“Good Lord, aliens can eat.”
I glanced over my shoulder, finding that she still hadn’t moved. “I have this strong inclination that I need to keep an eye on you. Where I go, you go.” I waited for her to move and when she didn’t, I winked at her. “Or I can forcibly move you.”
“All right,” she huffed and then stomped past me, plopping down at the kitchen table.
I grabbed a plate of leftover chicken from the fridge. “Want some?”
Kat shook her head and then rested her cheek on her hand as she watched me move around the kitchen. Whenever I glanced over at her, she had a thoughtful look on her face.
I brought my plate to the table and sat across from her. Yesterday, during the little impromptu cookout, we really hadn’t talked. Strangely, it hadn’t been an awkward silence between us. It had been…nice. “So how are you holding up?”
She dropped her gaze. “I’m doing okay.”
“You are.” I took a bite of the cold chicken. “You’ve accepted all of this. I’m surprised.”
“What did you think I’d do?”
I shrugged. “With humans, the possibilities are endless.”
She chewed on her lower lip. “Do you think that we are somehow weaker than you because we’re human?”
“It’s not that I think you’re weaker, I know you are.” I eyed her over my glass of milk. “I’m not trying to be obnoxious by saying that. You are weaker than us.”
“Maybe physically but not mentally or…morally,” she argued.
“Morally?”
“Yeah, like, I’m not going to tell the world about you guys to get money. And if I was captured by an Arum, I wouldn’t bring them back to you all.”
“Wouldn’t you?”
An emotion I couldn’t read flashed across her face as she leaned back in the chair. “No. I wouldn’t.”
“Even if your life was threatened?” Disbelief colored my tone.
Kat shook her head as she laughed. “Just because I’m human doesn’t mean I’m a coward or unethical. I’d never do anything that would put Dee in danger. Why would my life be more valuable than hers? Now yours…debatable. But not Dee.”
I didn’t want to believe her, but I realized I did as I went back to eating.
“So how long will it take for this trace to fade?”
Looking up, our eyes met. I picked up my glass of milk and took a long drink. The hollows of her cheeks flushed. “Probably a week or two, maybe less.” I squinted, checking out the glow. “It’s already starting to fade.”
“What do I look like? A giant lightbulb or something?”
I laughed, because she kind of did. “It’s a soft white glow that’s around your body, kind of like a halo.”
“Oh, well that’s not too bad. Are you done?” When I nodded, she grabbed my plate and stood, surprising me. She walked over to the sink, placing the plate there. “At least I don’t look like a Christmas tree.”
I followed her, bending my head down next to hers when I spoke. “You look like the star atop the tree.”
Kat gasped and spun around, her eyes wide. Of course, she hadn’t heard me move. She leaned back, gripping the edge of the counter behind her. “I hate it when you do that alien superspeed thing.”
As I stared down at her, I smiled. Her cheeks were flushed prettily again. Didn’t take a genius to know our proximity affected her, and not in a bad way. “Kitten, what are we going to get into?”
Her eyes darted over my face and then she blurted out, “Why not hand me over to the DOD?”
Caught off guard, I took a step back. “What?”
“Wouldn’t everything have been easier for you if you handed me over to the DOD? Then you wouldn’t have to worry about Dee or anything.”
Damn, that was a good question. One I had asked myself over and over again. A question I knew everyone would ask if they ever found out that Kat knew about us. “I don’t know, Kitten.”
“You don’t know?” she asked. “You risk everything and you don’t know why?”
Irritation pricked at my skin. “That’s what I said.”
The widening of her eyes clearly spelled out the disbelief she was feeling. I didn’t have a good enough reason for not turning over her. The DOD would love all over me if I had, and as much as I hated them, it worked to all of our benefits to keep them happy. There had to be a reason and I— I cut off that thought. This conversation was leading to something far too serious. I didn’t have time for that.
Leaning in, I dropped my hands on either side of her hips and lowered my chin. “Okay. I do know why.”
Her breath caught. “You do?”
I nodded. “You wouldn’t survive a day without us.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Oh, I know.” I tilted my head to the side, and while I was teasing her, I was also telling her the truth about what would happen if she ended up with the DOD. “Do you know how many Arum I have faced? Hundreds. And there have been times I barely escaped. A human doesn’t stand a chance against them or the DOD.”
“Fine. Whatever. Can you move?”