Oblivion

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  Slowly, she lifted her gaze to mine as her fingers closed, pressing into her palm. “I just…I know you don’t need this—whatever this is with me—and I’m—”

  “Don’t apologize,” I bit out harshly. Her eyes widened. “You haven’t done anything wrong, Kat. Nothing. You saved Dee’s life. You saved my life, and in return, I’ve done…I don’t even know what I’ve done to you.”

  Her head tilted to the side. “You didn’t do it on purpose.”

  “Does my lack of intent matter?” I asked her, a hundred percent serious.

  Thick lashes lowered, shielding her beautiful gray eyes. “I guess not, but…but I know you’ll help me.”

  That was true. I wanted to help her—I would help her, but most importantly, I wanted Kat to trust me. Now, more than ever, she needed to, because I had a feeling that stopping the branch and moving a glass of tea without touching it were just the tip of the iceberg.

  Chapter 9

  Unable to sleep most of the night, I patrolled the county until early morning. I wasn’t able to shut my mind down. I needed to figure out what was going on with Kat, but it wasn’t like I could ask around without rousing suspicion or like I could Google it.

  We were on our own with this.

  I was restless during trig class, wholly aware of Kat. She didn’t seem to be faring much better. Shifting a lot in her seat. Messing with her hair. About halfway through class, I realized that she was spending a lot of time staring at the back of Simon’s head.

  And the asshole was well aware of it, too.

  Just below his cropped hair, his neck was beet red. Every so often, he’d glanced over his shoulder at Kat and then at me, which was not smart, because it reminded me that he was also a problem that needed to be dealt with—a much easier problem than the other ones we faced.

  The muscles under the gray shirt Simon wore tensed as he looked over his shoulder at Kat once more before facing the front of the classroom. A second later, Simon’s heavy textbook lifted off the desk and smacked Simon right in the face.

  My lips parted as I swallowed a laugh as Kat jerked back in her seat. What did she just do? Simon jumped out of his seat and stared down at the book now resting on the floor like it was a venomous snake.

  “Mr. Cutters, is there something you would like to share with the class?” our teacher asked in a tired, bored voice.

  “W-what?” Simon stuttered. He looked around frantically, and then his eyes settled on the book. “No, I knocked my book off the desk. Sorry.”

  The teacher let out a loud sigh. “Well, then pick it up.”

  Scattered laughter followed Simon’s jerky movement as he picked up the book and took his seat. I waited until the teacher turned back to the chalkboard before I poked Kat with the pen. She twisted around.

  “What was that?” I whispered, struggling to keep a straight face. “Very bad kitty…”

  A pretty flush cascaded over her cheeks as she bit down on her lip, drawing my attention and making me think of other very bad but fun things. Things that I really shouldn’t be thinking about right now. Especially considering the fact that Kat just tapped into whatever ability she had brewing inside of her in a very public place. Granted, I’d done it myself, but I knew how to use my power. Kat didn’t.

  We were going to have to talk about that.

  Kat’s lips formed a sheepish grin. She turned back around, the edges of her hair teasing the top of her chair. Took no amount of imagination to remember how soft her hair felt between my fingers. Like silk.

  Sitting back in my chair, I swallowed a groan. Damn. This was going to be a long day.

  I ended up catching up with Kat after school. That damn human boy had been her at ass at lunch. I waited for her at her locker, sort of surprised that she wasn’t giving me crap about being there. Baby steps in the right direction?

  Holding the door open for her, we stepped out into the chilled air. She started to swing her bag over her shoulder, but I reached between us and took the bag from her, carrying it.

  Kat arched a brow at me. “Are you a gentleman today?”

  “I am many surprising things.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  My lips quirked up. We hit the parking lot, and not surprisingly, she was in the back again. Walking side by side, I purposely slowed my stride. “Did that boy say anything today?”

  “That boy?” Her nose did that wrinkle thing as she glanced up at me. “Oh, you mean Blake?”

  “Whatever,” I muttered, eyeing a group of guys huddled behind a pickup. Their camo baseball hats doing an awesome job at blending in. “Did he say anything about what happened at the diner last night?”

  “No. Not really.” She folded her arms around her waist as a strong gust of wind whipped through the cars. “I mean, I tried to feel him out about it, you know? Apologized for freaking out about the branch falling, and he didn’t seem too interested in it. He thought…”

  “Thought what?” We’d reached her car.

  Kat shook her head as she unfolded her arms and reached out for her bag. “He didn’t think anything about it.” Taking the bag from me, she dug out her keys. “That’s good, right?”

  “Yeah, but I wish you hadn’t brought it up.”

  She frowned as she opened the car door. “I was just trying to see if we had a problem.”

  “I get that.” I watched her toss her bag in. “But it’s best—”

  “I know. Stay away from him. Blah. Blah.” She climbed into the car and reached for the door. I caught it before she could shut it on me. A long-suffering sigh radiated from her. “I need to get going.”

  “Why? Meeting up with your new friend?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Actually, no. Dee is coming over. We’re hanging out.”

  “Oh. Well then.” I smiled broadly and she rolled her eyes. “Have fun.”

  “Uh-huh,” she muttered. “Good-bye, Daemon.”

  Letting go of the car door, I stepped back and I didn’t move until Kat backed out of the parking lot and drove off. The back right tire looked like it needed air. Hadn’t I told her that already? Turning around, I scanned the parking lot, my gaze settling on the group of guys at the back of the pickup. A few of them broke apart, and I was able to see what was lying on the bed of the truck.

  A dead doe.

  My lip curled in distaste. Jesus. The rusty-looking marks along the bed showed that the kill must’ve been recent. Was it even hunting season yet? One of the guys started away from the truck, a big dude named Billy Crump. One of Simon’s friends.

  “Y’all going to Rudy’s tonight?” he said, walking backward. “Me and Simon will kick your asses if not.”

  Rudy’s was an old pool hall down near Smoke Hole. It used to be a bar, but at some point, it lost its liquor license and was now a pretty shitty place that didn’t have much more than pool tables and salmonella. That’s where Simon would be tonight? Perfect.

  I smiled as I strolled out to the middle of the parking lot, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans as Billy neared me.

  Wariness seeped from him as he passed me, lifting his chin in greeting. “Hey, man.”

  I nodded, half tempted to clap him on the back. He just gave me the info I needed to take care of one of my problems.

  Dee was gone by the time I got home, having stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things. Night was creeping in, earlier and earlier each day. The light in Kat’s front room was on, and I pictured my sister and her in there, nerding out about books.

  My lips tipped up at the corners as I put the milk and eggs in the fridge, along with the five packs of bacon. They’d be gone by Sunday.

  And it was Thursday.

  There was a bunch of crap on the counter and in the pantry for the party tomorrow night. Somehow, and I’m assuming with a smile, Dee had procured a case of liquor. I shook my head as I walked out of the kitchen. I rounded the stairs and started to head up. There was a stack of paper lanterns in the guest room that Dee had ordered for the
party that needed to be moved downstairs. Might as well—

  I felt the presence of one of my own a second before there was a knock on the front door. Pivoting around, I moved to the door, half expecting to find one of the Thompsons or Matt.

  It was neither.

  Opening the door, I swallowed a ripe curse as I was eye to eye with an Elder. Luckily, it wasn’t Ethan.

  Lydia stood in front of me with barely a trace of a smile. She was around Ethan’s age. Somewhere in her late forties, maybe early fifties. Then again, I wasn’t sure how old Ethan was. Either way, she was beautiful, like all Luxen were, with dark skin and black hair that reached her waist. She had a son either my age or a year younger, but he stayed in the colony, like most of the ones our age, homeschooled and completely under the watchful “care” of the Elders.

  I couldn’t remember the last time Lydia had paid us a visit.

  “May I come in?” she asked, her voice slightly accented. With her dark coloring, the luminous blue eyes were striking…and a bit unnerving. “Not like you can really say no.”

  I snorted and stepped aside. “Then why did you ask?”

  “Because I like to be polite.” She walked in, smoothing her hands along her denim jeans. “Is that not the human thing to do?”

  Closing the door, I faced her. “And when have you ever been worried about doing the human thing?”

  Lydia laughed softly. “More than you apparently believe. All of us, even if we reside within the colony, must blend in. It is the way.”

  Watching her with a wary gaze, I folded my arms. Out of all the Elders, I actually liked Lydia. When Dawson…when he died, she was one of the few Elders who appeared to care, but I wasn’t in the mood for a whole ton of BS. I had stupid paper lanterns to move and a dumbass jock named Simon to visit. “Why are you here, Lydia?”

  She walked into the living room and sat on the couch. Guessed she wasn’t leaving anytime soon. Hooking one knee over the other, she rested her joined hands in her lap. “You’re of age, Daemon. It’s time we talked about that.”

  Oh for the love of all the stars in the sky. I rolled my eyes. “That is not something I want to talk about.”

  “Gee, and here I thought you were bursting at the seams in excitement,” she replied drily.

  I smirked as I leaned against the wall. Thank God Dee wasn’t here, because she’d also be on the receiving end of this conversation.

  “Ethan worries that you aren’t planning to mate,” she continued, looking me dead on and having no problem getting all up in my business. “Especially since it doesn’t appear that you plan to be with Ashlee Thompson.”

  Resisting the urge to bang my head, I forced a deep breath instead. “Ash and I are just going to be friends.”

  Lydia nodded. “There’s nothing wrong with that. We have many females who are coming of age soon or—”

  “Don’t,” I ordered softly. “I’m not having this conversation with you or any Elder. I have no plans to mate anytime in the near future, and yes, I get how important it is. We need babies and all that, but it’s not on my calendar.”

  A single dark eyebrow rose, and a moment passed. “You realize if you go too long without mating, you face being cast out.”

  Lifting my hand, I scratched my cheek with my middle finger.

  The Elder let out a genuine-sounding laugh. “You’re lucky that I like you, Daemon.”

  That was probably true.

  “Ethan wanted to come check in on you, especially after that fight you had with the Arum over Halloween, but I told him I would come in his place.” She winked. “You owe me.”

  A grin tugged at my lips. “That I do.”

  Unhooking her knee, she scooted forward on the couch and stared up at me. “Okay. Let’s drop the whole mating thing. How have you been, Daemon? I haven’t seen you in a while, or your sister.”

  There was a part of me that wanted to end this conversation now, but I did like Lydia. Walking over to the chair near the couch, I sat down. “I’m doing…I’m doing good. So is Dee. We…” I inhaled deeply. “We miss Dawson.”

  “Of course.” She smiled sadly as she reached over, patting my knee. “It doesn’t get easier when you lose someone you love. You just get used to it.”

  Lydia would know. An Arum killed her husband a few years back. Lydia chattered for a while, and when she got up to leave, I decided to take a strategic risk. I trusted her, well, more than I trusted the rest of the Elders or those within the colony.

  “Can I ask you something?” I asked.

  Her eyes lit up with interest. “Ask away.”

  “I’ve been wondering about something,” I started, searching my mind for a plausible excuse to ask this sort of question, and luckily stumbled across something kind of believable. “When those Arum were around, they kept going after some of the humans.” Which wasn’t really a lie. “We know that when they feed off humans, it doesn’t do anything for them, but what if they went after a human we’ve been around?”

  Her slender brows knit. “Do you mean if we’ve left a trace on the human? Would they then be able to feed off them?” When I nodded, she shook her head. “I wouldn’t think so. I mean, even if we leave a trace behind on them, they don’t have our abilities.”

  “True,” I murmured, rubbing my fingers under my mouth. “I guess it’s a good thing if a human was repeatedly exposed to a trace that it doesn’t do anything to them.”

  Her gaze sharpened. “Yes, it is a good thing. If the humans became like us, then we wouldn’t have the upper hand, now would we?”

  I thought it was kind of odd thinking we actually had the upper hand when the DOD controlled everything we did, but whatever. “Well, we can’t make humans like us, so there’s nothing to worry about then. I guess those Arum were just…playing with their snacks.”

  Lydia stared at me a moment. “May I be frank with you, Daemon?”

  Uh-oh. “Yeah.”

  She pressed her lips together in a flat line and then nodded, as if she was preparing herself. “I know you’re not going to want to hear this, and I don’t expect you to either confirm or deny it, but you do realize we were keeping a close eye on your brother.”

  I stilled. Didn’t even breathe.

  “He was quite close to that human girl he…he died with. Now you know, I have no problems with our kind being friends with humans. I am not nearly as strict as some of the others,” she continued, expression open. “But many of the Elders suspected that your brother crossed the line with that girl.”

  I didn’t ask what this had to do with what I was asking, because deep in my bones, I knew it had everything to do with it.

  “There’s a reason why we keep a certain distance between us and humans,” Lydia went on. “Arum come looking for us and innocent humans are caught in the cross fire, but it’s…it’s more than that, Daemon.” She exhaled softly. “And that’s all you need to know.”

  My jaw flexed. More than that? As I met her gaze, I knew there was something she wasn’t telling me, something probably along the lines of what was happening to Kat, but if I pushed it, she could get suspicious, and as much as I liked her, I knew she would go to the rest of the Elders if she thought I’d done something unforgivable, and I…

  I would protect Kat if it came down to it.

  Lydia left not too long after that, just before Dee returned home. It was close to nine when I left in my car, heading toward Smoke Hole, the conversation with Lydia playing over and over. What did I gain from it? Nothing much other than the fact that the Elders, or at least some of them, knew what could happen to a human. It didn’t take a leap of logic to figure out that was what she was hinting at, but all of that brought me back to a different question, one that had nothing to do with what was happening with Kat.

  Why had she brought up Dawson and Bethany?

  Did the Elders know just how far their relationship had progressed? And did they somehow suspect that something major had gone down between Bethany and Dawson? Somethin
g like what had happened between Kat and me? Had Dawson healed Bethany? If so, was that what had drawn the Arum to them the night they’d gone to the movies? Or had the Arum just spotted Dawson?

  All I had was more questions than answers, which was pretty typical.

  I drove past Smoke Hole and pulled into the near-empty parking lot of Rudy’s. Killing the engine, I leaned back in my seat and I waited.

  Simon didn’t disappoint.

  An hour later, he strolled out of the pool hall, heading toward