Exhausted and raw, I returned to the house. Ash was sitting on the couch with Dee’s head in her lap. I went straight to my sister, picked her up, and held her in my lap. Her sobs had quieted, but every so often, she trembled.
“I’m going to go next door,” Matthew announced. He’d been standing near the window. “She’s going to need help.”
I closed my eyes against the fresh wave of anger and damn near crushing disappointment. Ash didn’t say anything. None of us did. All I could think about as the three of us sat there was how lucky I was right then. Because no matter how pissed off I was at Kat, she was alive, and it had nothing to do with the life-and-death connection between us.
I had no idea how much time passed before Matthew returned. Then it was the four of us. At some point, I passed out while holding my sister, and I knew Ash slept, but I didn’t think Matthew did. In the morning, Andrew returned. When Dee woke, she didn’t want to stay here, and I didn’t really want to let her go with Ash and Andrew, but she wanted to be with them. I couldn’t refuse her. I watched the three of them leave and then turned to where Matthew sat on the arm of the couch.
He rested his hands on his knees. “I helped Katy clean up.”
Feeling as if I were a hundred years old, I sat in the recliner. I opened my mouth, but I couldn’t find anything to say.
“She thinks all of this is her fault,” he continued when I said nothing. “I…I don’t know all the details, Daemon, but I think…I think she was trying to prevent this.”
I scrubbed my hand over my face. “I know. I know that, Matthew.”
He drew in a stuttered breath. “She’s hurting.”
Closing my eyes, my hand formed a fist against my forehead. Everybody was hurting. All of us. But I knew Kat’s was a different kind of pain.
“She told me that you two let Blake go,” Matthew said. “And she told me that he claimed the DOD was forcing him to work for them. That they had one of ours, the one who…who changed him, in their custody.”
“That’s what he claims,” I said tiredly, lifting my head. “I don’t know if any of it is true, but a Luxen had to have…changed him. Killing him would’ve…”
“Killed the Luxen.”
I nodded. “That wasn’t the only reason, Matthew. I was just…I was done. Killing a human, even him…I was just done.”
A few moments passed while Matthew stared at the blank TV screen. “He won’t get far if what he claims is true. The DOD will be after him.”
“They’ll be after all of us.”
Matthew shook his head. “It sounded like Vaughn went rogue. From what I gathered from Katy, he was taking her somewhere, and it had nothing to do with the DOD. Blake might’ve been sent here by Husher or other DOD members, but with him on the run, maybe they don’t know about Katy. From what he told her, Vaughn wasn’t telling Husher anything Blake was reporting back to him. Something else was or is going on.”
“I guess we’ll find out.” I sighed. “Is it messed up that I’m not even worried about that right now?” I laughed, because that sounded crazy. It was crazy. “It feels like no matter what we do, everything is already set in motion. Nothing…nothing will change it.”
“Do you really believe that?”
I shrugged. I wasn’t sure what I believed anymore.
Matthew was quiet for several moments. “You…changed Katy, didn’t you? That was why you were asking all those questions?”
Nodding, I didn’t see any point at the moment to mention Dawson or Bethany, which was a huge freaking wake-up call, because Kat hadn’t been the only one lying.
So had I.
“How did it happen?” he asked.
Leaning back against the cushion, I eyed Matthew. “Halloween night. She was hurt, and so was Dee. I’d been knocked down and I…I tried to heal her so she could get away from Baruck, but something happened. She pulled the Source from both Dee and me, and she killed Baruck.”
His eyes widened slightly. “That wasn’t the first time you healed her.”
I shook my head. “After the attack at the library, I did and…and once more, a minor injury. I wasn’t thinking when I did it. But after she killed Baruck, she was hurt. She was…” My voice trailed off, and I cleared my throat. “She was dying, Matt. I couldn’t let that happen.”
He stared at me. “You love her.”
My mouth opened, and for a moment I couldn’t speak. Then I did in a voice I barely recognized. “I do. I love her.”
“Of course.” His smile was sort of sad. “You wouldn’t have been able to change her if you didn’t.”