The Elders used to tell us that when the universe was formed, it was filled with the purest light, making those who lived in the shadows—the Arum—envious. They’d become jealous and determined to suffocate all the light. That was how the war started between our two planets.
And our parents died in that war, when our home was destroyed.
The Arum had followed us here, using atmospheric displays to travel to Earth without detection. Whenever there was a meteorite shower or a rash of falling stars, I was on edge. The Arum usually followed such occurrences.
Fighting them wasn’t easy. We could either take them out with the Source directly or with obsidian—sharpened into a blade, it was deadly to the Arum, especially after they’d fed. It fractured light. Getting ahold of it wasn’t easy, either, but I tried to always keep one on me, usually attached to my ankle. So did Dee.
Never knew when you’d need it.
“I just want to be careful,” I said finally.
“You’re always careful.”
I smiled tightly.
She hesitated and then sprang forward. Stretching up on the tips of her toes, she kissed my cheek. “You can be a demanding jerkface, but I love you. Just wanted you to know.”
Chuckling, I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and briefly pulled her in for a hug. “You can be an annoying chatterbox, but I love you, too.”
Dee slapped my arm as she stepped back, once again smiling. “Don’t be too late.”
I nodded and then watched her dart into the house. Dee rarely did anything slowly. She’d always been the one with the endless energy. Dawson had been the laidback one. And I was—I laughed under my breath—the jerkface one.
We’d been triplets.
Now we were just twins.
Several moments passed as I stared at the spot my sister had stood in. She was one of the only things left on this planet that I genuinely cared about. I turned my attention back to the house. I wasn’t even going to lie to myself about this. The moment Dee realized it was a girl next door, she was going to be all over her like barnacles on a hull—a crusty, seen-better-days hull. And no one could resist my sister. She was a damn fluffy ball of hyped-up sunshine.
We lived among humans, but we didn’t get close to them for a metric ton of reasons. And I wasn’t going to let Dee make the same mistake that Dawson had. I’d failed Dawson, but that wasn’t going to happen to Dee. I would do anything to keep her alive and safe. Anything.
Chapter 2
Pressing my forehead against the glass, I cursed under my breath, mainly because I was staring out the window—at that house. Waiting. I was waiting. There were better things to do than this. Like beating my head against cement. Or listening to Dee describe in painful detail every intricate and disturbingly personal attribute of each of those guys in that band she loved.
I forced myself away from the window, yawning as I rubbed my palm along my jaw. Damn near three days later and a part of me still couldn’t believe people had moved into the house next door. Could be worse, I decided in that moment. Our new neighbor could be a dude. Then I’d have to lock Dee in her bedroom.
Or at least it could have been a girl who looked like a dude. That would’ve been helpful, but oh no, she didn’t look like a guy at all. She was average, I reminded myself, but definitely not a dude.
With a wave of my hand, I turned on the TV and flipped through the channels until I found a repeat of Ghost Investigators. I’d seen this episode before, but it was always fun watching the humans run out of the house because they thought they saw something glowing. I lounged on the couch with my legs on the coffee table and tried to forget about the girl with not-so-average tan legs and a killer ass.
I’d seen her a total of two times before today.
Obviously the day she moved in, when I’d been a dumbass and helped her from afar. I wanted to punch myself in the gonads for that. Sure, she didn’t know that I’d lessened the weight of the boxes so she didn’t fall right over, but I shouldn’t have done it. I knew better.
I’d seen her yesterday. She’d dashed out toward a sedan and grabbed a stack of books out of the car. Her face had lit up with the biggest smile, as if the leaning tower of books were really a million bucks.
It was all very—not cute. What the hell was I thinking? Not cute at all.
Man, it was hot in here. Leaning forward, I grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled it over my head. I tossed it to the side and idly rubbed my chest. I’d been walking around shirtless more than ever since she’d moved in.
Wait. I’d seen her three times if I counted seeing her through the window last night.
Dammit, I needed to get out and do something. Preferably something that required working up one hell of a sweat.
Before I knew it, I’d stalked across the room and ended up right in front of the window. Again. I didn’t want to examine why too closely.
I brushed the curtain aside, scowling. Hadn’t even spoken to the girl and I felt like a stalker staring out the window, waiting once more…waiting for what? To catch a glimpse of her? Or to better prepare myself for the inevitable meeting?
If Dee saw me now, she’d be on the floor laughing.
And if Ash saw me right now, she’d scratch out my eyes and blast my new neighbor into outer space. Ash and her brothers had arrived from Lux about the same time as we did, and a relationship just sort of…happened…more from proximity than I could honestly say real emotion. We hadn’t dated for months, but I knew she still expected that we’d end up together eventually. Not because she really wanted me, but it was expected of us…so of course she probably didn’t want me with anyone else. I still cared for her, though, and I couldn’t remember a time without her and her brothers around.
I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Turning slightly, I saw the screen door on the wide porch next door swing shut. Shit.
I shifted my gaze and caught her hurrying off the porch.
I wondered where she was going. Not much to do around here, and it wasn’t like she knew anyone. There hadn’t been any traffic next door, with the exception of her mom coming and going at odd hours.
The girl stopped in front of her car, smoothing her hands down her shorts. My lips curved up at the corners.
All of a sudden, she veered toward the left, and I straightened. I fisted my hand around the curtain, and my breath got stuck somewhere in my chest. No, she was not coming over here. She had no reason. Dee didn’t even realize there was a girl here yet. No reason…
Oh hell, she was coming here.
Letting go of the curtain, I backed away from the window and turned toward the front door. I closed my eyes, counting the seconds and reminding myself of the valuable lesson learned at Dawson’s expense. Humans were dangerous to us. Just being around them was a risk—getting too close to a human inevitably ended with one of us leaving a trace of the Source on them. And since Dee was obsessed with befriending anything that breathed, it would be especially dangerous for this girl. She lived right next door, and there’d be no way I could control how much time Dee spent with her.
And then there was the fact that I’d been, you know, watching her. That could possibly be a problem. I clenched my fists at my sides.
My sister wouldn’t have the same fate as Dawson. There was no way I could bear the loss of her, and it had been a human girl who had brought him down, led an Arum right to him. Time and time again it had happened with our kind. It wasn’t necessarily the human’s fault, but the end result was always the same. I refused to let anyone put Dee in danger, unknowingly or not. It didn’t matter. Throwing out my hand, I flung the coffee table across the room but caught myself and pulled back just before it crashed into the wall. Taking a deep breath, I settled it back down on four legs.
A soft, almost tentative knock rapped against our front door. Shit.
I exhaled roughly. Ignore it. That was what I needed to do, but I was moving toward the door, opening it before I even knew it. A rush of warm air wash
ed over my skin, carrying the faint scent of peach and vanilla.
Man, did I love peaches, all sweet and sticky.
My gaze dropped. She was short—shorter than I’d realized. The top of her head only came up to my chest. Maybe that was why she was staring at it. Or maybe it was the fact I hadn’t had the inkling to put on my shirt.
I knew she liked what she saw. Everyone did. Ash had once said it was the combination of dark, wavy hair and green eyes, the hard jaw and full lips. Sexy, she’d said. I was hot. Might sound arrogant, but it was the truth.
Since she was blatantly checking me out, I figured I could do the same. Why not? She came knocking on my door.
The girl… She wasn’t cute. Her hair, not really blond or brown, was out of the messy bun, and it was long, hanging over her shoulders. She was short as hell, barely five and a half feet. Still, her legs seemed to stretch forever. Dragging my eyes away from her legs took effort.
Eventually, my gaze landed on the front of her shirt. my blog is better than your vlog. What in the world did that mean? And why would she have that on her shirt… And the words blog and better were stretched taut. I swallowed. Not a good sign.
I lifted my gaze with even more effort.
Her face was round, nose pert, and skin smooth. I bet a million dollars her eyes were brown—big, old doe eyes.
Crazy as hell, but I could feel her eyes as her gaze made the slow perusal from where my jeans hung from my hips, back up to my face. She sucked in a sharp breath, which overshadowed my own inhale.
Her eyes weren’t brown, but they were large and round, a pale shade of heather gray—intelligent and clear eyes. They were beautiful. Even I could admit that.
And it pissed me off. All of this pissed me off. Why was I checking her out? Why was she even here? I frowned. “Can I help you?”
No answer. She stared at me with this look on her face, like she wanted me to kiss those full, pouty lips of hers. Heat stirred in the pit of my stomach.
“Hello?” I caught the edge in my voice—anger, lust, annoyance, more lust. Humans are weak, a risk…Dawson is dead because of a human—a human just like this one. I kept repeating that over and over again. I placed my hand on the doorframe, fingers digging into the wood as I leaned forward. “Are you capable of speaking?”
That got her attention, snapping her right out of the ogling. Her cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink as she stepped back. Good. She was leaving. That’s what I wanted—for her to turn and rush away. Running a hand through my hair, I glanced over her shoulder and then back. Still there.
She really needed to get her cute ass off my porch before I did something stupid. Like smile at the way she was blushing. Sexy, even. And definitely not average. “Going once…”
The flush deepened. Hell. “I…I was wondering if you knew where the closest grocery store is. My name is Katy.”
Katy. Her name was Katy. Reminded me of Kitty. Kitty cat. Kitten. Look at me, putting all these words together.
“I moved next door.” She gestured at her house. “Like, almost three days ago…”
“I know.” I’ve been watching you for almost three days, like a stalker.
“Well, I was hoping someone would know the quickest way to the grocery store and maybe a place that sold plants.”
“Plants?”
Her eyes narrowed just the slightest, and I forced my face to remain expressionless. She fidgeted some more with the hem of her shorts. “Yeah, see, there’s this flower bed in front—”
I arched a brow. “Okay.”
Now her eyes were thin slits, and irritation heightened the blush and rolled off her. Amusement stirred deep inside me. I knew I was being an ass at this point, but I was perversely enjoying the spunk slowly igniting behind her eyes, baiting me. And…the flush of anger was sort of hot in a weird, there’s-really-something-wrong-with-me kind of way. She reminded me of something…
She tried again. “Well, see, I need to go buy plants—”
“For the flower bed. I got that.” I leaned my hip against the doorframe, crossing my arms. This was actually almost fun.
She took a deep breath. “I’d like to find a store where I can buy groceries and plants.” Her tone was one that I used with Dee about a thousand times a day. Adorable.
“You are aware this town has only one stoplight, right?” And there it was. The spark in her eyes was a blazing fire now, and I was fighting a full-on grin. Damn, she wasn’t just cute anymore. She was much, much more, and my stomach sank.
The girl stared at me, incredulous. “You know, all I wanted were directions. This is obviously a bad time.”
Thinking of Dawson, my lip curled into a sneer. Playtime was over. I had to nip this in the bud. For Dee’s sake. “Anytime is a bad time for you to come knocking on my door, kid.”
“Kid?” she repeated, eyes widening. “I’m not a kid. I’m seventeen.”
“Is that so?” Hell, as if I didn’t already notice she was all grown up. Nothing about her reminded me of a kid, but dammit, as Dee would say, I had piss-poor social skills. “You look like you’re twelve. No. Maybe thirteen, but my sister has this doll that kinda reminds me of you. All big-eyed and vacant.”
Her mouth dropped open, and I realized that I may have gone a little too far with that last statement. Well, it was for the better. If she hated me, she’d stay away from Dee. It worked with most of the girls. Ah, most of them.
Okay. That didn’t work with a lot of girls, but they didn’t live next door, so what the hell ever.
“Yeah, wow. Sorry to bother you. I won’t be knocking on your door again. Trust me.” She started to turn, but not quickly enough that I didn’t see the sudden glisten in those gray eyes.
Dammit. Now I felt like the biggest dick ever. And Dee would flip if she saw me acting like this. Stringing together a dozen or so curses in my mind, I called out to her. “Hey.”
She stopped on the bottom step, keeping her back to me. “What?”
“You get on Route 2 and turn onto U.S. 220 North, not South. Takes you into Petersburg.” I sighed, wishing I’d never answered the door. “The Foodland is right in town. You can’t miss it. Well, maybe you could. There’s a hardware store next door, I think. They should have things that go in the ground.”
“Thanks,” she muttered and added under her breath, “douchebag.”
Did she just call me a douchebag? What decade were we in? I laughed, genuinely amused by that. “Now that’s not very ladylike, Kittycat.”
She whipped around. “Don’t ever call me that.”
Oh, I must’ve hit a sore spot there. I pushed out the door. “It’s better than calling someone a douchebag, isn’t it? This has been a stimulating visit. I’ll cherish it for a long time to come.”
Her little hands balled into fists. I think she wanted to hit me. I think I might’ve liked it. And I think I seriously needed help.
“You know, you’re right. How wrong of me to call you a douchebag. Because a douchebag is too nice of a word for you.” She smiled sweetly. “You’re a dickhead.”
“A dickhead?” It would be too easy to like this girl. “How charming.”
She flipped me off.
I laughed again, lowering my head. “Very civilized, Kitten. I’m sure you have a wide array of interesting names and gestures for me, but not interested.”
And she looked like she did. Part of me was a bit disappointed when she spun around and stomped off. I waited until she yanked open her car door and because I really was an ass…
“See you later, Kitten!” I called out, chuckling when she looked like she was about to race back to the door and kangaroo kick me.
Slamming the door shut behind me, I leaned against it and laughed again, but the laugh ended in a groan. There’d been a moment where I’d seen what flickered behind the disbelief and anger in those soulful gray eyes. Hurt. Knowing that I’d hurt her feelings made the acid in my stomach churn.
Which was stupid, because last night, I’d considere
d an arson-assisted relocation plan and hadn’t felt guilty then. But that was before I saw her up close and all kinds of personal. Before I actually spoke to her. Before I realized her eyes were intelligent and beautiful.
Returning to the living room, I wasn’t at all surprised to find my sister standing in front of the TV, her slender arms crossed and green eyes burning. She looked just like that girl’s expression—like she wanted to kick me in the nuts.
I gave her a wide berth as I headed to the couch and dropped down on it, feeling a dozen years older than the eighteen I was. “You’re blocking the screen.”
“Why?” she demanded.
“It’s a damn good episode.” I knew that wasn’t what she was talking about. “The one guy thinks he’s possessed by a shadow person or some—”
“I don’t give a crap about a shadow person, Daemon!” She lifted
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