Jennifer Armentrout: Opal

I’d never been able to hide anything from him, but I really wasn’t ready to go there with him yet. “What’s going on with Dawson? Has he run off yet?”

Daemon looked like he was going to push the subject for a moment but then just nodded. “Not yet, because I followed him around today like a babysitter. I’m thinking about putting a bell on him.”

I laughed softly. “I doubt he’ll appreciate that.”

“I don’t care.” A little bit of anger flashed in his voice. “Running off after Beth isn’t going to end well. We all know that.”

No doubt. “Daemon, do you…”

“What?”

It was hard to put into words what I thought, because once I said them, they became real. “Why haven’t they come after Dawson? They have to know he’s here. It would be the first place he’d come back to if he had escaped. And they’ve obviously been watching.” I gestured back at my house. “Why haven’t they come for him? For us?”

Daemon glanced at the snowman, silent for several heartbeats. “I don’t know. Well, I have my suspicions.”

I swallowed past the lump of fear growing in my throat. “What are they?”

“You really want to hear them?” When I nodded, he went back to staring at the snowman. “I think the DOD was aware of Will’s plans, knew he was going to arrange for Dawson to be released. And they let it happen.”

I drew in a shallow breath as I picked up a handful of snow. “That’s what I think.”

He glanced at me, eyes hidden behind his lashes. “But the big question is why.”

“It can’t be good.” I let most of the snow slip through my gloved fingers. “It’s a trap. Has to be.”

“We’ll be ready,” he said after a few seconds. “Don’t worry, Kat.”

“I’m not worried.” Such a lie, but it seemed like the right thing to say. “We need to stay ahead of them somehow.”

“True.” Daemon stretched out his long legs. The underside of his jeans was a darker blue now. “You know how we stay under the humans’ radar?”

“By pissing them off and alienating yourselves?” I gave him a cheeky grin.

“Ha. Ha. No. We pretend. We constantly pretend like we’re not different, that nothing’s happening.”

“I’m not following.”

He flopped onto his back, his dark hair splashing against the white. “If we pretend like we’ve gotten away with Dawson being released, that we don’t think anything’s suspicious or that we know they’re aware of our abilities, then it may buy us time to figure out what they’re doing.”

I watched him throw his arms out to his sides. “You think they’ll slip up then?”

“Don’t know. I wouldn’t put money on it, but it kind of gives us the edge. It’s the best we have right now.”

The best we had kind of sucked.

Grinning as if he didn’t have a care in the world, he started sliding his arms through the snow, along with his legs, moving them like windshield wipers. Really nice-looking windshield wipers.

I started to laugh, but it got stuck in my throat as my heart swelled. Never in my life did I think Daemon would be into the snow-angel-making business. And for some reason, that made me all warm and fuzzy.

“You should try it,” he coaxed, eyes closed. “It gives you perspective.”

I doubted it could give me perspective on anything, but I lay down beside him and followed suit. “So I Googled Daedalus.”

“Yeah? What did you find out?”

I told him about the myth and my suspicions, which Daemon smirked at. “It wouldn’t surprise me—the ego behind that.”

“You’d know,” I said.

“Hardy har-har.”

I grinned. “How is this giving me perspective, by the way?”

He chuckled. “Wait for a couple more seconds.”

I did and when he stopped and sat, he reached over, grasping my hand, and pulled me up with him. We brushed the snow off of each other—Daemon taking a little longer than necessary on certain areas. Finished, we turned to our snow angels.

Mine was much smaller and less even than his, like I was top heavy. His was perfect—show-off. I folded my arms around me. “Waiting for the epiphany to happen.”

“There isn’t one.” He dropped a heavy arm over my shoulder, leaned in, and pressed a kiss against my cheek. His lips were so, so warm. “But it was fun, wasn’t it? Now…” He steered me back to the snowman. “Let’s finish with your snowman. It can’t be incomplete. Not with me here.”

My heart tripped up. There were so many times I wondered if Daemon could read minds. He could be amazingly spot-on when he wanted. I tilted my head back against his shoulder, wondering how he’d gone from douchebag extraordinaire to this…this guy who still infuriated me but also constantly surprised and amazed me.

To this guy I’d fallen madly in love with.

When the plows came out, clearing a path through town and down the back roads, Matthew got a glass repair company here in the nick of time. They’d left minutes before Mom arrived home on Friday, looking like she’d ate, slept, and saved lives in her polka-dot scrubs.

She threw her arms around me, nearly taking me to the floor. “Baby, I’ve missed you!”

I hugged her back just as tightly. “Same here. I…” I let go, blinking back tears. Looking away, I cleared my throat. “Have you actually showered in the last week?”

“No.” She tried to hug me again, but I jumped back. She laughed but I caught a flash of sadness in her eyes just before she turned toward the kitchen. “Just kidding.. There’re showers at the hospital, honey. I’m clean. I swear!”

I followed behind her, wincing as she went straight to the raided fridge. Mom threw open the door and then stepped back, looking over her shoulder. Wisps of blond hair sneaked out of her bun.

Her delicately arched brows lowered and her perky little nose wrinkled. “Katy…?”

“Sorry.” I shrugged. “I was snowed in. And I got hungry. A lot.”

“I can tell.” She closed the door. “It’s okay. I’ll run to the store later. The roads aren’t bad now.” She paused, rubbing her brow. “Well, some look like you’d need a snowmobile to get down, but I can make it into town.”

Which meant there’d be school on Monday. Boo. “I can go with.”

“That would be nice, honey. As long as you plan not to put stuff in the cart and then throw a fit when I take it out.”

I gave her a bland look. “I’m not two.”

Her saucy smile was cut off by her yawn. “I’ve barely had any down time. Most of the nurses couldn’t make it in. I covered the ER, prenatal ward, and my favorite,” she said, grabbing a bottle of water, “the detox floor.”

“That blows.” I trailed behind her again, feeling incredibly Mommy needy.

“You have no idea.” She took a sip, stopping at the base of the stairs. “I’ve been bled on, peed on, and thrown up on. In that order and sometimes not.”

“Ew,” I said. Mental note: nursing was now placed with school administration in the Not Going To Happen Possible Job list.

“Oh!” She started up the stairs, twisting halfway around and teetering on the edge of the step. Oh, dear. “Before I forget, I’m changing shifts next week. Instead of working at Grant on the weekends, it will be Winchester. Busier in the city and more action on the weekends than doing the shift around here, and Will works weekends anyway, so it works out better.”

Which also meant more time away— What ? My heart stuttered and there was this falling, spinning-down feeling. “What did you say?”

Mom frowned. “Honey, your voice… I really want to look at your throat. Okay? Or we can get Will to take a look. I’m sure he won’t mind.”