Oblivion

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  Surprised to hear her voice in my head, because it was something she didn’t seem to enjoy doing, I focused on her. I hear you.

  There was a pause. I know you’re hell-bent on revenge, but most importantly, what if Dawson is still alive?

  I drifted closer to her. Then I don’t know if I should be happy or sad. He’d be alive, but where? The DOD has him, and if that’s the case, what kind of life has he had? For two years? A ball of bitter emotion formed in my throat. What have they been doing to him?

  I’m sorry, Daemon. I’m really sorry. But if he’s alive, then he’s alive. Kat reached out, placing her hand through the light, finding my chest and touching it. My light pulsed erratically, then calmed. My body hummed at the contact. That’s got to mean something, right? she said.

  Yes, yes it does. Stepping back, I willed myself into my human form. “I need to find out if my brother is alive—and if he’s not…” I looked away, my jaw working. “I need to know how and why he died. It’s obvious why they would want Beth, but my brother?”

  Kat sat down, wiping a palm over her forehead. Her wrist turned, revealing a deep purplish bruise circling the skin. “I don’t know—” She gasped when I grasped her hand. “What are you doing?”

  I turned her hand over, my brows furrowing. “What is this?”

  “Huh?” She glanced down. “It’s nothing. I banged my arm into the counter earlier.”

  Icicles formed in my chest as I lifted my gaze to hers. Standing above her, I found it once more hard to hold on to my human form. Too many emotions were tearing me up, but this bruise looked like a handprint. Like if someone grabbed her wrist too hard. Thoughts of Bethany and even Dawson took a second seat. Was someone hurting her? If so, I was pretty sure I knew who—Blake. “Are you sure that’s what happened, because I swear if it’s not, you tell me and that problem will be solved.”

  Her laugh was shaky, but she rolled her eyes. “Yes, Daemon, that’s all that happened. Geez.”

  Watching her intently, I had a choice to make. I either believed her or I killed Blake without any real proof. Though I didn’t feel like I needed much proof to take his ass out. Kat smiled at me, and I exhaled roughly. She wouldn’t lie about this, because that bruise was nothing like a knife being thrown at her. Training shouldn’t leave bruises, and I couldn’t imagine her protecting him.

  I sat on the couch again, refocusing on Beth and Dawson. A tiny spark of hope fired up deep in my chest, but I was afraid—damn terrified of grasping hold of it. If I did and Dawson wasn’t alive, it would be like losing him all over again.

  “Don’t tell Dee about this, okay?” I said. “Not until we get some leads or something. I don’t want her knowing anything until we know for sure.”

  “How are you going to get leads?” she asked.

  “You said you saw Bethany with Vaughn, right?”

  She nodded.

  “Well, I happen to know where he lives. And he probably knows where Beth is and what happened to Dawson.”

  “How do you know where he lives?”

  The moment he was assigned to us, I made sure I knew where the SOB lived. “I have my ways.”

  Kat blanched. “Wait. Oh no, you can’t go after him. That’s insane and dangerous!”

  I arched a brow. “As if you care what happens to me, Kitten.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “I do care, jerk-face! Promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”

  Did she really care? Who knew? “I won’t make promises I know I’ll break.”

  “Argh! You’re so freaking frustrating. I didn’t tell you so you’d go off and do something stupid.”

  “I’m not going to do anything stupid. And even if what I plan is risky and insane, it’s a well-thought-out level of stupidity.”

  She rolled my eyes. “That’s reassuring. Anyway, how do you know where he lives?”

  “Since we’re surrounded by people who potentially want to do my family harm, I tend to keep tabs on them like they keep tabs on me.” I leaned back, stretched my arms until my back bowed. When I caught her staring at me, I resisted pointing it out to her. “He’s been staying at a rental in Moorefield, but I’m not sure which one it is.”

  She shifted on the couch, yawning. “What are you going to do? Stake out his block?”

  “Yes.”

  “What? Do you have a James Bond fetish?”

  “Possibly,” I replied. “I just need a car not easily recognizable. Does your mom work tomorrow?”

  Her brows rose. “No, she’s off in the evening and will probably be sleeping, but—”

  “Her car would be perfect.” I shifted closer to her. “Even if Vaughn has seen her car, he won’t suspect it belongs to her.”

  “I’m not letting you take my mom’s car.”

  “Why not?” I smiled at her. “I’m a good driver.”

  “That’s not the point.” She leaned back against the arm of the couch. “I can’t just let you take her car without me.”

  I frowned. “You’re not getting involved in this.”

  Her body stiffened. “You want my mom’s car, then you get me along with it. It’s a two-for-one special.”

  Dipping my chin, I peered up at her. “Get you? Now that sounds way more interesting of a deal.”

  Her cheeks flushed. “As in a partnership, Daemon.”

  “Hmm…” Rising, I walked away from the couch, stopping in the doorway. “Be ready after school tomorrow. Ditch Bartholomew by any means necessary. And do not speak a word of this to him. You and I will be playing spy alone.”

  The moment darkness fell the following evening, I headed outside and waited by Kat’s mom’s car. I didn’t have much of a plan for the night. Sort of playing it by ear, but if I saw Vaughn, I was going to have a little chat with him. There was going to be no way to stop myself from doing that.

  A little after five thirty, Kat came out, quietly closing the door behind her. I reached for the keys.

  “Nope. My mom’s car means I’m driving.”

  I shot her a dark look, but didn’t want to waste time arguing. I walked around the car and got in on the passenger side. Immediately, I realized this was not going to be a comfortable ride. This car was built for members of the Lollipop Guild.

  Kat looked over at me as she hit the ignition button and laughed.

  Legs cramped, I scowled at her even though it was good, really good, to hear her laugh again. As she turned the car around, she flipped the radio to the rock station, and just to be annoying, I flipped it to the station that played nonstop Elvis. Moorefield wasn’t a long drive, but with the way she looked right now, you’d think it was going to take hours.

  Kat’s chin jutted out, and I hid my grin by looking out the window. “So how did you drop Butter-face?”

  “I told him I have plans with my mom. It’s not like I spend every waking minute with Blake.”

  I snorted.

  “What?” There was a pause and then she said, “What? You know what I’m doing with him. It’s not like we’re hanging out and watching movies.”

  “Do I really know what you’re doing with him?” I asked softly, staring at the blur of trees as we hit the highway.

  “Yes.”

  Jaw tightening, I angled my body toward her, which wasn’t much given the limited space.

  “You know, your whole life doesn’t have to involve training with Bradley. You can take time off.”

  “You could also join us. I liked it…when you helped out, when you were there,” she admitted.

  I’d liked helping her, too, up until the moment Douche Bag could’ve killed her. “You know my stance on that, but you need to stop avoiding Dee. She misses you. And that’s just messed up.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You’re sorry?” I blinked. “What for? For being a crappy friend?”

  “I’m not trying to be a crappy friend, Daemon.” Anger flooded her voice. “You know what I’m doing. You’re the one who told me to keep her out of this. Just tell Dee I�
��m sorry, okay?”

  “No.”

  “Can we not talk?”

  “And that would also be a no,” I said, but other than giving her directions to the subdivision where Vaughn lived, I didn’t say anything else. Not until she parked the car halfway between the six houses I narrowed it down to. “How has your training been going?”

  “If you got over yourself, you’d know.”

  I smirked. “Are you still able to freeze things? Move objects around?” When she nodded, I eyed her closely. “Have you had any unexpected outbursts of power?”

  “No.”

  “Then why are you still training? The whole purpose was for you to get control. You have.”

  She groaned. “That’s not the only reason, Daemon. And you know it.”

  “Obviously I don’t,” I retorted, pushing back against the seat. Jesus, my legs were going numb.

  “God, I love how you’re all up in my personal business but don’t want to be involved in it.”

  “I like talking about your personal business. It’s usually entertaining and always good for a laugh.”

  “Well, I don’t,” she snapped.

  I sighed as I shifted in the seat to no use. “This car sucks.”

  “It was your idea. I, on the other hand, think the car is a perfect size. But that might be because I’m not the size of a mountain.”

  I snickered. “You’re the size of a little, itty-bitty doll.”

  “If you say a vacant doll, I will hurt you.” She wound the necklace chain around her fingers. “Got that?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” I watched her stare forward. A few seconds passed before she yawned. Even though there wasn’t much light from the nearby streetlamps making its way into the car, I could see the weariness in every line of her face. I’d seen it every day for a week, getting worse and worse.

  I sighed. “You’re worn down. Dee’s worried. She won’t stop bugging me to check on you and see what’s wrong, since you won’t hang out with her anymore.”

  “Oh, so we’re back to you doing things to make your sister happy? Are you getting bonus points for asking?”

  “No.” I reached out, gently catching her chin and turning her gaze to mine. “I’m worried. I’m worried for a thousand different reasons and I hate this—I hate feeling like I can’t do anything about it. That history is on repeat and even though I can see it as clear as day, I can’t stop it.”

  Her chest rose with a soft inhale as her gaze searched mine. Lifting her hand, she wrapped her fingers around my wrist, inhaling sharply when static jumped from my skin to hers. She said nothing, like always, but in that moment, as she stared at me with an acute sense of desperation, I realized she wasn’t just being quiet. There were words she wanted to speak. They were in her eyes and the tense lines of her beautiful face. They hung in the air between us, constantly unspoken.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  “About what?”

  “About everything—about not hanging out with Dee and being a terrible friend to Lesa and Carissa.” She pulled my hand away as she returned to staring out the windshield, blinking several times. “And I’m sorry about not being able to stop training. I get why you don’t want me to. I really do. I understand that you don’t want me in danger and that you don’t trust Blake. Most of all, I do know you fear that I’m going to end up like Bethany and Dawson—whatever really did happen to them—and you want to protect me from that. I understand. And it…it kills me knowing that it hurts you, but you’ve got to understand why I need to be able to control and use my abilities.”

  “Kat—”

  “Let me finish, okay?” She glanced at me, and when I nodded, she went on. “This isn’t just about you and what you want. Or what you’re afraid of. This is about me—my future and my life. Granted, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life when it came to college, but now I face a future where if I step out of the range of the beta quartz, I’m going to be hunted. Like you. My mom will be in danger if an Arum sees me and follows me home. And then there’s this whole DOD mess.”

  Her hand squeezed the obsidian. “I have to be able to defend myself and the people I care about. Because I can’t expect you to always be there to protect me. It’s not right or fair to either of us. That’s why I’m training with Blake. Not to piss you off. Not to get with him. I’m doing it so that I can stand beside you, as your equal, and not be someone you need to protect. And I’m doing this for myself, so that I don’t have to rely on anyone to save me.”

  I sat back, closing my eyes. All the terrible things I’d said to her when I first met her, about her being weak and not being good enough, smacked me right in my face. I had caused this need to grow and fester in her.

  “I know,” I said after a few minutes, realizing that I probably knew this whole time, but I’d been too stuck up my own ass to accept it. “I know why you want to do this. And I respect that. I do, but it’s hard to stand back and let this happen.”

  “You don’t know what’s going to happen, Daemon.”

  Rubbing my jaw, I stared out the windshield. Tiny flakes of snow drifted down, melting the moment they hit the hood. “It’s hard. That’s all I can say about this. I’ll respect what you want to do, but it’s hard.”

  A long stretch of silence passed, and then Kat moved on. “Anyway, what are we going to do if we see Vaughn?”

  “Haven’t thought that far ahead yet.”

  “Wow. This was a good plan.” She paused. “I really doubt Bethany is in one of these houses. That would just be too dangerous.”

  “I agree, but why did they have her out in public like that? Where anyone could see her?”

  She shook her head. “I got the distinct impression that Vaughn wasn’t too happy. Maybe she escaped.”

  I looked at her. “That would make sense. But Vaughn, well, he’s always been a punk.”

  “You know him?”

  “Not extremely well, but he started working with Lane a few months before Dawson ‘disappeared.’” The last word was hard to say and wrap my head around. “Lane had been our handler for God knows how long, and then Vaughn showed up with him. He was there when they told us about Dawson and Bethany.” Bitter memories clogged my throat. “Lane seemed genuinely upset. Like Dawson wasn’t just a thing that had died, but a person. Maybe he grew attached to Dawson over the years. See…” I cleared my throat. “Dawson had that kind of effect on people. Even when he was being a smart-ass, you couldn’t help but like him. Anyway, Vaughn couldn’t have cared less.”

  Kat reached over the small space between us and squeezed my arm. I looked at her, and after a moment, I placed my hand over hers. Something infinite flared between us—stronger than physical, much deeper. I pulled back, watching the snow fall in larger flakes. “You know what I’ve been thinking?”

  “What?” she asked after a moment.

  I leaned back against the seat to keep my legs from cramping. “If the DOD knows what we can do, then none of us are really safe. Not that we’ve ever been safe, but this changes everything.” I looked over at her. “I don’t think I said thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For telling me about Bethany.” I smiled slightly.

  “You needed to know. I would—wait. We’ve got one.”

  Two headlights turned onto the street. It was at least the fifth car to hit the road, but this was an SUV. I squinted. “It’s an Expedition.”

  The black Expedition slowed down and pulled into the driveway of a single-story home two houses in. The driver’s door opened and Vaughn stepped out, frowning as he lifted his gaze to the sky. My hands balled into fists. Another car door closed and a figure moved into the light.

  “Dammit,” I said, recognizing the woman. “Nancy’s with him.”

  “Well, you weren’t really planning on talking to him, were you?”

  I shrugged. “Yeah, I kind of was.”

  “That’s insane. What were you going to do? Bust up in his house and demand answers
?” When I nodded, she gaped. “Then what next?”

  “Another thing I hadn’t fully worked out yet.”

  “Geez,” she muttered. “You suck at this whole spy thing.”

  I chuckled. “Well, we can’t do anything tonight. If one of them went missing it probably wouldn’t be such a huge deal, but two of them would raise too many questions.”