I snorted. “Sounds right up your alley, to be honest.”

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. “Your actions affect those in the colony—”

“My actions have nothing to do with those who live in the colony,” I said, so very done with this conversation. “Or with you or Lydia or any other Elder. They never have. They never will.”

He stood, buttoning his suit. “You’re young, Daemon, and you’re at an age where you think you know everything.”

The side of my lips kicked up. “I know a lot of stuff.”

Ethan ignored that comment. “And you’re foolish because of your age, despite what you may believe. Do not think you’re the only Luxen male…or female to sample outside of our kind.”

I arched a brow.

“But all of us, including you, will choose one of your own.”

“I hate to break it to you, Ethan, but that’s not going to happen.” I sat the bottle down, meeting his slightly widened gaze. “I’m not just ‘sampling’ the human race over here. You can outcast me.” My smile spread. “You can threaten to report me to the DOD.” Crazy for me to throw that out there, but it wasn’t like the DOD didn’t already know about Kat and me. “It’s not going to change anything.”

His shoulders stiffened. “You so sure of that, Daemon?”

“Positive.”

An eerie smile crept across his face, leaving the room as cold as frostbite. “Everything changes.”

Ethan’s visit left me feeling…shit, weird as hell. His words left a sour taste in my mouth. His visit was a warning, but what could he seriously tell the DOD that they didn’t already know?

But his visit did have me thinking about the fact that the DOD hadn’t captured all of us yet, and what the hell were we supposed to do once we did get Beth out of Mount Weather, if she was really there?

No way would they let that slide.

Dawson and Beth…they would have to leave. There really were no other options, and there was a good chance all of us would have to make an exit, including Kat. God, that made me antsy as hell, because I hated that because of me, she would have to leave everything and everyone behind.

Wasn’t that the end result?

I felt like shit, which made the weird feeling even weirder, so a little while later, when Ash and Andrew stopped over and asked if I was hungry, I said yes. Not like I was going to say no when Dee had given me those sad eyes of hers, complaining that I never spent any time with her. And that was true. I hadn’t, not since…well, since she stopped hanging out with Kat, and Dawson had returned.

We’d gone to Smoke Hole, but the place was packed, so we ended up ordering a pizza and heading to the Thompsons’ place.

It had been months since I had been there, and while so much had changed since then, and Andrew and Ash were subdued compared to how they were before Adam’s death, it felt good hanging out with them.

Up until we started talking about Sunday night. For one of the first times ever, I saw real fear oozing out of Ash when Andrew talked about taking part. She was afraid she was going to lose Andrew, too. Dee still wanted to kill Blake. It took hours to get everyone on the same page about Sunday.

I’d texted Kat, letting her know I wouldn’t make it over to her place before she went to bed, but I didn’t get a response. Telling myself she probably had her nose stuck in a book, I tried to not let it stress me out. “Tried” being the key word, because even though if I was standing and living, so was Kat, that didn’t mean other things couldn’t happen to her.

I got home around two in the morning. Still no response from Kat, but I sent her another text for when she got up Saturday morning. Slipping on a pair of loose, old sweats, I turned music on low and passed out the moment my head hit the pillow, and it was a dreamless, deep kind of sleep. A warm sense of awareness woke me hours later, and I smiled sleepily, recognizing the series of tremors along the back of my neck, even half asleep.

Kat was quiet as she opened the bedroom door and crept across the room and sat on the edge of the bed. For a couple of moments, she was impossibly still, and I could feel her gaze on me.

I rolled toward her without any warning, snaking an arm around her waist. I dragged her down onto the bed next me, burying my face 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.”