Oblivion

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  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 Sund
ay 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.