Hell, how many people did Will Michaels have to pay off to make this happen? How did he get that kind of money?

The lobby looked like any office building lobby. Half-circle desk, fake plants, and cheap tile floors. There was a door leading to a stairwell that had been conveniently left open. Kat squeezed my hand, and I felt sort of nauseous as I stared at the door.

Squaring my shoulders, we went for it, climbing the steps as fast as we could. At the top landing, there was a closed door. Above it, there was more onyx. I let go of her hand and wrapped my fingers around the handle, a slight tremor running up my arm.

I pushed open the door.

The room was dark, lit only by the moonlight streaming in through one window. There were a couple of folding chairs propped against the wall, a TV in the corner, and a large kennel-like cage in the middle of the room, outfitted with the same kind of manacles that had hung from Kat’s.

I stepped into the room slowly, my hands falling to my sides. Heat rolled off my body as I stared at the cage.

The empty cage.

Opening my mouth, I shook my head wordlessly as all the hope and excitement swan-dived out of an airplane.

“Daemon,” Kat croaked.

I stalked toward the cage, stood there a moment, and then knelt, pressing my forehead against my hand. A shudder racked my body. Had Dawson ever been here? Was it all a fucking lie? I didn’t know. All that mattered was my brother was still…missing.

Kat’s hand landed on my back, and my muscles tensed. “He…he lied to me,” I said, voice ragged. “He lied to us.”

Pain ripped into me, tearing up old wounds that had never healed. This was never going to be over. That’s how it felt. I was going to go on for the rest of my life chasing a ghost.

Kneeling beside me, Kat pressed against my back. Her arms wrapped around my waist. I placed my hands on her arms and closed my eyes, letting her presence warm me. If she hadn’t been here…

I rose swiftly, catching Kat off guard. She started to fall backward, but I spun around, catching her before she hit the floor. My name was a rough rasp when she spoke. “Sorry,” I said. “We…we need to get out of here.”

She nodded, stepping back. “I…I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. You had nothing to do with this. He tricked us. He lied.”

Taking her hand, I led her back to the car. On the way back to the house, I could feel Kat staring at me. I wanted to say something to reassure her. God knows she could use it, too, at this moment, but my jaw was locked shut. All I could focus on was getting us both back to the houses.

Then Kat reached between us, placing her hand on my arm. I glanced at her briefly but said nothing. I don’t think she would ever know how much that meant to me. Her hand stayed there even though she was close to dozing off.

I pulled into my driveway, letting the SUV idle for a moment as I saw Matthew’s car behind Dee’s. Kat blinked several times. “Did you call them, tell them what happened to…me?”

“They wanted to help find you, but I had them stay here in case…” No point in finishing that part of the sentence, but the next needed to be said as I turned off the engine. “If the mutation doesn’t hold, I will find Will and I’m going to kill him.”

Kat didn’t look all that surprised by the statement as I leaned over the center console and kissed her. Her heart immediately sped up, and I smiled against her mouth, loving how she responded to the softest of touches.

Pulling away, I glanced over at my house. Seeing Dee right now was going to be hard. A part of me had hoped bringing Dawson home would elevate some of her pain. I shuddered. “I can’t…I can’t face Dee right now.”

“But won’t she worry?”

“I’ll text her as soon as you’re settled.”

“Okay. You can stay with me.”

A wry grin tugged at my lips. “I’ll get out before your mom comes home. Swear.”

Kat smiled at that. I got out of the SUV and jogged around to her side. Opening her door, I reached in for her. “What are you doing?” she asked.

I arched a brow. “You haven’t had shoes on this entire time, so no more walking.”

She opened her mouth as if she wanted to argue, but snapped it closed. I grinned as she scooted to the edge of the seat.

The front door to my house swung open, slamming against the clapboard like a gunshot. I spun around, my hands forming into fists as I expected the DOD to come rushing out.

But it was Dee.

Strands of dark curly hair streamed behind her. Tears glistened from her eyes and coursed down her cheeks. My heart started to sink even further, but she…she was laughing and she was smiling.

What the hell? Was Dee medicated? Not that there was anything wrong with that, but I had a feeling pills wouldn’t work on us. Maybe pot?

Kat slipped out of the car behind me, and I started to turn around to stop her. She was not going to walk barefoot on snow, but the door opened again behind Dee, and…

Holy shit.

I stumbled as the tall and thin form appeared behind Dee. The form drifted forward, standing shoulder to shoulder with my sister—our sister. It was him on the porch, a thinner, more disheveled replica of me. Dark hair, longer than the last time I saw him, curled against the sharp, high cheekbones. His eyes were green, but duller…haunted. But it was him. It was my brother.

“Dawson,” I croaked out.

Chapter 30

The house was quiet except for the low hum of conversation coming from the TV in the living room. Wind howled outside, battering the sides of the house as snow fell in thick sheets.

From the front window, I watched the wind whip the snow across the driveways. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been standing here. Definitely more than a few minutes. Possibly an hour. Tension crept into my neck.

I wasn’t alone.

Looking over my shoulder, I watched my brother enter the living room. His movements were stiff, as if he weren’t used to walking much. He probably wasn’t. I’d seen those cages, and I knew there was a good chance, a high probability, that he’d been kept in one of those. Knowing that, watching him ate away at me. He was still so gaunt, and in the past week the shadows under his eyes had darkened.

Dawson wasn’t sleeping more than a few hours here and there.

He also wasn’t talking. Not really. Not to me at least. He spoke more to Dee, but nothing like it was before.

My brother was a ghost of his former self.

So much anger churned in my gut. What they’d done to him had changed him, and the anger hadn’t faded. Not even when I went back to the warehouse Will had taken Kat to, where Dawson was probably held at some point, and I stripped the damn place bare of onyx. Doing so had filled me with satisfaction, but it hadn’t dampened the anger.

Pushing away from the window, I followed him into the kitchen. He knew I was there, but he didn’t acknowledge my existence. My hands curled helplessly at my sides.

Dawson stood in the middle of the kitchen, his head cocked to the side as he stared at the fridge.

“Hey, man, you hungry?” I asked.

He didn’t respond.

The helplessness doubled until it was a pound of lead in my stomach. “We have Lucky Charms,” I offered, knowing he’d liked to eat the marshmallows out of the damn cereal. “I can grab you a bowl.”

Pivoting around, Dawson walked out of the kitchen without saying a word.

“Or not,” I muttered. Taking a deep breath, I followed him once more. This time he was at the window I’d been at.

Dee was sitting on the stairs, the set of her face weary. It was almost two in the morning. Our eyes met, and I shook my head tiredly at the question in her gaze.