Oblivion (Lux 1.5)

And then there was the fact that I’d been, you know, watching her. That could possibly be a problem. I clenched my fists at my sides.

My sister wouldn’t have the same fate as Dawson. There was no way I could bear the loss of her, and it had been a human girl who had brought him down, led an Arum right to him. Time and time again it had happened with our kind. It wasn’t necessarily the human’s fault, but the end result was always the same. I refused to let anyone put Dee in danger, unknowingly or not. It didn’t matter. Throwing out my hand, I flung the coffee table across the room but caught myself and pulled back just before it crashed into the wall. Taking a deep breath, I settled it back down on four legs.

A soft, almost tentative knock rapped against our front door. Shit.

I exhaled roughly. Ignore it. That was what I needed to do, but I was moving toward the door, opening it before I even knew it. A rush of warm air washed over my skin, carrying the faint scent of peach and vanilla.

Man, did I love peaches, all sweet and sticky.

My gaze dropped. She was short—shorter than I’d realized. The top of her head only came up to my chest. Maybe that was why she was staring at it. Or maybe it was the fact I hadn’t had the inkling to put on my shirt.

I knew she liked what she saw. Everyone did. Ash had once said it was the combination of dark, wavy hair and green eyes, the hard jaw and full lips. Sexy, she’d said. I was hot. Might sound arrogant, but it was the truth.

Since she was blatantly checking me out, I figured I could do the same. Why not? She came knocking on my door.

The girl… She wasn’t cute. Her hair, not really blond or brown, was out of the messy bun, and it was long, hanging over her shoulders. She was short as hell, barely five and a half feet. Still, her legs seemed to stretch forever. Dragging my eyes away from her legs took effort.

Eventually, my gaze landed on the front of her shirt. my blog is better than your vlog. What in the world did that mean? And why would she have that on her shirt… And the words blog and better were stretched taut. I swallowed. Not a good sign.

I lifted my gaze with even more effort.

Her face was round, nose pert, and skin smooth. I bet a million dollars her eyes were brown—big, old doe eyes.

Crazy as hell, but I could feel her eyes as her gaze made the slow perusal from where my jeans hung from my hips, back up to my face. She sucked in a sharp breath, which overshadowed my own inhale.

Her eyes weren’t brown, but they were large and round, a pale shade of heather gray—intelligent and clear eyes. They were beautiful. Even I could admit that.

And it pissed me off. All of this pissed me off. Why was I checking her out? Why was she even here? I frowned. “Can I help you?”

No answer. She stared at me with this look on her face, like she wanted me to kiss those full, pouty lips of hers. Heat stirred in the pit of my stomach.

“Hello?” I caught the edge in my voice—anger, lust, annoyance, more lust. Humans are weak, a risk…Dawson is dead because of a human—a human just like this one . I kept repeating that over and over again. I placed my hand on the doorframe, fingers digging into the wood as I leaned forward. “Are you capable of speaking?”

That got her attention, snapping her right out of the ogling. Her cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink as she stepped back. Good. She was leaving. That’s what I wanted—for her to turn and rush away. Running a hand through my hair, I glanced over her shoulder and then back. Still there.

She really needed to get her cute ass off my porch before I did something stupid. Like smile at the way she was blushing. Sexy, even. And definitely not average. “Going once…”

The flush deepened. Hell. “I…I was wondering if you knew where the closest grocery store is. My name is Katy.”

Katy. Her name was Katy . Reminded me of Kitty. Kitty cat. Kitten. Look at me, putting all these words together.

“I moved next door.” She gestured at her house. “Like, almost three days ago…”

“I know.” I’ve been watching you for almost three days, like a stalker .

“Well, I was hoping someone would know the quickest way to the grocery store and maybe a place that sold plants.”

“Plants?”

Her eyes narrowed just the slightest, and I forced my face to remain expressionless. She fidgeted some more with the hem of her shorts. “Yeah, see, there’s this flower bed in front—”

I arched a brow. “Okay.”

Now her eyes were thin slits, and irritation heightened the blush and rolled off her. Amusement stirred deep inside me. I knew I was being an ass at this point, but I was perversely enjoying the spunk slowly igniting behind her eyes, baiting me. And…the flush of anger was sort of hot in a weird, there’s-really-something-wrong-with-me kind of way. She reminded me of something…

She tried again. “Well, see, I need to go buy plants—”

“For the flower bed. I got that.” I leaned my hip against the doorframe, crossing my arms. This was actually almost fun.

She took a deep breath. “I’d like to find a store where I can buy groceries and plants.” Her tone was one that I used with Dee about a thousand times a day. Adorable.

“You are aware this town has only one stoplight, right?” And there it was. The spark in her eyes was a blazing fire now, and I was fighting a full-on grin. Damn, she wasn’t just cute anymore. She was much, much more, and my stomach sank.

The girl stared at me, incredulous. “You know, all I wanted were directions. This is obviously a bad time.”

Thinking of Dawson, my lip curled into a sneer. Playtime was over. I had to nip this in the bud. For Dee’s sake. “Anytime is a bad time for you to come knocking on my door, kid.”