I stared at her and then laughed. “Nice logic you have going there.”
“You can laugh all you want, but it’s messed up—and no, I’m not talking about the fact that you just passed this up.” She crossed her legs and sighed. “What’s going on with her is what’s messed up.”
I sighed. “Ash—”
“She’s human, Daemon. You get that, right? And yeah, she knows what we are and she’s cool about it. She saved your life and let’s give her a damn gold medal, but that doesn’t change that she’s human,” she went on, meeting my stare. “Do you think you have a future with her? That the Elders are going to just leave you alone? That the DOD is going to be okay with you making a future with a human? Do you think Kat’s going to be happy living a lie her whole entire life, because that’s what it’s going to take to make this relationship work. That is, if both of you don’t end up dead because of it.”
To be honest, I hadn’t gotten that far, to think about a future.
“Do you know what else that it doesn’t change? She’s downstairs right now with a human boy.”
My gaze sharpened as I exhaled slowly. I didn’t say anything, because all it would involve was an atrocity of curse words. Slipping my feet into a pair of old leather flip-flops, I started for the door.
“I’m not going to help you do this,” she warned.
I opened the door, and the laughter from downstairs grew louder. “I don’t need your help.”
“Daemon—”
Looking over my shoulder at her, I smiled slightly. “But I appreciate that you care enough to offer, and I mean that.” I held her gaze, hoping she got it. “I really do.”
Ash rolled her eyes again.
Stepping out of my bedroom, I headed down the hall. Music and voices drifted up. At the top of the stairway, I felt the warm tingle across the back of my neck. Kat was here, and everything Ash had said about us, about a future between us, was totally true.
But it didn’t change what I wanted.
It didn’t change anything, even though it should.
I was as dumb as Dawson.
Taking the steps two at a time, I spotted Kat the moment the foyer came into view. She was at the door with the bronze-haired dork. He was smiling at her as he looked up. Our gazes locked. I smirked, and the smile slowly inched off his face.
Kat turned, and her gaze immediately found mine, and I immediately lost the ability to remember how to get my lungs to work. Holy shit, what was she wearing?
It was a black dress tight around the bust and then loose all the way down to her knees. She was wearing some kind of red sweater over the dress, buttoned up, but it did nothing to distract from the soft swells drawing my attention.
Holy shit, that dress…
I wanted to take it off with my teeth.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone approaching me, but they stopped for whatever reason. Maybe they sensed they shouldn’t get between me and what I had my sights on. I brushed a strand of hair out of my eyes, and my lips formed a wolfish grin when someone mentioned exactly what I thought. That I looked like I was on the warpath.
I sort of was.
Skirting clusters of people I only vaguely recognized, I saw that the douche bag’s hand was somewhere behind Kat. I stopped in front of them, telling myself not to break his arm. Kat wouldn’t be happy about that. “Hey there…”
“I don’t think we got the chance to introduce ourselves the other night at the diner. My name is Blake Saunders.” He offered his free hand.
I glanced at Blake’s hand and then turned my attention to Kat. “I know who you are.”
She was all gray eyes. “This is Daemon Black.”
Douche bag’s smile faltered. “Yeah, I know who he is, too.”
Laughing under my breath, I straightened to my full height, putting me a good head taller than the guy. “It’s always nice to meet another fan.”
He shook his head slightly and then turned to Kat. “Well, I need to get going.”
She smiled tentatively. “All right. Thanks for…everything.”
Everything? What the hell did that mean? Better yet, was he seriously leaning into her while I was standing here? Yep. He was. Boy had a death wish. I folded my arms across my chest as I watched him hug her stiffly.
Then Kat kissed his cheek.
I cleared my throat.
Douche bag pulled back, laughing softly. “I’ll call you. Behave.”
“Always,” she said, letting go.
He grinned at me and then walked out the door, obviously not at all intimidated.
Fiddling with the necklace, Kat faced me with a scowl. “You know, you couldn’t have been much more of a jerk if you tried.”
I arched a brow. “Thought I told you not to hang out with him.”
“Thought I explained that just because you say I can’t doesn’t mean I won’t.”
“You did?” My gaze followed the obsidian, right where it nestled in a very happy place. I lowered my head to hers. “You look really nice tonight, Kitten.”