Oblivion

“Oh. Well then.” I smiled broadly and she rolled her eyes. “Have fun.”

“Uh-huh,” she muttered. “Good-bye, Daemon.”

Letting go of the car door, I stepped back and I didn’t move until Kat backed out of the parking lot and drove off. The back right tire looked like it needed air. Hadn’t I told her that already? Turning around, I sca

A dead doe.

My lip curled in distaste. Jesus. The rusty-looking marks along the bed showed that the kill must’ve been recent. Was it even hunting season yet? One of the guys started away from the truck, a big dude named Billy Crump. One of Simon’s friends.

“Y’all going to Rudy’s tonight?” he said, walking backward. “Me and Simon will kick your asses if not.”

Rudy’s was an old pool hall down near Smoke Hole. It used to be a bar, but at some point, it lost its liquor license and was now a pretty shitty place that didn’t have much more than pool tables and salmonella. That’s where Simon would be tonight? Perfect.

I smiled as I strolled out to the middle of the parking lot, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans as Billy neared me.

Wariness seeped from him as he passed me, lifting his chin in greeting. “Hey, man.”

I nodded, half tempted to clap him on the back. He just gave me the info I needed to take care of one of my problems.

Dee was gone by the time I got home, having stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things. Night was creeping in, earlier and earlier each day. The light in Kat’s front room was on, and I pictured my sister and her in there, nerding out about books.

My lips tipped up at the corners as I put the milk and eggs in the fridge, along with the five packs of bacon. They’d be gone by Sunday.

And it was Thursday.

There was a bunch of crap on the counter and in the pantry for the party tomorrow night. Somehow, and I’m assuming with a smile, Dee had procured a case of liquor. I shook my head as I walked out of the kitchen. I rounded the stairs and started to head up. There was a stack of paper lanterns in the guest room that Dee had ordered for the party that needed to be moved downstairs. Might as well—

I felt the presence of one of my own a second before there was a knock on the front door. Pivoting around, I moved to the door, half expecting to find one of the Thompsons or Matt.

It was neither.

Opening the door, I swallowed a ripe curse as I was eye to eye with an Elder. Luckily, it wasn’t Ethan.

Lydia stood in front of me with barely a trace of a smile. She was around Ethan’s age. Somewhere in her late forties, maybe early fifties. Then again, I wasn’t sure how old Ethan was. Either way, she was beautiful, like all Luxen were, with dark skin and black hair that reached her waist. She had a son either my age or a year younger, but he stayed in the colony, like most of the ones our age, homeschooled and completely under the watchful “care” of the Elders.

I couldn’t remember the last time Lydia had paid us a visit.

“May I come in?” she asked, her voice slightly accented. With her dark coloring, the luminous blue eyes were striking…and a bit u

I snorted and stepped aside. “Then why did you ask?”

“Because I like to be polite.” She walked in, smoothing her hands along her denim jeans. “Is that not the human thing to do?”

Closing the door, I faced her. “And when have you ever been worried about doing the human thing?”

Lydia laughed softly. “More than you apparently believe. All of us, even if we reside within the colony, must blend in. It is the way.”

Watching her with a wary gaze, I folded my arms. Out of all the Elders, I actually liked Lydia. When Dawson…when he died, she was one of the few Elders who appeared to care, but I wasn’t in the mood for a whole ton of BS. I had stupid paper lanterns to move and a dumbass jock named Simon to visit. “Why are you here, Lydia?”

She walked into the living room and sat on the couch. Guessed she wasn’t leaving anytime soon. Hooking one knee over the other, she rested her joined hands in her lap. “You’re of age, Daemon. It’s time we talked about that.”

Oh for the love of all the stars in the sky. I rolled my eyes. “That is not something I want to talk about.”

“Gee, and here I thought you were bursting at the seams in excitement,” she replied drily.

I smirked as I leaned against the wall. Thank God Dee wasn’t here, because she’d also be on the receiving end of this conversation.

“Ethan worries that you aren’t pla

Resisting the urge to bang my head, I forced a deep breath instead. “Ash and I are just going to be friends.”

Lydia nodded. “There’s nothing wrong with that. We have many females who are coming of age soon or—”

“Don’t,” I ordered softly. “I’m not having this conversation with you or any Elder. I have no plans to mate anytime in the near future, and yes, I get how important it is. We need babies and all that, but it’s not on my calendar.”

A single dark eyebrow rose, and a moment passed. “You realize if you go too long without mating, you face being cast out.”

Lifting my hand, I scratched my cheek with my middle finger.

The Elder let out a genuine-sounding laugh. “You’re lucky that I like you, Daemon.”

That was probably true.

“Ethan wanted to come check in on you, especially after that fight you had with the Arum over Halloween, but I told him I would come in his place.” She winked. “You owe me.”

A grin tugged at my lips. “That I do.”

Unhooking her knee, she scooted forward on the couch and stared up at me. “Okay. Let’s drop the whole mating thing. How have you been, Daemon? I haven’t seen you in a while, or your sister.”

There was a part of me that wanted to end this conversation now, but I did like Lydia. Walking over to the chair near the couch, I sat down. “I’m doing…I’m doing good. So is Dee. We…” I inhaled deeply. “We miss Dawson.”

“Of course.” She smiled sadly as she reached over, patting my knee. “It doesn’t get easier when you lose someone you love. You just get used to it.”

Lydia would know. An Arum killed her husband a few years back. Lydia chattered for a while, and when she got up to leave, I decided to take a strategic risk. I trusted her, well, more than I trusted the rest of the Elders or those within the colony.

“Can I ask you something?” I asked.

Her eyes lit up with interest. “Ask away.”

“I’ve been wondering about something,” I started, searching my mind for a plausible excuse to ask this sort of question, and luckily stumbled across something kind of believable. “When those Arum were around, they kept going after some of the humans.” Which wasn’t really a lie. “We know that when they feed off humans, it doesn’t do anything for them, but what if they went after a human we’ve been around?”

Her slender brows knit. “Do you mean if we’ve left a trace on the human? Would they then be able to feed off them?” When I nodded, she shook her head. “I wouldn’t think so. I mean, even if we leave a trace behind on them, they don’t have our abilities.”

“True,” I murmured, rubbing my fingers under my mouth. “I guess it’s a good thing if a human was repeatedly exposed to a trace that it doesn’t do anything to them.”

Her gaze sharpened. “Yes, it is a good thing. If the humans became like us, then we wouldn’t have the upper hand, now would we?”

I thought it was kind of odd thinking we actually had the upper hand when the DOD controlled everything we did, but whatever. “Well, we can’t make humans like us, so there’s nothing to worry about then. I guess those Arum were just…playing with their snacks.”