Текст книги "Oblivion"

Автор книги: Jennifer L. Armentrout

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Текущая страница: 44 (всего у книги 51 страниц)

Chapter 12

Kat still wasn’t a fan of mine come Friday morning, and I still wasn’t thrilled with the fact that my concerns fell on deaf ears. My mood only briefly improved when I caught up to her outside of class and kissed her in a way that made sure she’d spend the bulk of the rest of the day thinking about me.

However, having found her with Blake was not on my top one million things I cared to repeat again. I didn’t like him around her, not even in the same time zone as her, and the douche bag knew it. The fact that it was obvious I wanted to strangle him with my bare hands didn’t deter him one minute, not even from texting her about meeting Saturday night to go over the Mount Weather plans.

Kat and I still needed to really hash out the whole Sunday business, but as I walked her to her car after school, I just wanted to do something normal, because normalcy was so underrated these days.

We caught an afternoon matinee. I had no idea what the hell the movie was about, because I was too busy monopolizing the bucket of popcorn and Kat’s mouth. I was actually disappointed when the movie ended and we made the drive back home.

And that disappointment multiplied when we got home. The moment I stepped out of her car, I sensed one of my own in my house, and it wasn’t Dee.

“Kat, I think you should go home.”

“Huh?” She closed the car door, frowning. “I thought we were going to talk? And eat ice cream—you promised ice cream.”

I chuckled under my breath. “I know, but I have company.”

She planted herself in front of the porch steps. “What kind of company?”

“The Luxen kind,” I said, placing my hands on her shoulders. “Elders.”

Her brows lifted. “And I can’t come in?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, and I don’t think that’s an option.”

Kat looked over her shoulder as my front door opened and the Elder stepped out and stood in the doorway. I kept my expression blank as I eyed Ethan Smith, who for some reason was dressed like he had a job on Wall Street, three-piece suit and all.

I had no idea how old Ethan was. Silver hair framed his temples, but the rest was midnight black, and his sharp amethyst gaze missed nothing, and definitely not where my hands were on Kat’s shoulders.

Ethan’s smile was pleasant as Kat turned, facing him. My hand slid down the center of her back. “Ethan,” I said. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

His gaze flickered over Kat. “I can see. Is this the girl that your brother and sister kindly informed me about?”

I did not like the way he said “girl.”

“Depends on what they kindly informed you of.”

His smile didn’t waver. “That you’ve been seeing her. I was surprised. We’re practically family.”

“You know me, Ethan, I don’t like to kiss and tell the world.” Unease bled from Kat, and I moved my thumb in slow, soothing circles along her lower back. “Kat, this is Ethan Smith. He’s like a…”

A giant pain in my ass?

“Godfather,” Kat offered quietly.

Ethan lifted his chin. “Yes, like a godfather.” He focused on Kat again. “You’re not from around here, are you, Katy?”

“No, sir, I’m from Florida.”

“Oh.” Dark brows rose. “Is West Virginia to your agreement?”

She glanced at me. “Yeah, it’s nice.”

“That’s lovely.” He came down a step, extending his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Kat started to reach for Ethan’s hand, but I intercepted, weaving my fingers through hers. I didn’t trust Ethan; therefore I didn’t want him touching her. Lifting her hand to my lips, I pressed a kiss against the center of her palm.

“Kat, I’ll come over in a little while.” I let go of her hand and shifted, shielding her from Ethan. “I have some catching up to do, okay?”

“It was nice to meet you,” Kat said, her voice even.

“Likewise,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll meet again.”

Not if I had anything to do with it.

Ethan watched her walk next door with a curious tilt of his head. “A human, Daemon?”

I ignored the comment as I walked up the steps and headed inside. He was right behind me, taking his time. “What can I do for you, Ethan?”

He followed me into the kitchen. I grabbed a water, and nope, wasn’t offering him shit. Unbuttoning his suit jacket, he sat at the kitchen table. “There’ve been many, many rumors circulating, and it appears all of them are true.”

Leaning against the counter, I unscrewed the lid on the bottle. To be honest, I wasn’t too surprised that he’d heard them. “Is that so?”

His smile lacked all warmth. “Dawson has returned.”

“I’m sure Lydia told you that.”

He cocked his head to the side. “He was re-assimilated?”

“Uh-huh.” For some reason, I didn’t think he believed the question he was asking.

“Luxen are only re-assimilated for breaking the rules. Many are never rereleased,” he said, tapping his fingers on the table. “What rules did Dawson break?”

I took another drink.

He laughed under his breath. “I’m sure I can guess what it is. The same rule you’re breaking right now?”

“Hmmm…”

“You’re seeing a human.”

“Among other things,” I said with a smirk.

That smile went down a notch. “I expected better from you.”

Irritation pricked my skin as I took a drink of water. “That’s too bad.”

“You know the risks involved.” His eyes flashed. “And yet you treat this as a joke.”

“There’s not a damn single thing I find about this as funny.”

“That’s not the message I’m getting.”

“That’s not my problem.”

The smile was completely gone by this point, replaced by a tense slash of a month. “Then is it Katy’s problem?”

I stilled.

My lungs stopped the useless task of sucking in oxygen as I stared at the Elder. “Are you threatening her?”

“No.” He chuckled, waving a hand dismissively. “Now why would I do that?”

Yeah. Bullshit. “I don’t know. You tell me.”

He was quiet as he dragged his hand off the table. “I would not threaten a young girl, Daemon. That kind of classless tact is below me.”

I snorted. “Sounds right up your alley, to be honest.”

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. “Your actions affect those in the colony—”

“My actions have nothing to do with those who live in the colony,” I said, so very done with this conversation. “Or with you or Lydia or any other Elder. They never have. They never will.”

He stood, buttoning his suit. “You’re young, Daemon, and you’re at an age where you think you know everything.”

The side of my lips kicked up. “I know a lot of stuff.”

Ethan ignored that comment. “And you’re foolish because of your age, despite what you may believe. Do not think you’re the only Luxen male…or female to sample outside of our kind.”

I arched a brow.

“But all of us, including you, will choose one of your own.”

“I hate to break it to you, Ethan, but that’s not going to happen.” I sat the bottle down, meeting his slightly widened gaze. “I’m not just ‘sampling’ the human race over here. You can outcast me.” My smile spread. “You can threaten to report me to the DOD.” Crazy for me to throw that out there, but it wasn’t like the DOD didn’t already know about Kat and me. “It’s not going to change anything.”

His shoulders stiffened. “You so sure of that, Daemon?”

“Positive.”

An eerie smile crept across his face, leaving the room as cold as frostbite. “Everything changes.”

Ethan’s visit left me feeling…shit, weird as hell. His words left a sour taste in my mouth. His visit was a warning, but what could he seriously tell the DOD that they didn’t already know?

But his visit did have me thinking about the fact that the DOD hadn’t captured all of us yet, and what the hell were we supposed to do once we did get Beth out of Mount Weather, if she was really there?

No way would they let that slide.

Dawson and Beth…they would have to leave. There really were no other options, and there was a good chance all of us would have to make an exit, including Kat. God, that made me antsy as hell, because I hated that because of me, she would have to leave everything and everyone behind.

Wasn’t that the end result?

I felt like shit, which made the weird feeling even weirder, so a little while later, when Ash and Andrew stopped over and asked if I was hungry, I said yes. Not like I was going to say no when Dee had given me those sad eyes of hers, complaining that I never spent any time with her. And that was true. I hadn’t, not since…well, since she stopped hanging out with Kat, and Dawson had returned.

We’d gone to Smoke Hole, but the place was packed, so we ended up ordering a pizza and heading to the Thompsons’ place.

It had been months since I had been there, and while so much had changed since then, and Andrew and Ash were subdued compared to how they were before Adam’s death, it felt good hanging out with them.

Up until we started talking about Sunday night. For one of the first times ever, I saw real fear oozing out of Ash when Andrew talked about taking part. She was afraid she was going to lose Andrew, too. Dee still wanted to kill Blake. It took hours to get everyone on the same page about Sunday.

I’d texted Kat, letting her know I wouldn’t make it over to her place before she went to bed, but I didn’t get a response. Telling myself she probably had her nose stuck in a book, I tried to not let it stress me out. “Tried” being the key word, because even though if I was standing and living, so was Kat, that didn’t mean other things couldn’t happen to her.

I got home around two in the morning. Still no response from Kat, but I sent her another text for when she got up Saturday morning. Slipping on a pair of loose, old sweats, I turned music on low and passed out the moment my head hit the pillow, and it was a dreamless, deep kind of sleep. A warm sense of awareness woke me hours later, and I smiled sleepily, recognizing the series of tremors along the back of my neck, even half asleep.

Kat was quiet as she opened the bedroom door and crept across the room and sat on the edge of the bed. For a couple of moments, she was impossibly still, and I could feel her gaze on me.

I rolled toward her without any warning, snaking an arm around her waist. I dragged her down onto the bed next me, burying my face in her neck. “Good morning.”

“Morning.”

Throwing a leg over hers, I held her tight. “Where’s my bacon and eggs?”

“I thought you were offering to make them.”

“You mistook what I said. Get to the kitchen, woman.”

“Whatever.” Kat rolled onto her side, facing me. I kissed the tip of her nose and then planted my face back in the pillow. She laughed.

“It’s too early.”

“It’s almost ten o’clock,” she replied.

“Too early.” I draped my arm over her hips and turned my head so I was facing her. “You didn’t respond back last night.”

“I fell asleep and I…figured you were busy.”

I arched a brow. “I wasn’t busy.”

“I stopped over last night to see you, and I waited for a little while.” She fiddled with the edge of the sheet, twisting it around her fingers. “You stayed out late.”

I pried an eye open. “So you did get my text and had time to respond.” I sighed. “Why did you ignore me, Kitten? My feelings are hurt.”

“I’m sure Ash soothed them for you.” Her cheeks flushed.

Staring at her for a moment, I then smiled. “You’re jealous.”

“I’m not jealous.”

“Kitten…”

She rolled her eyes and then opened her mouth. A rush of words came out. “I was worried about the Elder being here, and we were supposed to talk last night. You never showed up. Instead you went out with Andrew, Dee, and Ash. Ash, as in the ex-girlfriend Ash, and how do I find out? Your brother. And how did those seating arrangements work out? Did Dee and Andrew sit on one side and you and Ash on the other? I bet that was real comfy.”

I struggled to keep from smiling. “Kitten…”

“Don’t ‘Kitten’ me.” She scowled, on a roll now. “You left around five or so and didn’t get back till when? Past two in the morning? What were you guys doing? And get that stupid smile off your face. This isn’t funny.”

There was no way I was keeping the smile off my face. “I love when your claws come out.”

“Oh, shut up.” She pushed at the arm I had around her hips. “Let me up. You can call up Ash and see if she’ll make you some eggs and bacon. I’m out of here.”

I shifted on her, not off her. Bracing my hands on either side of her head, I grinned down at her. “I just want to hear you say it: I’m jealous.”

Her lips pursed. “I already said it, butt-face. I’m jealous. Why wouldn’t I be?”

I cocked my head to the side. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because I never wanted Ash, and I wanted you from the first moment I saw you—and before you get started, I know I had a bad way of showing it, but you know I wanted you. Only you. You’re insane to be jealous.”

“I am?” she questioned. “You guys were together.”

“Were together now.”

“She probably still wants you.”

“I don’t want her, so it doesn’t matter.”

Her lower lip trembled. “She’s model beautiful.”

“And you’re more beautiful,” I told her, and that was the God’s honest truth.

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t try to sweet-talk me.”

“I’m not.”

Kat bit down on her lower lip, and it made me want to do the same. “You know, at first I thought I kind of deserved last night. Now I know how you felt when I went out with Blake. Like I was getting schooled by karma, but it’s not the same. You and I weren’t together then, and Blake and I didn’t have that kind of history.”

Damn, hearing her put it like that finally knocked the smile off my face. I rolled my shoulders, feeling like shit. “You’re right. It’s not the same thing. I didn’t go out with Ash on a date. Andrew stopped by and we got to talking about Ethan. Andrew was hungry, so we decided to get something to eat. Dee tagged along, and Ash was there because, you know, she’s his sister.”

She raised one shoulder.

“And we didn’t go out to eat. We ended up ordering pizza, went back to Andrew’s house, and we talked about Sunday. Ash is scared to death that she’s going to lose Andrew, too. Dee still wants to murder Blake. I spent hours talking them through this. It wasn’t a party you weren’t invited to.”

“Why didn’t you tell me at least? You could’ve said something,” she said. “Then my imagination wouldn’t have run circles around me.”

I pushed up and sat beside her. “I meant to stop by when I got home, but it was late. Look, I didn’t think about it.”

“Apparently,” she muttered.

Rubbing at my chest, I closed my eyes briefly. A part of me still didn’t understand how she could be jealous of Ash, but I did get where she was coming from. “I honestly didn’t think you’d get this upset. I figured you’d know better.”

Kat stared up at me. “Know better?”

“Yeah, that you’d know if Ash pranced into my bedroom right now naked, I’d still send her packing. That you didn’t have anything to worry about.”

Her nose wrinkled. “Thanks for that image you implanted into my brain forever.”

Shaking my head, I laughed drily. “This insecurity thing ticks me off, Kat.”

Her mouth dropped open, and then a second later, she sat up on her knees, and I knew what I said had not gone over well. “Excuse me? Are you the only one who’s allowed to be insecure?”

“What? Why would I be insecure?”

“Good question, but what do you call your little episode with Blake yesterday in the hallway? And that stupid question about me wanting to help Blake?”

I snapped my mouth shut. She was talking about when I’d kissed her in front of Blake. What the hell was that supposed to mean? I could kiss her… Oh well, okay, I did kiss her in front of Blake, because I simply liked kissing her and because she was in front of the douche bag.

“Ha! Exactly. It’s even more ridiculous for you to be insecure. Let me spell it out for you.” Electricity jumped from her skin. “I loathe Blake. He used me and was ready to turn me over to Daedalus. He killed Adam. There’s only a teeny-tiny bit of me that can actually tolerate him. How can you even be any bit jealous of him?”

My jaw popped. “He wants you.”

“Oh, dear God, he does not.”

“Whatever. I’m a guy. I know what other guys are thinking.”

She threw her hands up. “It doesn’t matter if he did. I. Hate. Him.”

“Okay.”

“And you don’t hate Ash. There’s a part of you that loves her. I know you do and maybe not in the way you feel about me, but there’s affection there—there’s history. Sue me if I’m a little bit intimidated by that.” She pushed off the bed.

I followed, moving so I was standing in front of her. Cradling her cheeks, I looked her straight in the eye. “Okay. I see your point. I should’ve said something. And the stuff with Blake—yeah, it’s stupid, too.”

“Good.” She folded her arms.

Oh, those claws were still out. Really messed up that I found it hot. “But you’ve got to understand that you are who I want. Not Ash. Not anyone else.”

“Even if the Elders want you to be with someone like her?”

Where did that even come from? I lowered my lips to hers, kissing her softly. “I don’t care what they want. I’m incredibly selfish like that. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“We’re good then?”

“If you promise not to give me any crap about going with you tomorrow.”

Sighing, I pressed my forehead against hers. “You drive a hard bargain.”

“I do.”

“I don’t want you going, Kitten.” I wrapped my arms around her. “But I can’t stop you. Promise you’ll stay close to me.”

“I promise.”

I kissed the top of her head. “You always get your way, don’t you?”

“Not always.” She placed her hands on my sides.

Thinking about her being with me Sunday night made me shudder, but I wasn’t going to be able to stop her. Just like I couldn’t stop Dawson. “Come on. Let’s get the bacon and eggs going. I’m going to need all my strength for today.”

“What for…” She trailed off, and then seemed to remember that Douche Bag was coming over today to go over plans for Sunday. “Oh, yeah…Blake.”

“Yeah.” I kissed her again. “It’s going to take a lot for me not to commit bodily harm. You know that, right? So extra bacon for me.”

Chapter 13

There was not enough bacon in the freaking world or in the universe to deal with the Blake meet-and-greet.

Dee had welcomed him into our home with a punch to the jaw that should’ve cracked it, which Andrew and I found hilarious.

Okay. Everyone in the room with the exception of Blake found it hilarious.

We’d gotten down to business immediately, because sitting around and chatting with that asshole wasn’t on anyone’s prerogative list. He’d brought a map of Mount Weather with him. The red line we’d be following tomorrow night was a fire access road, a back entrance into Mount Weather.

According to him, we wouldn’t be able to drive the whole way up, which was a big “no shit.” We’d have to park several miles down the road and travel by good old Luxen speed.

I looked up from where the map was sprawled across the coffee table and looked over at Kat. I’d only seen her get to those kinds of speeds once. “Can you do this?”

“Yes,” she said after a moment of hesitation.

Shaking her head, Dee stood. “How fast can they really run?”

“Damn fast when need be,” Blake said. “Come at me again, and I’ll show you how fast I can run.”

Dee snickered. “I bet I’ll still catch you.”

“Perhaps,” he murmured and then said to Kat, “You need to practice all day tomorrow. Maybe even tonight. We can’t have anyone slowing us down.”

“I’m not going to slow anyone down.”

“Just making sure.” His eyes churned as they met mine.

Irritation flared. “She’s not your problem to worry about,” I snapped.

Matthew intervened before we could go way off topic. There was an old farm at the bottom of the access road, giving us a perfect spot to the park the cars and hide them. Ash and Dee, along with Matthew, would remain with the cars if things went south, allowing Kat, Andrew, and me to help Blake and Dawson retrieve Beth and Chris.

“This shouldn’t even take fifteen minutes.” I sat beside Kat and leveled a pointed glare at Blake. “And then you will take Chris and get the hell out of here. You have no reason to come back.”

“And what if he does?” Dee asked. “What if he finds another excuse to blackmail you into helping him?”

“I won’t,” Blake said, and then he looked at Kat. “I don’t have a reason to come back.”

Man, I was going to seriously hurt this dude. “If you do, you’re going to make me do something I don’t want to do—I’ll probably enjoy it, but I don’t want to.”

Blake jerked his chin. “I got you.”

“Okay then,” Matthew addressed the room. “We meet here at six thirty tomorrow. Do you have things covered, Katy?”

She nodded. “Mom thinks I’m doing a sleepover with Lesa. She works anyway.”

“She always works,” Ash said, staring at her nails. “Does she even like to be home?”

Kat stiffened. “She’s paying for a mortgage, food, bills, and all my expenses by herself. She has to work a lot.”

“Maybe you should get a job then,” she suggested, her eyes flickering up. “Like something after school that takes about twenty hours or so of your life.”

Kat folded her arms, lips pursed. “Why are you suggesting that, pray tell?”

Ash smiled in a way I recognized. “Just think if you were concerned about your mom making ends meet, you should help out.”

I placed my hand on Kat’s back, prepared to tell Ash to knock it off, but Kat spoke, holding her own. “I’m sure that’s why.”

“There’s only one thing we have to worry about,” Blake said, changing the subject. “They have emergency doors that shut every so many feet when alarms are sounded. Those doors also have a defensive weapon. Don’t go near the blue light. They’re lasers. Rip you right apart.”

Oh yeah, that’s just a small detail.

Blake smiled. “But they shouldn’t be a problem. We should be in and out without being seen.”

“Okay,” Andrew said slowly. “Anything else? Like an onyx net we have to worry about?”

Blake laughed. “No, that should cover it.”

“Then it’s time for you to go,” Dee said, looking at him like she wanted another go at his face, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to stop her.

Without further pressure, Blake was out. Our group disbanded, leaving Dee and Dawson behind with Kat.

Kat clasped her hands together. “I want to practice the speed thing. I mean, I know I can do it as fast as you guys, but I just want to practice.”

Dee didn’t say anything, but Dawson spoke up. “We can do that. I could use the practice myself.”

I wrapped my arms around Kat’s waist. “It’s a little dark right now. You’ll probably end up breaking your neck, but we can do it tomorrow.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” she replied.

“You got it.” I kissed her cheek.

Kat elbowed me and then turned in my arms, facing Dee. I felt her take a deep breath. “Will…will you help?”

I willed my sister to respond, to just say yes, because it would be a step in repairing the rift between them, but she said nothing as she left the room, walking upstairs.

Damn.

“She’ll come around.” I gave her a little squeeze. “I know she will.”

Confusion marked Dawson’s face. “I don’t know what happened to her while I was gone. I don’t understand.”

“We all changed, brother, but things…things are going to get back to normal soon.”

Grief crept into Dawson’s eyes, and I longed for there to come a day when he wasn’t haunted by the dark memories of his time with Daedalus. He blinked, and a wan smile appeared. “Ghost Investigators marathon?”

“You do not have to ask me twice.” I raised my hand and the remote control shot forward. “I have like six hours saved up. Popcorn? We need popcorn.”

“And ice cream.” Dawson stood. “I get the munchies.”

Smiling softly, Kat settled in next to me. I brushed my lips across her cheek. “He’s coming around, isn’t he?” I asked.

“Yeah, he is.”

Our eyes met. “Let’s just make sure tomorrow doesn’t make it all for nothing.”

We spent the better part of Sunday morning and afternoon practicing. Since the snow had melted, the ground was saturated, and Kat was covered in mud.

She was a dirty Kitten.

I swiped at her as she stalked past me, and she shot me a level look. I grinned. “You have dirt on your cheek. Cute.”

Kat glared at me, and I knew why. There wasn’t a speck of mud on me. We’d been running back and forth for hours, and I hadn’t even broken a sweat. She turned to Dawson. “Is he always this annoyingly good?”

Dawson nodded as he wiped the back of his hand across his forehead. “Yeah, he’s the best at this kind of stuff—fighting, running, physical stuff.”

She kicked mud off her sneakers. “You suck.”

I laughed.

Kat stuck her tongue out and returned to stand next us. We were at the edge of the woods that ran up to her front yard.

“Get ready,” I said, hands curling at my sides. “Go!”

Beside me, Kat pushed off and this time, I could tell she was paying more attention to the terrain without slowing down. Trees blurred as I raced forward, enjoying the way the Source rippled over my skin.

Looking over my shoulder, I grinned when I saw Kat pass Dawson. Her body glowed faintly, and her smile was breathtaking.

I reached the stream only ten seconds before them, spinning around to watch them. Both of them had improved drastically from when we started, and they were almost as fast as me, and that was saying something.

Though Kat hadn’t really gotten the knack of slowing down yet. Her muddy appearance could attest to that. Bracing myself, I prepared to snag her if she started to go down like she was sliding into home base.

And she was.

Kicking up soil and loose rock, she dug her feet in as she slowed. Her feet stopped, but her body kept going. I caught her so she didn’t end up in the lake. Kat spun around as she laughed and stretched up. Her gray eyes shone. She kissed my cheek.

I grinned. “Your eyes are glowing.”

“Really—like yours do? The whole diamond shining thing?”

Dawson stopped, brushing back the heavy waves of hair. “Nah, just the color’s luminous. It’s pretty.”

“It’s beautiful,” I corrected. “But you better be careful not to do that in front of people.”

Kat nodded.

I clapped my hand on Dawson’s back. “Why don’t we call it quits? Both of you are good to go, and I’m starving.”

She rubbed her hands together. “You guys go ahead and head back. I’m going to do some more runs.”

“You sure?”

“Yep. I want to run circles around you.”

“Never going to happen, Kitten.” I sauntered up to her and looked for a clean spot on her to kiss. Didn’t find one, but I still laid one on her cheek. “You might as well give it up.”

She landed a playful shove on my chest. “One of these days you’re going to eat crow.”

“I doubt any of us will be around to see that.” Dawson grinned over at me.

My chest seized as Dawson turned that grin on Kat—on my girl—and I was struck by the happiness behind the grin. It was Dawson, really him. That was his grin—easygoing and relaxed.

Completely unaware of me staring at him like he’d grown a third eye on his chin, he knocked his hair back from his forehead and then started running. “Race you, brother!” he shouted.

I looked over at Kat.

Go, she mouthed.

Sending her a quick smile, I jogged after Dawson. “You know you’re going to lose.”

“Probably,” he replied. “But hey, it’s good for your ego, right?”

I snorted. I could practically hear Kat’s voice in my head, telling me that was something I didn’t need help with.

We ran at normal speeds for a couple of moments, and then Dawson stopped fooling around. Tapping into the Source, he flew over the muddy, uneven ground. I stayed at his side the whole way back to the house.

Dawson slowed down at the same time I did, his sneakers kicking up gravel as he came to a stop on the driveway. He turned to me, his eyes iridescent as he grinned. “You can run a hell of a lot faster than that.”

“Maybe.” I knocked my shoulder off his as I walked past him. “My ego doesn’t need the help.”

“No shit.”

Surprised, I laughed as I climbed the porch steps. Part of me wanted to turn around and grab him, but I knew it was smarter not to point it out. So I pretended that it wasn’t a big deal that he was acting more and more like himself since he was back.

In the kitchen, I opened the fridge. “What are you in a mood to eat?”

Dawson kicked off his muddy boots and then dropped into the kitchen chair. “Anything, if you’re actually going to make it for me.”

I snorted as I grabbed the tub of butter and a couple of slices of cheese. “Grilled cheese sandwiches it is.”

He was quiet as I buttered up the bread, making enough for when Kat joined us. “Are you nervous about tonight?” he asked.

How could I really answer that? I plopped the sandwich onto the heated, buttered skillet, mulling over my words. I settled on, “I’m confident that we will succeed.”

“Same here.” Dawson had a hand thrust through his hair when I glanced over my shoulder at him, his gaze focused on the floor. His brows were knit together as he frowned. “I don’t… I’m going to need your help tonight.”

Holding the spatula, I faced him. “You have my help, Dawson.”

“No. I don’t mean that. I mean…” He cleared his throat as he looked up at me. His face had finally filled out a little, but there was still a sharpness to his cheekbones. “I mean I might need your help with…with Beth. I don’t think she’s in a good place, you know?”

Remembering how Kat had described how Beth had acted, I nodded.

“And I don’t know if she’ll…if she’ll recognize me.”

My hand tightened on the spatula. “She’ll recognize you, Dawson.”

“I don’t know,” he replied quietly, casting his gaze to the floor again. “There were times when she didn’t. There were times when I didn’t recognize her.”

I forgot to force myself to breathe.

“I just want to get her out of there without her or…or anyone getting hurt.” Dawson slowly lifted his gaze to mine. “And I don’t know if…if when I see her and she doesn’t recognize me, that I’m going to be…much help.”

“I get it.” Shaken, I twisted back to the stove and flipped the sandwiches. “I got you, Dawson.”

There was a pause. “Thank you.”

Throat closed, I nodded and hoped it didn’t come down to any of that. I wanted his reunion with Bethany to be happy, but I knew better than to blindly hope for anything. That was just asking the universe to take a piss on your leg and tell you it was raining.

Sandwiches finished, I scraped them off the skillet and placed them on plates. I handed one over to Dawson when I felt my heart jump erratically in my chest, the feeling catching me off guard.

Kat.

It was different than her practicing. Tossing the spatula into the sink, I moved wicked fast, reaching the front door in under a second. I stepped outside, immediately seeing the black Expedition parked down the road. I saw Officer Lane, but I didn’t see Kat.