And all the relief was gone in an instant. “With that guy from lunch?”

Dee nodded, and she exhaled loudly. “And he’s coming to the party Friday night.”

I stared at her. “What in the actual fu—?”

“I didn’t really invite him. The girls did, and you know, it’s not a big deal. He is actually pretty nice and he’s normal,” she said, meeting my eyes. “And I think Kat needs—”

“She doesn’t need normal,” I snapped.

Her emerald eyes brightened. “Then what does she need, Daemon?”

Me.

I wanted to shout that from the top of Spruce Knob, scream it in everyone’s face. Not weird or anything. But I was pissed. Stepping around Dee, I left her standing there and headed toward my car. I got in behind the wheel and cranked the engine.

Pulling out of the parking lot, I headed toward the house. I wasn’t going to the diner. It would be messed up even for me to do that. Once I hit the highway, I reached into my pocket and dug out my cell phone. Tapping on the screen, I hit the contacts and started scrolling until I found the contact I was looking for.

Kitten.

I started to hit her name, but cursed under my breath. Shoving the phone back in my pocket, I focused on the road ahead. I should go see Matt and ask if he’d heard from Uncle DOD recently. That was important.

Except once I got all the way home, I sat in the driveway for a damn eternity and then peeled out of it. I wasn’t even kidding myself. I knew where I was going. I was that messed up. But it was like I had to see it for myself that she was really at a diner with some ass who just waltzed into town.

I pulled into the parking lot of Smoke Hole and killed the engine. Seconds away from opening the car door, having no idea what I was doing, I felt the warm shiver along the back of my neck. My gaze cut across the parking lot and I saw them standing under a tree talking. Branches shook above them, scattering dried leaves. I reached back, rubbing my hand along the nape of my neck. If I felt her, didn’t she—

The guy leaned toward her just as a loud crack echoed through the parking lot. A thick, skull-crushing branch broke free, spiraling down on them. I was out of the car, my heart dropping and my eyes never leaving them. If that branch hit Kat, it would…

Kat shot toward the guy and a rush of power rippled over the parking lot, lifting the hairs along my arms, and the branch.

It stopped.

It froze, suspended in midair.

And I hadn’t done it.

Chapter 8

The branch hung as if tethered by an invisible string until the guy stepped aside. Crashing to the pavement, the branch cracked the cement.

“Wow…” I heard the guy say. “That would’ve killed me.” He stepped toward Kat, reaching out to her. “Katy…it’s okay.” The guy looked up, spotting me. He stopped moving.

Shock and anger warred inside me as I wrapped my hand around her upper arm. “Kat.”

Her shoulders sagged as she turned to me, lowering her head. Long dark strands fell forward, shielding her face. “Sorry,” she whispered.

Pressure clamped on my chest.

“Is she okay?” the guy asked, sounding worried. “The branch—”

“Yes. She’s fine. The falling branch scared her,” I gritted out. “That’s all.”

The guy stared at us. “But—”

“See you later.” I didn’t have time for this. Turning Kat, I walked her back toward her car. “Are you okay?”

Kat stared straight ahead and nodded. She didn’t speak as I gently pried the car keys from her fingers. I heard the guy call out her name, but it didn’t seem like she heard him. I opened the car door.

“Get in,” I said quietly.

Surprisingly, Kat obeyed me without a fight. She slipped into the car, and I closed the door behind her. Sparing the guy a brief glance, I started around the front of the car. He was still standing there, staring at us. My jaw clenched as I got in her car. Thoughts raced at a rapid clip. I didn’t stop that branch. That guy sure as hell wasn’t Luxen. That left one person.

Kat.

It was impossible. Stopping the branch was something only a Luxen could do. An Arum might’ve pulled something like that off if it had recently fed, but Kat…Kat was human.

Was.

Dammit.

The inside of her car smelled like damn peaches. She turned wide gray eyes on me and when she spoke, her voice was hoarse. “How…how are you here?”

I pulled out of the parking spot. “I was driving around. I’ll have Dee and Adam get my car.”

Kat looked at the passenger window, at that boy. A shudder rocked her. “Daemon…”

My jaw worked as I waited for traffic to clear so I could pull out. Obviously, she wasn’t too shocked by what had gone down, and that meant one thing. Kat was keeping a whole lot from me. There was so much wrong with this situation that I barely knew where to start.

“You’ll pretend like nothing happened,” I said. “If he brings it up, you’ll tell him that he moved out of the way. If he even suggests that you…that you stopped that branch, you laugh it off.”

“I need to act like you did in the beginning?” she asked.

I nodded curtly and pulled out onto the road. “What just happened back there never happened. Do you understand me?”

Kat nodded.

Silence ticked away the minutes as I drove. Neither of us spoke on the way back to her house. My knuckles ached from how tightly I was gripping the steering wheel. I had to ease off so I didn’t damage it. I used the time to gather my thoughts and figure out what the hell happened and how we were going to deal with this.

I didn’t speak until I parked the car in her driveway and slipped the keys out of the ignition. Sitting back, I looked at her. “We need to talk. And you need to be honest with me. You don’t seem surprised you just did that.”

Kat nodded.

Anger rolled off me. I opened my mouth, about to demand why she hadn’t come to me with something so damn important, but I shut it and shook my head. We climbed out of the car and headed into her empty house, warmed by the central heat kicked on high.

Kat sat in the recliner and wrapped her arms around herself. “I was planning on telling you.”

“You were?” I stood in front of her, hands clenching and unclenching at my sides. “When, exactly? Before or after you did something that puts you at risk?”

She flinched. “I didn’t plan on this happening! All I wanted was to have a normal afternoon with a boy—”

“With a boy?” I spat, anger flaring.

“Yes, with a normal boy!” She drew in a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I did plan on coming to you tonight, but Blake asked me to grab something to eat with him, and I just wanted one freaking afternoon with someone like me.”

Blake? That was his name? Forget that. I frowned. “You have friends who are normal, Kat.”

“It’s not the same thing!”

Understanding hit me. She didn’t want normal friends. She wanted a normal guy. Yeah, that stung like a bitch. “Tell me what’s been happening.”

Her eyes met mine, and then her gaze dipped to her hands. “I think I did get alien cooties, because I’ve been moving things…without touching them. Today, I opened the door to Mr. Garrison’s classroom without touching it. He seemed to think it was a drafty hallway.”

Tension brewed inside me. “How often has this been happening?”

“On and off for around a week. The first time it was my locker door, but I thought it was a fluke, so I didn’t say anything. Then I thought about wanting a glass of tea, and the glass flew out of the cabinet and the tea started pouring itself in the fridge. The shower turned itself on, doors opened, and a couple of times, clothes flew from my closet.” She sighed. “My room was a mess.”