Oblivion

Dee had managed to coax Kat out of her house over break and take her to the movies. Adam and surprisingly, Ash, had gone with them. That concerned me a little, considering that Ash and Kat usually escalated to DEFCON one whenever they were around each other, and I wanted to go with them. I’d even stood out on the porch and watched Adam, Dee, and Kat leave, but I remained behind. Kat needed the time with Dee. Needed the normalcy she’d been lacking…well, since she moved here.

So I checked out Vaughn’s house, leaving the car behind even though my skin felt frozen by the night’s end. Nancy showed up soon after Vaughn arrived, and did so every night, but it wasn’t until Sunday night that my stalking finally proved fruitful. I’d followed him from his house to an industrial park just outside of Petersburg. He’d disappeared in there for several hours, and the place was well guarded from the outside by two officers.

I knew they were hiding something or someone in there.

When Vaughn finally left, the officers remained outside. It took everything in me not to bust right up in there now, but I was smart about it. I checked out the place over the next couple of days and by Christmas night I was confident that the guards were on a schedule. There was a gap in time, no more than thirty minutes, when they were gone from the outside premises, usually around twelve thirty in the morning, and the guards appeared active only once Vaughn arrived.

Inside was a different story, one I didn’t know and wouldn’t know until I got in there.

Deciding to make my move to get into the building the day after Christmas, I waited until it was close to eleven before I slipped out of the house. Dee was over at Adam’s, so I didn’t have to worry about her wondering what I was doing. I checked out Vaughn’s house first and saw that he was home. Another Expedition was in the driveway, most likely belonging to Nancy. Perfect. I was halfway to the industrial park before I stopped.

I thought of Kat.

Dammit.

Turning back, I raced through the woods in the opposite direction, slowing only when I returned to my house. I stopped by my SUV and stared at Kat’s house. Taking her with me was risky, freaking dangerous as hell.

But finding this warehouse wouldn’t have been possible without Kat telling me about seeing Bethany. Cutting her out of this seemed wrong. Involving her didn’t feel any better.

I pulled the baseball cap off my head and thrust my fingers through my hair as I stared at her house. She wanted to be involved—wanted to stand side by side with me, facing whatever came our way. Truth was, I hadn’t really let her.

And Blake had.

Wasn’t that why he was training her instead of me? He had enough…faith in her. Didn’t I?

I slammed the cap back down on my head. It didn’t have anything to do with faith. I didn’t want Kat to be in danger, and because of that, there was a wedge between us. One that had evaporated the night I fell asleep in her bed, but it was there. I needed to trust that Kat could…handle herself. If I didn’t, there would be no chance for us.

And there had to be a chance.

“Shit,” I muttered, casting a dark look at the night sky.

Mind made up, I stalked over to her house and up onto the porch. I knocked on the door and then stepped back, shoving my hands in my pockets so I didn’t punch myself in my face. If anything happened to Kat because of me—well, anything more—I wouldn’t be able to live with it.

The door opened, and Kat poked her head out. Expectation filled her gray eyes as she looked me over. Not a

She shook her head.

“Wa

There wasn’t even a pause. “Sure. Let me grab something warmer to put on.” Kat disappeared, returning wearing boots and a hoodie. She joined me outside, closing the door behind her. “Are we going to check on Vaughn?”

“Not really. There’s something I’ve discovered.” I led her to my car and waited until we both were in. “But first, did you have a good Christmas? I was going to stop over, but I saw your mom was home.”

“It was good. Will spent the day with us. That was weird.” Her nose wrinkled. “What about you?”

“It was okay. Dee nearly burned the house down trying to make a turkey. Other than that, not very entertaining.” I pulled out of the driveway. “So, how much trouble were you in after Saturday?”

“I got a lecture about not making my mom a grandmother.”

I laughed.

She sighed. “Now I have rules to follow, but nothing serious.”

“Sorry about that.” I gri

“It’s okay. So where are we going? What have you found out?”

“Vaughn came home Sunday night for about ten minutes. I followed him to just outside of Petersburg to this warehouse in an industrial park that hasn’t been used in years. He stayed there for a few hours and then left, but there were two officers who remained.” I slowed down as a deer dashed across the highway. “They’re keeping something there.”

“You think they’re keeping Bethany…or Dawson?”

I glanced at her, lips pressed into a tight line. God, I hoped I wasn’t making a huge mistake. “I don’t know, but I need to get in there and someone needs to keep an eye on the outside while I go.”

She nodded. The excitement that poured off her was palpable. “What if the guards are still keeping watch?”

“They weren’t doing anything until Vaughn showed up. He’s home right now. With Nancy.” My lip curled. “I think those two really have something going on.”

“Did you know my mom’s boyfriend is Bethany’s uncle?”

“No.” I frowned as I focused on the road. Immediately my mind went to the shoe box full of prescription pads in Bethany’s old house. Was that the co

“So you’ve never…dated a human girl before?”

“Dated? No.” The question knocked me off guard. I glanced over at her, deciding how to answer the question. “Hung out with? Yes.”

Kat looked away quickly, and she didn’t respond.

I let out a low breath and forged on. “Anyway, I didn’t know they were related.”

A moment passed. “Do you think that’s weird? I mean, he’s related to Bethany, who’s sort of like me now, and he’s messing around with my mom. We know that someone had to have betrayed Dawson and Bethany.”

I considered it. Even if he was the man the prescription pads belonged to, what did it mean other than him living there? That is, if he lived there and those pads weren’t for someone else. But then there was a stethoscope. Some doctors owned their own stethoscopes, but even if Will saw Bethany injured, how would he have known to put two and two together? How would he know about us, the Luxen, and what we could do?

Again, there were more questions than answers, but some damn interesting new questions were raised. I was going to have to look into Will.

“It’s weird, but how would he know what had happened?” I asked that question a lot. “He would’ve needed to have some inside knowledge of the whole healing process to know what to look for.”

“Maybe he’s an implant.”

I looked at her sharply, but didn’t say anything. Anger thi

Wrong or right, her confronting Will without any concrete evidence was the last thing we needed. After a few moments, I cleared my throat. “I’ve been thinking about what Matthew told us—the whole marrying DNA thing.”

She tensed as she stared straight ahead. “Yeah…?”

“I talked to him later and I asked him about the co