Every muscle had locked up in my body. “It’s Dawson. He made a run for it.” Dammit. “I’m sorry.”
“No. I completely understand.” She brushed the flakes of snow out of her hair. “What can I do?”
“I need to go.” I grabbed the keys out of my pocket and placed them in her palm. I then handed over my cell. “And I mean I need to go really fast. Go home and stay there. Keep that in the car. I’ll be back as soon as possible.”
“Daemon, I can help you. I can go—”
“Please.” I grasped her face once more and kissed her hard. “Go home.”
Trusting that she’d listen to me, I let go and then I moved faster than anyone could track. I had a feeling I knew where Dawson was heading. Dammit. He waited until I was out with Kat to make a run for the office building where he’d last been kept.
I darted across the highway, narrowly missing getting taken out by a truck. I hit the heavily wooded area and slipped into my true form so I could move even faster.
We had maybe two hours together, Kat and I, before the real world intruded and I had to chase down my brother. Fury was like red-hot lava pumping through my veins. It wasn’t so much that the date had been ruined that infuriated me. It was the fact that I had to leave Kat in a parking lot alone. It was because I had to chase down my brother and stop him from ending up in the DOD’s clutches once more. It was because I knew this wasn’t going to be the last time.
Several miles out from the office building, I caught sight of Dawson. He was in his human form when he skidded to a stop, facing me. “What are you doing here?” he demanded. “You’re supposed to be with Katy.”
Half tempted to pick him up and throw him through a tree, I struggled to keep a tight leash on my fury as I shifted back. “Yeah. I was with Kat, up until the moment Dee called me and told me you made a run for it.” Dawson’s hands curled into fists. “You didn’t need to leave her. You shouldn’t have left her. Not with—”
“Don’t,” I warned, lifting my hand. “Don’t you dare think I don’t know how dangerous it is for her to be out there when I’m chasing your ass around.”
“Then why are you here?” he fired back, his eyes turning luminous. Off in the distance, thunder cracked in response to the violent energy he was throwing off.
I stepped toward him. “You really going to ask that question? Seriously? Did they knock a few brain cells out when the DOD had you?”
“I’m going to knock a few out of your head.”
Fighting my brother was the last thing I wanted. No. It was actually the first thing I wanted right now. I lifted my arms. “Try it.”
Dawson didn’t need any further coaxing. Shifting into his Luxen form, his light tinged in blue, he lunged at me. I changed as I caught him. He was out of practice, because he wasn’t able to break my hold as I lifted him up and threw him back several feet. He landed in a nimble crouch and slammed his hand down in the snow.
A wall of snow flew into the air, coming at me with speed of a racing train. I spun out to the side, but wasn’t fast enough. The heavy snow came down on me, burying me several feet.
Son of a bitch.
A burst of energy left me, throwing snow up in the air in a shower of light. I sprang out, furious as icicles fell from the elm trees. Jesus, those things could’ve impaled someone. Dawson was on the run again, racing over the fallen trees and mounds of snow.
I took off after him, easily catching up to him. He tried to turn to the left, but I caught him around the shoulders, taking him to the ground. Dawson bucked, nearly tossing me over his shoulders, but I wasn’t letting go.
Just stop, I told him. Just freaking stop.
A shout of rage bounced around my skull. He rolled, and I almost lost my hold. I dug in, kicking up snow as I wrapped my arms around his neck. Standing, I forced him onto his feet. Don’t do this, I told him. Don’t put us through losing you all over again.
You need to let me go. He gripped my arms as I felt a warm tingle along the base of my neck, but before I could investigate that, he broke my hold, managing to shove me back a foot.
Oh, I was so done with this.
I shot forward, wrapping my arms around his waist, and then I launched both of us into the air. I brought him back down into the snow, slamming him through the layers. Icicles and clumps of snow rained down all around us. Whitish-blue light pulsed out from Dawson, slamming into the trees around us.
Jesus, Dawson grunted. That wasn’t necessary.
I held him down, hands on his shoulders. It was necessary.
Dawson tried to roll me, but we both froze as a voice spoke loud and clear. “You have got to be kidding me.”
Kat.
Well, that explained the warm and fuzzy feeling along the back of my neck.
We both shifted into our human forms as we looked over to where Kat stood.
“I thought I told you to go home and stay there,” I said, voice thin with warning.