Oblivion

She started to speak and then smiled broadly. “Nah. I think I’ll stay here for now. I’ll see her later.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Why are you smiling like you’re high?”

“No reason.” She rocked back on her feet, smiling so wide I thought her face might crack. “No reason at all.”

Frowning, I shook my head and pivoted around. I made it to the door before Dee called out, “Take your time.”

I shot her a dark look over my shoulder, and she burst into a fit of giggles. Whatever. I crossed the front yard and saw Kat through the kitchen window. Well, I saw the white glow around her… I headed for the back door and knocked.

The door swung open, and unfortunately she wasn’t wearing only the shirt like last night. Actually, that was probably a good thing. But that trace on her. Damn. The others were going to see it first thing Tuesday morning, after Labor Day, and I was going to have to come up with one hell of an excuse.

“Hey?” she said, sounding unsure.

I nodded in response.

Wariness flickered over her face. “Um, do you want to come in?”

Not feeling down when it came to enclosed spaces and Kat, I shook my head. “No, I thought maybe we could go do something.”

Her brows flew up, and I almost laughed. “Do something?” she asked.

“Yeah. Unless you have a review to post or a garden that needs tending.”

“Ha. Ha.” She started to close the door.

I lifted my hand, stopping the door without touching. Shock replaced the irritation, and I gri

She hesitated. “Where did you have in mind?”

I pushed away from the house, walking backward as I shrugged. “Let’s go to the lake.”

“I’ll check the road before I cross this time,” she said, and I turned around. “You’re not taking me out in the woods because you changed your mind and decided your secret is not safe with me, are you?”

I busted out laughing. “You’re very paranoid.”

She snorted. “Okay, that is coming from an alien who apparently can toss me into the sky without touching me.”

“You haven’t locked yourself in any rooms or rocked in any corners, right?”

Her eyes rolled when I glanced over at her. “No, Daemon, but thanks for making sure I’m mentally sound and all.”

“Hey.” I raised my hands in mock surrender. “I need to make sure you aren’t going to lose it and potentially tell the entire town what we are.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about that for several reasons,” she replied drily.

I gave her a pointed look. “You know how many people we’ve been close to? I mean, really close to?”

She wrinkled her nose, and I wondered where her mind went, and that made me chuckle. “Then one little girl goes and exposes us. Can you see how hard that is for me to…trust?”

“I’m not a little girl, but if I could go back in time and do it all over I wouldn’t have stepped out in front of that truck.”

“Well, that is good to know.”

“But I don’t regret finding out the truth. It explains so much. Wait, can you go back in time?” Her expression was serious. “The possibility hadn’t crossed my mind before, but now I honestly wonder.”

I sighed, wanting to laugh. “We can manipulate time, yes. But it’s not something we’d do, and only going forward. At least I’ve never heard of anyone being able to bend time to the past.”

“Jesus, you guys make Superman look lame.”

I smiled as I dipped my head to avoid a low-hanging branch. “Well, I’m not telling you what our kryptonite is.”

A moment passed. “Can I ask you a question?”

I nodded as our feet kicked at the leaf-covered ground.

“The Bethany girl who disappeared—she was involved with Dawson, right?” she asked.

I tensed. “Yes.”

“And she found out about you guys?”

Several seconds passed before I could decide how to answer this question. “Yes.”

Kat glanced at me. “And that’s why she disappeared?”

“Yes.” More or less, that was the truth.

“Did she tell someone? I mean, why did she…have to disappear?”

“It’s complicated, Kat.”

“Is she…dead?”

When I didn’t answer that question, she stopped. I looked back, and she was digging a pebble out of her sandal. “You’re just not going to tell me?”

I gri

“So why did you want to come out here?” She shook the rock out and placed the sandal back on. “Because it’s fun for you to be all evasive?”

“Well, it is amusing to watch your cheeks get all pink when you’re frustrated.”

Her cheeks burned brighter.

I winked and started walking again. Her questions were valid, and I was being a jerk about it, but there really weren’t easy answers to those questions. The lake came into view. “Besides the twisted fact that I like watching you get all bent out of shape, I figured you’d have more questions.”

“I do.”

“Some I won’t answer. Some I will.” I glanced over at her, and she didn’t look upset at me. I felt like I needed to take a picture to capture that moment. “Might as well get all your questions out of the way. Then we don’t have a reason to bring any of this up again, but you’re going to have to work for those questions.”

She arched a brow. “What do I have to do?”

I glanced out over the lake and smiled. “Meet me on the rock.”

“What? I’m not wearing a bathing suit.”

Kicking off my shoes, I turned my smile on her. She blinked once and then twice before quickly looking away. “So? You could almost strip down—”

“Not going to happen.” She crossed her arms.

That was a damn shame.

“Figured,” I replied. “Haven’t you ever gone swimming in your clothes before?”

Her lips pursed. “Why do we have to go swimming for me to ask questions?”

My gaze zeroed in on that mouth for way too long before I lowered my gaze. “It’s not for you, but for me. It seems like a normal thing to do.” I shifted my weight. “The day we went swimming?”

“Yes.” She took a step toward me.

Lifting my gaze, I met her stare. I took a deep breath. “Did you have fun?”

Kat tilted her head to the side. “When you weren’t being a jerk and if I ignore the fact that you were bribed into it, then yes.”

Smiling, I looked away. One of these days, maybe, I’d tell her that I hadn’t been bribed. “I had more fun that day than I can remember. I know it sounds stupid, but—”

“It’s not stupid.” Her response was immediate and genuine. Then she shocked the hell right out of me. “Okay. Let’s do this. Just don’t go underwater for five minutes.”

Relaxing, I laughed. “Deal.”

While I pulled off my shirt, she slipped off her sandals. I could tell she was watching me from under her lowered gaze. I waited for her to change her mind, but she gri

“Oh my God, the water is cold!” she shrieked.

I could do something about that.

“Watch this.” Winking at her, I turned back to the lake. I let go of my human form. White light spread out from my chest and over my form. I shot off the ground, moving incredibly fast. To her, I probably looked like nothing more than a fiery ball. I hit the center of the lake. In my true form, heat radiated off me, warming the lake as I whipped around, under the water.

As I neared the rocks, I shifted back into the form Kat was more comfortable with as I hauled myself up on the rocks.

“Alien powers?” she asked.

Water sluiced off my skin as I leaned over the edge of the rock, motioning her forward. “Come in, it’s a little warmer now.”

She didn’t look like she believed me when she placed her foot in. Her body jerked as she glanced up at me, her eyes wide. “Any other cool talents?” she asked as she waded over to the rocks.

“I can make it so that you can’t even see me.”

When she reached the side of the rocks, she placed her hand in mine. I pulled her up easily, and once she gained her footing, I let go and scooted back, giving her room.