“Can we talk for a moment?” Matthew asked in a low voice.

I nodded and then glanced over at Dee. She smiled, obviously getting the message I didn’t need to say. She would keep an eye on Kat for me. Matthew and I stepped outside. “What’s up?” I asked even though I already knew where this conversation was heading.

“Let’s take a walk,” he suggested.

I followed him off the porch and in the opposite direction of Kat’s house. I decided to not beat around the bush. “I know you’re worried about Katy, but she’s not going to say anything,” I said, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans as we reached the first outcropping of trees. “I know that’s hard to believe, but she’s had plenty of chances to say something. And what I said about her saving my life last night? I wasn’t exaggerating, Matthew. I was able to take out one of the Arum, but two of them tag-teamed me. The one she killed had been feeding on me.”

Matthew sucked in an unsteady breath. “You came too close, then.”

“I did,” I admitted quietly, ducking my head under a low-hanging branch. “It won’t happen again.”

He didn’t respond immediately, so I continued on. “You should’ve seen her, Matt. I told her to run and to hide, but she came back. Like a freaking ninja,” I said, barking out a short laugh. I could still see her standing there. “Stabbed the Arum with the obsidian blade like she’d done it a million times. It was…yeah, it was amazing.”

“Sounds like it.” He walked side by side with me. “Not many humans would’ve done that. She’s a brave girl.”

“Yeah.” I smiled slightly. “Yeah, she is.”

Matthew’s steps slowed to a stop. “It’s not her I’m worried about, Daemon.”

Frowning, I stopped and looked at him. “It’s not?”

His expression was open. “No. It’s you.”

“Me?” I laughed again. “You need to add a little more detail to that statement.”

“All of this is so very familiar to me. No, let me finish,” he said when I opened my mouth. “I know you’re not your brother and this isn’t the same situation, but you obviously care about Katy. She’s not like the other human girls you’ve had…relations with.”

Huh. I had no idea Matthew kept that close of an eye on me.

“Katy is different to you, and you’re different around her. You threatened us to protect her, and that’s all the evidence that I need to know this situation could escalate very quickly. None of us took a stronger hand with Dawson, and look where that ended. I cannot allow that to happen to you.”

Looking away, I slowly shook my head as I watched a tiny brown bird hop along one of the narrow branches. Kat was different. I couldn’t deny that. “I can’t keep her away from Dee.”

“Dee’s not the problem,” Matthew informed me.

A muscle began to tick in my jaw, and then I laughed again for the third time. “I was thinking that it might be smart if Dee and I left. If we found another colony and moved there. Dee wouldn’t be happy with that, but…”

“That’s not what I want to hear, and I hope you’re not so…invested in this girl that leaving here—leaving us—is the only viable option. That means things have already gotten out of control, and that is not you.”

Was it the only option? If it was, then what did that say? I shook my head. “It’s not.”

Matthew clamped his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “You are like a brother to me, Daemon. I trust you with my life, and I know you’re going to make this situation right. You’re going to help get that trace off as her as quick as possible, using whatever means necessary,” he said, his blue eyes sharpening. “You’re going to take care of this and none of us are going to have to worry about history repeating itself. We’re going to move on from this and take care of the Arum, and then everything…everything will be okay. Can you do that? For Dee? For all of us, but most importantly, for you and for her.”

“I’m not—”

“You don’t need to lie to me, Daemon, and I don’t even need you to confirm or deny what is beginning to start between you and Katy, but you know—you know more than anyone if you continue down this path, it’s not just your fate you’re sealing. It’s Katy’s fate also.” Matthew withdrew his hand, his expression somber. “You don’t want to be the reason she disappears or is killed. I know you don’t. So take care of this. Soon.”

Chapter 22

Matthew’s words haunted me throughout Saturday and into Sunday morning. Man, he’d nailed it all on the head, hadn’t he? Things were already getting out of control between Kat and me, and nothing had really happened between us. At least not physically, if I wasn’t counting yesterday morning, but there was something between us.

And neither of us liked it.

I did a lot of thinking, even when I went out on patrols Saturday night. Matthew had been right. I needed to get this trace off Kat as soon as possible, and then once I took care of the last Arum, things…things would be normal.

Things had to get back to normal.

Leaving really wasn’t an option, at least not right now, and the likelihood of the DOD approving something like that was slim to none. So I needed to take care of this. I couldn’t allow myself to think of anything else.

Dee was with Adam, and I figured now was no better time to start getting that trace off Kat. After all, she didn’t want to be at risk or a danger to anyone else. Before I left, I grabbed the piece of obsidian from my bedroom. Rain poured down as I darted across the lawn, moving fast enough that the sheets of chilly rain barely hit me. Her mom’s car was gone, as usual. I knocked on the door.

A few seconds passed before the door inched open, revealing a very…sleepy-looking Kat. She squinted up at me, brows knitted together. Her hair was a mess of waves, falling haphazardly over her shoulders. She was in pajamas and I was pretty sure she wasn’t wearing a—

“What’s up?” She broke the silence.

“Are you going to invite me in?”

Her lips formed a thin line as she stepped aside. I walked in, scanning the rooms. “What are you looking for?” she asked.

“Your mom’s not home, right?” Figured I’d better double check before we started getting down to business.

Kat shut the door. “Her car’s not outside.”

The claws were out today. “We need to work on fading your trace.”

“It’s pouring outside.” She stalked past me, grabbing the remote to turn off the TV. I beat her to it, flipping it off before she could hit the button. “Show-off,” she muttered.

“Been called worse.” I frowned as I faced her, finally getting a good look at what she was wearing. I laughed. “What are you wearing?”

Her cheeks burned bright. “Shut up.”

I laughed again. “What are they? Keebler elves?”

“No! They’re Santa’s elves. I love these pajama bottoms. My dad got them for me.”

My laugh faded off. “You wear them because they remind you of him?”

Kat nodded.

The green and pink bottoms were ridiculous looking, but I understood why she wore them. It made me think of something I remembered hearing the Elders say. “My people believe that when we pass on, our essence is what lights the stars in the universe. Seems stupid to believe in something like that, but when I look at the sky at night, I like to think that at least two of the stars out there are my parents. And one is Dawson.”

“That’s not stupid at all.” She paused as the hostility faded from her expression. “Maybe one of them is my dad.”

I looked at her and quickly looked away. “Well, anyway, the elves are sexy.”

She snorted. “Did you guys come up with another way to fade the trace?”