Oblivion

Thoughts of my brother and who could’ve possibly reported what he’d done to the DOD consumed me. It would have to have been someone who saw either Dawson or Bethany immediately after whatever happened or someone Dawson trusted enough to tell.

Dawson didn’t trust anyone in the colony, not even Lydia, with that kind of information. The only person he could’ve talked to would’ve been Dee, but there’s no way she would’ve kept that quiet all this time. I already knew he hadn’t confided in Adam. So that left two options. Someone saw them.

Or it was someone Bethany knew.

The more I thought about it, the more it made sense that the person who had notified the DOD was co

But that theory had its flaws, too, because who did Bethany know that would’ve even had the inclination or the know-how to contact the DOD? It’s not like you could call 1-800-ALIENS or something.

Looking into Bethany was a start, though.

Since Kat wasn’t home early Thursday evening, I scoped out Vaughn’s place on my own. As usual, nothing happened. I headed back to the house, spying Kat’s car in the driveway, but I knew she wasn’t there. She was out somewhere with Douche Bag, and to stop from wanting to blow up something, I reminded myself of why she was with him in the first place.

Because of my mouth.

Guilt churned in the pit of my gut as I headed to my bedroom. Once inside, I grabbed my laptop and refocused on Bethany.

I had no idea what I could find on the internet, but it was a start. I typed in her full name, and Google pulled up several articles. My chest hollowed as I started sca

Unless her family had reason to believe that she was dead.

Or they just couldn’t live in an area that served as a constant reminder. I could understand that.

I stared at a picture of Bethany on a news website. Pretty girl. Dark hair. Bright smile.

There was nothing on the internet, barely even a mention of Dawson, which I’m sure the DOD had something to do with. The lack of anything mentioning him was as if he’d been erased from history. Made sense. After all, we lived here, but when things went south, we ceased to exist.

Bethany hadn’t been at school long enough to get really close to anyone, so there wasn’t a friend I could check with. Dead end there. Closing the laptop, I stood and stretched, growing restless. What else…?

Beth’s house.

Lowering my arms, I smiled wryly. There was one place I could check out. Bethany’s old house. I didn’t even know if anyone had moved into it or if I’d find anything, but shit, it was better than pacing in my bedroom, which was surely coming next.

It was better than doing nothing.

I passed Dee’s bedroom on the way out. The door was halfway open. I stopped and peered inside. She was already asleep. What an exciting way to spend a Thursday evening. It wasn’t even seven. I knew the house wasn’t empty. I could hear Adam moving around downstairs.

I was almost at the door when Adam appeared, coming from the kitchen. The light from the Christmas tree flickered. He glanced at me and then the direction of the door. “You leaving?”

My brows rose. “You staying?”

“Actually, no. Dee’s asleep, and I was just cleaning up after the di

First inclination was to say nowhere, but as I stared at Adam, I made a split decision. “I’m going to go check out Bethany’s house.”

Adam blinked. “Come again?”

“Come outside, okay?” He followed me out onto the porch. My boots crunched over the layer of snow covering the porch, blown in by the wind. “Before I say anything else, I need to know you’re not going to repeat a single thing to anyone, including Dee.”

“You’re starting to worry me,” he replied, crossing his arms over his PHS sweatshirt. “This is the second time you’re asking me not to talk to Dee.”

“I know, and if you don’t want to keep her in the dark, then the convo between us ends here. Nothing personal,” I told him. “But I don’t want her knowing any of this. Not yet.”

Adam eyed me for a long moment and then exhaled roughly. “Okay. I swear. I won’t say anything, but this better be good.”

Oh, he had no idea. “Kat saw Bethany at the post office.”

His mouth opened and then snapped shut. A moment passed, and he tried again. “What?”

I glanced at the closed door. “She saw her at the post office, and she’s positive it was Bethany. Kat’s seen her picture.”

He shook his head slowly as he unfolded his arms. “I don’t even know what to say.”

“Well, that’s not all.” I kept my voice low as I went on. “You know how I wondered if something had gone down between Dawson and Bethany—if he’d healed her, right?” When he nodded, I continued. “I think he did—no, I’m…I’m positive he did.” Once that was out, the rest was easy. “Dawson healed her and it changed her on a cellular level. It linked them together, bonding them.”

“Bonding them together?” Adam thrust his hand through his hair. “That sounds crazy. You know that, right? It sounds—”

“Matthew confirmed that it was possible.”

His eyes widened.

“Yeah.” I smiled, but it was without humor. “Matthew confirmed that we can heal a human to the point that it changes their DNA. They take on some of our abilities and it links us together. That means if Bethany is alive, then so is Dawson.”

“Holy…” Adam stepped back. “Dawson is alive?”

That spark of hope had turned into a seedling, and damn if it wasn’t growing. “I think so, Adam. I really think so.” I moved to the porch steps, stirring the snow. “Kat saw Bethany with Vaughn. If the DOD has her—”

“Then they have Dawson.” Adam cursed under his breath as he thrust his fingers through his hair again. “I don’t know if I should be happy or scared as hell, because if they have him and Bethany…”

“I know,” I said quietly, staring out over the still yard. “Someone had to have betrayed them. Dawson didn’t tell any of us. I think it might have been someone Bethany knew. So that’s why I want to check out her house. I don’t even know if anyone lives there now or—”

“No one lives there,” Adam said, coming to stand next to me. “We drive past it every so often on the way to school. No one has moved in since her family left.”

That was good news. Still didn’t mean we’d find anything, but it was worth trying.

“And you haven’t told Dee?” he asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t want to get her hopes up if I’m just chasing a ghost, you know? It would kill her.”

“It will kill you.”

I didn’t respond.

Adam stepped off the porch. “I’m not going to say anything. Not until we have concrete proof, because you’re right, she doesn’t need to go through losing him all over again.” He paused, his eyes meeting mine. “But neither do you, Daemon. You shouldn’t have to experience this again.”

We traveled the several miles to Beth’s old house by foot, which only took us a handful of minutes. We stayed in our human forms so we didn’t freak out the locals. My face stung from the snowy wind as the renovated farmhouse came into view, perched atop a hill.

Snow crunched under our boots as we walked up the sidewalk and hit the front porch. I eyed the front door. It wasn’t just locked, but also had one of those Realtor locks on it. A closed and locked door wasn’t going to deter me. I placed my hand on the center of the door, prepared to blast it into next week.