Oblivion

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  “Do you know any time we apply for something, it’s tracked by the DOD?” I shook my head, disgusted. “Driver’s license, they know. If we apply for college, they see it. Marriage license to a human? Forget it. We even have a registration we have to go through if we want to move.”

  “Can they do that?” Shock flooded her voice

  I laughed drily. “This is your planet, not ours. You even said it. And they keep us in place by funding our lives. We have random check-ins, so we can’t hide or anything. Once they know we’re here, that’s it. And that’s not all. We’re expected to find another Luxen and to stay there.”

  Her gaze sharpened. “That doesn’t seem fair.”

  “It’s not.” I sat up, draping my arms over my bent knees. “It’s easy to feel human. I know I’m not, but I want the same things that all humans want—” What was I saying to her? I cleared my throat as my jaw worked. “Anyway, something happened between Dawson and Bethany. I don’t know what. He never said. They went out hiking one Saturday and he came back late, his clothing torn and covered with blood. They were closer than ever. If Matt and the Thompsons didn’t have their suspicions before, they did then. That following weekend, Dawson and Bethany went out to the movies. They never came back.”

  Kat closed her eyes.

  “The DOD found him the next day in Moorefield, his body dumped in a field like garbage. I didn’t get to say good-bye. They took his body before I could even see him, because of the risk of exposure. When we die or get hurt, we resort back to our true form.”

  Her voice was soft when she spoke. “Are you sure he’s…dead then, if you’ve never seen his body?”

  “I know an Arum got him. Drained him of his abilities and killed him. If he were still alive, he would’ve found a way to contact us. Both his and Bethany’s bodies were taken away before anyone could see. Her parents will never know what happened to her. And all we know is that he had to have done something that left a trace on her, enabling the Arum to find him. That’s the only way. They can’t sense us here. He had to have done something major.”

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I know there’s nothing I can say. I’m just so sorry.”

  Lifting my chin, I gazed up at the sky. The weight of losing Dawson was like a hundred-pound ball of lead settling in my stomach. It hurt. Still hurt like it was yesterday. Still woke up some nights and found myself in his bedroom, wishing I could just see him one more time.

  “I…I miss the idiot,” I said raggedly.

  Kat didn’t say anything, but she leaned over, wrapping her arms around me. I stiffened out of surprise. She didn’t seem to notice, because she squeezed me tight, and then she let go, pulling away.

  I stared at her, shocked to my very core. After the things I said to her a handful of minutes ago, she did this? Hugged me?

  She lowered her gaze to her hands. “I miss my dad, too. It doesn’t get any easier.”

  The breath I let out was harsh. “Dee said he was sick but not what was wrong with him. I’m sorry…for your loss. Sickness isn’t something we’re accustomed to. What was it?”

  “It was brain cancer. It started off with just headaches. You know? He’d get these terrible headaches and then he started having vision problems. When that happened, he went in for testing and he had cancer.” She glanced up at the sky, her brows knitting together. “It seemed like it happened so fast after that, but I guess, in a way it hadn’t been. I got time with him before he…”

  “Before what?” I watched her, unable to do anything but that.

  Her smile was sad. “He changed toward the end. The tumor affected things. That…that was hard, you know?” Shaking her head, she lowered her chin. “But I have all the memories of the good times, like when we worked out in the garden together or went to the bookstore. Every Saturday morning we did the garden thing. And then every Sunday afternoon, since I could remember, we went to the bookstore.”

  I was beginning to see why she loved gardening and reading so much. It kept her close to her father. We’d both suffered so much loss. “Dawson and I…we used to go hiking together all the time. Dee’s really never been big on that.”

  She grinned a little. “I can’t really picture her climbing a mountain.”

  I chuckled at that. “Agreed.”

  As daylight turned to dusk, and stars started to fill the sky, we…we just talked. I told her about the first time Dawson morphed into someone else and got stuck. She talked to me about how her friendships fell apart after her father got sick. I found it interesting that she took the blame for that. We talked until the air took on a chill, and it was time for us to head back.

  Truth be told, I really didn’t want to return to reality. I enjoyed this. Kat. Me. Talking. Never thought I would, but I did. I really did.

  Comfortable silence surrounded us as we walked back to our houses. There was a light on in the living room of Kat’s house, so her voice was low when she turned to me. “What happens now?”

  I didn’t answer.

  I had no idea what happened now.

  I spent most of Sunday listening to Dee and Kat talk about books and how book boyfriends were universally better than real boyfriends while they sat in the living room. And since I was a guy, maybe not human, I really wanted to disagree with that statement, but once they started listing the attributes of some of these dudes in the books Kat carried around with her, there was no way anyone could compete with that.

  I felt like I needed to warn Adam or something.

  Matthew was having a cookout on Labor Day, which Kat had found hilarious that aliens were celebrating Labor Day…up until Dee was leaving. For a multitude of obvious reasons, Kat couldn’t go with Dee. She tried not to show it, but the smile she wore while she sat on our front porch didn’t reach her gray eyes.

  “I don’t have to go over there,” Dee said, sensing what I did. “I can stay—”

  Kat opened her mouth, but I jumped in. “You’ve gone every year. You have to go this year or it’s going to look strange.”

  She worried on her lower lip as she glanced at Kat. “Are you going to be okay here?”

  “Why wouldn’t she be?” I demanded, folding my arms.

  Kat shot me a glare.

  “Her mom has to work today, so she’s spending the day alone,” Dee answered before Kat could reply.

  I cocked a brow. “How is that different from any other day?”

  Kat’s lips pursed.

  “Don’t be a jerk.” Dee’s eyes narrowed. “It’s different, because today is a holiday.”

  Kat opened her mouth again.

  “It’s Labor Day,” I pointed out drily. “It’s not like it’s Thanksgiving or Christmas. I’m not even sure it’s a real holiday.”

  “Oh, it’s real. It’s on calendars and stuff,” Dee insisted. “It’s a holiday.”

  I rolled my eyes. “It’s a stupid holiday. Kat is—”

  “Is right here, in case you all forgot that.” Kat stood, dusting off the back of her jeans. She shot me a baleful glare before turning to Dee. “I’ll be okay. Daemon, and God knows I hate saying this, is right. It’s just Labor Day. It’s no big deal. Adam is going to be there, right?”

  Dee nodded while I eyed Kat.

  She smiled again. “Go have fun with him.”

  By the time my sister finally got her butt in her car and left, I had been prepared to Hail Mary throw her all the way to Matthew’s house. I wasn’t sure I’d make it, but I was willing to try.

  As Dee’s tires crunched over the gravel, Kat moseyed on past me, and my gaze tracked her, riveted by the way her hips swayed. Did she realize how she walked? Jesus.

  “Where are you going?” I asked, lashes lowered.

  She stopped on the porch steps. “Um, going next door.”

  “Huh,” I murmured, leaning against the side of the house.

  Her lips turned down at the corners. “Aren’t you going to the cookout?”

  I shook my head. “That’s never been my thin
g.”

  “Really? A cookout has to be a ‘thing’ to do?” she challenged.

  “Whether it’s my thing or not, it’s kind of irrelevant. Someone needs to be here with you.”

  Those full lips dipped into a scowl. “I don’t need a babysitter—”

  “Yeah, you kind of do.”

  Kat faced me, and it became obvious that she was ready to fully engage. It took a Herculean effort not to smile. After yesterday, the time spent at the lake, something shifted between us. A connection I wasn’t sure how to handle had been forged.

  “I do not need a babysitter, Daemon.” Her hand closed over the railing. “I’m just going over to my house and I’m—”

  “Going to read a book?”

  Fire was seconds away from shooting out of her eyes. Maybe even her mouth, too. “What if I am? There’s nothing wrong with reading.”

  “I didn’t say that there was.” I smiled.

  “Whatever.” She pivoted and stomped down the steps.

  I should’ve let her go. As long as she stayed here, when I was around, she would be safe, and the bonus was Dee wasn’t with her. But as I watched her stalk toward her house—her empty house—I cursed under my breath and pushed off from where I was standing.

  “Hey,” I called out, unfolding my arms.

  Kat kept walking.

  Sighing, I shot off the deck. She didn’t see me, not until I appeared in front of her. Jerking back, her hand flew to her chest. “Holy crap,” she gasped. “A warning would be nice.”

  I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jeans. “I called out.”

  “And I ignored you!” Lowering her hand, she drew in a deep breath. “What do you want?”

  “Not to be ignored.”

  Her head tilted to the side. “Really?”

  My lips twitched. “Yes.”

  She shook her head as a warm breeze tossed loose strands across her face. “For some reason, I don’t think that’s the case.”

  “Maybe not.” I stepped toward her, slowly this time. “I have some cow meat in the fridge. We could make hamburgers.”

  “Cow meat?” Kat caught the strand of hair and tucked in behind her ear. “That…is a gross way of saying hamburger meat.”

  “It is, isn’t it?” I started past her, bumping her arm with my elbow. “We can have our own little cookout. I’ve got a grill.”

  Kat stared straight ahead as I kept walking.

  “Are you coming or not?”

  Her back was to me, and for a long moment I thought she was going to ignore me, and well, that would be really awkward. Especially if I had to go back to her, throw her over my shoulder, and force her to eat my grilled cow meat, because I would do it. No one should eat cow alone, I’d decided. Plus, I really wasn’t going to analyze why I didn’t want to think of her spending the holiday alone.

  Kat turned around, catching that piece of hair again and wrapping it behind her ear. “Do you have cheese?”

  I arched a brow. “Uh. Yes.”

  She folded her arms across her chest. “Swiss cheese?”

  “Yeah, I think so.”

  A second passed and then she smiled, flashing straight, white teeth. “Okay. Only if you make me a Swiss cheese hamburger and you don’t refer to it as cow meat.”

  Dipping my chin, I felt the corners of my lips quirk up. “Deal.”

  Dee ended up taking the fall for why Kat looked like she was lit up like the Vegas Strip. It had been her decision, and it had made sense, since I wasn’t sure anyone would’ve believed I’d make the same mistake twice.

  As expected, Matt wasn’t thrilled about it. None of them were. I didn’t blame them.

  And also, as expected, when I told Kat she had plans that evening, as in sticking around so I could keep an eye on her, she stated she had other plans. Everyone and the lamppost knew she didn’t have other plans.

  Kat was just being stubborn.

  After school on Tuesday, I followed Kat home. She’d gone to the post office first, which pissed me off. The girl looked like a lightbulb to the Arum. She knew that, and still moseyed her sweet behind to the post office to pick up an armful of packages.

  Packages that contained books.

  As if she needed more books.

  When I had pointed that out to her in the parking lot, she stared at me like I’d kicked a small child into oncoming traffic and had stated quite firmly, “You can never have too many books.”

  Then on the way home, she brake-checked me when I’d ridden up her bumper too close to get her to drive faster than I could walk. Didn’t she get that every minute out here we were exposed? I worried every day until I could get her home, next to me, where I could protect her.

  I blew my horn at her several times. It was either that or ramming the back end of her busted-ass Camry.

  It had taken forever to get to her house, and the moment I parked my SUV, I was the poster child for impatience. I got up and went to her driver’s side. Apparently, I had moved too fast.

  “Jesus!” She rubbed her chest. “Would you please stop doing that?”

  “Why?” I rested my arms on the open window. “You know about us now.”

  “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you can’t walk like a normal human being. What if my mom saw you?”

  I grinned. “I’d charm her into believing she was seeing things.”

  Opening the door, she barely waited for me to step back as she shoved past me. “I’m having dinner with my mom.”

  I popped in front of her.

  Kat squeaked and took a swing at me. “God! I think you like to do that to piss me off.”

  “Who? Me?” I widened my eyes. “What time is dinner?”

  “Six.” She stomped up the steps. “And you are not invited.”

  “Like I want to eat dinner with you.”

  She raised her hand, flipping me off.

  I grinned. “You have until six thirty to be next door, or I’m coming after you.”

  “Yeah. Yeah.”

  Spinning around, I smiled as I headed over to my house, wondering if she realized she had left all those precious books in her car.

  Dee showed up a little after four, but it wasn’t until it was close to the time when Kat was supposed to be here that she opened up the freezer and flipped out.

  “Where is the ice cream?” Her voice was strained.

  I leaned against the counter. “What ice cream?”

  “What ice cream?” she repeated slowly, disbelief ringing in her voice. “The half a gallon of rocky road ice cream that was in the freezer yesterday!”

  “Huh.”

  “I can’t believe you ate all the ice cream, Daemon!”

  “I didn’t eat all of it.”

  “Oh, so it ate itself?” Dee’s shriek could burst eardrums. “Did the spoon eat it? Oh wait, I know. The carton ate it.”

  “Actually, I think the freezer ate it,” I responded drily. Dee whipped around and threw the empty carton at me, turning the damn thing into a speeding baseball. It smacked off my arm, stinging. I caught it before it hit the floor. “Ouch. That wasn’t very nice.”

  She glared at me as I tossed the carton in the trash. It was then that I heard someone in the living room. Turning around, I headed for the room. It was Kat. I glanced at the clock and my lips twitched. It was a couple of minutes after six thirty. Leaning against the frame of the door, I crossed my arms and waited for her to realize I was there.

  When she saw me, all she did was stand there and…stare. Her gaze moved over me like she hadn’t seen me before, and I found that interesting. I raised a brow. “Kat?”

  She looked away quickly. “Did you get hit by an ice cream carton?”

  “Yes.”

  “Damn. And I missed that.”