Blake started to protest, but Dawson stepped in. “Let them go. They need this. We’ll be fine.”
I picked up my fork, feeling my cheeks flame. Everyone thought I needed to get away, take some downtime, and I didn’t want them feeling sorry for or worrying about me. But tonight wasn’t date night. What Daemon and I had to do was going to be as tricky as playing with onyx.
As if he sensed my dark thoughts, he twisted beside me and his hand found mine under the table. He squeezed and for some reason I felt like crying. I was turning into such a wuss and it was all his fault.
I might have dreamed him up last night, because in the light of morning, he’d been gone and the pillow beside me didn’t carry that scent I could place anywhere. But I liked to think it was real. That I hadn’t dreamt him holding me close, his warm hands on my hips or his lips trailing down my neck.
If I had imagined that… Oh boy, my dreams were realistic. I couldn’t ask him, because that would be way too embarrassing, not to mention Daemon’s ego did not need to be stroked by the knowledge I was dreaming about him.
Thinking about his reaction to that, which would bring a whole lot of smugness to the table, I grinned a little. Daemon caught sight of it and my heart skipped a beat, because his heart had jumped first.
Sometimes the whole bizarro alien connection thing had its perks. Like it told me that I affected Daemon just as much as he affected me, and on days like this, I needed whatever pick-me-upper there was.
Chapter 28
The search party was just like the ones I’d seen on TV and in movies. People milled through fields in a direct, horizontal line behind the policemen and their search dogs. Everything was a clue to the inexperienced—a disturbed pile of leaves; a torn, old piece of clothing; faded footprints.
It was a sad affair.
Mainly because there was so much hope—hope that Carissa would be found, that she would be okay if not a little worse for wear, and everything would go back to normal. She wouldn’t be the latest missing person’s case, because her situation was different. She seemingly walked out of a hospital.
However, I had a hard time believing that.
Will had been an implant in the local medical center, and I didn’t have to be an investigator to figure out that he wasn’t the only one. My guess was Carissa had
Daemon and I left after five, heading back to our houses. I went inside to get changed for our “date night.” I wasn’t going all out like I did last time. I settled on a pair of skinny jeans, heels, and an Lesa-approved skintight sweater that flashed a little bit of stomach.
Mom was in the kitchen making an omelet. My eyes bugged as I tugged the hem of my sweater down. She glanced over her shoulder, tossing the eggs and missing most of the frying pan.
She took Hell’s Kitchen to a new extreme.
“Are you going out tonight with Daemon?”
“Yeah,” I said, grabbing a paper towel. I scooped up the eggs before the burnt smell could reach my gag reflex. “We’re going to do dinner and then a movie.”
“Remember your curfew. It’s a school night.”
“I know.” I threw the towel away and held onto my sweater with one hand. “Did you hear about Carissa?”
Mom nodded. “I wasn’t working at Grant when she was admitted or for the last two days, but the hospital is crawling with police and the heads are doing their own investigations.”
She’d been pulling her shifts in Winchester. “So, they think she really just walked out of there?”
“From what I hear, she was being treated for meningitis and that can come along with a high fever. People do strange things when they are that sick. It’s why I was so worried about you when you got sick in November.” She turned off the stove. “But there is no excuse for what happened. Someone should’ve stopped the poor girl. Those night-shift nurses will have a lot of explaining to do. Without meds, Carissa…” She clamped up, focusing on dumping the eggs onto her plate. A few pieces splattered across the floor. I sighed. “Honey, they’ll find Carissa.”
“She couldn’t have gone far,” Mom continued as I picked up the yellow clumps stuffed with peppers and onions. “And those nurses won’t allow something as careless as this to happen again.”
I doubted it was an act of carelessness. They probably turned their cheek or helped. The desire to get even or at least walk into that hospital and smack a bunch of people in their faces was almost too hard to ignore.
Saying good-bye to Mom and promising not to stay out past curfew, I kissed her cheek and then grabbed my sweater jacket and purse. Daemon was alone next door. Everyone was down by the lake, either putting themselves through untold pain or watching it.
He swaggered up to me, his eyes dropping right to the tiny flash of skin…and something moved over his face. “I like this better than the other outfit.”
“Really?” I felt exposed when he looked at me like he was staring at a piece of art commissioned just for him. “I thought you liked the skirt.”
“I do, but this…?” He tugged on my belt loop and made a deep sound in the back of his throat. “I really like this.”
A dizzying warmth swept through me, making my knees weak.
Shaking his head, he dropped his hand and pulled his keys out of his pocket. “We need to get going. You hungry? You didn’t eat any lunch.”
It took me a moment to collect myself. “I could do a Happy Meal.”
He laughed as we headed outside. “A Happy Meal?”
“What’s wrong with that?” I tugged my sweater coat on. “It’s perfect.”
“It’s the toy, isn’t it?”
I grinned as I stopped at the passenger side. “The boys get better toys.”
Daemon turned suddenly, placing his hands on my hips and lifting me against him. Startled, I dropped my purse as I groped his arms.
“What—?”
He silenced me with a kiss that reached a deep place inside that both thrilled and frightened me. When he kissed me, it was like he was reaching for my soul.
Funny thing was, he already had that and my heart in his hands.
Slowly, he let me slide down him and placed me on my feet. Dazed, I stared up at him. “What was that for?”
“You smiled.” His fingers trailed along my cheek, then down my throat. He buttoned up my sweater quickly. “You haven’t been smiling much. I missed it, so I decided to reward you for doing it.”
“Reward me?” I laughed. “God, only you would think kissing someone is a reward.”
“You know it is. My lips change lives, baby.” Daemon bent, grabbing my purse off the ground. “Ready?”
Taking the purse, I hopped into his car on wobbly knees. Once beside me, he revved the engine, and we were heading into town, stopping by the local fast-food joint so I could get my Happy Meal.
He got me a boy one, too.
His dinner included three hamburgers and two orders of fries. I had no idea where those calories went. To his ego, maybe? It seemed likely after that last comment about his lips. I was hungry more often after the mutation, but not like Daemon.
On the way to Martinsburg, we started out with a game of I Spy, but Daemon cheated and I didn’t want to play anymore.
He laughed deeply, the sound pleasing. “How can I cheat at I Spy?”
“You keep picking things that no human in this world can see!” I fought back a grin at his offended expression. “Or you pick
“Car,” he said, smiling. “Cat. Coat. Church.” He paused, casting me a wicked sidelong glance. “Chest.”
