did she…have to disappear?”

“It’s complicated, Kat.”

“Is she…dead?”

When I didn’t answer that question, she stopped. I looked back, and she was digging a pebble out of her sandal. “You’re just not going to tell me?”

I grinned at her.

“So why did you want to come out here?” She shook the rock out and placed the sandal back on. “Because it’s fun for you to be all evasive?”

“Well, it is amusing to watch your cheeks get all pink when you’re frustrated.”

Her cheeks burned brighter.

I winked and started walking again. Her questions were valid, and I was being a jerk about it, but there really weren’t easy answers to those questions. The lake came into view. “Besides the twisted fact that I like watching you get all bent out of shape, I figured you’d have more questions.”

“I do.”

“Some I won’t answer. Some I will.” I glanced over at her, and she didn’t look upset at me. I felt like I needed to take a picture to capture that moment. “Might as well get all your questions out of the way. Then we don’t have a reason to bring any of this up again, but you’re going to have to work for those questions.”

She arched a brow. “What do I have to do?”

I glanced out over the lake and smiled. “Meet me on the rock.”

“What? I’m not wearing a bathing suit.”

Kicking off my shoes, I turned my smile on her. She blinked once and then twice before quickly looking away. “So? You could almost strip down—”

“Not going to happen.” She crossed her arms.

That was a damn shame.

“Figured,” I replied. “Haven’t you ever gone swimming in your clothes before?”

Her lips pursed. “Why do we have to go swimming for me to ask questions?”

My gaze zeroed in on that mouth for way too long before I lowered my gaze. “It’s not for you, but for me. It seems like a normal thing to do.” I shifted my weight. “The day we went swimming?”

“Yes.” She took a step toward me.

Lifting my gaze, I met her stare. I took a deep breath. “Did you have fun?”

Kat tilted her head to the side. “When you weren’t being a jerk and if I ignore the fact that you were bribed into it, then yes.”

Smiling, I looked away. One of these days, maybe, I’d tell her that I hadn’t been bribed. “I had more fun that day than I can remember. I know it sounds stupid, but—”

“It’s not stupid.” Her response was immediate and genuine. Then she shocked the hell right out of me. “Okay. Let’s do this. Just don’t go underwater for five minutes.”

Relaxing, I laughed. “Deal.”

While I pulled off my shirt, she slipped off her sandals. I could tell she was watching me from under her lowered gaze. I waited for her to change her mind, but she grinned at me, and I…shit. There was a weird tugging in my chest as I watched her walk up to the water’s edge and dip her toes in.

“Oh my God, the water is cold!” she shrieked.

I could do something about that.

“Watch this.” Winking at her, I turned back to the lake. I let go of my human form. White light spread out from my chest and over my form. I shot off the ground, moving incredibly fast. To her, I probably looked like nothing more than a fiery ball. I hit the center of the lake. In my true form, heat radiated off me, warming the lake as I whipped around, under the water.

As I neared the rocks, I shifted back into the form Kat was more comfortable with as I hauled myself up on the rocks.