Chapter 19

6:21 PM

Reid pulled away from her in one swift movement, his shields slamming into place. Kat let him go, breathing in strong and looking across the room. Mary Harcortte, her red hair falling slightly across her face, sat calmly and composedly against the wall.

"Now, boy, would you like to fill her in on what your choice is?" The blond's fists clenched, and he glanced at Kat. The dark-haired girl curled her lip as she stared steadily ahead, her eyes harder than moments before.

"Either she kills us both tomorrow, or we all die at noon. The house is a set-up," he added flatly, not meeting Kat's eyes. Her eyes flicked towards him, noting the muscle in his jaw that jumped compulsively and the studied blankness of his expression. He was hiding something. Confusion rippled through her: he had just saved her life, literally, and had grabbed her like she was his last chance of survival, and now he was hiding something?

"Succinctly put," Mary agreed with a hint of a smile. "Now, this would have been a lot easier, true, if you," she nodded at Reid, "had shown up a little later. However, the way things have turned out is not bad at all. So, would you two like some time to discuss this?"

"Discuss it? Last time we chatted, you shot me," Kat said angrily. She couldn't stop herself from pushing herself to a stand. Reid was up in a flash, balancing on the balls of his feet like a runner about to take off.

"Kat," he said quietly. She shot him a startled look.

"You were ready to kill her when I was dead!" She pushed back the part of her that wanted to comment on the ridiculousness of that statement.

"But you aren't dead anymore," he replied, still with that oddly quiet tone. Kat inhaled, and there was fear on the air. Fear and something else, something almost like… exhilaration.

"He's right," Mary put in. "Besides, I have nothing to worry about here. Feel free to talk. I'll be waiting outside." She rose to her feet, the arm that Kat had clawed held close to her stomach. Neither teen stopped her as she left the room. As soon as the door closed, Kat strode over to the camera attached high in one corner. Jumping, she swung her arm and batted it down as if it were made of plastic.

"It's already broken," Reid told her. "I kind of killed the electronics when I got here." She looked down at the black metal box, eying the lens. Tossing it to the ground, she kicked it hard enough to make it fly into the wall.

"I hate cameras. That one was watching me long enough." He shrugged.

"Well, it won't be watching anyone now."

"No." They fell into a strange, brief silence, and then both started talking at once.

"Why didn't-"

"You need to-" Breaking off, Reid gestured to her. Kat continued, folding her arms. She didn't know how to act. One minute he was hugging her, the next, treating her like… like he had before.

"Why didn't you look at me? When you were explaining her little ultimatum?" There was a flash of something hard and alien in those icy blue eyes, but then Reid gave her his trademarked sly, mostly-wicked grin. Or, he tried to. There was something fragile in his sharp, shrewd features that made her stomach twist.

"Got an idea," he answered.

"What idea?" Reid rolled his shoulders.

"You probably don't want to hear it," he said lightly. "So, how was death?"

"How was- Reid, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"Not nearly as much as with you," he tossed back, "considering that, of the two of us, I'm the only one who hasn't been clinically dead in the recent past." Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. Kat blinked. His voice was airy, quick, uncaring. Far different from the wrenching cries that had forced her spirit back into her body.

"How can you- Okay. Ignoring that. How are we getting out of this?" Again, she saw that flash of foreign emotion in Reid's eyes. Quickly, she tried to analyze it: cold fear, excitement, uncertainty? Then, he seemed to make a decision, and stepped towards her.

"Do you love me?" Her jaw dropped open, her nose wrinkling with shock.

"What?!" He shook his head.

"Fuck love. Do you want me?"

"Reid, what the hell are-" Taking another step forwards, Reid grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her to him. Before she could finish, he slid his hand up the back of her neck and yanked her mouth to his.

There was a split second of utter surprise, and then everything that had been building between them exploded into a fiery clutch of skin and feeling.

"What are you- mmph," she broke off as he abandoned her neck and covered her lips with his. His hands rushed beneath her- his- shirt, tracing over her back with strong, warm fingers. She returned the favor, abandoning the confusion that was seeming more and more superfluous, and ripped his shirt open from the back.

Kat felt his thin, compactly muscled back, her thumbs pressing against the ridges of his spine. His skin was warm, but she could feel him shaking minutely. Her hands slid down to the waistband of his jeans, brushing across a patch of skin that felt oddly smooth compared to the skin around it.

"I- didn't know- you had a tattoo," she gasped as he trailed kisses down her collarbone.

"Got it- last year," he replied, lifting her shirt over her head. "You ruined- my shirt."

"Mine now." She unbuttoned his jeans, lightly biting his shoulder.

"God, you're annoying." Reid spanned his fingers across her belly, feeling the curve of her waist and the flare of her hips. She wasn't wearing a bra.

"You brought me back- ah!- to life, so- it's your- fault!"

"Well-"

"Less talk. More-"

"God, yes."

When it was over, Reid pulled his jeans back on and buttoned them absently, staring at the girl curled up beside him. Neither of them were contented, but Kat was looking more and more like a sated dog. She didn't bother putting clothes on.

"Don't you want to get dressed? She's coming back eventually." The loup-garou sighed, and her gaze was more wolf than human.

"Easier to Change when I'm already naked," she answered slowly. Then, she blinked at him. "Not that I'm, you know, complaining, but why did you just jump me?"

"You jumped me right back." Kat heaved another sigh, but this one was far more disgusted.

"All right already, Reid. It's been established. No matter how much we dance around it, there's really no denying it anymore. I want you, you want me. It's a fact. Still doesn't tell me why." The blond closed his eyes.

"In seven hours and thirty-two minutes, I'm going to turn eighteen. When that happens, we both die. And if I'm dead too, I can hardly drag you back into the land of the living."

"But-"

"But that's not going to happen."

"How so? Share with me, Great One," she said sarcastically.

"You aren't going to be there."

"What?"

"If you die before I ascend, it won't matter to her plan. If I die, though…"

"What are you talking about?!" Kat was crouched on all fours now, one knee up against her breast, the other leg bunched up and ready to spring.

"You've seen Pirates of the Caribbean, right?"

"What the fuck does that have to do with anything?" Reid bent down, took her face in his hands, and kissed her hard.

"I'm gonna pull a Will Turner. Our redheaded friend gets to play the evil captain." And then, the pieces came together.

The flash in his eye: fear, excitement, uncertainty.

The sudden admission of attraction.

Pirates of the Caribbean.

"You want to use yourself as a bargaining chip," Kat breathed, reaching up and taking one of the hands that was still resting on her cheek. "Either she lets me go, or you kill yourself before she has the chance to steal your power." He smiled at her, and again, she saw that awful fragileness in his smile.

"Smart girl. I always hated that about you." She ripped herself away, standing fast.

"No! You can't do that!"

"It's the only way," he argued. "If you get out, you have to find Caleb and the others. Figure out something. Save my skin as payback for my saving yours."

"Reid, you stupid bastard, you-"

"What has the silly boy done now? Aside from the obvious," Mary added disdainfully, eying Kat's nudity. She stood in the doorway, her arm bandaged, one hand against the frame. Kat opened her mouth, but Reid shoved her back. He stepped forward, and reached into his jeans' pocket. When he pulled his hand out, he was holding a thin, deadly bit of metal that Kat hadn't even felt when she took his pants off: a switchblade. She stared at it, but then shook her head. Of course Reid would have a knife. It wasn't enough that he had the Power.

There was a soft popping sound, and the blade slid effortlessly into the air: five inches of sharp steel. Instantly, it was pressed against Reid's throat.

Mary took a halting step forward before she fell back smoothly.

"What is your game, Mr. Garwin?"

"Oh, so it's 'Mr. Garwin' now, is it? Fine. Well, you being the genius here," he said condescendingly, "you should be able to figure it out." Kat could hear his breathing, hard and fast. She felt his heart pounding as if it were her own. "Either you let her go, or I die long before you can perform your precious ritual."