Oblivion

That cut me. “I won’t hurt you. I could never hurt you.”

Kat wasn’t thrashing anymore. She was staring at me with those wide, beautiful eyes. Some of the panic eased off, but she was still frightened. Her body trembled as she looked away, pressing her cheek to the grass as she squeezed her eyes shut.

What was I going to do?

I couldn’t let her tell the world about us. There were only two options at this point. I took care of her, as in what Matthew had volunteered to do. Or I somehow convinced her to keep quiet. I hadn’t risked everything to save her from that demon truck to harm her myself now.

Slowly, so I didn’t startle her, I placed my finger under her chin and gently turned her head to mine. “Look at me, Kat. You need to look at me right now.”

She kept her eyes tightly closed.

I shifted up, bracing my weight on my legs as I clasped her cheeks. Her skin was smooth and too cool. My fingers smoothed over the line of her jaw, and I saw that my hands trembled slightly. I didn’t know if I could make her understand, but I had to try. I had to stop the bullet heading straight for her head.

“Please,” I whispered.

Her chest rose sharply, and then her lashes swept up. Her gaze tracked over my face, and I knew she was trying to reconcile what she saw now versus what she’d seen by the side of the road. The pale moonlight broke through the trees, gliding over her cheekbones and mouth.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I tried again. “I want to talk to you. I need to talk to you, do you understand?”

She nodded.

I closed my eyes, letting out a sigh. Weariness invaded me. “Okay. I’m going to let you up, but please promise me you won’t run. I don’t feel like chasing you anymore right now. That last little trick nearly wiped me out.” I opened my eyes, finding her watching me closely. “Say it, Kat. Promise me you won’t run. I can’t let you run out here by yourself. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” she whispered hoarsely.

“Good.” Leaning back, I slipped my hand down her cheek and then moved to the side. Crouched on my heels, I watched her scoot away until her back was pressed against a tree. I waited for a few seconds, to see if she was going to freak out. When she didn’t, I sat down in front of her. I shoved my hand through my hair, swallowing a month’s worth of curses. “Why did you have to walk out in front of the truck? I was trying everything to keep you out of this, but you had to go and ruin all of my hard work.”

She pressed a shaking hand to her forehead. “I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“But you did.” I dropped my hand to my lap. “Why did you come here, Kat? Why? I—we were doing well and then you show up and everything is thrown to hell. You have no idea. Shit. I thought we’d get lucky and you’d leave.”

“I’m sorry I’m still here.” She pressed even further against the tree, tucking her legs to her chest.

I wanted to punch myself. “I’m always making this worse.” Shaking my head, I tried again. “We’re different. I think you realize that now.”

She placed her forehead on her knees for a moment and seemed to collect herself. She lifted her head. “Daemon, what are you?”

Smiling ruefully, I rubbed my palm along my temple. “That is hard to explain.”

“Please tell me. You need to tell me, because I’m about to lose it again.” Her voice rose.

I met her gaze and spoke the truth. “I don’t think you want to know, Kat.”

Her breath caught as she stared back at me. Understanding crept into her expression. If she asked me what I knew she wanted to, everything would change. Everything had already changed, but if she asked, I would tell her the truth. I would give her enough information to prove that we could trust her.

Or for her to hang herself with.

There were simply no other choices.

Kat exhaled softly. “Are you…human?”

I barked out a short laugh. “We’re not from around here.”

“You think?”

“Yeah, I guess you’ve probably figured out we’re not human.”

She drew in a shaky breath. “I was hoping I was wrong.”

I laughed again, even though none of this was fu

Her arms tightened around her legs. “What do you mean by ‘far, far away’? Because I’m suddenly seeing visions of the begi

Why was I not surprised by the fact that she went there? “We’re not from this planet.”

Kat’s mouth opened and then closed. “What are you? A vampire?”

My eye roll was so epic I was afraid my eyes would get stuck there. “Are you serious?”

“What?” Frustration rose in her voice. “You say you’re not human, and that limits the pool of what you can be! You stopped a truck without touching it.”

“You read too much.” I exhaled slowly. “We’re not werewolves or witches. Zombies or whatever.”

“Well, I’m glad about the zombie thing. I like to think what’s left of my brains are safe,” she muttered, and I glanced at her sharply. “And I don’t read too much. There’s no such thing as that. But there’s no such thing as aliens, either.”

I leaned forward quickly, curving my hands over her bent knees. Her eyes widened as they locked with mine. “In this vast, never-ending universe, do you think Earth—this place—is the only planet with life?”

“N-no,” she stammered. “So that kind of stuff…that’s normal for your… Hell, what do you call yourselves?”

After a beat of silence, I leaned back and tried to figure out what the best way to go about this was. I’d never had to tell anyone about us before. This was a first. And she looked like she was seconds away from laughing hysterically. Not necessarily good.

“I can tell what you’re thinking,” I admitted. “Not that I can read your mind, but it’s written all over your face. You think I’m dangerous.”

She wetted her lips. “This is crazy, but I’m not scared of you.”

“You’re not?” Surprise shuttled through me.

“No.” She laughed, and it had a concerning edge to it. “You don’t look like an alien!”

I arched a brow. “And what do aliens look like?”

“Not…not like you,” she sputtered. “They aren’t gorgeous—”

“You think I’m gorgeous?” I smiled.

Her eyes narrowed. “Shut up. Like you don’t know that everyone on this planet thinks you’re good-looking.” She grimaced. “Aliens—if they exist—are little green men with big eyes and spindly arms or…or giant insects or something like a lumpy little creature.”

I let out a loud laugh. “ET?”

“Yes! Like ET, asshole. I’m so glad you find this fu

“Sit down, Kat.”

“Don’t tell me what to do!” she fired back. There was my Kitten. I let out a sigh of relief. If she could yell at me, she wasn’t as afraid as I’d feared. We might just make it through this shit storm.

I stood fluidly, keeping my arms at my sides while I allowed my eyes to change. “Sit. Down.”

Kat stared at me—stared at what was likely my green eyes glowing surreally. She sat down. And saluted me.

She literally just saluted me with her middle finger.

Wow. How could I not appreciate that kind of backbone? I gri

“Will you show me what you really look like? You don’t sparkle, do you? And please tell me I didn’t almost kiss a giant brain-eating insect, because seriously, I’m go

“Kat!”

“Sorry,” she muttered.

Closing my eyes, I struggled for patience and calm. When I was sure I could shift without accidentally burning half the forest, I shed my human skin. I knew the moment the transformation was complete because I heard her say, “Holy shit.”

To her, I would look like a man made out of light, which wasn’t too far from what we really were. I opened my eyes. Kat had a hand up, shielding her eyes. The light I threw off was intense, turning night into day.