Her delicately arched brows lowered and her perky little nose wrinkled. “Katy…?”
“Sorry.” I shrugged. “I was snowed in. And I got hungry. A lot.”
“I can tell.” She closed the door. “It’s okay. I’ll run to the store later. The roads aren’t bad now.” She paused, rubbing her brow. “Well, some look like you’d need a snowmobile to get down, but I can make it into town.”
Which meant there’d be school on Monday. Boo. “I can go with.”
“That would be nice, honey. As long as you plan not to put stuff in the cart and then throw a fit when I take it out.”
I gave her a bland look. “I’m not two.”
Her saucy smile was cut off by her yawn. “I’ve barely had any down time. Most of the nurses couldn’t make it in. I covered the ER, prenatal ward, and my favorite,” she said, grabbing a bottle of water, “the detox floor.”
“That blows.” I trailed behind her again, feeling incredibly Mommy needy.
“You have no idea.” She took a sip, stopping at the base of the stairs. “I’ve been bled on, peed on, and thrown up on. In that order and sometimes not.”
“Ew,” I said. Mental note: nursing was now placed with school administration in the Not Going To Happen Possible Job list.
“Oh!” She started up the stairs, twisting halfway around and teetering on the edge of the step. Oh, dear. “Before I forget, I’m changing shifts next week. Instead of working at Grant on the weekends, it will be Winchester. Busier in the city and more action on the weekends than doing the shift around here, and Will works weekends anyway, so it works out better.”
Which also meant more time away— What? My heart stuttered and there was this falling, spinning-down feeling. “What did you say?”
Mom frowned. “Honey, your voice… I really want to look at your throat. Okay? Or we can get Will to take a look. I’m sure he won’t mind.”
I was frozen. “Have…have you heard from Will?”
“Yes, we’ve talked while he’s been out west attending an Internal Med conference.” She smiled slowly. “Are you okay?”
No. I was not okay.
“Here,” she said. “Come upstairs, and I’ll take a look at your throat with the scope—”
“When…when did you talk to Will?”
Confusion flickered across my mom’s pretty face. “A couple of days ago. Honey, your voice—”
“Nothing’s wrong with my voice!” It cracked halfway through, of course, and Mom stared at me like I was telling her I was considering making her a grandma. This was my chance to tell her the truth.
I went up a step and stopped. All the words—the truth—got tangled up somewhere between my vocal chords and my lips. I hadn’t cleared telling my mom the truth with anyone—or at least given any of them a heads-up. And would she believe me? Worst yet, Mom… She loved Will. I knew she did.
Stomach twisting into raw knots, I forced the panic out of my voice. “When is Will coming home?”
She watched me closely, her lips pressing into a pinched line. “Not for another week, but Katy… Are you sure that’s what you wanted to say?”
Was he really coming back? And if he was talking to Mom, did that mean he’d gone through the mutation successfully and Daemon and I were now linked to him? Or had it faded?
I needed to talk to Daemon. Now.
My mouth was so dry I couldn’t swallow. “Yes. Sorry. I have to go…”
“Go where?” she asked.
“See Daemon.” I backpedaled, heading for my boots.
“Katy.” She waited until I stopped. “Will told me.”
Ice drenched my veins as I turned around slowly. “Told you what?”
“He told me about you and Daemon—that you two had decided to start seeing each other.” She paused and got that Mom look. The one that said, I’m so disappointed in you. “He said you mentioned it and honey, I just wish you would’ve told me instead. Finding out through someone else about my daughter’s boyfriend isn’t how I wanted to learn.”
My jaw hit the floor.
She said something else, and I think I nodded. Honestly, she could’ve been telling me that Thor and Loki had a battle royale down the street. I wasn’t hearing her anymore. What was Will up to?
When Mom finally gave up on trying to hold a conversation with me, I hurried to my boots and hauled butt to Daemon’s house. When the door swung open, I already knew it wasn’t Daemon answering. I hadn’t experienced the freaky alien connection thing, the warmth on the back of my neck whenever he was near.
But Andrew’s blazing ocean-colored eyes weren’t what I was expecting.
“You,” he said, contempt lacing his tone.
I blinked. “Me?”
He folded his arms. “Yeah, you—as in Katy, the little human-alien-hybrid baby.”
“Um, okay. I need to see Daemon.” I started to step in, but he moved quickly, blocking me. “Andrew.”
“Daemon’s not here.” He smiled, and there wasn’t an ounce of warmth in it.
Folding my arms, I refused to back down. Andrew never liked me. I don’t even think he liked people in general. Or puppies. Or bacon. “And where is he?”
Andrew stepped out, shutting the door behind him. He was so close that the toes of his boots touched mine. “Daemon took off this morning. I assume he’s following Rain Man.”
Fury flashed through me. “There’s nothing wrong with Dawson.”