“Yes.” That earned me another epic eye roll.
“He isn’t a problem anymore,” I explained.
She turned her head more fully toward me. “You…you killed him?”
“Yeah, I kind of did.” I wasn’t trying to scare her, but she needed to know I would kill anyone who threatened my family…and now her.
“You kind of did? I didn’t know there was any ‘kind of’ in killing someone.”
“Okay, yes, I did kill him.” I heard the startled catch in her breath. “We’re enemies, Kitten. He would’ve killed me and my family after absorbing our abilities if I didn’t stop him. Not only that, he would’ve brought more here. Others like us would’ve been in danger. You would’ve been in danger.”
“What about the truck? I’m glowing brighter now,” she said. “Will there be another?”
When there was one Arum, there were usually three more. Maybe we’d get lucky this time. “Hopefully there are none nearby. If not, the traces on you should fade. You’ll be safe.”
“And if not?”
“Then I’ll kill them, too.” And that was the truth. “For a while, you’re going to need to stay around me, until the trace fades.”
“Dee said something like that.” She bit down on her lip. “So you don’t want me to stay away from you guys anymore?”
“It doesn’t matter what I want.” I glanced down at our hands. It struck me then that I’d been tracing the alphabet on her hand. I had no idea. “But if I had my way, you wouldn’t be anywhere near us.”
Kat yanked her hand free. “Gee, don’t be honest or anything.”
“You don’t understand,” I said. I was determined that she understand the danger not staying away from us originally had put us all in. I didn’t want to be cruel, but she had to know what was at stake. “Right now, you can lead an Arum right to my sister. And I have to protect her. She’s all I have left. And I have to protect the others here. I’m the strongest. That is what I do. And while you’re carrying the trace on you, I don’t want you going anywhere with Dee if I’m not with you.”
Sitting up, she turned toward the shore. “I think it’s time I head back.”
Aw hell, she really wasn’t getting it. When she started to stand, I caught her arm. Her skin immediately warmed under my palm. “Right now, you can’t be out there by yourself. I need to be with you until the trace fades.”
“I don’t need you to play babysitter.” Her jaw jutted out stubbornly. “I’ll stay away from Dee until it fades.”
“You’re still not getting it.” God, I wanted to shake her. “If an Arum gets a hold of you, they aren’t going to kill you. The one at the library—he was playing with you. He was going to get you to the point that you’d beg for your life and then force you to take him back to one of us.”
“Daemon—”
“You don’t have a choice. Right now, you’re a huge risk. You are a danger to my sister. I will not let anything happen to her.”
Anger flushed her face. “And then after the trace fades? Then what?”
“I prefer that you’d stay the hell away from all of us, but I doubt that’s going to happen. And my sister does care for you.” I let go of her elbow and leaned back, beyond frustrated. “As long as you don’t end up with another trace, then I don’t have a problem with you being friends with her.”
Her hands balled into fists. “I’m so grateful to have your approval.”
I forced a smile. How much more clearly did I need to put it out there for her? She was in danger and she was a risk. This…this wasn’t personal. “I’ve already lost one sibling because of how he felt for a human. I’m not going to lose another.”
“You’re talking about your brother and Bethany,” she stated.
“My brother fell in love with a human…and now they’re both dead.”
Chapter 16
Sometimes Kat was as open as a picture book. Everything she thought and felt plainly visible on her face. I watched as the irritation eased away, replaced by sympathy I wasn’t comfortable seeing.
“What happened?” she asked quietly.
Part of me wanted to ignore the question. To say something ignorant and distract her, but there was another half of me that wanted to…to talk about it, to really talk about it. That part won out. “Dawson met Bethany, and I swear to you, it was like love at first sight. Everything for him became about her. Matthew—Mr. Garrison—warned him. I warned him that it wasn’t going to work. There was no way we can have a relationship with a human.”
I stared over her shoulder, at the tree line. “You don’t know how hard it is, Kat. We have to hide what we are all the time, and even among our own kind, we have to be careful. There are many rules. The DOD and Luxen don’t like the idea of us messing with humans. It’s as if they think we’re animals, beneath them.”
“But you’re not animals,” she said, a bit fiercely. It was kind of cute watching her come to my defense for once, even though I probably didn’t deserve it.
“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.”