Chapter 24
Kat would be proud. Over the next couple of days, I didn’t bum-rush the warehouse. I could be a huge, impulsive asshole, but I wasn’t stupid. Once the anger and the adrenaline faded, I knew I had to stay away for a bit. Freaking killed me to, but with the two officers on guard now missing, more eyes than normal would be on the place.
And the officers had definitely been reported as missing, according to the headline on the Charleston Gazette.
Two Department of Defense Officers Missing After Last Seen Near Petersburg.
Officer Robert McConnell and Officer James Richardson were their names—the names of two men I’d mowed down without hesitation. That was something I still hadn’t allowed myself to really focus on. Guilt accomplished nothing.
So instead of razing the warehouse to the ground and getting myself caged in the process, I focused my attention on William Michaels, a potential link. The only way it would make sense was if Will was what Blake had called an implant. Major coincidence though, if he was.
Stranger shit had happened.
A quick search of the good doctor revealed that he’d once been diagnosed with leukemia, and while that sucked, all it confirmed was what we found in Bethany’s house. Maybe he was writing himself prescriptions to deal with the pain or the treatment. Couldn’t blame the guy for that. The walker and cane also made sense, along with the Ensure. I wondered if she or her mom knew, considering how her father had died. Nothing shady could be found on the internet, so I ended up tailing him. Other than going to the hospital or out with Kat’s mom, he kept a low profile and a residence in a new subdivision with large, overpriced homes.
He’d been at Kat’s house earlier, and when he’d left, I followed him on foot back to his house. Then I patrolled until it was close to midnight. Not going to the warehouse was making me stir-crazy. Tomorrow, I was going to check it out. See what the activity was around it. I couldn’t wait any longer.
Snow was starting to come down heavier, and since I hadn’t sensed any nearby Arum, I headed back. I got home a little after midnight, I saw that Kat’s car was gone. What the hell? It had been there when I’d left. Where would she…?
It suddenly hit me.
Would Kat have gone to stake out Vaughn’s house alone? Where else would she be? Dee was inside with Adam. Blake the Douche Bag was still off visiting family, hopefully never to return. There was nowhere else she could’ve gone. Fear punched a fist-sized hole in my gut.
Instead of staying on foot, I fished the car keys out of my pocket and walked my ass over to the SUV. I climbed in, cursing up a storm. Halfway to Vaughn’s house, I saw Kat driving along as the snow started to fall in sheets. Yanking on the wheel, the SUV’s tires squealed as I spun it around, rushing up behind her.
I followed her back to the house and the moment she parked the car, I was out of mine and opening up the driver’s door on hers. “Where in the hell were you coming back from?”
She climbed out of the car. “Where were you going?”
Glaring down at her, I resisted the urge to shake her. “I have a feeling it was the same place you were coming back from, but I’m telling myself that you can’t be that stupid.”
Her eyes narrowed as she stomped past me and walked up the porch steps. “Well, since that’s where you were going, I guess that means you’re stupid, too.”
“You seriously went there, didn’t you?” Even though I’d suspected it, I couldn’t really believe it. “Please tell me that’s not where you were. That you were just out for a midnight drive.”
She shot me a bland look over her shoulder as we walked inside. Heat immediately melted the dusting of snow that had gathered in her dark hair. “I went to Vaughn’s,” she said.
I stared at her for several moments. “You’re insane.”
Tugging off her wet sweatshirt, she shot me a dark look as a rush of tiny bumps spread across her bare arms. “So are you,” she said, straightening her tank top.
“I can take care of myself, Kitten.”
“And I can, too.” She tugged her hair back. “I’m not helpless, Daemon.”
All the terrible things that could’ve happened to her rolled through my mind in vibrant, horrifying clarity. I shuddered and then snapped forward, clasping her chilled cheeks in my hands. “I know you aren’t helpless, but there are things I would do that you won’t. Things I know you could never live with, but I can. What would you have done if someone saw you? What would I have done if you were captured or…”
I couldn’t finish those words, and I saw the flash of understanding in her steely gray eyes. I could kill—I had killed. I never, ever wanted her to be in the situation where she would have to make that choice.
Without breaking eye contact, she placed her cool hands on my cheeks. My skin hummed in response. My eyes widened as she leaned in. My lungs stopped working. The gray softened before she closed her eyes, and then she brushed her lips over mine, shocking me straight to my core.
“Kitten,” I said, voice rough with emotion.
Her hands slid into my hair as she kissed me. It was soft. Hesitant. So damn tender, and it felt like forever since I waited for this moment—for her to make the move. And it was forever. A first. This was all Kat, and there was nothing sweeter. She pulled back, her fingers still sifting through my hair.
“Kitten,” I repeated. “You don’t get to do that and then stop. That’s not how it works. Not when you’re mine.” I backed up until I hit the wall. Sliding down, I pulled her onto my lap, her knees on either side of my hips. “And you’re mine.”
She dropped her hands to my shoulders as I brought her mouth to mine. The kiss was slow at first, and I dragged it out for all it was worth, savoring the taste of her. Kat was the one to take it to the next level, moving her tongue along the seam of my mouth. She was the one who deepened it.
I groaned low in my throat and my arms tightened around her, drawing her in so there was no space between our chests. Her hands were on the move, slipping over my shoulders, up the back of my neck. I cradled the back of her head, drawing soft gasps out of her. Lust and something far deeper slammed into me. I threw what I felt into that kiss, and she shuddered against me.
Kat slowly broke the kiss, breathing heavily as she rose onto her knees. “Wait. Wait. Important stuff.”
I grabbed her hips, pulling her down against me. I knew my eyes were glowing. The whole room was tinted in white. “This is important.”
Most important damn thing ever.
“I know.” Her back arched as I glided my fingers under the hem of her tank top, brushing the tips of my fingers along her smooth skin. “But this is really important. I found something in Vaughn’s house.”
My hands stilled. “You went inside Vaughn’s house?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I went into his house.”
“Are you a career criminal?” I asked, and she shook her head. “I’m curious how you got into his house, Kitten.”
She bit down on her lip. “I unlocked the door.”
“With what…?”
“The same way you would.”
My eye was starting to twitch. “You shouldn’t be doing things like that.”
Kat started to wiggle around, and I stopped her, because seriously, she was in my lap and that movement was so not helping anything at the moment. “I found stuff. And I also met someone.” She started to get up, but I folded my arms around her. “Are you going to let me go?”
I smiled tightly. “Nope.”
She sighed and folded her hands in the space between us. “They’ve been watching us, Daemon. From the moment I moved here.”
What in the actual hell?
“But that’s not all. Bethany showed up.”
“What?” I rose swiftly, settling her on her feet. My head was everywhere. The bitter tang of fear for her still lingered, not completely overshadowed by her kiss, and now this? Needing space, I backed up. “Did she talk to you about Dawson?”
“Ah, see, she’s not…well, she didn’t respond well to his name.”