Текст книги "Oblivion"

Автор книги: Jennifer L. Armentrout

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Текущая страница: 6 (всего у книги 51 страниц)

Chapter 7

Kat seemed incredibly small and delicate in my arms, her weight so slight I pressed her closer. Oddly, her head fit perfectly against my shoulder, as if she’d placed it there and fallen asleep instead of passing out.

I couldn’t believe I’d inadvertently knocked her out.

In a twisted way, it was a blessing in disguise. Most likely I wouldn’t have to come up with some whacked-out excuse for why it seemed like lightning had shot from my fingertips and scared a bear off.

Above, dark clouds rolled in. A storm was brewing—a common consequence of too much charged power. Something to do with the electrical fields affecting the weather and blah blah blah.

But even if Kat woke up and believed the incoming storm had something to do with scaring the bear off, I’d traced her. Which was equivalent to putting a bull’s-eye on her back, especially when there might be Arum around.

Shit.

Here I was, ranting at Dee over how dangerous it was getting close to Kat, and I’m the one who was bored and coaxed her into a walk¸ who had endangered them all.

The trace should fade in a couple of days. As long as she stayed home and no one other than Dee saw her, then it shouldn’t be a problem.

I laughed drily, almost bitterly. Not going to be a problem? Dee was never going to let me hear the end of it.

Heading back down the trail, I forced my gaze to stay forward instead of on what I carried, focused on the scenery. Trees—lots of trees and maple-shaped leaves, pine needles, a few shrubs…birds hopping from limb to limb, shaking out their feathers. A squirrel shimmied up the trunk of a tree.

I glanced down.

Thick lashes fanned paler-than-normal cheeks. I kind of thought she looked like Snow White. Good God, that sounded lame. Snow White? But her lips were parted perfectly, and they were rosy even without makeup.

Thunder cracked and the scent of rain rolled in. Checking to make sure she was still out like a little kitten, I picked up the pace and flew down the trail. Even as fast as I moved, the storm was unpredictable, and the skies opened up, drenching us. And still, she slept.

She reminded me of Dawson. An atomic bomb wouldn’t have woken my brother.

After reaching the porch steps, I slowed down and shook my head, sending droplets of rain flying in every direction. I stopped at the door and frowned. Had she locked it before she left? Dammit, I couldn’t remember. If so, she probably had a key in her pocket, but that would mean going into her pocket and getting it. How else would I explain how I unlocked her door?

My gaze dipped and ran over her legs. Legs unbelievably long for someone so short…and those shorts were short. Tiny pockets, too.

Yeah, I was not going after that key.

Well past time to deposit her little butt on the swing and get the hell out of here.

Sighing, I went over to the swing and started to put her down, but she snuggled closer. I froze, wondering if she was awake. A quick check told me she wasn’t. Again, I went to lay her down, but I stopped this time. What would she think if she woke up here alone?

Why did I care?

“Dammit,” I muttered.

Searching the porch frantically as if it held the answers, I finally rolled my eyes and sat, placing her beside me. It made sense that I would stay. I had to know if she had seen me shoot a lightning bolt out of my hand, I reasoned. I kept my arm around her, because knowing my luck, she’d slip out of the swing and crack her head open. Then Dee would kill me.

I tipped my head back and closed my eyes. Why had I come over here today? Was it really just boredom? If that was the case, I could’ve watched the episodes of Ghost Investigators I had DVRed. I hadn’t really considered what I was doing until I was knocking on her door and it was too late to think about it.

I was an idiot.

Kat murmured something and wiggled closer, pressing her cheek against my chest. She was molded to the entire right side of my body: thigh to thigh. Her hand curled below my hip and I started counting backward from a hundred. When I got to seventy, I found myself staring at her lips.

I really needed to stop staring at her lips.

Her brow wrinkled, lids flickering as if she was having a bad dream. Some ridiculous part of me responded to that—to the minute distress pinching her features, tensing her body. My thumb started to move along her lower back, tracing idle circles. Seconds passed, and she settled right down, her breathing deep and steady.

How long would she sleep? Part of me wasn’t bothered by the prospect of sitting here for hours. There was something calming about holding her, but it was also the exact opposite, because every inch of my body was aware of how she fit to my side, of where her hand was, the rise and fall of her chest.

This was peaceful and torturous.

Some time later, after what felt like forever and yet not enough time at all, Kat stirred awake. It was a slow process that began with her muscles tensing, relaxing, and then tensing again when she realized what…who she was lying on.

My hand stilled, but I didn’t move it away. Wasn’t like she was going to fall on her face now, but I…I just didn’t, and I wasn’t at all okay with that. I clenched my jaw.

Kat lifted her head. “What…what happened?”

Oh, you know, shot a pure bolt of energy at a bear and you wilted like a delicate flower at my feet. Then I carried you back like a true gentleman and sat here for God knows how long and just stared at you.

Yep, so not going there.

I pulled my arm free. “You passed out.”

“I did?” She scooted back, brushing a mass of hair out of her face. It was then that I realized her hair had come undone at some point. My gaze dropped briefly. As expected, her hair was long and thick, falling over her shoulders.

“I guess the bear scared you,” I told her. “I had to carry you back.”

“All the way?” She looked disappointed, which made me curious. “What…what happened to the bear?”

“The storm scared it. Lightning, I think. Are you feeling okay?”

Lightning lit the porch, startling her. “The bear was scared of a storm?”

“I guess so.”

“We got lucky, then.” She glanced down, brows knitting, and when those lashes lifted, I had to force myself to keep breathing normally. There was a quality to those gray eyes—a glimmer that sucked me right in. “It rains here like it does in Florida.”

I nudged her knee with mine. “I think you may be stuck with me for a few more minutes.” Really, that was a stupid excuse for not leaving. I needed something better—no, what I needed was to leave. Get up and leave. But then she spoke again.

“I’m sure I look like a drowned cat.”

I’d almost prefer the drowned cat. “You look fine. The wet look works for you.”

She scowled. “Now I know you’re lying.”

I was a lot of things, but until recently, a liar wasn’t one of them. And apparently, I was as unpredictable as the weather, so much so that I had no idea what I was doing until I shifted and wrapped my fingers around her chin, tilting her head toward me.

“I wouldn’t lie about what I thought,” I said, and that was the truth.

Kat blinked slowly, and my gaze dropped to her lips again. I really, really needed to stop looking at her lips. Muscles tightened at the thought of tasting them. She’d probably clock me in the face and then lay into me with that razor-sharp tongue of hers. Which made me want to grin.

I leaned forward. “I think I understand now.”

“Understand what?” she whispered.

My unwilling fascination with her—I got it. She didn’t put up with any of my crap. I was surrounded by people who looked to me to have all the answers, to protect them, to never show fear. And so I put on a big front and swaggered around like nothing frightened me. It was exhausting sometimes. But Kat, she saw right through all my bluster and kept me honest. And I liked that…a lot.

A pink flush stained her cheeks. I chased that color with my thumb. “I like to watch you blush.”

She sucked in a tiny breath, and it undid me. Pressing my forehead against hers, I pushed it to the limit. This was insanity, but she smelled of peaches and her skin was soft and her lips looked even softer.

I was caught up in a web there really was no escaping. A web of Kat… One I damn guarantee she had no idea she weaved. A naive beauty, and I’d seen a lot in my eighteen years to know that was a rarity. Something to be cherished.

Lightning struck again, and Kat didn’t jump at the thunder this time. She was focused in a way that pleased me, pulled at my control, and teased me with what I could never have. Shouldn’t even want, but I wanted… God, did I ever want. And if we continued where we were heading, it would get messy. I already knew what happened when Luxen and humans mixed. I had too much responsibility to be fooling around with her. Too much going on…

But I still wanted.

My fingers slipped along the curve of her cheek as my head tilted. I was going to regret this—holy crap was I ever, but I wasn’t stopping. Our lips were only a breath away…

“Hey, guys!” Dee called out.

I jerked back, sliding in one fluid movement and putting distance between us on the swing while Kat turned a fierce shade of red. I’d been so absorbed in her, I hadn’t heard my sister’s car or noticed the storm had passed and the sun was out, shining and all.

Great.

Dee came up the steps, her smile fading as her gaze bounced between us and then narrowed. No doubt she was seeing the faint trace around Kat and wondering how the hell that happened. Then she seemed to focus on what she’d just interrupted.

Her mouth dropped open.

It wasn’t often that I surprised her…like this. I grinned. “Hey, there, sis. What’s up?”

“Nothing,” she said. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” I replied, jumping from the swing. I glanced at a silent, dazed-looking Kat. Her gray eyes were still hazy and wide. Freaking beautiful. Damn, I needed to nip this in the bud right now, before something worse than just a trace happened. I met her gaze. “Just earning bonus points.”

Kat went ramrod straight, her eyes flashing and hands curling in her lap as my words sank in.

Ah, there it was—there was the kitten coming out, claws sharpening. The warm, cuddly creature was gone in an instant. I’d done that. Taken her up and slammed her right back down to earth, to reality. That was all me.

I wasn’t proud, but at least this way she’d live. We’d all live.

I spun toward the steps, leaving her with my sister, who was staring at me in confusion. I felt like the biggest ass on the planet.

Hell, in the universe.

The sun had set when my bedroom door burst open and Dee whirled in like a tornado, dark hair streaming from behind her and eyes gleaming with excitement.

“What in the world did I interrupt?” she demanded.

I closed the lid on my Mac before Dee could see what I was looking at. “You’re back from the colony early.”

She danced over to the bed, rising up on the tips of her toes. “Not like that’s really important, but if you must know, I think Ethan was just getting super annoyed with me and decided to let me leave.” She paused, grinning mischievously. “Plus, they’re having some kind of dinner reception for the females who are getting married Tuesday night and I said I’d come back…with Ash.”

My brows rose. “Uh, does she know that?”

“Yes. And she’s totally ticked off at me, but she can’t say no. But that’s not important!” She clapped her hands as she rocked back and forth. “What were you doing on the porch with Katy?”

I sat the Mac on my nightstand. “I was sitting out there with her.”

Dee’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah, duh, but you weren’t just doing that. Don’t play with me.”

Had Kat said more? The urge to ask rushed to the tip of my tongue, but I mentally punched myself in the face. Wasn’t going to go there. “I’m not playing with you, sis.”

“That’s poppycock!”

“Poppycock,” I repeated slowly and then laughed. “Are you high?”

She lifted her hand and flipped me off. “You looked like you were about to kiss her.”

A muscle thrummed along my jaw as I leaned back against the headboard, folding my arms behind my head. “I think you are projecting or something.”

“While I think Katy is hot, I don’t want to make out with her.” She winked.

“Glad to hear that,” I muttered.

“Ugh, why can’t you just admit you were about to do something!” She threw herself onto the bed, shaking the entire frame. Girl looked small but she was like a damn train. “You were going in for the kiss. Your hand was on her chin.”

Closing my eyes, I decided the last thing I needed was a blow-by-blow description of how close I came to complete disaster.

“And then add in the fact you made up some lame excuse about keys and bonus points?”

“The bonus points thing wasn’t a lie. You used to make me do that all the time,” I reminded her.

She punched my leg, causing me to grunt. “Yeah, when I was, like, five years old.”

My lips twitched.

“So why did you make up an excuse to hang out with her?” she persisted.

I sighed. “Like I told you when I texted you, I haven’t been particularly nice to her and I needed an excuse. Otherwise she would’ve said no.” The last part was definitely not a lie. If I hadn’t virtually blackmailed her into going to the lake with me, she would’ve said no. Tonight? I really hadn’t had to say anything. Interesting.

“But why—?”

“Dee,” I growled, opening my eyes to find my sister lying on her stomach with her chin in her hands. She was grinning up at me. “Shouldn’t you be focused on something a little more important.”

She batted her lashes. “I think I am focused on something super important.”

I resisted the urge to knock her off the bed. “You can’t tell me you didn’t notice the trace on her.”

“Oh! Yeah. That.” She tapped pale blue nails against her cheek. “How did that happen?”

For a moment, all I could do was stare at her. Obviously, she wasn’t that concerned, which made me fear for her well-being. “We went on a walk—”

“How romantic,” she cooed.

My lips turned down at the corners. “It wasn’t romantic.”

“I think it is,” she went on happily. “When Adam and I take walks it always ends with us—”

“If you want Adam to stay alive, I suggest you don’t finish that sentence.”

She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, so you went on a totally not romantic walk and…”

I was going to knock her off this bed. “And we happened across a bear. It charged us and I had to do something. I didn’t think you’d be happy with me if I let a bear maul her to death.”

“Gee, you think?”

I mouthed a not very nice four-letter word that included “you” at her.

She giggled. “So how did you explain that one off?”

“Well, the energy kind of knocked her out, and I blamed it on the storm—lightning.” I exhaled loudly. “I was lucky.”

“Katy was lucky.”

My gaze shot to her. “How so?”

Dee moved in one fluid motion, sitting cross-legged in less than a second. “That you were there to save her.”

It seemed too obvious to point out the fact that she wouldn’t have needed me to protect her if I hadn’t dragged her out into the woods in the first place.

“Can I ask you something?” Dee poked my knee with her fingers of death.

I arched a brow. “Do I really have a say in that?”

“No.” She flashed a quick grin. “Do you…do you like Katy?”

Every single part of me locked up. My sister waited while a hundred different responses ran through my head. Did I like her? What in the hell kind of question was that? I lowered my arms and sat up a little, throwing one leg off the bed.

“Daemon?”

I didn’t look at my sister as I stood. “No.”

“What?” she whispered.

“You heard me.” I rubbed my palm over my jaw, sighing as I walked over to the dresser and picked up the remote. “Look, I’m sure she’s a great girl and friend, and if she wasn’t…human, she’d be about three thousand times awesome, but no, I don’t like her.” Dee was quiet as I returned to the bed, and she didn’t look up when I sat back down. Her lips were pursed, and now I felt like shit. “Want to watch a movie?”

“Sure.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes, and I wished I hadn’t even looked at her. “Do you think she’ll be safe at least? With the trace?”

“Yeah. I’ve got this.” The pressure was back on my shoulders, and I flipped on the TV. “As long as she stays put for the next couple of days, she’ll be fine.”

Dee moved until she was sitting against the headboard, shoulder to shoulder with me. After a moment, she pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. I started flipping through On Demand and she sighed morosely.

I opened my mouth and then closed it. Another moment passed and I lowered the remote. “I lied.”

She turned to me. “About what?”

“The first question you asked.” I didn’t look at her as I shook my head, staring at the list of movies on the screen. “I lied, just a little.”

Chapter 8

“I was beginning to wonder if you were becoming a recluse or something.” Andrew sat on the narrow railing surrounding the raised deck, his legs dangling into empty space. A near-empty bottle of beer was perched on the railing beside him, and if he’d been human, he would’ve been the poster child for the dangers of underage drinking. “Or if you just didn’t like us anymore.”

Sitting in a chair with my feet kicked up on the patio table, I smirked. “It would be the latter.”

Andrew snickered. “You’re a jackass.”

I didn’t disagree with that statement.

Across from me, Adam mirrored my same position, except he was staring out into the woods, a thoughtful expression on his face. Sometimes being around the brothers was hard, because it reminded me of how it used to be with Dawson.

Andrew and Adam were identical in physical appearance, both tall and strong, blue eyed and blond, but their personalities couldn’t be any more different. They really were like Dawson and I used to be. I was the hothead. Dawson was the calm one. Andrew was the asshole and Adam was the peacekeeper.

Not that I’d ever tell Dee, but I was glad it was Adam she appeared to be taking more seriously. I really didn’t know how much their relationship had progressed, and I tried not to think about it, but yeah, I was glad. Andrew was too much like me.

As I watched Andrew finish off his beer, my mind wandered. Coming over to their place Tuesday evening didn’t feel right, not when Kat had a trace on her, but Andrew had been right. I hadn’t seen the guys in a while and Dee had told me that Kat was staying home. She would be okay there, since it was doubtful an Arum would get that close to the colony, and as long as she wasn’t out running around publically with Dee, endangering her, I really shouldn’t care.

I didn’t care.

Dee’s question had been haunting me. Do you like her? I’d said no, and I had lied a little. What I felt for Kat was complicated and twisty. I liked her, but I didn’t. I also liked wolves, but I didn’t want one as a pet.

Picking up my bottle of water, I took a long swig of it as Adam glanced over at me. “Do you know when the girls are getting back?”

I raised one shoulder. “Don’t know.”

“Ash was pissed.” Andrew chuckled as he looked over his shoulder. “She said she was leaving as soon as Dee finished stuffing her face with food.”

“Gotta love a girl with an appetite,” Adam murmured, lips tipping up at one corner.

My eyes narrowed on him.

Adam’s grin faded. “Or not.”

“Sounds about right,” I commented, idly spinning the bottle of water.

Andrew leaned backward and flipped over, landing on his feet like a damn cat. He twisted around, picking up the empty bottle. “I need another drink.” He looked over in my direction. “You?”

“I’m good.”

“Pansy ass.”

I flipped him off.

He chuckled as he disappeared into the house, closing the door behind him. My gaze traveled behind the deck, to the heavy edge of the forest. From our vantage point, I could see the tips of Seneca Rocks. I liked it out here. Like where Matthew lived, there really weren’t any other houses nearby, and it was almost always quiet. The only noise came from the wildlife, and as night was steadily falling, the hum of crickets increased. I looked up. Darker storm clouds were starting to roll in.

“I know,” Adam announced.

Frowning, I looked over at him. “Know about what?”

He glanced at the door before he continued. “I know about the girl who moved in next door.”

The foot I’d been moving stilled. “I’m going to take a wild guess and say Dee told you?”

Adam nodded as he leaned back, folding his arms. “Dee really likes her.”

“Hmm.”

“I haven’t said anything to Ash or Andrew. Not planning to, because you know how they’re going to react. I’m guessing Matthew knows?” When I nodded, his thoughtful expression returned. “Got to admit, though, I’m kind of surprised you haven’t said anything.”

I sat the bottle on the table. “Don’t know why you’d think I’d actually bring it up. Not like I sit around and think about the girl.”

Adam cocked his head to the side, his grin slow to appear. “Well, I wasn’t insinuating that you sit around and think about her, but normally, you’d be bitching to anyone who’ll listen about Dee making friends with a human girl.”

A muscle flexed in my jaw. “It’s not important.”

“It kind of is,” he replied.

“And I don’t sit around bitching about things.”

Adam’s shoulders shook with a silent laugh, and I started to tell him exactly what I thought about that when my phone vibrated in my pocket. Stretching to the side, I yanked it out of my pocket. Dee’s name flashed across the screen.

I answered it. “You done with that dinner thing already?”

Adam perked up across from me, and I decided I really didn’t like that. “I think we have a problem,” Dee started, her voice pitched high.

Pulling my feet off the table, I tensed. “What kind of problem?”

“Is there any chance that Kat is with you?” she asked, sounding hopeful.

A ball of dread settled in my stomach like lead. “No. No chance in hell.”

“Oh no. I just got back to the house and her car is not in the driveway. So I stopped over to just be sure she wasn’t there and no one answered.” She paused, her breath ragged over the phone. “She’s left the house, and she has a trace on her.”

I was standing without even realizing it, walking over to the edge of the deck. My voice was low. “You said she was staying in tonight.”

“I know.” Her voice rose. “That’s what she told me, but she didn’t.”

“Dammit.” My hand tightened around the phone. “Of course she didn’t.”

“Is everything okay?” Adam asked from behind me.

I ignored him as Dee spoke up. “Don’t be mad at her, Daemon. She doesn’t know it’s not safe for her out there right now. She has no idea. This isn’t her fault.”

Her fault or not didn’t matter. It was still a huge pain in my ass.

“I’m going to go and see if I can find her. I bet she’s at the library and I will—”

“No, you won’t. You aren’t going anywhere. You keep your butt at home.” Anger rushed over me, but underneath that, dread was expanding. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Daemon—”

“I’ll text you as soon as I find her.” I resisted the urge to turn the phone into a missile. “I’m sure she’s fine. Just…just stay home and don’t worry.”

Hanging up, I dropped the phone back in my pocket. “I’ve got to go.”

Adam stood, concern etched into his features. He already had his phone in his hand, and I hoped like hell Dee knew to keep the whole trace thing to herself. “Is everything okay?” he asked.

“Yeah.” I placed my hands on the railing. “Tell Andrew I’ll catch up with him later.”

I vaulted over the railing, dropping a good fifteen feet below, landing in a crouch. I rose and took off toward the front of the house. I almost started to go past my SUV, because I could get to the library faster on foot, but how would I explain that to Kat when I found her?

Hell.

Pivoting around, I hurried toward my car and climbed in. Turning the engine on, I threw the SUV into reverse, navigating it around the cars and trees. The drive into town felt like it took an eternity, and I had to have gotten behind every slow-moving ass on the highway. Fat drops of rain splattered off the windshield. Since it started raining, it appeared no one could drive more than twenty miles an hour. My hands clenched the steering wheel until my knuckles bleached white. Anger rolled through me like the storm brewing outside.

I was angry at Kat for not staying put, furious with myself for putting her in a position where I was going to have to search her ass down and come up with some lame-ass reason why I was there.

And pissed off that I hadn’t been home to catch her ass leaving.

When I made it into Petersburg, I was ready to run over a small village with my SUV, and since parking was a bitch in the evening and I wasn’t in a hurry or anything, I ended up having to leave the car three blocks over, parked behind a diner.

There was a lot of traffic on the main streets, so I had to watch myself. The rain was tapering off and the street lamps were flickering on as I headed down the sidewalk, toward the town library. My mood was dark, matching the clouds ahead, and when I spied the library and didn’t see her car, I was ready to destroy something.

Either she had already left or she’d never been here. There was only one other place to check, a less trafficked side road that was behind the library. I picked up my pace, cutting across the narrow lawn in front of the building, and rounded the side.

An icy chill exploded along the base of my neck and powered down my spine, kicking my instinct to shift into my true form into overdrive. The dread exploded like a buckshot.

I could feel them, tainting the air and the ground, cloaking the narrow street in unnatural, thick shadows. My brain clicked off and I picked up speed, becoming a blur as I cleared the side of the library. I spotted Kat’s car. A light was on inside, but I didn’t see her.

The presence of an Arum grew stronger.

Shooting across the road, I came up on her car and I felt it—the oily thickness in the air nearly choking me. Then I saw it in its human form, but the edges of it were shaded out, transparent like dark smoke. I didn’t see Kat, but it had something—someone—on the ground, and I knew without seeing her that it was Kat.

And it could already be too late.

This…this was my fault.

The rage and dread whirled through me like a hurricane, and I had no idea how I managed to stay in my human form as I grabbed the Arum by its shoulder. My hand sunk a few inches into it, and then I had ahold of its bone and muscle. I yanked back hard, lifting the Arum into the air and tossing it several feet to the side. I caught a brief glimpse of Kat, and my fury tasted like death in the back of my throat.

The thing twisted in midair, turning to nothing more than shadows before consolidating rapidly into a human mass as it landed on its feet. I shot toward it, catching the bastard in the stomach with my shoulder. It cried out and then pushed back, shoving its hand toward my chest. A curse exploded out of me as I staggered back a step. The arm turned transparent, and I knew what it was going to try to do. Feed.

Yeah, not going to happen.

I spun out of the way, avoiding its grip. Moving as fast as a cobra striking, I grabbed ahold of the Arum and tossed him over my shoulder. He landed near Kat, stunned for a moment.

A soft whimper rattled me. Kat was hurt.

Before I could process this new fear, the Arum popped to its feet. The combination of blond hair and pale skin washed the thing out, and as it charged me, dark shadows blossomed under the thin layer of skin. I caught the Arum by the throat, lifting him into the air.

A series of coughs came from the direction of Kat, and I cursed as I power-bombed the asshole into the road. Asphalt cracked. Tiny rocks that were knocked loose flew into the air.

Hatred bled into the pale blue gaze that met mine, so much cold hatred. We rolled farther away, into the shadows. He landed a punch. I landed more. Taking out the Arum in public like this was risky, but I needed to end this and I needed…I needed to check on her.

Lifting my arm, I brought my hand down onto the Arum’s chest as I summoned the Source. Energy, pure and raw and as powerful as a solar flare, burned down my arm. An intense whitish-red light erupted from my hand, flowing into the Arum.

Time froze for a moment as the light washed over the creature, seeping into its chest cavity, beyond its skin, and invading every cell. Bright white light washed over its eyes, chasing after the shadows lurking under its skin.

I rocked off the Arum, just in the nick of time, too. The pale skin disappeared, replaced by a smooth onyx shell. The creature stilled for a moment, its mouth hanging open in a silent scream, and then it exploded into a million wispy fragments that floated up, disappearing into the sky.

The charge backed up into the environment around us. Streetlamps exploded, casting the entire street into darkness. Breathing heavily, I took a step back and looked over to Kat. She was lying on her stomach awkwardly, nearly facedown in the road. Something about that ripped through me.

I crossed the distance between us in a heartbeat, kneeling beside her as I reached out, placing my hand on her shoulder. A soft moan radiated from her, and that tearing feeling deep inside me increased.

“It’s okay. He’s gone. Are you okay?” Damn. That was a stupid question. She started to lift her head, and I saw the angry red mark on her cheek, like a bright strawberry. Her left eye was swelling. Anger punched through me. She was hurt and in pain, that much was obvious, and her breathing didn’t sound right. There was a concerning wheezing quality to it. I wasn’t a doctor, but it didn’t sound good.

“Everything is okay,” I told her, and that was a lie, because as I spoke those three words, I did something so incredibly reckless I might as well have thrown myself in front of a speeding truck.

She was hurt, and instinctively, I knew I could fix some of it, even all of it. I’d never done it before. It was so forbidden, so taboo for our kind it was barely spoken of. One of our most remarkable attributes, the one thing that the Arum could not assimilate after feeding, was our regenerative ability. We healed rapidly from almost all injuries…and we could heal others.

I reached out to the Source, pulled it down inside myself, and then I pushed it into Kat, guiding the light to her chest and her raspy lungs. If anyone walked by right now, they’d see our bodies lit up like a lightbulb, and I counted myself ten kinds of foolish, but I didn’t stop. Her eyes were closed, but as the energy began to crackle along her skin, her lashes fluttered as if to open, and I ran my hand gently across her eyes and down her cheek, and she relaxed.