Текст книги "Oblivion"

Автор книги: Jennifer L. Armentrout

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Текущая страница: 19 (всего у книги 51 страниц)

Chapter 24

Colonies were all the same.

Human. Luxen. Arum. Ant.

Nothing but a whole ton of crazy Kool-Aid I didn’t want to come within five miles of, and I wouldn’t be, but they had something I needed—that Kat needed.

She really owed me for this.

Picturing some of the ways she could repay me for this visit…that movie would never end. I kicked back in the sterile living room. All white—couches, carpet, walls, and pillows. It was like they had something against color. It made me want to spill something on purpose.

When Ethan Smith returned, he carried a small leather pouch in his hands. He took one look at me and his dark brows arched over eyes the shade of violets. “I know you’re not the most patient of our kind, but it does take time to craft these things.”

Yeah, almost three whole days of my life I’d never live again. Most of it had been spent searching the state for more Arum and an entire day looking for the perfect piece of obsidian, but I was itchy to get back to Dee…and Kat. I didn’t like the idea that she was glowing like a disco ball on steroids.

Ethan didn’t hand the bundle over. Of course not, because that would be too easy at this point. “May I ask why you need this?”

“May I say no and you’ll drop the conversation?”

A small, tight smile appeared on the older Luxen’s face. “Your arrogance will one day be your downfall.”

That among other things, not that I was mentioning any names or anything.

Irritation flashed across Ethan’s face. “Not that I don’t appreciate all you do for the colony, but your—”

“Personality could use an improvement,” I cut in, thinking of Kat. “I get it. Trust me.”

Ethan tipped his head to the side. Hair was starting to gray along his temples. “I hope so. It would be a shame to our race if something unfortunate happened to you.”

I met his odd, amethyst-colored stare with my own. “I’m sure it would be.”

The other Luxen was the first to break contact. “Does this have anything to do with the light show over the weekend?”

“Yes. I killed a couple of Arum and lost a few blades in the process, so I wanted something for Dee to wear just in case another happens.” I sat forward, dropping my hands between my knees. “It’s the same thing I told all the other Elders, Ethan.”

“Hmm, I do believe it sounds familiar.” He handed over the bundle, and the weight of the obsidian felt familiar. I slipped it in my pocket, ready to bounce the hell out of there. “Though, I must say I have never seen such a display of power. It was remarkable.”

Unease trickled down my spine as I stood. There was something about Ethan, a quality I could never put my finger on, that sort of gave me the creeps. “Well, I am just friggin’ awesome.”

“Yes, you are.” Ethan rose fluidly and straightened his pressed shirt. “Still, I am positive the Department of Defense will question it.”

I stopped at the door, turning back to him. “And if they do?”

“We’ll tell the DOD nothing if they ask, like we normally do, but if you bring them to our doorstops too often, you won’t just have them to worry about. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Anger replaced the unease and I gritted out, “Yeah, I get what you’re saying.”

“Daemon?”

Facing him once more, my jaw was clenched so hard I was going to need to see the dentist. “Yes?”

Ethan clasped his hands together and smiled. “One more question.”

I was going to throw myself out a window. “Go ahead.”

“This human girl your sister and you have been associating with?” Ethan said, and I stiffened but wasn’t surprised. The Elders were as bad as the DOD, if not worse. “Will she be a problem?” he asked.

“No.” But you will be if you mention that “human girl” again. That I didn’t say out loud or in our language, but the look on my face got the message through loud and freaking clear.

Ethan nodded and didn’t stop me again.

Switching into my true form, I only took a few seconds to leave the colony and reach the cluster of houses. Not knowing if Kat’s mom was out roaming about, I flipped back into human form before I stepped out of the woods.

The strangest damn thing happened as I headed up our driveway. Warmth shot over the nape of my neck, followed by an almost pleasant tingle between my shoulder blades. Along with that weirdness, another sensation prodded me. A feeling of completion. What the hell?

I think I needed a nap.

As soon as I hit the porch, a weird, warm shiver crawled along the base of my neck and I knew Kat was inside. I couldn’t explain how I did or why, but I knew it in my core.

Pushing open the living room door, I headed through the foyer and my eyes found Kat before anyone else. She was sitting on the couch, thick lashes lowered, hiding those gray eyes. Her hair was down, falling around her face, over her shoulders, and down her back.

I stopped there, incapable of moving, too quick for her to notice. Seeing her, well, it did things I hadn’t been ready to delve into before. Hell, I really didn’t even know at what point I had become ready.

Probably happened somewhere between when I thought she was dead and when she wasn’t.

I dropped onto the couch beside her, watching her. I knew she was aware of me on this intrinsic level. The faint blush creeping across her cheeks confirmed it.

“Where have you been?” she asked.

Silence fell as Dee and Adam turned to her. I arched a brow, fighting a laugh as the heat raced across her cheeks and down her throat. “Well hello, honey, I’ve been out boozing and whoring. I know my priorities are pretty off.”

Her lips thinned. “Dick.”

My sister groaned. “Daemon, don’t be a jerk.”

“Yes, Mommy. I’ve been with another group, searching the whole damn state to make sure there aren’t any Arum that we’re not aware of,” I said, offering a better explanation.

Adam leaned forward. “There aren’t any, right? Because we told Katy she didn’t have anything to worry about.”

My gaze flickered to him briefly. “We haven’t seen a single one.”

Dee hooted happily and clapped her hands. She turned to Kat, smiling. “See, nothing to worry about. Everything is over.”

Kat smiled. “That is a relief.”

I filled Adam in on the trip, leaving out most of the conversation with Ethan Smith, but the whole time my attention was more focused on Kat. Hyperaware of every small movement she made, every muscle that twitched and then relaxed, and every breath she took.

“Katy? Are you even here, right now?” Dee asked.

“I think so.” Kat smiled again, but something was off about it. My eyes narrowed.

“Have you guys been driving her crazy?” I sighed. “Bombarding her with a million questions?”

“Never!” cried Dee. Then she laughed. “Okay. Maybe.”

“Figured,” I muttered, stretching out my legs. A second later, I glanced at Kat. Our eyes locked. Tension filled the room, and I wondered what was going on behind those eyes.

Dee cleared her throat loudly. “I’m still hungry, Adam.”

He laughed. “You’re worse than I am.”

“True. Let’s go to Smoke Hole. I think they’re having homemade meatloaf.” Dee hopped to her feet and kissed my cheek. “Glad you’re back. I’ve missed you.”

I smiled up at her. “Missed you, too.”

When the door shut behind Dee and Adam, Kat turned to me. “Is everything really okay?”

The urge hit me right then. I wanted to hold her, because she must’ve been worried to ask that question, and it seemed like the right thing to do. Of course it was. How many times had I held Ash when she was upset? Or, in a different way, Dee, when she was upset?

“For the most part.” Before I knew what I was doing, I reached out with one hand, running my fingers over her cheek. A shock transferred to my fingertips, much like static, but so, so different. “Hell.”

“What?” Her eyes shot wide.

I sat up and scooted close enough that our legs touched, not ready to go into what I suspected had happened between us when I healed her. “I have something for you.”

Confusion flickered across her face. “Is it going to blow up in my face?”

I laughed as I reached into the front pocket of my jeans, pulling out the leather pouch. I handed it over to her, watching as she tugged on the little string and carefully turned the pouch upside down, like she was afraid a grenade would fall out. But when she saw the obsidian pendant, her lashes swept up and she was clearly surprised.

Pressure clamped down on my chest as I smiled. A different feeling, like when you’re about to get on a roller coaster. I really never felt that way before. “Believe it or not, even something as small as that can actually pierce Arum skin and kill them. When it gets really hot you’ll know an Arum is nearby even if you don’t see one.” I picked up the chain, holding the clasps. “It took me forever to find a piece like this since the blade turned to crap. I don’t want you to take this off, okay? At least when… Well, for the most part.”

The look of surprise hadn’t faded as she twisted around and pulled her hair out of the way. As soon as I got the tiny hook clasped, she faced me. An earnest pull to her expression had replaced the shock. “Thank you. I mean it, for everything.”

“It’s not a big deal. Has anyone asked you about your trace?”

She shook her head. “I think they’re expecting to see one because of all the fighting.”

I nodded, relieved that was one less thing to worry about for now. “Hell, you’re bright as a comet right now. The sucker has got to fade or we’ll be back to square one.”

Kat stared at me a moment, her eyes sharpening. “And what is square one, exactly?”

“You know, us being…stuck together until the damn trace fades.” Well, that kind of sounded like crap.

“After everything I’ve done, us being around each other is being stuck together?”

Oh crap.

“You know what? Screw you, buddy. Because of me, Baruck didn’t find your sister. Because of what I did, I almost died. You healed me. That’s why I have a trace. None of this is my fault.”

“And it’s mine? Should I have left you to die? Is that what you wanted?”

“That’s a stupid question! I don’t regret that you healed me, but I’m not dealing with this hot and cold shit from you anymore.”

“I do believe you protest too much with the whole liking me part.” I grinned, knowing the claws were about to come out. “Someone sounds like they are trying to convince themselves.”

Kat took a deep breath, causing her chest to rise. “I think it would be best if you’d stay away from me.”

“No can do.”

“Any of the other Luxen can watch over me or whatever,” she protested. “It doesn’t have to be you.”

Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. “You’re my responsibility.”

“I am nothing to you.”

“You’re definitely something.”

She looked like she wanted to hit me. I kind of wanted her to try, and honestly, I don’t know why I liked to mess with her so much. “I dislike you so very much.”

“No. You don’t.”

“Okay. We need to get this trace off me. Now.”

One idea came to mind. “Maybe we can try making out again. See what that will do to this trace. It seemed to work last time.”

Her cheeks flushed and a certain light filled her eyes. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen again.”

“It was just a suggestion.”

“One that will never. Happen,” she said. “Again.”

“Don’t act like you didn’t have as much fun—”

Kat smacked me in the chest—hard, too. I couldn’t help it. I laughed, and she made this cute little sound of disgust as she started to push away. Her small hand moved across my chest and it took everything in me not to grab her hand and do…well, other stuff with it.

I arched a brow. “Are you feeling me up, Kat? I’m liking where this is heading.”

Her lips parted as she continued to press down. My pulse picked up a little as I watched her. Blood drained from her face. “Our heartbeats…they’re the same. Oh my God, how is this possible?”

“Oh crap.” Not how I wanted to start off this conversation.

Our eyes locked, and I placed my hand over hers and squeezed. I suspected as much. This only confirmed it, but what I knew about my kind healing humans was so limited, and what I did know was more like whispers and rumors.

“But it’s not too bad,” I said. “I mean, I’m pretty sure I morphed you into something and this whole heart thing proves we must be connected.” I grinned. “Could be worse.”

“What could be worse exactly?” Her voice had risen.

“Us being together.” I shrugged. “It could be worse.”

“Wait a sec. You think we should be together because of some kind of freaky alien mojo that has connected us? But two minutes ago you were bitching about being stuck with me?”

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t bitching.” I just had a moment of really bad word choice. “I was pointing out that we are stuck together. This is different…and you’re attracted to me.”

Her eyes narrowed much like a pissed-off cat. “I’ll get back to that last statement in a second, but you want to be with me because you now feel…forced?”

I shifted. “I wouldn’t say forced exactly, but…but I like you.” Kat didn’t immediately respond, and I prepared myself. “Oh no, I know that look. What are you thinking?”

“That this is the most ridiculous declaration of attraction I’ve ever heard,” she said, standing. “That is so lame, Daemon. You want to be with me because of whatever crazy stuff that happened?”

I rolled my eyes as I stood. “We like each other. We do. It’s stupid that we keep denying it.”

“Oh, this is coming from the dude who left me on the couch topless?” She shook her head, sending locks of brown hair flying. “We don’t like each other.”

“Okay. I should probably apologize for that. I’m sorry.” I took a step forward. “We were attracted to each other before I healed you. You can’t say that’s not true, because I’ve always…been attracted to you.”

And it hit me then how freaking true that was.

From the very first time I’d seen her standing on my porch—the first argument, the first time she called me a douche, and from the very first time I realized how strong and brave she truly was, I’d been attracted to her. I’d wanted her.

Perhaps I had protested too loudly this whole time.

“Being attracted to me is as lame a reason to be with me as the fact we’re stuck together now.”

“Oh, you know it’s more than that.” I paused, sort of dumbstruck by the fact that a year ago I would have died of laughter if someone had said I’d be where I was right now, saying what I was. “I knew you would be trouble from the start, from the moment you knocked on my door.”

Kat laughed drily. “That thought is definitely mutual, but that doesn’t excuse the split personality thing you’ve got going on.”

“Well, I was kind of hoping it did, but obviously not.” I flashed a quick grin. “Kat, I know you’re attracted to me. I know you like—”

“Being attracted to you isn’t enough,” she said.

“We get along.”

She shot me a bland look.

I couldn’t stop the grin that time and tried for a, “Sometimes we do.”

“We have nothing in common.”

“We have more in common than you realize.”

“Whatever.”

I caught a piece of her hair and wrapped it around my finger. “You know you want to.”

She hesitated a moment before she snatched her hair free. “You don’t know what I want. You have no clue. I want a guy who wants to be with me because he actually wants to be. Not that he’s forced to be out of some kind of twisted sense of responsibility.”

“Kat—”

“No!” Her hands balled into fists as she drew in another deep breath. “No ‘sorry.’ You have spent months being the biggest jerk to me. You don’t get to decide to like me one day and think I will forget all of that. I want someone to care for me like my dad cared for my mom. And you aren’t him.”

“How can you know?”

She stared at me a moment and then turned toward the door as if she planned on leaving. This conversation was so not over. I moved faster than she could track, appearing in front of the door.

“God, I hate when you do that!” Kat shrieked.

I stared down at her. “You can’t keep pretending that you don’t want to be with me.”

She stared back with a look of fierceness I found incredibly sexy and…and yeah, I respected her for that, too. But then that look faded as she pressed her lips together. Sadness had crept in her eyes. “I’m not pretending.”

Bull. Shit.

There had been hesitation before she had said that. There had been so much more that powered her words other than anger or frustration. She was afraid and she was sad. I got that. I had been a dick to her. There really wasn’t an excuse in the world to make up for that, and like I’d realized when I’d been holding her in my arms in the field, I didn’t—couldn’t—let her go. “You’re lying.”

“Daemon.”

I placed my hands on her hips and tugged her forward. The warmth of her body cascaded over mine, and I closed my eyes briefly, taking in a deep breath that tasted of Kat. “If I wanted to be with…” My hands tightened on her hips, and she swayed a little closer, until our legs brushed once more, proving that her words were at odds with what she wanted. I dipped my head and she shivered. “If I wanted to be with you, you’d make it hard, wouldn’t you?”

Kat lifted her head. “You don’t want to be with me.”

Oh, I had to disagree with that. My lips spread into a smile. “I’m thinking I kind of do.”

A pretty flush moved down her neck, and I wanted to chase it with my lips “Thinking and kind of aren’t the same thing as knowing.”

“No, it’s not, but it’s something.” It was more than anything. “Isn’t it?”

Shaking her head, she pulled away. “It’s not enough.”

I met her stare and sighed. Her stubbornness was something I loathed and was incredibly attracted to, which I guess made me sort of twisted. “You are going to make this hard.”

She didn’t say anything as she sidestepped me, and I let her get to the door this time.

“Kat?”

She faced me. “What?”

I smiled, and saw her gray eyes light up. “You do realize I love a challenge?”

Kat laughed softly and turned back to the door, giving me the middle finger. “So do I, Daemon. So do I.”

Watching her leave, I had to admit that she looked just as good walking toward me as she did walking away.

I did love a challenge. And I never lose.

Acknowledgments

When I was first approached about writing Oblivion, I thought it was a great opportunity to give the Lux fans a little bit more of Daemon. I didn’t plan on actually writing Obsidian, Onyx, and Opal (which is available in the digital version of Oblivion), but that was what happened. So you don’t get just a taste of what it’s like in Daemon’s head. You get a whole heaping of it.

It really does take a village to finish a book. A huge thank-you to the following people for making it possible—Kevan Lyon, Liz Pelletier, Meredith Johnson, Rebecca Mancini, Stacy Abrams, and the team at Entangled Publishing. Thank you to K.P. Simmon and my assistant/BFF, Stacey Morgan. A special thank-you to Vilma Gonzalez for helping me work through Oblivion.

None of this would be possible without you, the reader. Because of you, this book happened. There aren’t enough thank-yous in the world.

Bonus Content

Continue reading on for Onyx and Opal as told from Daemon’s point of view.

Onyx

Book 2 of the Lux series, as told from Daemon’s point of view.

Chapter 1

Kat was ignoring me.

No big surprise there. She had done the same thing during school. As if pretending Homecoming night hadn’t ended with her almost dying and me saving her. Like if she tried hard enough, she could pretend that everything was normal and it would make it all go away.

Make me go away.

That wasn’t going to happen anytime soon, and it had nothing to do with the fact that Kat was glowing like a Hummer-sized streetlamp. It had everything to do with the fact that I was so freaking done fighting what I wanted. Over the whole forbidden-fruit shit. Moving on from the mentality that I couldn’t go after what I wanted because of what I was—what Kat was. Damn, I knew what I wanted wasn’t going to be easy. Nothing in life ever was, but that didn’t change how I felt.

I wanted her.

And I knew that under all the frustration and all the fighting, Kat wanted me. I just had to prove it, but right now I wanted to throw her over my shoulder, carry her home, and lock her ass in a room.

Kat coasted her Camry into a parking spot outside the post office, and I pulled in next to her, facing the opposite direction. Rolling down my window, I pinned her with a glare. “What part of going straight to the house did you not understand? I feel like we’ve had this conversation before.”

Her lips pursed as she returned the glare. “There might be books in there waiting for me.”

I sighed. “There might be Arum hanging around ready to eat you.”

Kat wasn’t falling for my logic, especially after I returned from practically scouting the entire state and not finding one. “You’re here, so it’s okay.”

“Yeah, but I’m trying to be proactive about this and not reactive.” When she rolled her eyes, I opened the driver’s door. “You’re a pain in my ass,” I told her.

Raising her middle finger, she scratched her cheek.

I arched a brow as my lips twitched into a grin. “Nice, Kitten.”

She smiled at me and then spun around, swaying her hips across the parking lot. With those faded jeans hugging her curves, it was a nice view, so I wasn’t complaining about that.

Not until she jumped in a puddle the size of the Great Lakes.

Muddy water sprayed in the air, catching my legs. I growled low in my throat. “You’re like a two-year-old.”

She hopped up on the curb and cast a glare over her shoulder before stalking into the squat building. I waited for her at the end of the aisle as she went to her PO Box.

“Yay!” she squeaked, her face lighting up as bright as the trace around her as she reached into the box, gathering up an armful of yellow-enveloped packages. She cuddled them close to her chest, like it was a swaddled baby in her arms.

Cute. Nerdy cute.

Kat elbowed the box closed and then twisted the little key, locking it. She faced me, and our gazes collided and held for a moment. A faint pink blush zinged across her cheeks. She quickly averted her eyes.

She brushed past me, quiet as we walked outside, and then, because she couldn’t let me down, she jumped in the puddle again.

I jumped to the side, but it was too late. From my knee down, my left leg was soaked. “Jesus.”

She grinned as she hurried to her car, opening the back driver’s door. I quietly followed her, stopping at my SUV to watch her, well, bend over and shove her books inside. She straightened suddenly and looked over her shoulder at me. Something about the look she sent me, part innocence, part rebellious, was a huge turn-on.

Then again, practically everything she did was a turn-on.

I groaned under my breath as she returned to situating the boxes like they held breakable family heirlooms. Closing my eyes briefly, I bit down on my lip when the image of Kat formed. She was on her couch, under me, wearing those damn elf pajama bottoms. Nothing else. My stomach shifted. I was hungry for food and for her.

“I need pancakes,” I announced, opening my eyes. Of course, my gaze zeroed right in on a very attractive part of her.

Kat shut the door and faced me. “Are you staring at my butt?”

My lips curved into a smirk as I slowly dragged my gaze up to hers, letting my stare linger in certain areas. That blush was back, spreading down her throat, under the light blue sweater she wore, and her gray eyes had deepened.

There it was. What I felt was in her eyes. There was no hiding that.

“I would never do such a thing,” I said.

She snorted.

“Pancakes,” I said again.

“What is with you and pancakes? Why do you keep saying it?”

“Do you have pancake mix at home?” I asked, ignoring her question.

Kat frowned in confusion. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Good.” I grinned. “You’re going to make me some pancakes.”

She gaped at me. “I am not making you pancakes. There’s a Waffle House somewhere. You’re welcome to go get yourself some pancakes—”

I moved forward so quickly that she couldn’t track it. I was right in front of her, our bodies nearly touching, and I could see the moment her pupils expanded slightly. “I know there’s a Waffle House nearby, Kitten. But that’s not what I want.” Raising my hand, I tapped the tip of her nose with my finger. “I want you to make me pancakes.”

She jerked back, scowling at me. “I’m not making you pancakes.”

“You are.” I pivoted around and headed for my car. Once inside, I grinned at where she still stood. “You are so making me pancakes.”

Kat sat across from me, her lips pressed together as she watched me lift the fork to my mouth. My stomach rebelled at what I was doing. Something about these pancakes didn’t look right. First off, they were the size of a small moon. Secondly, when I cut into the lopsided stack, the middle was runny, and that just wasn’t right. And when I lifted a piece on my fork, a yellowy powdery substance puffed into the air.

Maybe demanding that Kat make pancakes was a bad idea.

I glanced over at the messy counter. The griddle was covered with batter, as was most of the counter and the front of Kat’s sweater. My gaze fell back to the pancakes. If I were human, I’d be afraid of doing what I was about to do.

I shoved the piece in my mouth and almost spit it right back up. My throat closed off as I forced myself to chew. The maple syrup didn’t even cover up the dry yet wet, tasteless chunk of flour. I willed the mess to go down my throat and stay there as I smiled tightly at Kat. A moment passed.

A peal of giggles erupted from her. “I can’t believe you actually ate a piece.”

My mouth felt coated. I’d never get the taste out. “Why?”

“I’m pretty sure they don’t taste good.” She sat back in her chair, letting her hands fall to her lap. “They don’t look like the pancakes my mom makes.”

Nope.

These pancakes were a strange whitish yellow that was somehow nowhere near the color of normal pancakes. I willed my glass of milk closer and then picked it up, downing nearly half the tall glass.

Kat giggled again.

“Okay. These are terrible,” I admitted, placing the cup on the table. “How can you mess up pancakes?”

“I don’t know. I never made them.” She raised a shoulder. “I kind of eyeballed the whole ‘add water’ part.”

I stared at her, sort of dumbfounded. “All you have to do is add water. It’s not that hard.”

Her lips twitched as she ducked her chin. “Guess you should’ve gone with Waffle House then.”

My eyes narrowed as I pushed my plate back. “There’s a huge part of me that hopes you messed them up on purpose.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because if you can’t make pancakes then I’m not sure we can be friends.”

“Oh.” She placed her hand to her chest. “I’m so heartbroken.”

“You should be,” I told her, lowering my lashes. “I’m a good friend.”

Kat snorted, but what she didn’t say hung in the air between us. Kat and I had not gotten off on the right foot and spent the whole summer and most of autumn at war, mainly because of me. I fully admitted that, and if I could go back and change the way I treated her, I would. I’d realized that when I was fighting Baruck and had come close to losing not only my life, but also my sister’s and hers. The thing was, even I couldn’t go back in time. I could only move forward.

It was time to change the subject. “Has anyone said anything to you about the trace—Dee or Matthew?” I asked, knowing the Thompsons wouldn’t talk to her. Well, Adam would talk to her, but he wasn’t a problem.

“Dee said something in the beginning, but it’s been easy to explain away. Everyone knows I was there when…” She wet her lower lip, the action drawing my attention. “When you fought Baruck. So they don’t think anything is too strange.”

“Good,” I murmured.

She yawned loudly as she stood and picked up our plates. Her steps were slow as she walked the plates over to the trash. I glanced at the wall clock. It wasn’t even six in the evening. “Is your mom working tonight?”

“Of course,” she replied, dumping the pancakes into the trash. The line of her spine stiffened as she walked over to the dishwasher. “She’s always working.”

My head cocked to the side, and a moment passed. “You don’t like that, do you?”

She glanced over her shoulder at me as she opened the dishwasher’s door. “Mom has to work a lot.” She shoved the plates in and then went for the bowl, placing it in the sink. “The bills don’t pay themselves.”

“I get that.”

She looked away from me as she fiddled with the faucets. “Not all of us have the government dumping money on us because we’re aliens.”

I raised a brow at that.

Kat yawned again. “It does get kind of…lonely here.”

“I can imagine,” I murmured, not liking the idea of her being alone whenever she was home and she wasn’t with one of her friends or me.

She didn’t say anything for a long moment. “I get you feel like you have to do the babysitting thing, but I’m not going anywhere. I have a test to study for and biology homework. You don’t have to stay here.”

Pushing to my feet, I made my way to where she was standing. “You can—”

Kat gasped as she spun around. “God, Daemon! Do you constantly have to do that? Geez,” she said, leaning back against the counter. “You’re like a ninja stealth alien.”

One side of my lips tipped up. “I wasn’t even that quiet.”

“Yeah, you were. Like a ghost,” she said, lifting her chin so our eyes met. “A creepy ghost.”

I chuckled. “Why am I a creepy ghost?”

“I don’t know,” she murmured, her gaze dropping to my mouth and then lower, to my chest. “You’re all up in my personal space.”

I was totally up in her personal space. There wasn’t more than an inch or two between our bodies. When I forced my lungs to inhale, I caught the peachy scent that was all hers. “Sorry.”

“You’re not sorry at all.”

“True.” I tilted my head to the side and saw a tiny speck of pancake batter next to her ear. How in the world did she get it there? Reaching out, I pressed my thumb against her cheek. Her chest rose on a sharp inhale, causing my gaze to flicker back to hers. “You have pancake batter there.”

Kat’s lips parted, and her wide gaze fixed on mine as I swept my thumb along her cheek, smoothing away the tiny piece of batter. My hand lingered even though the spot was long gone, fingers spreading along the side of her neck. The way we stood, so close to each other, with her head tilted back and my hand on her, made it appear as if we were seconds from kissing. All I would have to do is lower my mouth a couple of inches. I stilled just thinking of that.