Oblivion

“I liked him,” she whispered. “I don’t expect Dee to ever forgive me, but I want to see her. I need to make sure she’s okay.”

“She’ll forgive you. She needs time.” I kissed her temple. “Dee knew you tried to warn her off. She called me when you told her to leave, and I told her and Adam to stay out of there, but they parked the car down the street and came back. They made that choice, and I know she’d do it again.”

Her voice hoarsened. “There are so many things I wouldn’t do again.”

“I know.” I placed two fingers under her chin, tipping her head back so our eyes met. “We can’t focus on that now. It’s not going to do any good.”

She stretched up, kissing my lips. “I want to see Dee after school.”

“What are you doing for lunch?”

“Other than eating? Nothing.”

“Good. We’re skipping.”

“Going to see Dee, right?”

I gri

She arched a brow. “Are you going to try to squeeze in di

“Kitten, your mind is a terrible and dirty place. I was thinking we could go for a stroll or something.”

“Tease,” she murmured and started to stand, but I held her there.

My eyes locked on hers. “Say it.”

“Say what?”

“Tell me what you told me earlier.”

I felt her heart speed up in her chest and she leaned in, brushing her nose across mine, and said, “I love you.”

Slipping my hand behind her head, I pulled her in for a kiss that made me really want to bring her down to the bed and forget all about school and everything else. “That’s all I ever need to hear.”

“Those three words?” she asked.

“Always those three words.”

Sitting in class was the last place I wanted to be on a normal day, but it was nearly killing me to be here. I wanted to be home with Dee. There wasn’t much I could do for her. Words were never good for grief, but I hated that I couldn’t be there for her. I also wanted to be with Kat. She was in the same building as me, but it wasn’t the same. I wanted her close by and not just because, well, I wanted her near me. I figured if the DOD were going to make a move, they’d do so fast, and I wanted to keep an eye on her.

I had no idea what the shape was that the teacher drew on the chalkboard. The only thing I really saw was how amazing Kat had looked in my bed—how amazing she had felt and tasted. I could still feel her without even trying. It was insane. Mind-blowing.

Stretching my legs out, I still couldn’t believe I’d stopped.

Do it the right way? Man, I was going to need a training bra soon.

But stopping had felt right. We’d gone through a lot of crap and emotions. Honestly, I didn’t want our first time to be marred by grief and leftover anger. Might not have felt like those things would’ve clouded our first time, and maybe they wouldn’t have, but I hadn’t wanted to risk it.

When class finally ended, I made it out into the hallway and pulled my cell out of my pocket. I frowned as I stepped around a cluster of classmates. There was a missed text from Kat that had come in around forty minutes ago. A

Mom N accident. Going 2 hospital.

I came to a complete stop, stomach sinking. God, what else was going to happen?

Where did her Mom work last night? I racked my brain for an answer. Winchester. Roads were still slick in many areas and covered in snow in others. Stepping out of the hallway traffic, I quickly called Kat.

It rang and rang. No answer.

Leaving a short message, I fought the urge to rush out of the school and find Kat. The problem was I didn’t know what hospital she would’ve gone to. It could be anywhere between here and Winchester. I’d have to wait until she got back to me.

Patience was a virtue I didn’t believe in.

Before I headed into my next class, I checked in on Dee. She was as expected. Not good. Sitting through history class was a test in true control. When lunch arrived and I still hadn’t heard from Kat after trying her again and sending a text, I couldn’t stay at the school any longer.

On the way out, I tried her once more. Still no answer, and a sense of unease built in my gut like pools of acid. Cell service was spotty anywhere in town and the whole way into Virginia, but she would’ve made it to Winchester by now and Kat…she would’ve returned my calls, especially after everything that had gone down. Her going radio silent was not normal.

I stopped over at the Thompsons’ house before going home. Sorrow clung to the walls like mold. Spending time with them, I found myself at a loss when it came to what I could say or do. A rare moment in my life, but death was a void that even I couldn’t fully understand. Here one moment and gone the next. Death was that quick. There’d be a private funeral within the community. Adam’s body would be cremated, as was the tradition, and then there’d be nothing.

There was already nothing but memories.

Heavy with those thoughts, I headed to our empty house, where I paced back and forth like a lunatic. Several hours had passed, and with no word from Kat, I started to feel desperate. What if her mom had passed away and she was too distraught to call? What if she had gotten into an accident on the way to the hospital? Her car was still in the driveway next door, so that meant Mr. Michaels most likely picked her up.

Immediately I thought about the link between Will and Bethany. He was her uncle—her sick uncle, but the DOD had no doubt been watching Bethany and Dawson like they’d been watching Kat and me. No one needed to turn them over. The DOD had probably seen everything that had gone down.

Just like they had with Kat and me.

I was halfway to where I left my phone on the coffee table, about to start calling every hospital I could think of, when it rang. There was a dip in my stomach as I shot through the room, picking it up.

“Kat?” I answered.

There was a stretch of silence and then, “No. This isn’t Kat.”

Concern exploded. “Mr. Michaels? Where’s Kat? Is she okay? What—?”

“She’s not…really okay, Daemon.”

I reached out, planting my hand on the wall, legs suddenly weak. That off-kilter sensation was the same thing I felt before the officers had told me about Dawson. I knew Kat had to be alive, but…

“Daemon?”

I took a deep breath. “What happened to her?”

“Nothing irreversible at this point.”

Wait. What? I pushed off the wall, my whole world centering on what Mr. Michaels was saying. “What do you mean by that, Will?”

There was a pause. “Kat is okay. Sort of. Well, she’s definitely not having a lot of fun right now.”

Fury rose like a heat wave. My fingers curled around the cell, grinding the plastic and metal. I didn’t know why he’d done something to Kat. I didn’t care. All I knew was that I would kill him for this. “You son—”

“Now, let’s not waste time. You can fix this, Daemon. Are you listening? You don’t want to miss this.”

“Oh, I’m listening. I’m also taking notes.”

Mr. Michaels laughed drily. “Come to the warehouse. You know exactly which one—and Daemon? I’d hurry if I were you.”

The bastard hung up before I could respond. For a second, I stood there staring at the phone. Shit. Shit. Shit. My skin tingled, and I felt myself lose control of my human form. Tossing the phone aside, I shot toward the door and was halfway down the driveway before I spun back around, heading for the SUV. I didn’t know what was going on with Kat or if she was hurt and how badly. I would need to take the car, which would slow me down.

I broke about ten different speed laws as I raced out of town, toward the warehouse where those two officers had cornered Kat. I called Matthew, who was with Dee and the Thompsons, telling him what happened. They wanted to help, but I told them to go to our house and stay there, just in case…well, just in case shit went real bad.