But we were alone, so…

Sitting the empty milk glass on the counter, I moved wicked fast. In front of Kat, I cupped her cheeks and tipped her head back, kissing her as I backed her toward the bottom of the stairs.

She pulled away, her eyes soft as she grinned a little. I kissed the tip of her nose and then lifted her. She wrapped her legs around my waist. I carried her upstairs and into her bedroom. Inside, it was no small feat when I lifted my mouth from hers. I grinned.

Lips swollen, her brows knit in confusion.

I looked at her desk pointedly and then put her down.

She followed my gaze, and her mouth dropped opened as she saw the MacBook Air in a cherry-red sleeve. “I…” She looked at me and then at the desk again. She took a step forward and stopped, facing me once more. “Is that for me?”

There was no keeping the smile off my face when I felt her heart rate kick up. “Well, it is on your desk, so…”

“But I don’t understand.”

“See, there’s this place called an Apple Store and I went there, picked one out. They didn’t have any stock.” I paused as she stared at me. “And I ordered one. Meanwhile, I ordered a sleeve. I did take some liberties since I prefer red.”

“But why?” Her eyes were wider than I’d ever seen them.

I laughed softly. “Man, I wish you could see your face.”

She clasped her hands over her cheeks. “Why?”

“You didn’t have one, and I know how much blogging and that stuff means to you. Using the school computer isn’t doing it for you.” I shrugged. “And we really didn’t do the Valentine’s thing. So…here we are.”

A moment passed. “When did you put it here?”

“This morning, after you left for school.”

Kat took a deep breath as she turned back to the desk. “And you got this for me? A MacBook Air? Those things cost a lot of money.”

“Thank the taxpayers. Their money funds the DOD, who then turns over the money to us.” I laughed as she wrinkled her nose. “And I save money. I have a small fortune stashed.”

“Daemon, it’s too much.”

“It’s yours.”

Her hands slipped down and she folded them under her chin. “I can’t believe you did this.”

“You deserve it.” The thing was, she deserved so much more.

Kat was still and then she launched herself at me. Laughing, I caught her around the waist as I sat down on the bed. “Thank you. Thank you,” she said in between kissing every inch of my face. She was so excited, she drove me down, flat on my back. “Thank you.”

Laughing, I tipped my head back against the comforter. “Wow. You’re pretty strong when you’re excited.”

She sat astride me, grinning. “I can’t believe you did this.”

“You had no idea, did you?”

“No, but that’s why you kept bringing up the blog stuff.” She smacked my chest playfully, referring to the one hundred and one hints I’d dropped over the week. “You are…”

I folded my arms under my head. “I’m what?”

“Amazing.” She leaned over, kissing me. “You’re amazing.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying for years.”

Her laugh was warm against my lips “Seriously, though, you shouldn’t have.”

“I wanted to.” I watched her glance at the desk. “It’s okay. I know what you want to do. Go play.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

Squealing, she kissed me again and then hopped off, racing toward the desk. Grabbing the laptop, she climbed back on the bed and sat next to me. She immediately started playing around with it, and over the next hour, I helped her get familiarized with the different settings and themes.

“There’s the webcam,” I said, leaning over her shoulder. Opening the application, she squeaked when our faces appeared on the screen. “You should do your first vlog right now,” I suggested.

She hit record and squealed, “I have a MacBook Air!”

Burying my face in her hair, I laughed. “You dork.”

She turned off the webcam and closed the lid before placing it on the bed. Throwing her arms around me, she squeezed me tight. “Thank you.”

Lying back down, I pulled her with me. Several locks of hair fell forward, so I brushed them back. My hand lingered against her cheek. “I like it when you’re happy, and if I can do something small, then I will.”

“Something small?” Shock heightened her tone. “That’s not something small. That had to have cost—”

“It doesn’t matter. You’re happy. I’m happy.”

Her eyes lightened. “I love you. You know that, right?”

I grinned. “I know.”

Kat stayed in my arms for a moment and then sat up, kicked off her shoes. She glanced out the window. “You’re never going to say it, are you?”

“Say what?” I sat up, placing my hands on her hips.

She looked over her shoulders at me. “You know what.”

“Hmm?” I slid my hands up her sides, wondering how much more time we had before we had to go down to the lake. Glancing at the wall clock, I saw that we had absolutely no time. Sigh. I kissed her cheek and then slid off the bed. “I’m glad you like it.”

“I love it,” she replied.

I raised an eyebrow.

“Seriously, I do love it. I can’t thank you enough.” “I’m sure you can.”

Rolling her eyes, she pushed me and then started scanning her bedroom floor. I had no idea what she was looking for. She knelt down, lifting the edge of her comforter as she peered under her bed. Then she lay down on her belly and stretched. I heard her hand smacking the floor.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Trying to get my flip flops.”

“Is it really that hard?” And couldn’t she just use the Source to do that?

She ignored me. “What the…?” One flip-flop flew out from under the bed and then another. I stepped back as she wiggled out and sat up. She opened her hand. “Oh my God.”

“What?” I knelt beside her and then saw what she held. I sucked in a sharp breath. “Is that what I think it is?”

She held a shiny black stone, streak red through the center, like a flame, in her hand. I’d seen a similar stone before. On Luc.

Kat was holding a piece of opal.

Chapter 20

For several moments, Kat and I stared at each other. It was all we could do, because neither of us could believe that we’d found a piece of opal under her damn bed of all places.

Obviously, it had to have been Carissa’s, and somehow, when the room had been wrecked and we cleaned it, the piece of opal must’ve ended up under there. We made it downstairs; that was as far as we went.

Kat dropped the stone in my hand. “Try something—like that reflection thing.”

Folding my hand over the stone, I concentrated on the environment around me—the couch, the floor, and the TV. I figured it would be the same as reflecting the image of a person, but what did I know? I’d never done this before.

Energy skated over my skin, seeping through tissue and bone. I could see the faint shimmer appearing over my hand and it traveled up my arm. A second passed, and then my arm blended into the floor.

Kat’s eyes widened. “Daemon?”

I chuckled.

“Daemon?” She turned toward the couch. “I can’t see you at all.”

“Not at all?”

She shook her head as her eyes narrowed. Stepping back, her forehead scrunched as she stared right where I stood, in the front of the couch. “Oh my God, you’re totally like the Predator.”

“This is so cool.” I let go of the reflection. “God, I am so going to sneak into your bathroom like the Invisible Man.”

Kat shot me a bland look. “Give me the opal.”

Laughing, I handed it over. “Want to hear something crazier than me being completely invisible? It barely took any energy away. I feel fine.”

“Wow.” She turned the stone over. “We need to test this out.”