Jennifer Armentrout - Onyx

Before I could respond, he patted me on the shoulder and left the kitchen. The ham had cooled on the counter. The mashed potatoes were finished and so was the macaroni casserole. Up to that moment, I’d been starving, but with the mention of my father, all my appetite vanished.

Deep down I knew Will wasn’t trying to take his place. No man could ever take my father’s place, but two fat tears rolled down my cheeks. I’d cried the first Christmas without him, but the last two I hadn’t. Maybe I was crying now because this was the first real holiday I’d had with my mom that involved someone other than my dad.

My elbow caught the edge of the bowl as I turned, and it spun toward off the counter. Without thinking, I froze the bowl so all my hard work wouldn’t end up on the floor. I grabbed it out of the air, placing it back on the counter. Turning around, I caught sight of a shadow in the hallway, right outside the kitchen door. My breath froze in my throat as two footsteps heavier than my mom’s crossed the hall and started up the steps. Will .

Had he seen me?

And if he had, why hadn’t he busted in here demanding how I froze a bowl in midair?

…

When I woke up the day after Christmas, Will had already taken down the tree. That alone earned him serious negative points. That wasn’t his tree to take down. And I’d wanted to keep that green bulb, and now it was packed away in an attic I wouldn’t dare venture into. Add that to my growing dislike of the man, and I foresaw some serious problems in the future.

Had he seen me stop the bowl? I didn’t know. Could it be a coincidence that the uncle of the girl who had mutated just like me was now putting the moves on my mom? Seemed unlikely. But I had no evidence and who could I really go to? Well, there was one person.

It was hours after Mom had left for work and moments before I headed upstairs that I felt warmth prickle my neck. Stopping in the hallway, I waited with my breath in my throat.

There was a knock on my door.

Daemon waited on the porch, hands in his pockets and a black baseball cap pulled low, hiding the upper part of his face. The look accentuated his sensual lips that were tipped in a crooked grin. “You busy?”

I shook my head.

“Wanna go for a ride?”

“Sure. Let me grab something warmer to put on.” I hurried to find my boots and hoodie, then joined him outside. “Are we going to check on Vaughn?”

“Not really. There’s something I’ve discovered.” He led me to his SUV and waited until we both climbed in before he continued. “But first, did you have a good Christmas? I was going to stop over, but I saw your mom was home.”

“It was good. Will spent the day with us. That was weird. What about you?”

“It was okay. Dee nearly burned the house down trying to make a turkey. Other than that, not very entertaining.” He pulled out of the driveway. “So, how much trouble were you in after Saturday?”

I flushed, thankful for the darkness. “I got a lecture about not making my mom a grandmother.” Daemon laughed, and I sighed. “Now I have rules to follow, but nothing serious.”

“Sorry about that.” He grinned as he slid me a sideways look. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“It’s okay. So where are we going? What have you found out?”

“Vaughn came home Sunday night for about ten minutes. I followed him to just outside of Petersburg to this warehouse in an industrial park that hasn’t been used in years. He stayed there for a few hours and then left, but there were two officers who remained.” He slowed down as a deer dashed across the highway. “They’re keeping something there.”

Excitement hummed through me. “You think they’re keeping Bethany…or Dawson?”

He glanced at me, lips pressed into a tight line. “I don’t know, but I need to get in there and someone needs to keep an eye on the outside while I go.”

Feeling useful, I nodded. “What if the guards are still keeping watch?”

“They weren’t doing anything until Vaughn showed up. He’s home right now. With Nancy.” His lip curled. “I think the two really have something going on.”

It was like Will and my mom. Gross. Thinking of that reminded me of something I needed to ask. “Did you know my mom’s boyfriend is Bethany’s uncle?”

“No.” His brows pinched as he focused on the road. “I didn’t really try to get to know her. Hell, I didn’t really try to get to know any human girl.”

There was a weird flutter in my belly. “So you’ve never…dated a human girl before?”

“Dated? No.” He glanced at me quickly, seeming to decide what to say next. “Hang out with? Yes.”

The flutter turned into a red-hot snake coiling around my insides. Hung out— hung out in the way everyone thought Blake and I were? I wanted to hit something.

“Anyway, I didn’t know they were related.”

I pushed away the jealousy. Now wasn’t the time. “Do you think that’s weird? I mean, he’s related to Bethany, who’s sort of like me now, and he’s messing around with my mom. We know that someone had to have betrayed Dawson and Bethany.”

“It’s weird, but how would he know what had happened? He would’ve needed to have some inside knowledge of the whole healing process to know what to look for.”

“Maybe he’s an implant.”

Daemon looked at me sharply but didn’t say anything. The possibility was disturbing. Will could be using my mom to keep an eye on me. Gaining her trust, sleeping in her bed… I’d kill him.

After a few moments, Daemon cleared his throat. “I’ve been thinking about what Matthew told us—the whole marrying DNA thing.”

Every muscle in my body tensed, and I stared straight ahead. “Yeah…?”

“I talked to him later and I asked him about the connection, if it could make someone feel anything. He said no. But I already knew that. Thought you should know.”

Closing my eyes, I nodded. Of course, I already knew that. I squeezed my hands into tight balls. I almost told him I knew, but bringing up Blake would really mar the moment. “What about the whole you die, I die thing?”

“What about it?” he responded, eyes on the road. “There isn’t anything we can do about that other than not getting ourselves killed.”

“There’s more to it than that,” I said, watching the rolling white-tipped hills go by. “We’re really joined together, you know. Like, forever…”

“I know,” he said quietly.

There really wasn’t anything I could add to that.

We arrived at the abandoned industrial park near midnight, driving past it first to make sure there were no cars around. There were three buildings clustered together near a field covered in white. One was a squat, one-story brick building and one in the middle was several stories high, large enough to store a jumbo jet.

Daemon pulled behind one of the buildings, parking the SUV between two large sheds with the front facing the only entrance. He turned to me, killing the engine. “I need to get in that building.” He gestured at the tall one. “But you need to stay in the car while I do this. I need eyes on the road and I don’t know what’s waiting in there.”

Fear pinched my stomach. “What if someone is in there? I want to go with you.”

“I can take care of myself. You need to stay in here, where it’s safe.”

“But—”

“No, Kat, stay here. Text me if anyone comes in.” He reached for the door. “Please.”

Given no other choice, I did nothing as Daemon slid out of the car. Twisting in my seat, I watched him disappear around the side of the building. I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding and faced the front, keeping my eyes trained on the main road.