Hell. As the unwanted thought broke my concentration, I skidded to a stop several miles in, kicking up loose soil and pebbles.
Closing my eyes, I settled back into my human form and stretched my arms above my head. Loosening my muscles, I emptied my thoughts. It was harder this time. Then, a handful of seconds later, I shed my human form. White light tinged in red flickered over the shadowed tree trunks and grass.
Freedom washed over me again.
I moved forward, seeing the world around me in crystal clarity. Heat rolled off me, and I was careful not to linger in one area too long. I moved silently through the woods¸ covering miles in minutes. Soon I was near town, where I’d most likely pick up on an Arum.
Combing the county, I couldn’t help but think of the time Dawson had been out here. It had been during the winter, right before Bethany had shown up and it all went to hell. He’d found an Arum and had almost been taken out by it.
Dawson would’ve been drained dry of everything that made us what we were if I hadn’t shown up. I hadn’t been there when it really counted, though. Saving his life before didn’t mean shit when he ended up losing it in the end.
I stayed out until it was late, slipping back into my human form just before I left the woods and returning home well after midnight. Instead of heading in through the back door, I walked around the front and glanced up at the house beside mine.
The bedroom light was on.
Kat was up late.
She probably had her nose stuck in a book, living in a pretend fantasy world while I was actually out there living in the real fantasy world.
There couldn’t be two more different people.
People?
I laughed, but it was dry and lacked humor. We weren’t even of the same damn species, and yet in that moment, while I walked up the porch steps, knowing she was awake, I felt closer to her than I had to anyone in a very long time.
God, that was a huge problem.
I needed to seriously end this. I needed to get her to stay away from Dee, and I needed to stay away from her.
I knew what I had to do.
Stepping off the porch the next morning on the way to school, I stopped as I heard the engine of Kat’s car groaning as it turned over without starting up. The sound was familiar. Battery was dead. Knowing her, she probably left a light on or something.
The hood popped as she unlocked it from the inside. Kat threw open the driver’s door and walked around to the front of her car. The faded denim jeans she was wearing should be illegal.
Reaching down to wrap her fingers around the edges, she tensed and then looked over in my direction.
Smirking, I lifted my hand and wiggled my fingers at her.
Her eyes narrowed. “What?”
“Nothing.”
She stared at me a moment longer and then turned back to her car, lifting the hood and hooking it into place. Then she stepped back, put her hands on her hips and stared at the engine.
My grin spread.
She reached into the engine and wiggled wires like that was going to do something beneficial, her ponytail bouncing with the effort. Sort of cute. Desperate. But cute. She then clasped her fingers around the hood and leaned in. The cast on her arm was a huge freaking eyesore.
Of course my gaze zeroed right in on a certain asset of hers.
I managed to pull my gaze away before I gave myself a damn eyestrain. Walking toward my car, I opened the passenger door and tossed my books on the seat. I closed the door and then walked across the small patch of grass and onto her driveway.
Kat stiffened but ignored me as I walked up the side of the car. “I don’t think wiggling wires is going to help.”
Letting go of the hood, she glared in my direction with stormy eyes. “Are you a mechanic or something? A special hidden car talent I know nothing about?”
I laughed under my breath. “You actually don’t know anything about me.”
Her lips pursed. “I count that as a blessing.”
“I bet you do,” I murmured as I stepped closer to the front of her car, forcing her to take a step back.
She sighed. “Hello. I was standing there.”
I winked at her. “You’re not standing there anymore.” Using my body to shield what I was doing, I ran the tips of my fingers along the battery, sending a jolt of high-powered energy into it. “Anyway, can you try turning it on one more time?”
“Why?”
“Because.”
“It’s not going to work.”
Turning to her, I smiled tightly. “Just try it, Kitten.”
Her cheeks flushed. “Don’t call me that.”
“I wouldn’t call you that if you were sitting in your car, turning it on,” I replied reasonably.
“Oh my God,” she griped and then pivoted. She stomped around to the driver’s side. “Whatever.”
I arched a brow as she all but threw herself into the car and turned the ignition. The battery sparked to life and the engine turned over, starting the car. Too bad the hood blocked the windshield, because I would’ve paid good money to see her face. That being said, I really didn’t have time for this crap. This was not part of “the plan” I’d devised last night to push her even further away.
I sighed and lowered the bar, closed the hood, and locked it into place.
Kat was staring out the windshield, lips parted.
“See you at school.” I paused, unable to resist adding, “Kitten.”
I grinned as I heard her shriek.
When I moseyed on into trig later that morning, the first thing I noticed was that her hair was down where it had been up earlier that morning, and the fact that I noticed the change didn’t even register on the screwed-up scale. I liked her hair down. It was long and a little wild-looking, like her hair was constantly in a state of rebellion.