Mental note: pick up vitamin C before school tomorrow and force it down Kat’s throat.

Spinning around, I sighed and started toward the lake. From there I could head down toward the colony, make sure everything was kosher, and keep circling until I was ready to collapse. Sounded like a damn good plan.

Halfway there, that strange tingling whenever Kat was near—and not the fun kind—broke out across the nape of my neck. It couldn’t be her.

I picked up my pace.

She had no reason to be out in the woods in the middle of the night. It was late and cold and—

Holy crap.

As the still waters of the lake came into view, so did Kat.

My pulse sped into uncharted territories. Was I dreaming? Because she was standing there with her back to me, her bare feet sinking into the loose soil at the edge of the lake, and she was only in a loose white shirt. Those legs—God, I really had a thing for her legs—and her long hair blowing in the breeze.

This was a mirage created to torment me, no doubt.

“Kat?”

Slowly, as if it took some great effort for her to move, she turned, and I knew this was no dream. Tonight just got a hell of a lot more interesting.

“What are you doing, Kitten?” I asked.

She stared at me for so long I started to get a bit worried. “I…I need to cool down.”

She needed… Understanding whipped through me. “Don’t you dare go into that lake.”

Because Kat never, ever listened to me—why start now?—she moved backward. Water lapped at her ankles and then her knees. “Why?”

“Why?” I took a step forward. “It’s too cold. Kitten, don’t make me come in there and get you.”

Considering how fast I was and how incredibly slow all humans were, I was a little boggled by how quickly Kat went into the lake. Her head slipped under, and I knew it had to be freezing.

What in the hell was she doing? Kat could be weird at times. After all, she really thought she could convince herself that she wasn’t obsessed with me, but this? There was no logical explanation.

Shooting forward, I hit the lake at breakneck speed and sank down, wincing as icy water swept over my head. I grabbed her around the waist and shot back up, not even touching the water or the ground until I had her safely on her feet.

So I could strangle her. Hello. Colds. Pneumonia. Death. Jesus.

“What’s wrong with you?” I demanded, grasping her shoulders and giving her a light shake. “Have you lost your mind?”

“Don’t.” She pushed at me weakly. “I’m so hot.”

My gaze drifted all the way down, getting hung up on several areas. I’d seen most of it before, but she was…wow. Like no one else and a whole slew of warm and fuzzy things.

“Yeah, you’re hot,” I said, ignoring the near primal urge to take her down on the grass and do all kinds of things. “The whole wet white shirt… It’s working, Kitten, but a midnight swim in November? That’s a little daring, don’t you think?”

Kat stared up at me with eyes that were kind of glassy, and then she wiggled free, heading back toward that lake.

I caught her before she took two steps and turned her toward me. Okay, I was starting to get worried again. “Kat, you can’t get in the lake. It’s too cold. You’re going to get sick.” I brushed back the hair plastered to her cheeks and felt how hot she really was. “Hell—sicker than you already are. You’re burning up.”

Blinking once and then twice, she leaned into me, pressing her cheek against my chest. I think she sniffed me before saying, “I don’t want you.”

Yeah, and I would be voted Most Friendly in the high school yearbook. “Uh, now is not the time to get into that conversation.”

Her arms went around me, and my brows shot up. I kind of liked this Kat. “But I do want you,” she said.

Those words did something outrageous to my chest. I held her tighter. “I know, Kitten. You aren’t fooling anyone. Come on.”

She let go, her arms hanging limply at her sides. “I…I don’t feel good.”

“Kat.” I pulled back and grasped her face, holding her head up since it didn’t seem like she could by herself. Unease from earlier returned and it unfurled in my belly, quickly spreading its icy tendrils into every nook and cranny. “Kat, look at me.”

A second later, her legs went out from underneath her. Letting out a ripe curse, I caught her, cradling her against my chest. “Kat?”

Nothing.

Pressure clamped down on my chest. Her head fell back like it wasn’t connected to any muscle or bone. “Kat!”

Still nothing, and holy shit, panic exploded and my brain clicked off. Whirling around, I took off, running faster than I ever have. I hit her porch in half a second and by the time I placed her down on the bed, because I thought she’d be more comfortable that way, I had yanked out my cell phone and called Dee. She answered on the third ring, her voice a bit breathless.

“Something is wrong with Kat. I need you here. Now.”

That was all I said. The call disconnected. Pure terror had its claws in me as I cupped her cheeks. “Kat, open your eyes. Talk to me.”

Her chest rose in shallow breaths, but she didn’t open her eyes and she didn’t speak. Preparing to slip into my true form to heal her, I stopped at the very last second. Had I done this to her? Made her sick by healing her? We were forbidden to heal humans. No one ever really told us why, and this could be the reason.

Could we kill them?

“Shit.”

This couldn’t be happening. I didn’t save her life to be the reason why I lost her all over again. That was too fucking cruel, and I would never—

Dee appeared in Kat’s doorway, her hair messy from obviously running the miles between the Thompsons’ house and ours. Her lips way too swollen for me even to go there. She took one look at the bed and was beside us in an instant. “What happened?”

“I don’t know.” I grabbed for the blanket to cover her, but I didn’t know if that would help or hurt, so I threw it back toward the foot of the bed.

“Is she wet?” Dee placed her hand on Kat’s forehead and jerked back. “Oh my God, she’s burning up. What was she doing?”

“She was by the lake and got in. I got her out, but she passed out.” Hovering over her, I felt absolutely helpless and useless. “Kat, wake up! Come on, girl, wake up.”

Stricken, Dee clasped her hands together. “What’s wrong with her?”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with her!”

Dee paled.

Closing my eyes, I let out a breath. “I’m sorry. She just…she won’t wake up.”

“It’s okay. I’m sure she’ll be okay.” Dee placed a hand on my arm. “It’s probably the flu. Humans get really high fevers.”

“But fevers are bad for humans, right? Brain damage or something like that.” Panic socked me right in the gut again, and I looked down at Kat. Her cheeks were way too flushed. “Come on, Kitten, open your eyes.”

“Oh God…” Dee whispered.

Heart pounding, I wanted to put my fists straight through the wall.

“Daemon! You need to calm down.”

My sister’s voice drew my attention. Plumes of plaster fell from the ceiling. The damn house was starting to shake.

Calming down was not easy. I didn’t know what to do—how to make Kat better without unintentionally screwing her up.

Dee fluttered around the bed like a nervous hummingbird. “I could get something cool—a washcloth. That might help until her mom gets home.”

“Yeah,” I said, sitting beside Kat. I was vaguely aware of my sister leaving the bedroom and rummaging around in the bathroom. Brushing her damp hair back, I winced at how hot her skin was. How had I not noticed right off the bat that something was wrong? Hell, she was walking around in just a T-shirt. That wasn’t normal.

Returning with the cool washcloth, Dee tossed it to the floor. “What am I thinking? She’s soaked now and it’s not helping.”

Kat turned her head slowly, pressing against my palm, and my heart freaking fluttered. My fingers splayed across her too-warm cheek. She murmured something too low for me to understand, so I leaned closer. “Kat?”