Leaving really wasn’t an option, at least not right now, and the likelihood of the DOD approving something like that was slim to none. So I needed to take care of this. I couldn’t allow myself to think of anything else.
Dee was with Adam, and I figured now was no better time to start getting that trace off Kat. After all, she didn’t want to be at risk or a danger to anyone else. Before I left, I grabbed the piece of obsidian from my bedroom. Rain poured down as I darted across the lawn, moving fast enough that the sheets of chilly rain barely hit me. Her mom’s car was gone, as usual. I knocked on the door.
A few seconds passed before the door inched open, revealing a very…sleepy-looking Kat. She squinted up at me, brows knitted together. Her hair was a mess of waves, falling haphazardly over her shoulders. She was in pajamas and I was pretty sure she wasn’t wearing a—
“What’s up?” She broke the silence.
“Are you going to invite me in?”
Her lips formed a thin line as she stepped aside. I walked in, scanning the rooms. “What are you looking for?” she asked.
“Your mom’s not home, right?” Figured I’d better double check before we started getting down to business.
Kat shut the door. “Her car’s not outside.”
The claws were out today. “We need to work on fading your trace.”
“It’s pouring outside.” She stalked past me, grabbing the remote to turn off the TV. I beat her to it, flipping it off before she could hit the button. “Show-off,” she muttered.
“Been called worse.” I frowned as I faced her, finally getting a good look at what she was wearing. I laughed. “What are you wearing?”
Her cheeks burned bright. “Shut up.”
I laughed again. “What are they? Keebler elves?”
“No! They’re Santa’s elves. I love these pajama bottoms. My dad got them for me.”
My laugh faded off. “You wear them because they remind you of him?”
Kat nodded.
The green and pink bottoms were ridiculous looking, but I understood why she wore them. It made me think of something I remembered hearing the Elders say. “My people believe that when we pass on, our essence is what lights the stars in the universe. Seems stupid to believe in something like that, but when I look at the sky at night, I like to think that at least two of the stars out there are my parents. And one is Dawson.”
“That’s not stupid at all.” She paused as the hostility faded from her expression. “Maybe one of them is my dad.”
I looked at her and quickly looked away. “Well, anyway, the elves are sexy.”
She snorted. “Did you guys come up with another way to fade the trace?”
“Not really.”
“You’re planning on making me work out, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, that’s one of the ways of doing it.”
She plopped down on the couch. “Well, there isn’t much we can do today.”
I arched a brow. “You have a problem going out in the rain?”
“When it’s almost the end of October and cold, yes, I do.” She picked up a checkered afghan and placed it in her lap. “I’m not going out there and running today.”
I sighed. “We can’t wait around, Kat. Baruck is still out there, and the longer we wait, the more dangerous it is.”
“What about Simon? Did you ever tell the others about him?”
I’d actually forgotten about him until Saturday evening. “Andrew is keeping an eye on him. Since he had a game yesterday, it faded most of his trace. It’s very faint now. Which proves that this idea is going to work.”
She fiddled with a ragged edge on the quilt, peeking up at me. Reaching into the pocket, I pulled out the obsidian blade. “This is another reason why I stopped over.” I placed it on the coffee table. “I want you to keep this with you, just in case. Put it in your backpack, purse, or whatever you carry.”
Kat stared at it a moment and then lifted her gaze. “Seriously?”
I focused on the blade. Matthew would flip his shit if he knew I was giving it to her. “Yeah, even if we manage to get the trace to fade, keep this on you until we finish off Baruck.”
“But don’t you need it more than I do? Dee?”
“Don’t worry about us.”
A moment passed. “Do you think Baruck is still here?”
“He’s still around, yes.” No point in lying to her. “The beta quartz throws off our presence, but he knows we’re here. He knows I’m here.”
“Do you think he’s going to come after you?”
Her question caught me off guard. “I killed two of his brothers and gave you the means of killing the third. Arum are vengeful creatures, Kitten. He won’t stop until he has me. And he will use you to find me, especially since you came back. They’ve been on Earth long enough to recognize what that can mean. That you would be a weakness to me.”
Her nose did that cute wrinkling thing whenever she was perturbed. “I’m not a weakness. I can handle myself.”
Damn straight she could.