Oblivion

“She didn’t even seem to know who I was. She was like the Terminator, Daemon—the Terminator. And she just kept coming at me. I asked her to stop. I told her I didn’t want to hurt her, but she wouldn’t stop.” Tears filled her eyes, and my stomach sank as I thought about the burned spot on the floor. “She wouldn’t stop.”

“It’s okay.” I folded an arm around her shoulders. “You didn’t have a choice. You were defending—”

“I didn’t kill her.” Kat broke free of my hold and stumbled back a step. She swung, throwing her arm out to the burned spot. “I didn’t kill her, I swear. She— She self-destructed, Daemon. She—oh my God—she imploded like a bomb.” Spi

That absolutely made no sense and raised so many damn questions. “Okay. All right. Let’s get you downstairs.”

Kat stared at me like she didn’t understand what I was saying. Pained, I took her hand and led her out of the room and down the stairs. Once in the living room, I sat beside her on the couch. Cupping her cheeks, I tapped into the Source and took care of the minor injuries.

“I don’t understand what happened,” she said. “She was normal last week. Daemon, you saw her. How did we not know this?”

My jaw tightened. “I think the better question is why did she come after you?”

She drew in a sharp breath. “I don’t know.”

That was an answer that I didn’t even have. How did Carissa end up mutated? It would have to have been one of the Luxen from our colony. There weren’t many around our age, but they didn’t venture out from the colony often. How did this person meet Carissa? And why did she go after Kat? Because maybe someone from the colony hadn’t mutated her. There was another explanation.

I frowned. “She could’ve known a Luxen—known the truth and knew not to tell anyone. I mean, no one inside the colony knows that you’re aware of the truth.”

“But there are no others around our age,” she said.

“None outside the colony, but there are a few who are only a couple years older or younger than us in the colony.”

She looked away, swallowing hard. “You don’t think…”

“That Daedalus took her and forced a Luxen to heal her like with Dawson?” Anger punched through me. “I seriously pray that’s not the case. If so, it’s just…”

“Revolting,” she said hoarsely, shoving her shaking hands between her knees. “She wasn’t there. Not even a flicker of her personality. She was like a zombie, you know? Just freaking crazed. Is that what unstable does?”

Kat was completely healed, at least physically, but I was reluctant to remove my hands. I was afraid she was going to shake to pieces. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to my side.

“God, she…she died. Does that mean…?” Kat swallowed again.

I gently squeezed her. “If it was one of the Luxen here then I’ll hear about it, but we don’t know if the mutation held. Blake has said that sometimes the mutation is unstable, and that sounded pretty damn unstable. The bonding only happens if it’s a stable mutation, I believe.”

“We need to talk to Blake.” She cleared her throat with a shake of her head. Her mouth worked for several seconds. “Oh…oh God, Daemon…that was Carissa. That was Carissa, and that wasn’t right.”

Weight slammed down on my chest as the tears streamed down Kat’s face. I pulled her into my lap and held her. That was the only thing I could do while she sobbed for the loss of her friend. And it was more than just the loss. Kat wouldn’t be able to tell anyone what happened to Carissa. She would have to pretend that she didn’t know anything when people realized that the quiet girl from trig class had disappeared. Guilt would fester. I knew it would. So would the pain, because Carissa’s death was absolutely senseless and beyond cruel, and that wasn’t something you could easily, if ever, come to terms with. You just came to accept it.

All I could do was hold her, and as she cried, I whispered to her in my true language. I told her it would be okay. I told her that I’d be here for her, no matter what. And I told her that one day, she would live without any more of this pain or this fear.

I would make sure of it.

My brain started to turn over all the stuff that needed to be done. Kat’s bedroom needed cleaning up. She needed something to cover the burned spot, because I didn’t want her seeing that every day.

After some time, the tears slowed and Kat lifted her head. Her eyes were rimmed in red, but her voice was steady as she spoke. “She had a bracelet I’d never seen her wear before. The same kind of bracelet that Luc had on.”

That was unexpected. “Are you sure?” When she nodded, I leaned back against the couch, keeping her in my lap. “This is even more suspicious.”

“Yeah.”

“We need to talk to Luc without our unwanted sidekick first.” Unease churned. I didn’t trust that kid. I didn’t trust Blake. I didn’t trust that Carissa met a Luxen, fell in love with the person, was injured, and then healed. “I’ll let the others know what happened. I don’t want you to have to go through telling them what happened.”

She lowered her cheek to my shoulder. “Thank you.”

“And I’ll take care of your bedroom. We’ll get it cleaned up.”

Kat relaxed. “You’re perfect, you know.”

“Sometimes,” I murmured, brushing my chin along her cheek. For once, I didn’t feel anywhere near perfect. “I’m sorry, Kat. I’m sorry about Carissa. She was a good girl and didn’t deserve this.”

“No,” she whispered. “She didn’t.”

“And you didn’t deserve to have to go through that with her.”

Kat didn’t respond, and I reached up, carefully brushing away the tears that gathered under her eyes. Her voice was thick as she spoke. “Can we go to Martinsburg? Mom works on Wednesday. Do you think that’s too soon to talk to Luc on our own?”

“No. I think that works.”

She fell quiet after that, and eventually her breathing evened out. The fight with Carissa and the tears had exhausted her. Lifting her out of my lap, I laid her down on her side. She murmured something unintelligible that weaseled a small grin out of me. Grabbing the quilt off the back of the couch, I draped it over her.

I lingered for a moment and then walked into her kitchen, fishing my phone out of my pocket. I sent Dee a quick message. A minute later she was walking into Kat’s kitchen.

“What is—?”

“Keep it down.” I leaned against the counter. “Kat’s asleep in the living room.”

Dee frowned as she glanced at the wall clock. “Um…”

“Carissa was a hybrid,” I told her, cutting to the point.

She stared at me, her mouth slowly parting. “Come again?”

I gave her a brief rundown of our suspicions. “She came after Kat. Attacked her and then she…she kind of self-imploded.” My shoulders stiffened as Dee jerked back a step. “I’m sorry. I know you were friends with her, but I need you to do me a favor right now.” God, I sounded like a dick, but I needed her to do this for me. “I know you’re not really fond of Kat right now, but can you set that aside just for tonight? I need to go get a damn rug for her bedroom, and then I need to clean it up. I just want you to stay with her and be here in case she wakes up.”

“Yes.” She blinked once and then twice, but didn’t hesitate. “Yes. Of course.”

“Thank you.” Relieved, I folded an arm around her shoulders and hugged her.

Dee hugged me back. “Carissa… She’s really gone?”

I nodded as I stepped back.

She wrapped her hands around her hair and started twisting the length. “Oh my gosh, I don’t…”

“I’m sorry.” Two of the lamest words in history at the moment. I scrubbed my hand through my hair. “I’m going to grab Dawson and have him go with me. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Before I left, I went back into the living room. Kat was still asleep, curled on her side. Under her eyes, the skin was puffy, but the red splotches on her cheeks were gone. I knelt at her side, brushing back her hair. I kissed her cheek. “I promise you,” I whispered into her ear. “You won’t have a life like this. I promise.”