For the first time, something other than arrogant disdain peered through his crystalized eyes. Pain—the kind of suffering I was well familiar with. The same shattered, hopeless look I’d worn after my dad passed away from cancer.
“He’s not going to be the only one we lose,” Andrew continued, voice hoarse. “You know that, but do you care? No. Humans are ultimately the most selfish life-form there is. And don’t try to pretend you’re any better. If you were, you would’ve stayed away from Dee in the beginning. You would’ve never gotten attacked, and Daemon would’ve never had to heal you. None of this would’ve happened. It’s your fault. It’s on your head.”
…
Yeah, the rest of my day sort of sucked. I was worried about what Dawson had done that required Daemon to chase after him all day and feared the DOD was waiting to bring us all in. On top of that, I was freaking out over whatever Will had up his sleeve, and after that conversation with Andrew, I felt like I needed to crawl under my blankets.
And I did for about an hour. My self-pity always had a time limit because I usually got annoyed with myself.
Pulling my head out of my rear, I cracked open my laptop and started doing some reviews. Since I’d been snowed in and Daemon had mostly been busy with Dawson, I’d gotten four books read. Not my all-time high score, but pretty good considering I’d been slacking like a mofo on the reviews.
It always felt good typing up a review on a book I enjoyed and I went all out, finding bizarre pictures to emphasize the wow factor. I preferred ones with cute kittens and llamas. And Dean Winchester. Hitting ‘publish post’ cracked a smile.
One down, three more to go.
I spent the rest of the day spewing out reviews and then stalking a few of my favorite bloggers. One of them had a header on their blog I’d do terrible things for. I was never that good at web design, which explained my less than stellar background.
After a quick run to the grocery store with Mom and dinner, I was about to start a manhunt for Daemon when I felt a warm tingle along the back of my neck.
I shot from the kitchen, nearly barreling through a startled Mom. I whipped open the door an instant after Daemon knocked and then threw myself—literally—into his not-so-waiting arms.
Unprepared for my attack, he stumbled back a step. But then he laughed deeply against the top of my head and wrapped his arms around me. I held on, squeezing the hell out of his shoulders, and we were so tightly pressed against each other that I could feel his heart picking up as fast as mine.
“Kitten,” he murmured. “You know how much I like it when you say hi this way.”
Head buried in the space between his neck and shoulder, which smelled like spice and male, I murmured something unintelligible.
Daemon lifted me clear off my feet. “You’ve been worried, haven’t you?”
“Mmm-hmm.” Then I remembered how much I’d been worried all freaking day. I broke free and smacked his chest. Very, very hard.
“Ouch!” He grinned, though, as he rubbed his chest. “What was that for?”
I folded my arms and tried to keep my voice low. “Have you heard of a cell phone?”
He arched his brow. “Why, yes, it’s this small thing that has all these cool apps on it—”
“Then why didn’t you have it on you today?” I interrupted.
Leaning down, his lips grazed my cheek as he spoke, sending shivers through me. Not fair. “Going in and out of my true form all day kind of kills the electronics.”
Oh. Well, I hadn’t thought of that. “You should’ve checked in, though. I thought…”
“You thought what?”
I gave him a
The twinkling in Daemon’s eyes faded. Placing his hands on my cheeks, he brought his lips to mine, kissing me sweetly. When he spoke, he kept his voice low. “Kitten, nothing’s going to happen to me. I’m the last person you need to worry about.”
I closed my eyes, breathing in his warmth. “See, that’s possibly the stupidest thing you’ve ever said.”
“For real? I say a lot of stupid things.”
“I know. So that’s saying something.” I took a breath. “I’m not trying to act like one of those obsessive girlfriends, but things…things are different with us.”
There was a pause, and then his lips stretched into a smile. “You’re right.”
Hell froze over. Pigs were flying. “Come again?”
“You’re right. I should’ve checked in at some point. I’m sorry.”
The world was flat. I didn’t know what to say. According to Daemon, he was right about 99 percent of the time. Wow.
“You’re speechless.” He chuckled. “I like that. And I also like you all feisty. Want to hit me again?”
I laughed. “You’re a—”
Opening the door behind me, Mom cleared her throat and said, “I don’t know what it is with you two and porches, but come in; it’s freezing out there.”
Cheeks flaming an unholy red, I couldn’t do anything to stop Daemon. He let go, sauntered inside, and immediately started charming my mom until she was nothing but a gooey puddle in the middle of the foyer.
He loved her new haircut. She got one? I guessed her hair did look different. Like she’d washed it or something. Daemon told her that her diamond earrings were beautiful. The rug below the steps was really nice. And that leftover scent of mystery dinner—’cause I still hadn’t figured out what she fed me—smelled divine. He admired nurses worldwide, and by that point, I couldn’t keep my eye rolls to a minimum.
Daemon was ridiculous.
I grabbed his arm and started pulling him to the steps. “Okay, well, this has been nice…”
Mom folded her arms. “Katy, what did I tell you about the bedroom?”
And here I thought my face couldn’t get any redder. “Mom…” I tugged on Daemon’s arm. He didn’t move.
Her expression remained the same.
I sighed. “Mom, it’s not like we’re going to have sex with you home.”
“Well, honey, it’s good to know that you only have sex when I’m not home.”
Daemon coughed as he fought a smile. “We can stay—”
Shooting him a death glare, I managed to get him to come up a step.
Finally, she relented. “Keep the door open.”
I beamed. “Thanks!” Then I pivoted around, dragging Daemon to my bedroom before he turned my mom into a fangirl. Pushing him inside, I shook my head at him. “You’re terrible.”
“And you’re naughty.” He backed up, grinning. “Thought she said leave the door open.”
“It is.” I gestured behind me. “It’s cracked. That’s open.”
“Technicalities,” he said, sitting down on the bed as he raised one arm, curling his fingers at me. A wicked gleam deepened the green hue of his eyes. “Come on…come closer.”
I stood my ground. “I didn’t get you up here to indulge in wild monkey lust.”
“Crap.” He dropped his hand to his lap.
Forcing myself not to laugh, because it only encouraged him, I decided to cut to the chase. “We need to talk.” I crept closer to the bed, making sure my voice was low. “Will’s been talking to my mom.”
His eyes narrowed. “Details.”
I sat beside him, tucking my legs against my chest. As I told him what my mom had said, the muscle in his jaw started ticking like a heartbeat. The news didn’t sit well and there was no way for any of us to find out if the mutation had held or what he was up to, short of asking Will, and yeah right on that.
“He can’t come back,” I said, rubbing my temples, where a throbbing seemed to be in tune with the muscle in Daemon’s jaw. “If the mutation didn’t hold, he knows you’ll kill him. And if it did…”
“He has the upper hand,” Daemon admitted.
I flopped onto my back. “God, this is a mess—a freaking mess of epic proportions.” It was like we were damned if we did from every corner. “If he comes back, I can’t let him near my mom. I have to tell her the
