The foyer was dark, and as he stopped, he frowned. Music thumped through the house. The lyrics Whoomp, there it is! blasted from the speakers. He knew before he entered the living room that Daemon was listening to one of those TV channels that played nothing but music.
Sprawled across the couch, with his arms behind his head, Daemon moved his bare feet in perfect sync with the song.
Dawson’s brows arched up. “‘Whoomp There It Is’?”
“What?” He tilted his head toward Dawson, grinning. “I like the song.”
“You have such questionable musical taste.”
“Don’t hate.” He sat up in one fluid motion, dropping his feet onto the floor. “Where have you been all day?”
“Where’s Dee?” he asked instead of answering the question.
Daemon waved his hand, and the channels flipped rapidly. “In her bedroom.”
“Oh.” The likelihood of Daemon killing him with their sister home was slim. Good news.
“Yeah.”
Sighing, he sat on the arm of the chair. “I need to tell you something, but you have to promise me that you won’t flip out.”
Daemon slowly turned his head to him, eyes narrowing. The TV stopped on a golden oldies station. “Chantilly Lace” started playing. “Whenever anyone starts a conversation off like that, I’m pretty sure I am going to flip out.”
Ah, good point. “It has to do with Beth.”
His brother’s face went blank.
“I went to see her yesterday, at her house,” he continued. “And something happened.”
There was still no response from his brother. A quiet Daemon was a Daemon about to explode. “I don’t know how it happened or why, but it did. We were kissing…and I lost hold on my human form.”
Daemon sucked in a sharp breath and started to stand but stopped. “Jesus…”
“It left a faint trace on her.” And here comes the bad part. “And she knows the truth.”
Like a switch being thrown, Daemon was up and in his face in a split second. “Are you serious?”
Dawson met his brother’s hard stare. “I don’t think I’d joke about something like this.”
“And I didn’t think you’d be so damn careless, Dawson!” Daemon flickered out and reappeared on the other side of the room, his spine rigid and shoulders tense. “Dammit!”
“I didn’t mean for it to happen.” Dawson took total ownership for his mistake, but there was always something about Daemon that made him feel like a kid standing before an angry parent. “Lighting her up with a trace was the last thing I wanted to do, but it wasn’t like I couldn’t tell her afterward. She completely understands that no one can know. She won’t say—”
“And you believe her?”
“Yes. I do.”
Daemon’s eyes flared. “And just because you believe her, the rest of us are supposed to be okay with this?”
“I know it’s a lot to ask, but Bethany would never tell anyone.”
Daemon barked out a cold laugh. “God, you’re stupid, bro, really stupid.”
A red-hot wave traveled up his spine. “I’m not stupid.”
“I beg to differ,” his brother growled.
Dawson’s hands opened and closed at his sides. “I get that you’re disappointed with me marking Bethany, and her knowing the truth is a gross atrocity to you, but it wasn’t like I meant to do this.”
“I know you didn’t mean to, but that doesn’t change the fact that it did happen.” Daemon leaned against the wall, tilting his chin up. Tension radiated from him, and Dawson knew that he was trying to come up with a way to fix this. That’s what Daemon did. He fixed things.
Daemon made a low sound in the back of his throat. “So, you kissed her and this happened?”
“Yeah, awkward, I know.”
One side of his lips twitched. “And the trace is faint?” When Dawson assured him, Daemon lowered his chin. “Okay. You need to stay away from her.”
“What?”
“Maybe you didn’t understand the English I was just speaking.” Daemon’s eyes flared with anger. “You need to stay away from her.”
That was the smartest thing to do — what he should do. Leave Bethany alone. But a sour taste filled his mouth. Imagining himself never talking to her again or touching her made his skin feel like it was too tight.
“What if I can’t?” he asked, looking away when Daemon scowled.
His brother swore. “Are you kidding me? It’s not hard. You. Stay. Away. From. Her.”
As if it were that easy. Daemon didn’t get it. “But she’s glowing right now. Nothing serious, but there’s an Arum around, and she’s not safe.”
“You probably should have thought about that before you Lite-Brited her ass.”
Dawson swung toward his brother, eyes narrowing. Anger caused his body heat to rocket. “So? Is that it? You just don’t care if she gets hurt?”
“I care if you get hurt.” Daemon took a step forward, hands balling into fists. “I care if Dee get hurts. This girl, as ignorant as this sounds, means nothing to me.”
Dawson looked his brother over, taking in the sharp eyes and features identical to his own. Funny how at times Daemon appeared like a perfect stranger to him. “You sound just as bad as Andrew.”
“Whatever, man.” Daemon stalked across the room, grabbing a throw pillow. “I’m not human-hating here. I’m stating a fact.” He fluffed the pillow before tossing it against the back cushion. “Obviously, you got a thing for her. Something more than what you’ve felt before.”
Well, no doubt. He’d never lost his form around a human girl before. And when he thought of Beth, yeah, he’d never felt this way.
“And because of that, you need to stay away from her,” Daemon said, as if his word was law. He stopped in front of Dawson, folding his arms. “I’ll go to Matthew and explain what’s happened.”
Dawson’s back straightened. “No.”
Daemon drew in a sharp breath. “Matthew needs to know what you’ve done.”
“If you go to Matthew, he will go to the DOD, and they will take Bethany away.” When Daemon opened his mouth, Dawson stepped forward. “And don’t you dare say you don’t care.”
“You ask too much!” Daemon exploded. “I have to warn the others just in case your girlfriend decides to go National Enquirer on us.”
“She won’t.” Dee’s quiet voice intruded from the top of the stairs. The brothers turned to her. “If Dawson believes that Bethany will remain quiet, then I believe him.”
“You’re not helping here,” Daemon snapped.
She ignored him. “We still have to tell the others, Dawson, because they have a right to be prepared. They should know, especially when they see her trace, but Daemon can convince Matthew not to go to the DOD or the Elders.”
“This isn’t Daemon’s problem,” he argued. “It’s mine. I should be—”
“If it involves you, it’s my problem.” Impatience etched into Daemon’s features.
Shame rose inside Dawson, like an ugly wisp of smoke. “I am not a child, dammit. You are only older by a few minutes! That doesn’t give you—”
“I know.” Daemon rubbed his brow as if his head ached. “I don’t mean to treat you like a kid, but dammit, Dawson, you know what you have to do here.”
Dee appeared between them, her hands on her hips as she twisted toward Daemon. “You have to trust Dawson on this.”
The look on Daemon’s face said he’d rather stick his head in a meat grinder. “This is insane.”
Daemon stepped back, putting the heels of his hands on his forehead. “Okay. I get your…need to make sure she is safe while she has the trace, and yeah, maybe she won’t say crap, but afterward, you cannot run the risk of something like this happening again.”