When I resurface, Katy is franticly calling my name. When she sees me, relief and surprise cover her face. I pull myself out of the water and onto the rock that she's standing on.
"Are you okay? You look a little freaked out," I say, confused about why she looks so scared.
She grabs a hold of my shoulders and looks at me like she's trying to make sure that I'm real. "Are you okay?" she asks. "What happened?" She smacks me in the arm and looks pissed now. "Don't you ever do that again!" she shouts.
I hold my hands up, totally bewildered as to why she would be afraid. "Whoa there, what is your problem?"
"You were under the water for so long," she said. Oh shit. I forgot that I'm not here with Dee. She expected me to surface for air. I must have been down there almost ten minutes. No wonder she's freaking out. She thought I drowned or something. It did look like she was ready to jump in to find me or something.
"I thought you drowned! Why would you do that? Why would you scare me like that? You were under the water forever," she keeps ranting. The look of terror leaving her and anger surfacing.
"I wasn't down there that long. I was swimming," I try to calm her. Dammit, I didn't mean to do that. Way to go Daemon, way to be the one to make her suspicious. This is why I can't be around humans. Shit what am I going to do if I can't convince her that she's mistaken? She's much more intuitive than any other human, she may never believe it.
"No, Daemon, you were down there a long time. It was at least ten minutes! I looked for you, called for you. I… I thought you were dead." Seeing the tears building in her eyes makes me feel horrible. I didn't mean for this to happen.
I stand on the rock next to her and look down at her. "It couldn't have been ten minutes. That's not possible. No one can hold their breath that long," I try to reason. Clearly I'm alive, that should be enough reason for her to believe that she's mistaken.
"You apparently can," she argues.
Surprised that she is so upset I look at her, "You were really worried, weren't you?" This makes me like her even more. She worried about me. No one, other than Dee and Dawson has ever worried about me like that.
"No shit! What part of 'I thought you drowned' don't you understand?" Her body visibly shaking from fear. I feel so bad that I made her feel this way.
"Kat, I came up. You must not have seen me. I went right back down," I try to reason. I can't have her thinking that I was down for that long.
She looks at me skeptically, like she doesn't believe a word I'm saying. Still trying to convince her that she's wrong I ask, "Does this happen often?"
I don't mean to try to make her feel like she's crazy, but I have to find a way to diffuse this.
"Does what?"
"Imagining things. Or do you have a horrible issue with telling time."
Now I'm just being a dick again. If I piss her off maybe she'll forget that she was worried. Or maybe she'll forget that I was out of sight for so long. I don't really want to make her feel like this, but I have to. Shit…
"I wasn't imagining anything! And I know how to tell time, you jerk."
"Then I don't know what to tell you," I say, stepping toward her. "I'm not the one imagining that I was underwater for ten minutes when it was like two minutes tops. You know, maybe I'll buy you a watch the next time I'm in town, when I have my keys back."
Pissing her off and reminding her of why she thinks I'm doing this might help to make her forget my mistake.
"Well, make sure you tell Dee we had a wonderful time so that you can get your stupid keys back," she growls at me. "Then we won't need a replay of today."
What she doesn't understand is I want a replay of today. I want to spend time with her. She's more than I ever expected her to be, and I want to explore what that means, almost as much as I want to keep my family safe. I look at her and can't help the smile that spreads across my face. The flush of anger and annoyance is all over her face. "That's on you, Kitten. I'm sure she'll call you later and ask."
"You'll have you keys. I'm ready…" She takes a step, but her foot slips on the wet rock. She's thrown off balance, ready to topple into the pond or worse yet, smack her head off of the rock before falling into the water.
Moving faster than I probably should have, especially since she's already questioning my superhuman abilities, I grab her hand and pull her to me. I pull her into my chest and wrap my arm around her waist. I didn't need to bring her into me like this, but I wanted to. I wanted to see if that vibration of electricity is still there when our bodies touch, and it is. More than it ever has been before. The soft, supple skin of her stomach and chest pressed against the hardness of mine almost makes me lose control. She sends off so much electrical power in her touch, if I didn't know better I would think she's one of us.
"Careful there, Kitten. Dee would be pissed at me if you end up cracking your head open and drowning," I whisper.
Our bodies still pressed to one another, neither of us moves away from the other. The warm tingle I feel with her body pressed to mine, the warmth radiating from her, and the power moving between the two of us makes my heart rate pick up and my breaths become shallow. It's like my body has found its missing piece and it is reacting to something in her.
Neither of us speaking, we stand there, soaking the other in. I take in a deep breath, trying to calm my ragged heartbeat. I take a step back from her and release her waist. Immediately I feel cold and like I've lost a part of myself. After a moment of calming myself I clear my throat. "I think it's time we head back."
She nods, a look of disappointment flashing across her face. I want nothing more than to tell her what I'm really feeling and not act like I'm expected to act. But I can't. I still have to make her never want to be around us. I have to make her think that being friends with Dee isn't worth it. I have to.
I dive back into the lake and swim for the bank where our clothes and towels are sitting. I hear the splash of her following behind me.
Without a word, I pull myself on the bank and offer her my hand to help her. The electrical vibration still there, even with only a small part of our skin touching. Neither of us speaks as we dry off and dress. We begin our walk back home in silence. Me thinking about her body pressed against mine and wondering what that really means. I've never felt that with anyone before. I've never met anyone like her before.
When we reach the driveway, I can't hold my feelings in anymore. I know this means exile, danger for myself and maybe even Dee. But then I see Matthew's car in my driveway and I curse under my breath. What the fuck does he want from me now?
I turn to Katy and look at her. She looks worried, like she's ready to have to defend herself against someone other than me. I hate that I make her feel that way. "Kat, I…" I start to say. I'm not even completely sure of what I was going to say. Maybe just that I had to go. But then the screen door slams off the house, and that sends me into an unparalleled anger. How dare he come here slamming things in my house.
I turn and glare toward Matthew as he comes down the steps toward us. He has light brown hair, he's a couple inches shorter than me, and is dressed much nicer than is necessary for August. Doesn't he own a pair of shorts or a tee-shirt? Matthew can be so stuffy and annoying sometimes.
Matthew returns my glare. I almost want to laugh at his feeble attempt to be intimidating.
"What is going on here?" he asks.
"Absolutely nothing," I say flatly. I fold my arms and glare at him. "Since my sister is not home, I'm curious as to why you're in my house?"
"I let myself in. I didn't realize that would be a problem."
"It is now, Matthew," I spat at him.
Matthew turns his glare at Kat now and I want to put myself in front of him and shield her from his stare. "Of all people, I'd think you'd know better, Daemon."
I growl, tension building in me as I never take my glare from Matthew. "Matthew, if you value the ability to walk, I wouldn't go there."
"I think I should go," Kat says meekly from behind me.
Without taking my eyes from Matthew I move in front of her. "I'm thinking Matthew should go, unless he has another purpose other than sticking his nose where it doesn't belong."
"I'm sorry," she says. Her voice nervous and breaking, "but I don't know what's going on here. We were just swimming."
Matthew sends me another glare and it take every ounce of my self-control to not snap him in half. I wish she wouldn't have spoken. Now I'm going to have to calm his sorry ass down before he starts spouting off about things he knows nothing about. Shit…
"It's not what you're thinking. Give me some credit. Dee hid my keys, forced me to take her out to get them back."
I can feel her stiffen behind me. I didn't really want to make her feel bad, but I have to make Matthew back off.
He laughs a little, "So this is Dee's little friend."
"That would be me," Kat says firmly, crossing her arms glaring at the older man. Damn, she's not afraid of anyone.
"I thought you had this under control. That you'd make your sister understand."
"Yeah, well, why don't you try to make her understand? So far, I'm not having much luck." Especially when I want to be around her as much as Dee does.
Matthew presses his lips together, "Both of you should know better."
Anger starts building in me more and more until lightning streaks overhead and the crack of thunder sounds through the valley. Clouds roll in, covering the once perfect summer day. Electricity crackles through the sky and all around us as I stand there and glare at Matthew. He looks at me, fear in his eyes. He turns away from me and goes back to the house, sending one last dark look toward Kat. He slams the door.
When he's out of my sight, the clouds part and the sunny day starts to return. Shit, what did I just do that for?
"What… what just happened?" she asks.
I don't say a word, I just leave her standing there gaping at me. I slam the door off of the house again, signaling how pissed off I am right now, both at Matthew and myself.
Matthew stands inside waiting for me. "What the hell was that? What do you think you're doing?"
"It's none of your damn business, Matthew. Why are you here?"
"I came to talk to you about what is happening with Dee. She's refusing to be with Adam. She's talking about college in Europe and living her life."
"Yeah, well maybe she should be allowed to live her life the way she wants and not be a bitch for the Luxen. She's not an animal to be bred."
"And what the hell are you doing spending time with that girl. After Dawson…"
"If you value your life, you wouldn't finish that sentence. What I do is none of your business."
"I'm your guardian…"
"You haven't been my guardian for years, Matthew. I have lived on my own and taken care of this family since I was fifteen."
"Yeah, a lot of good that did, you lost…"
Before he could finish that sentence, I was in my natural form and swooping down on him. His face paled and he was visibly worried. "What happened with Dawson had nothing to do with my ability to take care of this family. Now get out."
Matthew looked at me, "Daemon, I shouldn't have…"
Returning to my human form, I glare at him. "No, you shouldn't have. Now get the fuck out of my house."
Without another word, Matthew leaves.
I slump on my couch, drained from my little weather show and from my anger. What am I going to do about the girl next door?