Текст книги "Oblivion"

Автор книги: Jennifer L. Armentrout

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Текущая страница: 33 (всего у книги 51 страниц)

Chapter 22

Kat was late to trig class Friday morning before Christmas break, entering the classroom a few moments before the bell rung. Immediately, I knew something was wrong with her. She walked stiffly, as if she couldn’t fully extend her legs. I straightened as she made her way to the desk in front of me and watched her sit down very slowly. Concern pinged through me.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

She turned halfway, her face a shade paler than normal. “Yeah. Just slept wrong.”

Tension poured into me. Slept wrong? Fallen recently? And burned her hand on a stove? “Did you sleep on the floor or something?”

She laughed drily and started to turn back around. “Feels like it.”

My fingers dug into the edges of the desk. “Kat…”

“What?” she whispered, her gaze not meeting mine.

I stared at her for a moment and then sat back, folding my arms. “Never mind,” I said, even though I wanted to ask her how training was last night, but I sensed I wasn’t going to get anything else out of her. “You still on for tonight?”

Biting her lip, she nodded and turned back around. Throughout class and the rest of the day, whenever I saw her, she moved stiffly. Dee noticed it after lunch, catching me in the hallway. My sister was worried about Kat, and Kat wasn’t telling her anything. Nothing new there, but the horrible suspicion that there was more to her recent injuries overshadowed the unease from last night.

Would Kat lie about someone hurting her?

The mere thought nearly caused me to lose control of my human form while in history class, because there was only one person who would be in the position to hurt her. Blake. In between classes, I’d kept an eye out for the little punk-ass, but he was nowhere to be found. Probably a good thing, because even without proof he was hurting Kat, I still wanted to rip his throat out. Just because.

After school, when I didn’t see him show up at Kat’s house around the time he normally did, I decided to head over there earlier than we had planned. The opportunity to talk to her—hell, who was I kidding? I wasn’t passing up the opportunity to just spend time with her.

I darted up the steps, raising my hand to knock when the door opened. I frowned. “I’m really beginning to dislike the fact that you know when I’m coming.”

“I thought you loved it. It enables you to be such a great stalker.” She stepped aside.

“I’ve already told you. I don’t stalk you.” I followed her into the living room, eyeing how she walked. She seemed looser, as if the steps weren’t as pained. “I use it to keep an eye on you.”

“There’s a difference?” She sat on the couch, looking slightly disheveled in her loose sweats and thermal…with…little strawberries on it. What was it with her and fruit?

Cute.

I sat right next to her, so close our thighs touched. “There is a difference.”

“Sometimes your logic scares me.” She smoothed her hands over her pants. “So what are you doing over here so early?”

“Bill didn’t come by tonight?” I leaned back against the cushions.

She tucked her hair back behind her ear. “No. He had something to do with family.”

Family? I had suspected the asshole was hatched from an egg. My gaze roamed over her face and then slid to the laptop. The video app was open, and beside the laptop was a stack of books. “What are you doing? Making another one of those videos?”

“I was planning to. I haven’t done one in a while, but then you showed up. Plan ruined.”

I grinned. “You can still film one. I promise I’ll behave.”

“Yeah, not going to happen.”

There was a lot we needed to talk about. What I’d found at Bethany’s house last night and if it meant anything. All the shit with Blake and how she kept ending up hurt. We could scope out Vaughn’s house early, but there was something so normal about her wanting to film a video for her blog. And she had very few normal moments lately.

And giving her this moment seemed more important than anything else.

“Why not?” I raised my hand, and the book on the top of the pile flew to my hand. I glanced at it. There was a guy on the cover with curly blond hair and ice-blue eyes. I got an idea. “Hey, I have an idea. I could pretend to be him.”

“What?” She frowned as I flipped the book over, showing her the cover. “Wait. You don’t mean—”

Glancing back at the image, I focused and then let my human form slip. It was harder to mirror the image since all I had was a photo, but I’d spent hours doing it when I was a kid, teaching Dawson. A few seconds later, a lock of blond hair fell across my eyes. I smiled slightly. “Hello there…”

“Oh my God.” Kat lifted her hand and poked my golden cheek. She laughed. “You can’t do that. People would freak.”

“But it would definitely get a lot of attention.” I winked. “It would be fun.”

“But this cover model”—she took the book from me and waved it around—“is a real person somewhere. He’d probably be curious how he ended up in my In My Mailbox video.”

I pouted. “You do have a point.” Letting go of the mirror image, I returned to my normal form. “But don’t let that stop you. Go ahead and film. I’ll be like your assistant.”

She stared at me. “I don’t know about this.”

“I’ll be completely quiet. I’ll just hold books for you.”

“I don’t think you have the ability to be completely quiet. Ever.”

“I promise.” My grin spread.

Several moments passed, and then she nodded. Facing the screen of the laptop, she adjusted the placement so I was included. She hit record and took a deep breath. “Hi, this is Katy from Katy’s Krazy Book Obsession. Sorry for such a long absence. School and”—she glanced at me—“stuff have gotten in the way, but anyway, I have a guest. This is—”

“Daemon Black,” I said. “I’m the guy she lies awake at night and fantasizes about.”

Her cheeks flushed as she elbowed me. “And that is so not the truth. He’s my neighbor—”

“And the guy she’s completely obsessed with.”

“He’s very egotistical and likes to hear his voice, but he’s promised to stay quiet. Right?”

I nodded as I smiled at the camera. “I think reading is sexy.”

Kat’s brows inched up her forehead. “Do you now?”

“Oh, yes, and you know what else I think is sexy?” I leaned forward so my entire face filled the picture. I lifted my chin in her direction. “Bloggers like this. Hot.”

She smacked my arm and whispered, “Get back.”

I sat back and I was totally quiet for a very, very long time. Like a good assistant, I handed her the books, but sometimes I had to say something. Like the guy on one of the other covers looked constipated. And seriously, did she have enough angel books? But one book did look interesting. I held it up, ignoring her muffled, disgruntled sigh, and said, “This reaper dude sounds like my kind of guy. He gets to kill people for a living.”

Kat snatched it out of my hand, grinning. She spoke about the book for a few moments and then, “And that’s it for today. Thanks for watching!”

I leaned in. “Don’t forget. There are cooler things out there than fallen angels and dead guys. Just saying.” I winked.

Smiling like I hadn’t seen her do in a while, she pushed me aside and clicked off the record button. “You like seeing yourself being recorded.”

More like I liked seeing her smiling. I shrugged. “That was fun. When do you do another?”

“Next week if I get more books.”

“More books.” My eyes widened. “You have, like, ten books you just said you haven’t read.”

“Doesn’t mean I won’t get more books.” Her lips curved up again as I gaped at her. “I haven’t been able to read a lot lately, but I will, and then I won’t be out of anything new to read.”

“You haven’t had time because of him and that’s ridiculous.” I looked away, jaw working. “Reading is something you love. So is blogging, and you’ve completely dumped those things.”

“I have not!”

“You’re such a little liar,” I shot back as I leaned against the couch once more. “I’ve checked out your blog. You’ve done five posts in the last month.”

Her mouth dropped open. “You’ve been stalking my blog, too?”

“Like I said before, I’m not stalking. I’m just keeping an eye on you.”

“And like I said before, your reasoning is faulty. You know what I’ve been doing. It pretty much soaks up my time—”

“What the hell?” I exploded. Kat had bent forward to close the laptop, causing the back of her thermal to ride up, exposing several inches of skin—purple and blue skin. Bruised and angry-looking. Horrified, I grabbed hold of the thermal and tugged it up, revealing a huge bruise.

“Hey.” She twisted around, knocking my hands away. “What are you doing? Hands off, mofo.”

I looked up, meeting her wide stare. Rage bubbled like lava tinted with desperation. My hands curled into fists. “Tell me why your back looks like you fell out of a two-story window.”

Kat’s face paled as she stood. Without saying anything, she walked out of the living room. I was right behind her, barely able to hold on to my human form as we walked into the kitchen. She grabbed a Coke out of the fridge. “I…I fell in training with Blake. It’s not a big deal, though.” Facing me, she toyed with the top of the can. “I told you I slept wrong because I figured you’d make fun of me.”

I searched her face for a hint that said she was lying. She looked uncomfortable, embarrassed even, but she appeared genuine. My hands loosened. “Yeah, I would’ve made fun of you…a little bit, but Jesus, Kat, you sure you didn’t break something?”

“I’m fine,” she assured me.

Following her around the table, I took a few seconds to make sure my voice was level. “You’ve been hurting yourself a lot lately.”

“Not really.”

“You’re not clumsy, Kitten. So how does this keep happening?” I slowly approached Kat, not wanting her to dart away from me.

“I tripped in the woods the night I first found out about you,” she reminded me.

“Nice try.” I shook my head. “You were running full-out in the middle of pitch-black woods. Even I’d…” I winked. “Well, maybe not me, but normal people would trip then. I’m just too awesome.”

“Well…” Her nose wrinkled.

My gaze briefly dropped. “It looks like it hurts.”

“It does a little.”

“Then let me fix it.” I reached for her.

“Wait.” She backed up. “Should you be doing that?”

“Healing you can’t hurt. Not at this point.” I tried again, but she knocked my hand away. Frustration spiked. “I’m just trying to help!”

She backed up against the wall. “I don’t need you to help me.”

The muscle in my jaw started working. Kat always had to be so damn stubborn, even when she was obviously in pain, and I hated seeing her like this. I loathed the idea of her hurt. I couldn’t deal with it, so the moment she started to relax, I moved wicked fast. Within two heartbeats, I had my arms around her hips, careful to not touch her back, and I lifted her up, carrying her to the couch. I sat down, holding her in my lap.

Kat gawked at me as her hair settled around her face. “That’s not fair!”

“I wouldn’t have had to do it if you would just stop being so freaking stubborn and let me help you.” I slipped my hand under the back of her thermal, flattening my palm against her lower back. She jerked slightly. “I can make you feel better,” I told her. “It’s ridiculous that you won’t let me.”

“We have stuff to do, people to stalk, Daemon. Just let me up.” She wiggled, but I held her still.

“No.” I focused and felt heat flare from my palm. My lips tipped up when I heard her soft inhale. Her eyes met mine and then flickered away. Her mouth opened, and I knew she was preparing for another argument. “I can’t be around you when I know you’re in pain, okay?”

Her eyes widened slightly. Uncomfortable, I focused on the spot above the TV. A moment passed and she asked, “Does it really bother you, me hurting?”

“I don’t feel it, if that’s what you’re asking.” I paused, exhaling softly as I met her questioning gaze again. “Just knowing you’re hurt is enough for it to bother me.”

She lowered her eyes and stopped squirming, the fight leaving her. Healing her didn’t take as much concentration as it had that night we’d fought Baruck. It was natural, requiring almost no thought, and that was a good thing, because Kat placed her head on my shoulder, and that was incredibly distracting.

It felt like forever since I’d held her. Thanksgiving night was the last time. Too long ago. She snuggled in, resting one hand against my lower stomach. I closed my eyes, soaking up the feel of her. At some point I knew she was healed, but I didn’t want to bother her. She was completely relaxed in my loose embrace, where she belonged.

Yeah, exactly where she belonged.

I lowered my chin and tilted my head to the side. Her thick lashes fanned the top of her cheeks. With her slow heart rate, I knew she was close to sleep. It wasn’t late at all, but those shadows under her eyes were still there. She was exhausted. Folding my other arm under her knees, I stood.

Kat stirred. “What are you doing?”

“Taking you to bed.”

“I can walk.”

“I can get you there faster.” And I did. Leaving the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree, I raced her upstairs and into her bedroom. “See?”

She looked a little windblown as I neared her bed. Without touching them, I lifted the covers back and then placed her down. I tugged the comforter up to her hips, lingering as I stared down at her. “Do you feel better?”

“Yeah,” she whispered, her gaze fixed on mine.

The center of my chest throbbed in an unfamiliar way. There was so much between us that sometimes it felt like we would never be on the same page, but there were moments—moments like this—that there were no obstacles. It was just her and me, and the world outside didn’t exist.

My throat worked. “Can I…? Can I just hold you? That’s all…that’s all I want.”

Her lips parted, but there were no words. She nodded.

Relief cracked me straight down the center as if some internal fault line had been ruptured. My heart started pounding, and I knew she could feel it as I kicked off my shoes and then walked around to the other side. I slid into bed beside her and extended an arm. Kat rolled onto her side without hesitation, curling against the side of my body. She rested her cheek on my chest.

“I kind of like being your body pillow.” My hand trembled slightly as I placed it on her hip. “Even if you drool on me.”

“I do not drool.” Her hand came to rest above my heart. “What about tailing Vaughn?”

“That can wait until tomorrow.” I tilted my chin to the side, brushing my lips against her forehead. My arm around her tightened as I held her close. “Get some rest, Kitten. I’ll be gone before morning.”

That was the plan. I would hold her until she fell asleep, and then I would leave. After all, it wasn’t even eight o’clock, and I could still scope out Vaughn without Kat. I just wanted a few…quiet moments with her, but Kat drifted off fast, and the seconds in between opening and closing my eyes rapidly increased. Being with her like this had a lulling, comforting effect, and before I knew it, I fell into the deepest sleep.

I was having the most wonderful dream. Ever. Kat was in bed with me, her body warm and soft. My mind was full of vague, almost distant images and sounds. I felt her hand slip free from mine, and she shifted beside me. I rolled into her, my arm around her waist keeping her close as I buried my face in the side of her neck. Inhaling deeply, I caught the scent of peaches. I was half awake, present enough to know this wasn’t a dream. She was lying in bed next to me. Perfect. I pressed my lips to her neck.

Kat pushed me. Hard.

I blinked my eyes open. “Mmm, what’s your problem?”

She looked at me, and then her gaze moved to the doorway. I followed and immediately woke right up. Her mom stood in the opening, a robe cinched tight at her narrow waist. Beside her was Dr. Michaels.

Oh shit.

I removed my arm from Kat’s waist. “Oh, wow, awkward.” Clearing my throat, I spoke louder.

“Good morning, Ms. Swartz.”

Kat’s mom smiled tightly while her look screamed are you serious, but I was really at a loss for what else to say. “Good morning, Daemon. I think it’s time for you to go home.”

Yep. I was going to have to agree with that.

Glancing down at a red-faced Kat, I was relieved to see that only a faint shadow lingered under her eyes. I grinned apologetically at her, and then I left the bed as fast as humanly possibly, which was really slow for me.

I grabbed my shoes off the floor and turned sideways as I walked out the door. Her mom didn’t even spare one glance in my direction. Dr. Michaels stepped aside, and as I made my way past him, he clapped his hand on my shoulder in an age-old attaboy way.

Weird.

But when I stepped out in the frigid morning temperatures, all I could think about was the look on Kat’s face. I tipped my chin back and I laughed loudly, laughed harder than I had since…since Dawson.

Chapter 23

Over the next couple of days, I laid off dragging Kat into the whole stalking-Vaughn business. With Christmas, it didn’t seem right. Plus, I’d learned from Dee that Blake was spending all of Christmas break with his family. That meant that Kat should be able to actually get some rest, and that also meant that I needed to crawl out of her ass for a few days.

Dee had managed to coax Kat out of her house over break and take her to the movies. Adam and surprisingly, Ash, had gone with them. That concerned me a little, considering that Ash and Kat usually escalated to DEFCON one whenever they were around each other, and I wanted to go with them. I’d even stood out on the porch and watched Adam, Dee, and Kat leave, but I remained behind. Kat needed the time with Dee. Needed the normalcy she’d been lacking…well, since she moved here.

So I checked out Vaughn’s house, leaving the car behind even though my skin felt frozen by the night’s end. Nancy showed up soon after Vaughn arrived, and did so every night, but it wasn’t until Sunday night that my stalking finally proved fruitful. I’d followed him from his house to an industrial park just outside of Petersburg. He’d disappeared in there for several hours, and the place was well guarded from the outside by two officers.

I knew they were hiding something or someone in there.

When Vaughn finally left, the officers remained outside. It took everything in me not to bust right up in there now, but I was smart about it. I checked out the place over the next couple of days and by Christmas night I was confident that the guards were on a schedule. There was a gap in time, no more than thirty minutes, when they were gone from the outside premises, usually around twelve thirty in the morning, and the guards appeared active only once Vaughn arrived.

Inside was a different story, one I didn’t know and wouldn’t know until I got in there.

Deciding to make my move to get into the building the day after Christmas, I waited until it was close to eleven before I slipped out of the house. Dee was over at Adam’s, so I didn’t have to worry about her wondering what I was doing. I checked out Vaughn’s house first and saw that he was home. Another Expedition was in the driveway, most likely belonging to Nancy. Perfect. I was halfway to the industrial park before I stopped.

I thought of Kat.

Dammit.

Turning back, I raced through the woods in the opposite direction, slowing only when I returned to my house. I stopped by my SUV and stared at Kat’s house. Taking her with me was risky, freaking dangerous as hell.

But finding this warehouse wouldn’t have been possible without Kat telling me about seeing Bethany. Cutting her out of this seemed wrong. Involving her didn’t feel any better.

I pulled the baseball cap off my head and thrust my fingers through my hair as I stared at her house. She wanted to be involved—wanted to stand side by side with me, facing whatever came our way. Truth was, I hadn’t really let her.

And Blake had.

Wasn’t that why he was training her instead of me? He had enough…faith in her. Didn’t I?

I slammed the cap back down on my head. It didn’t have anything to do with faith. I didn’t want Kat to be in danger, and because of that, there was a wedge between us. One that had evaporated the night I fell asleep in her bed, but it was there. I needed to trust that Kat could…handle herself. If I didn’t, there would be no chance for us.

And there had to be a chance.

“Shit,” I muttered, casting a dark look at the night sky.

Mind made up, I stalked over to her house and up onto the porch. I knocked on the door and then stepped back, shoving my hands in my pockets so I didn’t punch myself in my face. If anything happened to Kat because of me—well, anything more—I wouldn’t be able to live with it.

The door opened, and Kat poked her head out. Expectation filled her gray eyes as she looked me over. Not annoyance or anger. She was happy to see me. My lips tipped up in a crooked grin. “You busy?”

She shook her head.

“Wanna go for a ride?”

There wasn’t even a pause. “Sure. Let me grab something warmer to put on.” Kat disappeared, returning wearing boots and a hoodie. She joined me outside, closing the door behind her. “Are we going to check on Vaughn?”

“Not really. There’s something I’ve discovered.” I led her to my car and waited until we both were in. “But first, did you have a good Christmas? I was going to stop over, but I saw your mom was home.”

“It was good. Will spent the day with us. That was weird.” Her nose wrinkled. “What about you?”

“It was okay. Dee nearly burned the house down trying to make a turkey. Other than that, not very entertaining.” I pulled out of the driveway. “So, how much trouble were you in after Saturday?”

“I got a lecture about not making my mom a grandmother.”

I laughed.

She sighed. “Now I have rules to follow, but nothing serious.”

“Sorry about that.” I grinned as I slid her a sideways look. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“It’s okay. So where are we going? What have you found out?”

“Vaughn came home Sunday night for about ten minutes. I followed him to just outside of Petersburg to this warehouse in an industrial park that hasn’t been used in years. He stayed there for a few hours and then left, but there were two officers who remained.” I slowed down as a deer dashed across the highway. “They’re keeping something there.”

“You think they’re keeping Bethany…or Dawson?”

I glanced at her, lips pressed into a tight line. God, I hoped I wasn’t making a huge mistake. “I don’t know, but I need to get in there and someone needs to keep an eye on the outside while I go.”

She nodded. The excitement that poured off her was palpable. “What if the guards are still keeping watch?”

“They weren’t doing anything until Vaughn showed up. He’s home right now. With Nancy.” My lip curled. “I think those two really have something going on.”

“Did you know my mom’s boyfriend is Bethany’s uncle?”

“No.” I frowned as I focused on the road. Immediately my mind went to the shoe box full of prescription pads in Bethany’s old house. Was that the connection? “I didn’t really try to get to know her,” I said after a few moments. “Hell, I didn’t really try to get to know any human girl.”

“So you’ve never…dated a human girl before?”

“Dated? No.” The question knocked me off guard. I glanced over at her, deciding how to answer the question. “Hung out with? Yes.”

Kat looked away quickly, and she didn’t respond.

I let out a low breath and forged on. “Anyway, I didn’t know they were related.”

A moment passed. “Do you think that’s weird? I mean, he’s related to Bethany, who’s sort of like me now, and he’s messing around with my mom. We know that someone had to have betrayed Dawson and Bethany.”

I considered it. Even if he was the man the prescription pads belonged to, what did it mean other than him living there? That is, if he lived there and those pads weren’t for someone else. But then there was a stethoscope. Some doctors owned their own stethoscopes, but even if Will saw Bethany injured, how would he have known to put two and two together? How would he know about us, the Luxen, and what we could do?

Again, there were more questions than answers, but some damn interesting new questions were raised. I was going to have to look into Will.

“It’s weird, but how would he know what had happened?” I asked that question a lot. “He would’ve needed to have some inside knowledge of the whole healing process to know what to look for.”

“Maybe he’s an implant.”

I looked at her sharply, but didn’t say anything. Anger thinned her lips, and I knew if I told her what I’d found in Bethany’s house and the possible link to the man her mom was dating, she’d probably cut him the first chance she got.

Wrong or right, her confronting Will without any concrete evidence was the last thing we needed. After a few moments, I cleared my throat. “I’ve been thinking about what Matthew told us—the whole marrying DNA thing.”

She tensed as she stared straight ahead. “Yeah…?”

“I talked to him later and I asked him about the connection, if it could make someone feel anything. He said no. But I already knew that. Thought you should know.”

Kat nodded. “What about the whole you die, I die thing?”

“What about it?” I kept my eyes on the road. “There isn’t anything we can do about that other than not get ourselves killed.”

“There’s more to it than that,” she said. “We’re really joined together, you know. Like, forever…”

“I know,” I said quietly.

Neither of us really spoke after that, because what else could be said? We were joined together. Forever. And knowing that didn’t send me screaming off into the night.

We arrived at the abandoned industrial park near midnight. We did a drive-by to make sure there were no cars around. There were three buildings nestled together near a field covered in white. One was a squat, one-story brick building and one in the middle was several stories high, and that was the one I wanted in. I pulled behind one of the buildings, parking the SUV between two large sheds with the front facing the only entrance.

Killing the engine, I turned to her. “I need to get in that building.” I gestured at the tall one. “But you need to stay in the car while I do this. I need eyes on the road and I don’t know what’s waiting in there.”

“What if someone is in there? I want to go with you.”

Bringing her here was one thing, but I drew the line. “I can take care of myself. You need to stay in here, where it’s safe.”

“But—”

“No, Kat, stay here. Text me if anyone comes in.” I reached for the door. “Please.”

She stared at me a moment and then nodded curtly. I hesitated, wanting to kiss her before I got out of the SUV, but figured I better not push my luck. Quietly closing the door behind me, I darted around the side of the building, past the padlocked, windowless steel bay doors, keeping an eye out for security cameras, and found none. I reached another door, the entrance I’d seen Vaughn head in and out of. This door would be way easier to manipulate than the others. Placing my hands on the door near the lock, I willed the internal gears to turn. The click was like learning a whole new season of Paranormal Hunters was starting sooner than expected.

As I opened the door, I noticed something reddish-black, glossy and smooth, embedded in the center of the threshold. Having no idea what that was, I closed the door behind me. I quickly scanned the first floor as I kept the brim of the cap low. I moved fast, so if I showed up on any security cameras, I would be nothing but a blur.

I passed empty offices, following the scent of recently smoked cigarettes that hung thick in the air. I moved farther in, finding an office where metal folding chairs were spaced out. Full ashtrays sat on one of the metal tables, next to used coffee cups. There was nothing else. No paperwork or computers, not even a printer or a landline phone.

Weird.

Darting out of the office, I raced down a wide hall faintly lit by dull yellow light. A set of double doors was at the end, and when I pushed on them, they opened easily. I stepped into a large room and my heart nearly stopped in my chest.

“Holy shit,” I murmured, feeling my cell vibrate in my pocket.

Cages. There were cages in this room.

There were about ten of them. All of the cages were empty. For a moment, I was frozen as I stared at them. Anger and horror swirled inside me. They kept people in those cages. They could’ve kept Bethany or my brother in one of these cages. Energy stirred inside me, and I wanted to let it go, blowing this building off the face of Earth.

I finally moved to the cages and saw the chains. Chains. The same strange material I’d seen over the door encased the chains. In here, it looked like some reddish-black stone I’d never seen before. The cage in the middle looked recently used. A red rusty substance covered the cuffs. Blood. It took me a moment to realize it was blood, probably from someone pulling against the metal. The shackles were also covered with the same reddish-black material. In another cage, liquid had dried in the middle. It wasn’t blood—human at least. It looked sort of transparent. Luxen blood.

Stepping back, I lifted my gaze. At the end of the room there was a door marked Stairs. God only knew what I’d find on the second floor. Maybe cages that weren’t empty. Purpose filled me. I prowled toward the door, stopping short when I remembered my phone had vibrated.

I reached into my pocketed and pulled it out. It was a text from Kat. One word. Company. I spun around. “Shit.”

Not going upstairs pissed me off, but if the officers or Vaughn had shown up, Kat was at risk. Whatever was up there had to wait. I raced through the building, and when I neared the entrance, my heart rate jumped erratically. Kat. It was due to Kat. Something was wrong. Her heart was beating way too fast.

At the door, I heard an unfamiliar voice. “Christ. You’re right. She’s one of them.”

“Told you,” another responded. “What’s in this barrel will do far worse. So you better think carefully before you answer the next question. Who are you?”

I made a split decision. Holding the image of Vaughn in my mind, I mirrored his appearance. It wasn’t perfect. If anyone knew him well or got too close, they’d see that I didn’t look exactly like him. Stepping outside, my jaw locked down as I saw Kat on her knees, a man holding her arm with one hand and pointing a gun at her forehead with the other. Rage as potent as the Source exploded inside me. My hands curled into fists as I willed my voice to answer.