He raised a shoulder. “I just think ‘keeping an eye on her’ is code for something else.”
“Keeping an eye on her means exactly what it is,” Matthew explained, sending Andrew a look of warning. “The fact that the DOD allowed humans to move next door is suspicious. Daemon is smart by trying to gauge if she or her mother is a risk.”
Dee frowned. “Are you trying to say that she could somehow be planted there by the DOD?”
“We don’t know,” Matthew simply said, and while he had a good point, I didn’t think that was the case. More like his general paranoia talking. “Anything is possible, is all I am saying.”
My sister’s frustration was evident in the stubborn line of her jaw. “Katy is not some kind of government spy.”
“Well, if she was, we’d be screwed, since I traced her last week.” I dropped that bomb, and everyone but Dee reacted as expected. There were curses. Matthew nearly had the Luxen version of a stroke. Ash looked downright murderous.
Adam sat down on the arm of Dee’s chair. “How did that happen?”
“There was a bear. It was charging her.” I left out the fact we’d gone on a walk, since no one really needed to know that. “I used the Source to scare the animal off. Kat didn’t see me do it. She thought it was lightning.” I paused. “I didn’t have any other option.”
“Yeah, you did.” Andrew frowned as he placed his cell on the coffee table. “You could’ve just let the bear eat her ass. Problem solved.”
Ash nodded her agreement.
I didn’t even bother responding to that. “The point is, she was traced, and the DOD isn’t banging down our doors and locking us in cages. Vaughn and Lane acted yesterday like nothing had changed, but I thought you all should know what happened.”
“We should have known about this girl when she first moved in,” Ash said, voice thinned with anger.
Dee rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t your business.”
“It’s all of our business,” Andrew corrected. “The Elders aren’t cool with us living outside the colony as it is. After what happened with Dawson, we have to be careful. In other words, don’t run around tracing humans, dickhead.”
I slowly lifted my hand and flipped him off.
Andrew smirked as he leaned back against the couch, shaking his head. “This is just unbelievable. First it’s Dawson and—”
“Don’t finish that sentence, Andrew. For real,” I warned, my chin dipping down. “I’m not Dawson. This isn’t the same thing.”
When Andrew opened his mouth, his brother wisely stepped in. “Shut it, Andrew. I really don’t want to end the night picking you off the floor.”
It was my turn to smirk.
Matthew eyed me closely. “Is that all?”
I shook my head as I kept an eye on Andrew. “No. Kat was attacked by an Arum Tuesday night.”
“Damn,” Matthew muttered, running a hand through his cropped brown hair. “I… Is she okay?”
Surprise flicked through me. I hadn’t expected Matthew to care. “Yes. She’s okay.” The memory of her struggling to get air into her bruised throat surfaced. “She’s going to be okay. I killed the Arum, and she doesn’t know what it was. She thinks it was a mugger.”
Ash stood fluidly and moved to the window overlooking the porch. She didn’t say anything, but she was antsy and that was never a good thing.
“The trace is still on her. It should fade in a couple of days, but we need to be on the lookout for the other Arum.”
The conversation steered toward patrolling and how Matthew was going to notify the Elders that we had confirmation of Arum in the vicinity. We needed to train some new recruits to help with the doubled patrols, which was my, Adam, and Andrew’s job. Yay us. It wasn’t long before everything cycled back to Kat and what we were going to do about it.
“I’m handling it with her,” I said, pretty much over this conversation.
Andrew looked like he wanted to say something smart, but one look from his brother shut him up. It was Dee who ended up bringing our little meet-and-greet to a screeching halt. “Why don’t we just tell her the truth?” she asked.
I stared at her, unsure I had heard correctly.
Matthew stood, turning to Dee. “You cannot be serious.”
“Why not?” Dee raised her hands, her expression earnest. “She’s a good person, and she’s logical. She’s not going to freak out or call the media. Frankly, who would believe her? She’ll understand. Trust me.”
“Dee,” Adam said quietly, kneeling beside her. “You can’t tell her what we are.”
Anger flashed across her face, deepening the hue of her eyes. “I’m telling you, Adam, she can be—”
“Okay, Dee. Let’s say she can be trusted and that she doesn’t tell anyone,” I said, meeting my sister’s gaze. “She takes this shit to her grave, but that’s not the only problem. You might trust her. That doesn’t mean everyone in this room does.”