Looking over my shoulder, I grinned when I saw Kat pass Dawson. Her body glowed faintly, and her smile was breathtaking.
I reached the stream only ten seconds before them, spinning around to watch them. Both of them had improved drastically from when we started, and they were almost as fast as me, and that was saying something.
Though Kat hadn’t really gotten the knack of slowing down yet. Her muddy appearance could attest to that. Bracing myself, I prepared to snag her if she started to go down like she was sliding into home base.
And she was.
Kicking up soil and loose rock, she dug her feet in as she slowed. Her feet stopped, but her body kept going. I caught her so she didn’t end up in the lake. Kat spun around as she laughed and stretched up. Her gray eyes shone. She kissed my cheek.
I grinned. “Your eyes are glowing.”
“Really—like yours do? The whole diamond shining thing?”
Dawson stopped, brushing back the heavy waves of hair. “Nah, just the color’s luminous. It’s pretty.”
“It’s beautiful,” I corrected. “But you better be careful not to do that in front of people.”
Kat nodded.
I clapped my hand on Dawson’s back. “Why don’t we call it quits? Both of you are good to go, and I’m starving.”
She rubbed her hands together. “You guys go ahead and head back. I’m going to do some more runs.”
“You sure?”
“Yep. I want to run circles around you.”
“Never going to happen, Kitten.” I sauntered up to her and looked for a clean spot on her to kiss. Didn’t find one, but I still laid one on her cheek. “You might as well give it up.”
She landed a playful shove on my chest. “One of these days you’re going to eat crow.”
“I doubt any of us will be around to see that.” Dawson grinned over at me.
My chest seized as Dawson turned that grin on Kat—on my girl—and I was struck by the happiness behind the grin. It was Dawson, really him. That was his grin—easygoing and relaxed.
Completely unaware of me staring at him like he’d grown a third eye on his chin, he knocked his hair back from his forehead and then started running. “Race you, brother!” he shouted.
I looked over at Kat.
Go, she mouthed.
Sending her a quick smile, I jogged after Dawson. “You know you’re going to lose.”
“Probably,” he replied. “But hey, it’s good for your ego, right?”
I snorted. I could practically hear Kat’s voice in my head, telling me that was something I didn’t need help with.
We ran at normal speeds for a couple of moments, and then Dawson stopped fooling around. Tapping into the Source, he flew over the muddy, uneven ground. I stayed at his side the whole way back to the house.
Dawson slowed down at the same time I did, his sneakers kicking up gravel as he came to a stop on the driveway. He turned to me, his eyes iridescent as he grinned. “You can run a hell of a lot faster than that.”
“Maybe.” I knocked my shoulder off his as I walked past him. “My ego doesn’t need the help.”
“No shit.”
Surprised, I laughed as I climbed the porch steps. Part of me wanted to turn around and grab him, but I knew it was smarter not to point it out. So I pretended that it wasn’t a big deal that he was acting more and more like himself since he was back.
In the kitchen, I opened the fridge. “What are you in a mood to eat?”
Dawson kicked off his muddy boots and then dropped into the kitchen chair. “Anything, if you’re actually going to make it for me.”
I snorted as I grabbed the tub of butter and a couple of slices of cheese. “Grilled cheese sandwiches it is.”
He was quiet as I buttered up the bread, making enough for when Kat joined us. “Are you nervous about tonight?” he asked.
How could I really answer that? I plopped the sandwich onto the heated, buttered skillet, mulling over my words. I settled on, “I’m confident that we will succeed.”
“Same here.” Dawson had a hand thrust through his hair when I glanced over my shoulder at him, his gaze focused on the floor. His brows were knit together as he frowned. “I don’t… I’m going to need your help tonight.”
Holding the spatula, I faced him. “You have my help, Dawson.”
“No. I don’t mean that. I mean…” He cleared his throat as he looked up at me. His face had finally filled out a little, but there was still a sharpness to his cheekbones. “I mean I might need your help with…with Beth. I don’t think she’s in a good place, you know?”
Remembering how Kat had described how Beth had acted, I nodded.
“And I don’t know if she’ll…if she’ll recognize me.”
My hand tightened on the spatula. “She’ll recognize you, Dawson.”
“I don’t know,” he replied quietly, casting his gaze to the floor again. “There were times when she didn’t. There were times when I didn’t recognize her.”
I forgot to force myself to breathe.
“I just want to get her out of there without her or…or anyone getting hurt.” Dawson slowly lifted his gaze to mine. “And I don’t know if…if when I see her and she doesn’t recognize me, that I’m going to be…much help.”
“I get it.” Shaken, I twisted back to the stove and flipped the sandwiches. “I got you, Dawson.”
There was a pause. “Thank you.”
Throat closed, I nodded and hoped it didn’t come down to any of that. I wanted his reunion with Bethany to be happy, but I knew better than to blindly hope for anything. That was just asking the universe to take a piss on your leg and tell you it was raining.
Sandwiches finished, I scraped them off the skillet and placed them on plates. I handed one over to Dawson when I felt my heart jump erratically in my chest, the feeling catching me off guard.
Kat.
It was different than her practicing. Tossing the spatula into the sink, I moved wicked fast, reaching the front door in under a second. I stepped outside, immediately seeing the black Expedition parked down the road. I saw Officer Lane, but I didn’t see Kat.
I moved form the porch to Kat’s driveway in a blink of an eye, surprising Lane.
“Is there something I can help you with, Lane?”
He took a step back and pressed his hand to his chest. “Daemon, God, I hate when you do that.” When I didn’t respond, the older man gave a little shake of his head. “I’m doing an investigation.”
“Okay.”
I tensed as Lane reached into the breast pocket of his suit and pulled out a small notebook, flipping it open. “Officer Brian Vaughn has been missing since before New Year’s. I’m checking all possible leads.”
What entirely messed-up timing for him to show up today, of all days, to question us about Vaughn. I kept my voice level and face blank as I folded my arms across my chest. “Why would I know what happened to him or care?”
Lane raised a brow. “When was the last time you saw him?”
“I haven’t seen him since the day you guys showed up to do your check-in and you all wanted to eat at the disgusting Chinese buffet,” I responded. “I still haven’t recovered from that.”
He gave a reluctant grin. “Yes, the food was terrible.” He scribbled something down and then slid his notebook back into his pocket. “So you haven’t seen Vaughn at all?”
“Nope.” I glanced over his shoulder, spotting movement.
The other man nodded. “I know you two weren’t big fans of each other. I didn’t figure he’d make any unauthorized visits, but we have to check every avenue at this point.”
“Understandable.” I glanced over to where I’d seen something between the trees, but I couldn’t be sure. “Why were you checking out the neighbor’s house?”
“I was checking out all the houses,” he replied. “You still friends with the girl we saw you with?”
My eyes narrowed.
Lane laughed as he walked past me, clapping me on the shoulder. “Daemon, when are you ever going to loosen up? I don’t care who you…spend your time with. I’m just doing my job.”