Dawson grinned slightly as he focused on his menu. “Watch. He’s going to leave our asses here.”
Shooting him a look, I texted back Really? Then I added of course, I alrdy knew that. Stepping outside, I called her before she could respond.
Kat answered on the first ring. “Hey.”
“I wish I were home,” I said as a car in the street honked. “I can be there in seconds.”
“No. You rarely get guy time,” she said. “Stay with them.”
I glanced back at the windowed front of the restaurant. “I don’t need guy time. I need Kitten time.”
There was a pause, and when she spoke again, I thought she sounded a little breathless. “Well, you can get Kitten time when you come home.”
Walking down the cracked pavement, I decided that I would have to wait. “Did you get a dress?”
“Yes.”
“Will I like it?” I asked, squinting up at the weakening sun.
“It’s red,” she said. “So I think so.”
My lips tipped up at the corners. “Hot damn.”
“Daemon,” Andrew yelled from the door. I turned, flipping him off. He returned the gesture. “If you don’t come back in, I’m going to order a salad for you.”
I sighed. “Okay. I’m going back in. Want me to pick you up anything? Andrew, Dawson, and I are at Smoke Hole.”
“Do they have chicken-fried steak?”
“Yes.”
“With homemade gravy?”
I laughed as I started back toward the door, where Andrew waited like he needed to escort me. “The best gravy around.”
“Perfect. I want that.”
“I’ll bring you more than you can eat.” When she laughed, my smile spread. “See you in the little bit.”
“Bye,” Kat said, hanging up.
Andrew smirked as I slid my phone back into my pocket. “If you need help finding your balls,” he said, reaching for the door, “I’m sure Katy knows where they are.”
Snickering, I stopped beside him. “She knows where they are, because that’s where they belong.” Flicking him in the cheek with my finger, I laughed when he jerked back, stumbling into the wall. I might’ve put a little bit of the Source behind that flick. “Whoops.”
Andrew placed his hand over his cheek. “Jesus, man. Asshole.”
Still chuckling, I made my way back to our booth and slid into the seat next to Dawson. He glanced at me. “I ordered you meat loaf.”
“Perfect.”
Matthew’s brows rose as Andrew sat down, and he eyed his red cheek. “What happened to your face?”
“My balls,” I replied, sitting back.
Dawson choked on his drink.
On the other side of the table, Matthew slowly looked over in my direction while Andrew raised his middle finger again. “You know,” Matthew said, “I don’t even want to know.”
I chuckled as I tossed my arm over the back of the booth. My gaze flickered over everyone at the table. It had been a long time since we’d done anything like this. It was so damn normal that I could almost forget about the fact that next Sunday, we’d be raiding a government facility again, you know, like ordinary teenagers would do.
“We heading to the lake when we’re done?” Dawson asked.
Aaand the sense of normalcy ended right there.
Matthew took a drink of his water as he eyed my brother with a level of patience I couldn’t even fathom. “I think we all can afford to take the rest of the day off.”
Beside me, Dawson stiffened. “I don’t think so. We need—”
“We can handle the onyx for about fifty seconds,” Andrew replied, voice low so we weren’t overheard.
“Another five seconds isn’t going to make a difference, bud. Either we can walk through those shields or we can’t.”
“He’s got a point, Dawson. Taking a day off isn’t going to change anything. We all need—” A sharp, startling pain in my chest cut my words off.
“You need—whoa, dude, what’s wrong?” Dawson twisted toward me.
“I…” The red-hot, oxygen-stealing pain shot across my chest once more. Jerking forward, I clutched my chest. Opening my mouth, I couldn’t get my tongue to form words for a moment.
Matthew’s face blurred. “Daemon, what’s going on?”
Blood drained from my face as the pain amped up in my chest, spreading throughout my arms and legs. I started to stand, but my legs gave out. I slid back into the booth. My name was called out again, but the voice sounded so very distant. Terror dug its way up my throat as my chest seized—my heart seized frantically, and I knew what was happening.
“Kat,” I gasped out. “It’s…Kat.”
Chapter 21
My legs weren’t working right. The muscles in them, usually so damn strong, had gone soft and useless. I couldn’t walk. Couldn’t even stand on my own. Eyes followed us as Andrew and Matthew all but carried me outside.
Dawson was on the phone with Dee, and the words he spoke sounded a million miles away. “I don’t know what’s happened. He can’t walk or stand—I don’t know. We’re bringing him—”