“Killed.” I stepped back from the spot, watching the wind toss the ashes into the blowing snow. “The DOD was watching us—still could be watching us, and now he’s killed one of them.”
“You’ve killed three of them,” Matthew pointed out.
“True.” And it sucked to have ended their lives. It still got to me, but if I had to do it all over again, I would. I looked over at Matthew. “There is no way they do not know that Dawson is free and with us. Even if they have no use of him anymore, how could they be okay with that? There is no way they don’t realize that we know they’ve been capturing Luxen who’ve mutated humans. Why are they not banging down our doors and coming for us? It doesn’t make sense.”
“It doesn’t.” He turned sideways, facing me. “We have to be careful from this point on. More than ever before.”
“They don’t have the upper hand anymore,” I said, squinting as the wind picked up again, pelting snow. “We know what they’re up to. We have that.”
“We do.”
We headed back to Kat’s house. Everyone was there—Dee along with Andrew and Ash. Their being inside her house had to be hard. When I walked in, both of them were staring at the spot where Adam had fallen.
Dawson was by the window, where the Christmas tree used to be, staring out of it. He shoved his hands into his pockets and pressed his forehead against the glass. Lost. He looked lost, and hell, it killed me that there was nothing I could do to change that. Dee was perched on the arm of the couch, her watchful gaze never leaving Dawson.
We took care of the broken window upstairs. Matthew had brought the necessary items with him—a tarp, a hammer, and nails. It wasn’t the best replacement, but it was the only option at the moment.
Back downstairs, I went to where Kat sat. She scooted closer to me, nestling into my side as I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. She shivered even though she hadn’t been out in the cold. Reaching over with my other hand, I tugged on the strings of her hoodie. “It’s been taken care of.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, resting her head against my shoulder.
My gaze slid to Dawson. “Did anyone find a vehicle?”
“There was an Expedition near the access road,” Andrew said. “I torched it.”
Matthew sat on the edge of the recliner, looking like he needed something hard to drink. “That’s good, but it’s not good.”
“No shit,” Ash snapped. I looked at her, really looked at her. Her hair was greasy and hung limp around her pale face. She was in sweats, and I had never seen Ash look anything short of perfect. Or in anything other than short skirts or skintight jeans. “That’s another dead DOD officer. How many does that make it? Two?”
Apparently she hadn’t heard about the other two.
Ash tucked her hair back behind her ear. “They’re going to wonder where they are, you know? People don’t disappear.”
“People disappear all the time,” Dawson said quietly, without turning around, his words sucking the oxygen from the air, because he was right.
Ash’s bright sapphire eyes slid to him. Her mouth opened, but she clamped her lips shut and then shook her head slowly.
“What about the camera?” Matthew asked.
Kat leaned forward, picking up the melted camera. “If there were pictures, they’re gone now.”
Dawson turned around. “He was watching this house.”
“We know,” I said, shifting forward so I was in line with Kat.
He tilted his head to the side. “Does it matter what was on the camera? They were watching you—her. All of us.”
Kat shuddered.
“But next time, we need to kind of…oh, I don’t know, talk first and then throw people through windows later.” I crossed my arms. “Can we try that?”
“And we can just let killers go?” Dee said, voice shaking as her eyes flashed with fury. “Because that’s apparently what should happen. I mean, that officer could’ve killed one of us, and you would have just let him go.”
“Dee,” I said, standing and stepping toward her. “I know—”
“Don’t ‘I know, Dee’ me.” Her lower lip trembled. “You let Blake go.” Her gaze shot to Kat. “Both of you let Blake go.”
I shook my head as I unfolded my arms. “Dee, there was enough killing that night. Enough death.”
Dee flinched. Without speaking, she wrapped her arms around her waist. It was Ash who spoke, and what she said surprised the hell out of me. “Adam wouldn’t have wanted that. More deaths. He was such a pacifist.”
“Too bad we can’t ask him how he really feels about it, isn’t it?” Dee’s spine stiffened. “He’s dead.”
“Not only did you guys let Blake go, you lied to us. From her?” Andrew gestured at Kat. “I don’t expect loyalty. But you? Daemon, you kept everything from us, and Adam died.”
Kat stood. “Adam’s death isn’t Daemon’s fault. Don’t put that on him.”
I stilled. “Kat—”
“Then whose is it?” Dee demanded. “Yours?”
She sucked in a sharp breath, but met my sister’s gaze. “Yeah, it is.”
Shit.