Oblivion

Steel dropped down my spine. The lockers in the hall rattled as energy pulsed through me. “What?”

She glanced nervously at Matthew. “He’s been watching us. I don’t think he’s ever left.”

Dropping my hands from her shoulders, I backed off as I struggled to get my anger under control before I blew out every window in the school. “I ca

Dawson stepped around me. “Why was he watching us?”

She drew in a deep breath as she fiddled with the strap on her book bag. “He wants us to help get Chris.”

I whipped around. “Come again?”

“He wants us to help him get Chris free from Daedalus and he…” She glanced at Dawson. “He claims he’s being kept in the same place that Bethany is. That helping him will help us.”

A shudder of violent anger rolled through me. I couldn’t believe it. Freaking could not wrap my head around the size of Blake’s balls.

Matthew shook his head. “He…he can’t think we would trust him.”

“I don’t think he cares if we do,” she said, smoothing a shaking hand over her hair.

“But does he really know where they are keeping Beth?” When I looked over at Dawson, his eyes were feverish.

“I don’t know.” She dropped her bag and leaned against a locker. “There’s no telling with him.”

Dawson shot forward, suddenly in my face. “Did he say anything—anything we can use to find her?”

“No. Not really. I—”

“Think,” Dawson ordered. “He had to have said something, Katy.”

That was enough. I clasped my hand on Dawson’s shoulder, yanking him away from Kat. “Back off, Dawson, I mean it.”

He shrugged my hand off, body coiled tight. “If he knows—”

“Don’t go there,” I interrupted him. “He was sent here by the DOD to determine if Kat was a viable subject. To do to her what they are doing to Beth. He killed Adam, Dawson. We are not working with—”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kat sway to the left. I shot toward her, wrapped my arm around her waist, and pulled her close to my side. I frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m okay, really, I am.”

“You’re lying.” She was pale and weak. Understanding flared. “Did you fight him?” I lowered my voice as my eyes dilated. “Did he try to hurt you? Because I swear right now, I will tear through this state—”

“I’m okay.” She tried to wiggle free, but I wasn’t letting her go anywhere. “It was more of the attack first, ask questions later,” she said. “I tired myself out, but he didn’t hurt me.”

I wanted to believe her, needed to, because I was seconds from peeling the roof off the building like it was a tin can. I focused on Dawson. “I know you want to believe that Blake can help us somehow, but he can’t be trusted.”

Dawson looked away, a muscle ticking in his jaw. Frustration poured off him. Matthew spoke up. “Daemon’s right.” He paused as a door opened at the end of the hall and two teachers stepped out. “But this is not the place to discuss any of this. After school, your house.” He left with one more warning look.

“I know what you’re going to say.” Dawson’s features were sharp. “I’m not going to do anything reckless. I promised both of you I wouldn’t. I’m keeping my end of the deal. You better keep yours.”

That wasn’t exactly what I wanted to hear from my brother. He walked off in the opposite direction of Matt. Hell, he was so going to back whatever Blake said if he thought there was the smallest chance he could help him find Bethany. “This isn’t good.”

“You have no idea.” She waited until the two teachers disappeared from the hall. “Trusting Blake may be a moot point.”

My eyes narrowed as I angled my body toward hers. “What are you saying?”

She cringed. “Blake confirmed what Will had said. The DOD and Daedalus believe my mutation wore off. Good news, right? But he’s desperate—more so than we realized. If we don’t agree to help him, he plans to turn us over.”

Spi

Shit. Damn. Fuck.

Thrusting my hands through my hair, I turned away from Kat and gripped the railing. Blake was going to blackmail us. After lying to Kat and me, almost turning her over to Daedalus and killing Adam, and then shoving the chance we—that I gave him, he was going to blackmail us. He was going to force us into what could be a trap.

Most likely was another trap.

Energy pulsed out of my hands and rippled across the railing, heating the metal.

“Daemon…” Kat placed her hand on my back.

Hanging my head, I worked my jaw. “I want to kill him.”

“I know.” Coming from behind, she wrapped her arms around me. “I’m totally on board with that idea, but…he has it set up that if anything happens to him, Nancy is notified about the mutation.”

“Of course he does,” I muttered, turning around in her embrace. Her book bag lay forgotten by the door. We had only a few minutes before lunch was over. I worked at calming myself down as I brushed her hair back. “You really are okay?”

“I’m the last person you need to worry about right now.”

“You’re the first person I always worry about.” Folding my arms around her waist, I lifted her so she was standing on my boots. I held her tight in my arms. “This…this is a mess.”

Kat didn’t respond for a long moment, and then she lifted her chin, her gaze meeting mine. “It is, but we’re…we’re in this together. Always.”

I dropped my mouth to her forehead. “Always.”

Sitting through the afternoon classes about drove me out of my skin, but with Dawson just coming back, if we all bailed on school, that would just force more attention on us. I spent the entire time trying to figure out what we could do, and every option I landed on was damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

Instead of driving my car home, I rode home in Kat’s after I asked Dee to take my car back with Dawson. Kat thought I’d caught a ride to school with Dee, and knowing her, if she knew I was leaving my car in my sister’s hands, she would probably insist that she’d be fine on her own.

Kat could take care of herself, but it made me feel a whole hell of a lot better to be within ass-kicking length of her. We used the time to talk about what we were going to do about Blake.

“We have two options: work with him or kill him,” I said.

Her eyes widened. “And you’d be the one to do that? Not right. It shouldn’t always be you. You’re not the only Luxen who can fight.”

“I know, but I can’t expect someone else to carry that burden,” I told her. “And I’m not trying to start another argument over whether or not you’d make a good Wonder Woman, but I’d never expect you or my siblings to do that, either. I know you would have done it to…defend yourself and us, Kat, but I don’t want that kind of guilt on your shoulders. Okay?”

She nodded, her fingers sliding over the steering wheel. “I could handle it…if I had to.”

I didn’t like that sound of that.

Stopped at a streetlight, I reached over and placed a hand on her cheek. She took her eyes off the road for a moment. I smiled at her and said the first thing that came to mind, the freaking truth. “You burn bright, to me at least, and I know you could handle it, but the last thing I want is your light to be tainted by something so dark.”

Tears filled her eyes, and then she gave me a watery smile. We didn’t talk about the messed-up shit the rest of the way, because we were going to be spending all evening knee-deep in this crap.

We beat everyone back to the house. Kat lingered in the living room, pacing back and forth while I grabbed a bottle of water. I placed it on the end table next to the couch I sat on. I waited until Kat made another pass in front of me and I leaned out, snagging her around the waist.