“I figured you’d be hiding in the kitchen.”
I yelped at the sound of Ash’s quiet voice.
“Sorry,” she said, leaning against the counter. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Not sure if I believed that. “Okay.”
Up close, Ash was the kind of beautiful that made me wish I could drop twenty pounds and run to the nearest makeup department. She knew it, too. There was a confidence in the tilt of her chin. “This must be a lot for you to handle, learning everything and then facing what you did last night.” I eyed her warily. Even though she wasn’t trying to snap my head off, I wasn’t going to relax. “It’s been different.”
A faint smile crossed her pouty lips. “What did that TV show say? ‘The truth is out there.’”
“X-Files,” I told her. “I’ve wanted to watch Close Encounters of the Third Kind ever since I found out. Seems like the most realistic of all the alien movies.”
Another small smile and then she looked up, meeting my eyes. “I’m not going to pretend we’re ever going to be best friends or that I trust you. I don’t. You did dump spaghetti on my head.” I winced at that, but she went on. “And yeah, maybe I was being a bitch, but you don’t understand. They are all I have. I’ll do anything to keep them safe.”
“I would never do anything to put them in danger.”
She moved closer, and I fought every instinct to back up. I held my ground. “But you already have. How many times has Daemon intervened on your behalf, run the risk of exposing what we are and what we can do? You being here is putting each of us at risk.” Anger tore through me like a fire. “I’m not doing anything. And last night—”
“Last night you saved Daemon’s life. Great. Good for you.” She tucked her uber-straight hair behind her ear. “Of course, Daemon’s life wouldn’t have needed saving if you hadn’t led the Arum straight to him. And what you think you have with Daemon, you don’t.” Oh, for the love of babies everywhere. “I don’t think I have anything with Daemon.”
“You like Daemon, don’t you?”
Smirking, I grabbed a water bottle off the counter. “Not really.”
Ash cocked her head to the side. “He likes you.”
My heart didn’t do a stupid little leap in my chest. “He doesn’t like me. You even said so yourself.”
“I was wrong.” She folded her slender arms as she studied me intently. “He’s curious about you. You’re different. New. Shiny. Boys—even our kind—like shiny new toys.”
I took a long drink of the water. “Well, this is one toy he has no intention of playing with.” When he was awake that is. “And really, the Arum…”
“The Arum will end up killing him.” Her tone didn’t change one bit. It remained flat, emotionless. “Because of you, little human. He will get himself killed protecting you.”
Chapter 26
“Honey, are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Mom hovered over the couch, frowning. She’d been at it all day since I’d woken up. “Do you need anything? Some chicken soup. Hugs? Kisses?”
I laughed. “Mom, I’m fine.”
“You sure?” she asked, pulling the afghan over my shoulders. “Did something happen at the dance?”
“No. Nothing happened.” Nothing if I didn’t count the billion text messages Simon had sent me, apologizing for how he’d acted, and the attack of the killer aliens afterward. Nope. Nothing at all. “I’m okay.” I was tired after spending most of Saturday in a house full of arguing aliens. Two of them didn’t trust me. One of them thought I was going to be the death of Daemon. Adam didn’t seem to hate me, but he wasn’t overly friendly. I’d snuck out before the pizza they ordered arrived. Ash had been right. They were a family. All of them, and I didn’t fit.
When Mom left for work, I snuggled down and tried watching a movie on Syfy, but it turned out to be about an alien invasion. Their aliens weren’t beings of light, but giant insects that ate humans.
I turned the channel.
It was pouring outside—so hard I could barely hear anything over it. I knew Daemon would be nearby, especially until they figured out how to get me to exert enough energy to fade the trace. All of their suggestions involved the outdoors and extreme physical exertion, which wasn’t happening today.
The sound of rain was lulling. After awhile, my eyes were too heavy to keep open. As I was about to doze off, a knock on the door jarred me.
I threw the afghan off and padded over to the door. Doubting the Arum would knock, I opened the door. Daemon stood there, barely wet even though rain fell in sheets behind him. There were a few darker dots of gray across the shoulders of his long-sleeved shirt. I bet he used super-alien speed. Who needed an umbrella? And why in the hell was he in jogging pants?
“What’s up?”
“Are you going to invite me in?” he asked.
Pressing my lips together, I stepped aside and let him in. He moved past me, scanning the rooms. “What are you looking for?”
“Your mom’s not home, right?”
I shut the door. “Her car’s not outside.”
His eyes narrowed. “We need to work on fading your trace.”
“It’s pouring outside.” I moved past him, grabbing the remote to turn the TV off. Daemon beat me to it. The thing switched off before I pressed the button. “Show-off,” I muttered.