“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.

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.”