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.
I moved form the porch to Kat’s driveway in a blink of an eye, surprising Lane.
“Is there something I can help you with, Lane?”
He took a step back and pressed his hand to his chest. “Daemon, God, I hate when you do that.” When I didn’t respond, the older man gave a little shake of his head. “I’m doing an investigation.”
“Okay.”
I tensed as Lane reached into the breast pocket of his suit and pulled out a small notebook, flipping it open. “Officer Brian Vaughn has been missing since before New Year’s. I’m checking all possible leads.”
What entirely messed-up timing for him to show up today, of all days, to question us about Vaughn. I kept my voice level and face blank as I folded my arms across my chest. “Why would I know what happened to him or care?”
Lane raised a bro
w. “When was the last time you saw him?”
“I haven’t seen him since the day you guys showed up to do your check-in and you all wanted to eat at the disgusting Chinese buffet,” I responded. “I still haven’t recovered from that.”
He gave a reluctant grin. “Yes, the food was terrible.” He scribbled something down and then slid his notebook back into his pocket. “So you haven’t seen Vaughn at all?”
“Nope.” I glanced over his shoulder, spotting movement.
The other man nodded. “I know you two weren’t big fans of each other. I didn’t figure he’d make any unauthorized visits, but we have to check every avenue at this point.”
“Understandable.” I glanced over to where I’d seen something between the trees, but I couldn’t be sure. “Why were you checking out the neighbor’s house?”
“I was checking out all the houses,” he replied. “You still friends with the girl we saw you with?”
My eyes narrowed.
Lane laughed as he walked past me, clapping me on the shoulder. “Daemon, when are you ever going to loosen up? I don’t care who you…spend your time with. I’m just doing my job.”
Like I truly believed that. Lane wasn’t as much of a dick as Vaughn had been, but that wasn’t saying much. “So, if I decided to exclusively date humans and settle down with one, you wouldn’t report me?”
“As long as I don’t see undeniable evidence, I don’t care. This is just a job with a good retirement, and I hope to make it to that point.” He started for his vehicle but stopped, facing me. “There’s a difference between evidence and my gut. For example, my gut told me that your brother was in a serious relationship with the human he disappeared with, but there wasn’t any evidence.”
I leaned against his SUV. Now the conversation was leading into tricky territory. Either Lane was going to lie and pretend that he didn’t know Dawson was sitting inside, most likely not eating his grilled cheese sandwich, or he was going to speak the truth. “Did you see my brother’s body when they found him?”
A tense moment followed, and Lane lowered his chin. “I wasn’t there when they said they found his body along with the girl’s. I was only told what happened. I’m just an officer.” He raised his head. “And I haven’t been told any different. I’m nothing in the big scheme of things, but I’m not blind.”
“What are you saying?” I asked.
Lane smiled tightly. “I know what’s in your house, Daemon. I know that I was lied to—a lot of us have been lied to and have no idea what’s really going on. We just have jobs. We do them, and we keep our heads down.”
I nodded as my respect for the man increased. “And you’re keeping your head down now?”
“I was told to check on Vaughn’s possible whereabouts and that was about it.” He motioned at his car door, and I stepped away from it. “I know not to address anything unless told so. I really want that retirement plan.” He climbed in, closing the car door. “You take care.”
I moved back. “See you around, Lane.”
Tires spun and kicked up gravel as the Expedition pulled back onto the road, puffing out exhaust. That was an…interesting conversation. While I wanted to believe what Lane had said, I knew better than to view him as a non-threat.
Sighing, I wheeled around, scanning the woods. I caught a flash of blue—the sweater Kat was wearing earlier. I started up the driveway, pausing when Kat trotted out of the woods.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
I nodded. “Did you hear any of that?”
“Yeah, I was heading back when I saw him.” She paused, nose scrunching. “Do you believe him?”
“I don’t know.” I dropped my arm over her shoulders, steering her toward my house. “Lane has always been a decent guy, but this doesn’t sit well with me.”
She folded an arm around my waist and leaned in. “Which part?”
“All of it—this whole scenario.” I sat on the step down from the top of the porch and tugged her into my lap, wrapping my arms around her. “The fact that the DOD—even Lane—knows damn well that Dawson’s back and that they have to realize we know they lied. And they’re doing nothing.” I closed my eyes as she pressed her cheek to mine. “And what we’re doing tonight—it can work, but it’s so insane. Part of me wonders if they already know we’re coming.”
Kat smoothed her thumb along my jaw as she kissed my cheek. “Do you think we’re walking into a trap?”
“I think we’ve been inside the trap the entire time and we’re just waiting for it to spring closed.” I picked up her dirty hand.
She shuddered. “And we’re going to still do this?” I met her gaze. “You don’t have to.”
“Neither do you,” she replied softly. “But we both are.”
“That we are.”
Neither of us spoke for several moments, and then she kissed me. “I think…I’m going to spend some time with my mom before we leave. She should be awake soon.”
I kissed her back, pouring into it everything I felt—the yearning for more time, the desperation that there wasn’t enough, and everything I felt for her. When I spoke, my voice sounded raw to my ears. “That’s a good idea, Kitten.”
Hours later, everyone was tense on the way to Mount Weather. There were laughs and curses, but it was forced. We all knew that some or all might not make the drive back. That was a sobering realization that haunted every single one of us.
So I focused on the fact that Kat was wearing one of my old black thermals, and there was nothing more hot in this world than seeing her in my clothes. The amount of possessive pride I felt was probably a bit disturbing.
We took two cars—Dee, Ash, and Andrew were riding in Matthew’s car. Made sense for Blake to be in mine, because I was slightly less likely to kill him on the way. The idiot stayed quiet for the first thirty minutes, but now he wouldn’t shut up. It got so bad that Dawson muttered, “Do you ever stop talking?”
“When I’m sleeping,” Blake replied.
“And when you’re dead,” I threw back. “You’ll stop talking when you’re dead.”
There was a pause. “Point taken.”
“Good.” I focused on the road. “Try shutting up for a while.”
Kat twisted around, facing Dawson. “What are you going to do when you see Beth?”
Remembering what he’d said in the kitchen, I had no idea how he was going to answer this question.
And then he said, “Oh, man, I don’t know. Breathe—I’ll finally be able to breathe.”
Damn.
God. Damn.
Kat’s voice was throaty as she spoke. “I’m sure she’ll feel the same way.”
She glanced at me, and I grinned a little. Her shoulders tensed as she looked back at Blake. “What about you?”
He didn’t answer immediately. “We’ll leave here and head west. And the first thing we’re going to do is go surfing. He really dug the sea.”
My lips twitched at that, because it sounded so damn normal.
Kat turned back around, focusing on her hands. “That’s…that’s good.”
When we were about a half a mile from the access road, a cell dinged from the backseat. “It’s from Luc,” Blake said. “He wants to make sure we’re on schedule.”
“We are,” I answered.
Dawson leaned forward, in between the front seats. Might as well climb into my lap. “Are we sure?” he asked.
“Yes. I’m sure.”
“Just checking,” Dawson grumbled, sitting back.
Blake took his place, and I groaned. “All right, Luc’s ready to do this. He wanted to remind us we’ve only got fifteen minutes. Anything goes wrong, we get out and try again later.”
“I don’t want to try again later,” Dawson protested. “Once we get in, we’ve got to keep going.”
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