Ethan’s smile was pleasant as Kat turned, facing him. My hand slid down the center of her back. “Ethan,” I said. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
His gaze flickered over Kat. “I can see. Is this the girl that your brother and sister kindly informed me about?”
I did not like the way he said “girl.”
“Depends on what they kindly informed you of.”
His smile didn’t waver. “That you’ve been seeing her. I was surprised. We’re practically family.”
“You know me, Ethan, I don’t like to kiss and tell the world.” Unease bled from Kat, and I moved my thumb in slow, soothing circles along her lower back. “Kat, this is Ethan Smith. He’s like a…”
A giant pain in my ass?
“Godfather,” Kat offered quietly.
Ethan lifted his chin. “Yes, like a godfather.” He focused on Kat again. “You’re not from around here, are you, Katy?”
“No, sir, I’m from Florida.”
“Oh.” Dark brows rose. “Is West Virginia to your agreement?”
She glanced at me. “Yeah, it’s nice.”
“That’s lovely.” He came down a step, extending his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Kat started to reach for Ethan’s hand, but I intercepted, weaving my fingers through hers. I didn’t trust Ethan; therefore I didn’t want him touching her. Lifting her hand to my lips, I pressed a kiss against the center of her palm.
“Kat, I’ll come over in a little while.” I let go of her hand and shifted, shielding her from Ethan. “I have some catching up to do, okay?”
“It was nice to meet you,” Kat said, her voice even.
“Likewise,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll meet again.”
Not if I had anything to do with it.
Ethan watched her walk next door with a curious tilt of his head. “A human, Daemon?”
I ignored the comment as I walked up the steps and headed inside. He was right behind me, taking his time. “What can I do for you, Ethan?”
He followed me into the kitchen. I grabbed a water, and nope, wasn’t offering him shit. Unbuttoning his suit jacket, he sat at the kitchen table. “There’ve been many, many rumors circulating, and it appears all of them are true.”
Leaning against the counter, I unscrewed the lid on the bottle. To be honest, I wasn’t too surprised that he’d heard them. “Is that so?”
His smile lacked all warmth. “Dawson has returned.”
“I’m sure Lydia told you that.”
He cocked his head to the side. “He was re-assimilated?”
“Uh-huh.” For some reason, I didn’t think he believed the question he was asking.
“Luxen are only re-assimilated for breaking the rules. Many are never rereleased,” he said, tapping his fingers on the table. “What rules did Dawson break?”
I took another drink.
He laughed under his breath. “I’m sure I can guess what it is. The same rule you’re breaking right now?”
“Hmmm…”
“You’re seeing a human.”
“Among other things,” I said with a smirk.
That smile went down a notch. “I expected better from you.”
Irritation pricked my skin as I took a drink of water. “That’s too bad.”
“You know the risks involved.” His eyes flashed. “And yet you treat this as a joke.”
“There’s not a damn single thing I find about this as funny.”
“That’s not the message I’m getting.”
“That’s not my problem.”
The smile was completely gone by this point, replaced by a tense slash of a month. “Then is it Katy’s problem?”
I stilled.
My lungs stopped the useless task of sucking in oxygen as I stared at the Elder. “Are you threatening her?”
“No.” He chuckled, waving a hand dismissively. “Now why would I do that?”
Yeah. Bullshit. “I don’t know. You tell me.”
He was quiet as he dragged his hand off the table. “I would not threaten a young girl, Daemon. That kind of classless tact is below me.”
I snorted. “Sounds right up your alley, to be honest.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed. “Your actions affect those in the colony—”
“My actions have nothing to do with those who live in the colony,” I said, so very done with this conversation. “Or with you or Lydia or any other Elder. They never have. They never will.”
He stood, buttoning his suit. “You’re young, Daemon, and you’re at an age where you think you know everything.”
The side of my lips kicked up. “I know a lot of stuff.”
Ethan ignored that comment. “And you’re foolish because of your age, despite what you may believe. Do not think you’re the only Luxen male…or female to sample outside of our kind.”
I arched a brow.
“But all of us, including you, will choose one of your own.”
“I hate to break it to you, Ethan, but that’s not going to happen.” I sat the bottle down, meeting his slightly widened gaze. “I’m not just ‘sampling’ the human race over here. You can outcast me.” My smile spread. “You can threaten to report me to the DOD.” Crazy for me to throw that out there, but it wasn’t like the DOD didn’t already know about Kat and me. “It’s not going to change anything.”
His shoulders stiffened. “You so sure of that, Daemon?”
“Positive.”
An eerie smile crept across his face, leaving the room as cold as frostbite. “Everything changes.”
Ethan’s visit left me feeling…shit, weird as hell. His words left a sour taste in my mouth. His visit was a warning, but what could he seriously tell the DOD that they didn’t already know?
But his visit did have me thinking about the fact that the DOD hadn’t captured all of us yet, and what the hell were we supposed to do once we did get Beth out of Mount Weather, if she was really there?
No way would they let that slide.
Dawson and Beth…they would have to leave. There really were no other options, and there was a good chance all of us would have to make an exit, including Kat. God, that made me antsy as hell, because I hated that because of me, she would have to leave everything and everyone behind.
Wasn’t that the end result?
I felt like shit, which made the weird feeling even weirder, so a little while later, when Ash and Andrew stopped over and asked if I was hungry, I said yes. Not like I was going to say no when Dee had given me those sad eyes of hers, complaining that I never spent any time with her. And that was true. I hadn’t, not since…well, since she stopped hanging out with Kat, and Dawson had returned.
We’d gone to Smoke Hole, but the place was packed, so we ended up ordering a pizza and heading to the Thompsons’ place.
It had been months since I had been there, and while so much had changed since then, and Andrew and Ash were subdued compared to how they were before Adam’s death, it felt good hanging out with them.
Up until we started talking about Sunday night. For one of the first times ever, I saw real fear oozing out of Ash when Andrew talked about taking part. She was afraid she was going to lose Andrew, too. Dee still wanted to kill Blake. It took hours to get everyone on the same page about Sunday.
I’d texted Kat, letting her know I wouldn’t make it over to her place before she went to bed, but I didn’t get a response. Telling myself she probably had her nose stuck in a book, I tried to not let it stress me out. “Tried” being the key word, because even though if I was standing and living, so was Kat, that didn’t mean other things couldn’t happen to her.
I got home around two in the morning. Still no response from Kat, but I sent her another text for when she got up Saturday morning. Slipping on a pair of loose, old sweats, I turned music on low and passed out the moment my head hit the pillow, and it was a dreamless, deep kind of sleep. A warm sense of awareness woke me hours later, and I smiled sleepily, recognizing the series of tremors along the back of my neck, even half asleep.
Kat was quiet as she opened the bedroom door and crept across the room and sat on the edge of the bed. For a couple of moments, she was impossibly still, and I could feel her gaze on me.