When Dee called me later that evening I insisted that everything was fine with my little outing with Katy. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I had more fun being with that girl than I have in a long time. Ash is never willing to hike through the woods with me, she would never go to the lake, and she would never allow me to surprise her with anything. She would whine and complain the entire time until I gave in and told her what we were doing. But Katy didn't do that. She didn't hesitate to go through the woods and she didn't hesitate to get into the water, once she got up her nerve to show her bathing suit, and what a bathing suit it was. I mean damn, how am I supposed to force myself to stay away from her knowing how perfect her body is, how she felt in my arms, and how our bodies hummed at the same frequency?

Dee was so thrilled that I went out with Katy that she didn't even complain when I told her that she needed to try to give Adam a chance. Of the Thompson triplets, Adam is by far the nicest. He isn't a human hater like Andrew and he isn't shallow and controlling like Ash. I think she and Adam would be a good fit if she ever looked beyond duty and actually gave him a chance, lord knows Adam would be in his glory if she actually looked at him once.

Over the next week I stayed away from the girl next door, trying to convince myself that humans are nothing but trouble. But meeting this girl has made me rethink what happened with Dawson when he met Bethany. From the moment she walked into school, he had eyes for no one else. The sun rose and set with her. She was sweet and kind, a perfect match for Dawson, and she was patient, even with me. She didn't care how nasty I was, she loved my brother and he loved her too. Everyone in our community wants to blame Bethany for what happened to her and Dawson. The day they went out to the movies she was glowing like sun, so something big happened around her and everyone knew it. So when we got a message that he and Bethany were found dead, everyone automatically blamed her for being so close to him. She drew an Aurum straight to him and he couldn't defend himself, but something about that just doesn't sit right with me. He was strong and almost as good a fighter as I am. He should have been able to handle the Aurum.

But his feelings for Bethany and how quickly he just knew she was the girl for him was so strange. He once told me that he just felt something when he touched her, something he'd never felt before with anyone. It's kind of what I felt when I had Kat in my arms at the lake. Her body hummed and vibrated against mine. The electrical pulses that moved from her skin to mine was something that I've never felt before. It was amazing, but also quite unnerving.

The few times I caught sight of her coming and going from her house, weeding her garden, and sitting on her porch, reading. I didn't try to talk to her, opting to hide in the shadows and steal glimpses. She's beautiful, her long brown hair, her startling eyes that seem to change color, her perfect body. Just thinking about her body brings back memories of her wrapped in my arms and how she felt pressed against me.

Without realizing how I got there, I found myself on her porch knocking on her front door on Saturday. I had just been thinking about her and like a possessed man being controlled by a puppet master, I didn't realize I was on her porch until I knocked. I turned and stood on the top step, trying to decide if I should take off before she answered or wait. I stared at the sky finding the first signs of evening appearing. What people believe to be the first stars appearing in the night sky, but are actually Venus and other planets visible before all of those foreign galaxies appear. When she opened the door, I didn't move, I barely breathed. I heard her step outside, I could feel her gaze boring into me as I stood without acknowledging her. When she came into my peripheral vision, she looked startled to see me standing in front of her, like I was going to yell at her again or be rude.

I quickly turn my head and looked down at her. Standing there in her tight little tank top and short denim shorts, her long, tan, shapely legs seeming to go on forever… What am I thinking? I've been here for all of a minute and already my mind is wandering and my eyes are taking every part of her body and committing it to memory.

"What are you doing?" she asks.

I continued taking her in, her perfection, her beauty. I smirked just a little and turned my eyes back to the sky. "I like staring at the sky. There's something about it. It's endless, you know."

She stood there looking at me like I'm crazy, if she only knew that looking at the sky made me feel like I actually belong somewhere instead of feeling like an intruder in someone else's house.

"Is some crazy dude going to run out of your house and yell at you for talking to me?"

I snicker to myself, "Not right now, but there is always later."

She scowls and her eyes dance in the light of the early evening sun. "I'm okay missing 'later'"

I couldn't agree more, "Yeah. Busy?"

"Other than messing with my blog, no."

I already knew about her blog from Dee and I've already checked it out, but I don't want her to know that. I'm not even sure why I'm here right now, this isn't staying away from her like I'm supposed to. How am I supposed to keep Dee away if I can't keep myself away? Damn, this girl doesn't know what she's doing to me, and she hasn't done anything other than stand up to me and be beautiful.

"You have a blog?" I turn leaning against the post.

She looks at me with annoyance in her features, almost like I'm insulting her by asking about her blog. "Yeah, I have a blog."

"What's your blog's name?" I ask her, trying to keep the conversation going so she doesn't just turn away and slam the door in my face. Not that I don't deserve just that.

"None of your business," she says and smiles. Her smile is beautiful and sexy and completely consuming.

"Interesting name," I tease. "So what do you blog about? Knitting? Puzzles? Being lonely?" Why am I being such an ass right now? I came to her house, not the other way around. She didn't pursue me, nor did she seek me out. But here I am insulting her, or trying to. But she doesn't take the bait as a matter of fact, she stands a little taller land doesn't divert her eyes from mine.

"Ha. Ha, smartass. I review books," she says proudly. I think I may be in over my head with this girl. She's not intimidated by my douchbagery in the slightest bit.

"Do you get paid for them?" I ask. It's an honest question and would be cool as hell if she did get paid.

"No. Not at all," she laughed like that was the funniest thing she ever heard.

"So you review books and you don't get paid if someone buys a book based on your review?"

She seems to think about this for a moment, "I don't review books to get paid or anything. I do it because I like it. I love reading, and I enjoy talking about books."

Keeping the conversation going, and trying to learn more about her I ask, "What kind of books do you read?"

"All different kinds," she says. She leans against the post across from me and looks at me with curiosity in her eyes. I know I'm confusing her. First I try to piss her off, then I try to tell her to stay away from my sister and my house, then I'm here talking to her and asking her about herself. Hell, I'm confusing myself here. What the hell am I doing here?

"Mainly I prefer the paranormal stuff," she says. So she believes in the paranormal stuff? Interesting.

"Vampires and werewolves?"

"Yeah."

Now here's the real question, "Ghosts and aliens?"

"Ghost stories are cool, but I don't know about aliens. ET really doesn't do it for ma and a lot of readers."

I almost laugh out loud. ET is so unrealistic, so are most of the movies that humans create with aliens involved. I mean really, the aliens in 'Independence Day' are so far from realistic and the idea of an entire civilization moving across the universe in huge spaceships is so amazingly farfetched I can't even stomach watching it. No wonder she doesn't like aliens.

"What does it for you?" I ask, curiosity getting the best of me.

"Not slimy green space creatures."

I want to laugh, but I hold it in. "Anyway, I also appreciate graphic novels, history stuff…"

"You read graphic novels?" amazed that she is so diverse and can see greatness in all forms of writing. "Seriously?"

She nods and smiles. I love her smile, it lights up her whole face and her eyes sparkle even more. If I could keep her smiling forever, I would.

"Yeah, so what? Are girls not supposed to like graphic novels and comics?"

I stare are her in amazement. She couldn't possibly be more perfect. Not the typical girly girl that I'm used to from Dee and Ash. She's independent and she's proud of who she is. She's not afraid of being that person either. It's amazing. Most girls question everything about themselves, she's amazingly self-assured.

I jerk my chin toward the woods. "Want to go on a hike?"

"Uh, you know I'm not good with the whole hiking thing," she says and smiles.

I smile back, remembering her tripping and falling all over herself on our way to the lake. The look in her eyes when I smile at her makes my heart race. I'm not sure what she's thinking, but I wish I could be inside of her thoughts. "I'm not taking you up on the Rocks. Just a harmless little trail. I'm sure you can handle it."

"Did Dee not tell you where your keys were?" she asks skeptically. I've given her no reason to believe that I just want to spend time with her, so it's no wonder that she's questioning my motives.

"Yeah, she did."

"Then why are you here?"

Damn, I've been such a dick that I apparently can't just ask her to hang with me without having ulterior motives. I do have ulterior motives, but they are my own and have nothing to do with Dee trying to force me to befriend this girl.

I sigh and look into her eyes, "I don't have a reason. I thought I would just stop over, but if you're going to question everything, then you can forget it."

I start down the steps, hoping that she doesn't let me go far before she follows. I want to spend time with her, getting to know her. She is so different than most human girls, she's different than most humans all together.

"All right, let's do this."

I smile without turning around and looking at her. "Are you sure?"

She doesn't respond, she just follows as I begin walking toward the back of her house toward the woods.

"Why are we going behind my house? The Seneca Rocks are that way. I thought most trails started over there."

"Yeah, but there are trails back here that will take you around and it's quicker. Most people here know all the main trails that are crowded. There used to be a lot of boring days out here, and I found a couple of them off the beaten trail."

I'm not sure why I'm sharing all of these little hidden things I've found around here with her. The lake and now these trails, are things I found and shared with Dawson. We would spend hours exploring these woods together. Dee was never a nature girl, but Dawson and I both loved hiking and spending time in the woods and outside. It's the only place that we could just be us without having to constantly pretend and be perfect for all of the onlookers who love to keep tabs on us.

"How far off the beaten track are we talking?"

"Not that far," I assure her.

"So it's a baby trail? I bet this is going to be boring for you."

If she only knew that I don't care about the trail, I only want to spend time with her.

"Anytime I get to go out and walk around is good. Besides it's not as if we'll hike all the way to Smoke Hole Canyon. That's a pretty big hike from here, so no worries, okay?"

She takes a deep breath and looks at me, "All right, lead the way."

I guide her to my back door and we go in the kitchen and grab a couple water bottles. She follows behind me as I guide her into the woods, silently taking in everything around us. I smile at the thought of her following behind me, not questioning me. Ash would be questioning me about everything if I actually convinced her to walk with me. But Katy doesn't question, she doesn't talk, she just follows without hesitation.

"You're very trusting, Kitten," I say smirking.

"Stop calling me that."

I look behind me and find that I'm several steps in front of her. I guess she can't walk as fast as I can.

"No one has ever called you that before?"

"Yeah, people call me Kitten all the time. But you make it sound so…"

I snicker, "Sound so what?"

"I don't know, like it's an insult. Or something sexually deviant."

Well it's definitely not an insult, that's for sure. I look at her and laugh. The look on her face says that she doesn't know how to take me at all.

"Why are you always laughing at me?"

I shake my head, I'm not laughing at you I want to say. I grin "I don't know, you just kind of make me laugh." Probably because everything about her contradicts what I've always seen and believed about humans, especially human girls.

"Whatever. So what was up with that Matthew dude? He acted as if he hated me or something."

"He doesn't hate you." I try to assure her. But how do I explain that he doesn't think we should associate with anyone who isn't like us, at all. I can't, not without exposing that there is something different about us. I mumble, "He doesn't trust you."

She looks over at me and a look of shock and confusion crosses her face. "Trust me with what? Your virtue?"

I laugh so hard that I have to take a moment before I respond. She is fearless and witty, I love it. "Yeah. He's not a fan of beautiful girls who have the hots for me." Beautiful? Did I really just say that out loud? Well she is beautiful. Probably the most beautiful girl that I've ever met.

"What?" She asked as she tripped and almost fell, but I caught her. Setting her back to her feet, I lingered with my hands on her, feeling her energy and fire pulse through her skin into mine. "You're joking, right?"

I look at her bewildered, "Which part?"

"Any of that?"

Can she possibly not know she's beautiful? Oh god, if she's one of those girls that doesn't even know how pretty she is, I'm in big trouble. "Come on. Please don't tell me you don't think you're pretty." She silent for so long that I'm astonished. How can she have gone through life without a guy, a boyfriend, someone telling her she's pretty? What the hell kind of guys live in Florida? Blind ones? Stupid ones? "No guy has ever said you're pretty?"

She shrugged, "Of course."

"Or… maybe you're not aware of it."

She shrugs her shoulders and doesn't take her eyes off of the ground. Oh no, she has no idea how beautiful she is. Damn, I am in trouble with this girl. Ash and Dee both know they are gorgeous. The human girls that I've hooked up with here and there have all known that they were pretty. But she has no idea how beautiful she is. Like she never believed what she was told. I've never met such a beautiful girl that didn't know what kind of impact she could have on guys or other people around her. Add her beauty to her personality and she's the perfect girl. I can't fall for this girl, I can't. No!

"You know what I've always believed," I say quietly.

"No."

"I've always found that the most beautiful people, truly beautiful inside and out, are the ones who are quietly unaware of their effect." I move closer to her, staring into her beautiful eyes. She has no idea what kind of effect she has on others, on me. "The ones who throw their beauty around, waste what they have? Their beauty is only passing. It's just a shell hiding nothing but shadows and emptiness." Like so many girls that walk around town and school, flaunting themselves for attention. They will never be as gorgeous as girls like Katy.

I stare at her intently, wishing I could explain better. But then she does something so shocking and honestly kind of annoying that I frown at her, she laughs. "I'm sorry, but that was the most thoughtful thing I've ever heard you say. What alien ship took the Daemon I know away, and can I ask them to keep him?"

"I was being honest." It actually kind of hurt that she laughed. But then I've never given her reason to think that I could be thoughtful before. I've only shown my arrogant and rude side. It's not often that I allow myself to be vulnerable like I just did.

"I know, but it's just that was really… wow."

I shrug and turn around. I try not to feel offended by her reaction, but I can't help feeling a little disappointed that I can't show her who I really am. I start to lead us down the trail in silence. Thinking about what I said and her reaction, I also think her reaction had to do with her embarrassment in being told she's beautiful. She really has no idea, at all.

"We won't go too far." Walking along in silence for a few more minutes I think about all of the things I've learned about her in just short time we've been gone. I like her even more now than before.

To keep the conversation going I slow up a little as ask, "So you're interested in history?"

"Yeah, I know that makes me a nerd."

I smile a little, a nerd. She's the prettiest nerd that I've ever met. I think I might like nerds.

"Did you know this land was once traveled by the Seneca Indians?"

She made a face. "Please tell me we aren't walking on any burial grounds."

"Well… I'm sure there are burial grounds around here somewhere. Even though they just traveled through this area, it's not a stretch that some died on this very spot and…"

"Daemon, I don't need to know that part," she says pushing my arm. The spark of power and light ignites the spot that she touched. I look at her, a little confused about why she has this effect on me. No one, not even Ash has had that kind of effect on me. I shake my head and look forward again. "Okay, I'll tell you the story and I'll leave some of the more creepy but natural facts out."

I lift a branch from the path so that she could pass under it. As she passes by me, her shoulder brushes against my chest. The spark tingles through my shirt and across my chest where she touched me. It is almost unnerving and kind of… bizarre.

"What story?"

"You'll see. Now pay attention… A long time ago, this land was forest and hills, which isn't too different than today with the exception of a few small towns." As we walk I clear the path for her so she doesn't stumble. "But imagine this place so sparsely populated that it could take days, even weeks, before you reached your nearest neighbor."

"That seems so lonely," she said quietly.

"But you have to understand that was the way of life hundreds of years ago. Farmers and mountain men lived a few miles away from one another, but the distance was all traveled by foot or horse. It wasn't usually the safest way to travel."

"I can imagine." She's so quiet I almost didn't hear her.

"The Seneca Indian tribe traveled through the eastern part of the United States, and at some point, they walked this very path toward the Seneca Rocks. Did you know that this very small path behind your house leads right to the base of them?" I ask, meeting her gaze.

"No. They always seem so far off in the distance I never thought of them as being close."

"If you stayed on this path for a couple miles you'd find yourself at the base of them. It's a pretty rocky patch even the most experienced rock climbers stay away from. See, the Seneca Rocks spread from Grant to Pendleton County, with the highest point being Spruce Knob and an outcropping near Seneca called Champe Rocks. Now they are kind of hard to get to, since it usually involves invading someone's property, but it can be worth it if you can scale way beyond nine hundred feet in the sky." I can't hide the melancholy sound from my voice. These woods have been the only place I've ever felt more myself, I love it here.

"That sounds like fun," she says. She has a real problem with sarcasm, no wonder I get so snippy with her sometimes. She must realize it though because she immediately gives me a smile like she's trying not to be an ass or whatever.

"It is if you're not afraid of slipping." I laugh when she looks at me with trepidation in her eyes. "Anyway, the Seneca Rocks are made out of quartzite, which is part sandstone. That's why it sometimes has a pinkish tint to it. Quartzite is considered a beta quartz. People who believe in… abnormal powers or powers in… nature, as a lot of Indian tribes did at one time, believe that any form of beta quartz allows energy to be stored and transformed, even manipulated by it. It can throw electronics and other stuff off, to – hide things."

I'm not sure why I'm telling her all of this. Telling her about the quartz and its ability to hide things is dangerously close to telling her about the Luxen and me. It's actually kind of dangerous for me to even talk to her about this.

"Ooo-kay." She says in a disbelieving tone. It annoys me and I let her know it through my look.

"Possibly the beta quartz drew the Seneca Tribe to this area. No one knows since they weren't native to West Virginia. No one knows how long any of them camped here, traded, or made war." I stop and take in my surroundings, imagining this area full of Seneca and possibly my ancestors. "But they do have a very romantic legend."

"Romantic?" she asks, surprised.

"See, there was this beautiful Indian princess called Snowbird, who had asked seven of the tribe's strongest warriors to prove their love by doing something only she had been able to do. Many men wanted to be with her for her beauty and her rank. But she wanted an equal.

"When the day arrived for her to choose her husband, she set forth a challenge so only the bravest and most dedicated warrior would win her hand. She asked her suitors to climb the highest rock with her." I slowed my pace and took the space next to her on the narrow path. I like being here with her. I like sharing these things with her. She was so enthralled with the story, that she was giving me her undivided attention, and I like it. "They all started, but as it became more difficult, three turned back. A fourth became weary and a fifth crumpled in exhaustion. Only two remained, and the beautiful Snowbird stayed in the lead. Finally, she reached the highest point and turned to see who was the bravest and strongest of all warriors. Only one remained a few feet behind her and as she watched, he began to slip."

Glancing sideways at Kat, she has a look of shock and worry on her face.

"Snowbird paused only for a second, thinking that this brave warrior obviously was the strongest, but he was not her equal. She could save him or she could let him slip. He was brave, but he had yet to reach the highest point like she had."

Now Kat looks really upset. "But he was right behind her? How could she just let him fall?"

"What would you do?" I ask. I'd like to know how a man could win her heart.

"Not that I would ever ask a group of men to prove their love by doing something incredibly dangerous and stupid like that, but if I ever found myself in that situation, as unlikely…"

"Kat?" I prompt her. I kind of smile to myself, she really can go off on the tangent about nonsense, can't she?

"I would reach out and save him, of course. I couldn't let him fall to his death."

"But he didn't prove himself."

"That doesn't matter. He was right behind her and how beautiful could you truly be if you let a man fall to his death just because he slipped? How could you even be capable of love or worthy of it, for that matter, if you let that happen?"

I smile a little and nod. I'm so happy to hear her say that. It means more than anything else she could say. It's real and impassioned. "Well, Snowbird thought like you."

She smiled and that smile lit up her entire face. "Good," she said.

"Snowbird decided that the warrior was her equal and with that, her decision had been made. She grabbed the man before he could fall. The chief met them and was very pleased with his daughter's choice in mate. He granted their marriage and made the warrior his successor."

"So is that why the rocks are called Seneca Rocks? After the Indians and Snowbird?"

"That's what the legend says."

"It's a beautiful story, but I think the whole climbing several hundred feet in the air to prove your love is a little excessive."

I laugh, "I'd have to agree with you on that."

"I'd hope so or you'd find yourself playing with cars on an interstate to prove your love nowadays."

I look at her confused for a moment, wondering how she would have a man prove their love for her. "I don't foresee that happening." I tell her.

"Can you get to where the Indians climbed from here?"

"You could get to the canyon, but that serious hiking," I say shaking my head. "Not something I would suggest you doing by yourself."

She laughed a little. "Yeah, I don't think you have to worry about that. I wonder why the Indians came here. Were they looking for something? It's hard to believe that a bunch of rocks brought them here."

If she only understood the power in those rocks, she would understand why they draw people… and others… to them. "You never know." I'm quiet for a few moments then I say, "People tend to look on the beliefs of the past as being primitive and unintelligent, yet we are seeing more truth in the past every day."

She looked over at me, surprise and curiosity dancing across her face. "What was it that made the rocks important again?" she asked.

I study her face for a moment, trying to read her thoughts. "It's the type of rock…" I glance up and see a huge black bear on the rocks behind her, no more than fifteen feet away from us. Eyes widening, I quietly try to get her attention. "Kitten?"

"Would you stop calling me - ?"

"Be quiet," I hiss at her keeping my gaze on the bear behind her. "Promise me you won't freak out."

"Why would I freak out?" she whispers.

I pull her to me, feeling the vibration of power and electricity as she braces herself from falling by placing her hands to my chest. "Have you ever seen a bear?"

Realization passes through her and I can feel it in the way her body stiffens in my embrace.

"What? There's a bear?"

She spun quickly in my arms and stepped back, pressing her back into my chest. She takes in the sight of the monstrous beast before us. The bear stood there, staring at us just like we stood and stared at it. Its huge paws and muscular body beneath its full coat of black fur seemed almost surreal… almost.

Standing perfectly still, arms wrapped around her body, I quickly go through all the possibilities of what could happen in my head. We could run, but she could never outrun it. We could try to wait it out, but that thought is ridiculous, especially when it starts to move toward us.

I take a deep breath, trying to decide what the best thing to do would be. Anything I do can lead to trouble, but it is something that I may not be able to avoid. Shit, I'm going to have to use my power and that is going to leave a trace on her.

"Don't run," I whisper. The bear growls at us, testing if we will run or be easy prey. He rises on his hind legs, and between the ledge he's standing on and his shear height, he towers over us with power and aggression. When the bear roars, I know it's only moments before he mulls us. I start waving my arms and yelling, trying to scare it or something. I know it's not going to work, this bear knows I'm not going to be able to physically harm it.

The bear drops back onto all fours and rushes us. Kat squeezes her eyes shut. Cursing, I take that instant to let out a ball of light from my hand to frighten the bear. The flash sends the bear careening into the woods, and when I turn back to Kat, the first thing I see is the trace that has lit up her aura, and then I see her start to collapse.