Kat stopped a few feet from the bed. “Are you okay?”
I nodded, lowering my hand, sort of shocked that she was asking about my well-being. “Whenever we use our powers like that, it’s like…losing a part of ourselves. It takes a bit to recharge. I’ll be fine.” I paused. “I’m sorry you had to go through any of this. I didn’t say thank you. You should’ve run, Kat. They would’ve…killed you without thinking twice. But you saved my life. Thank you.”
Her mouth opened and then closed as she rubbed her arms. It seemed to take her a moment to respond. “Will you stay with me tonight?” She then added in a rush, “I’m not coming on to you. You don’t have to, but—”
“I know.” I felt the same way. I just wanted to hold her, reassure myself we were both okay. I stood, and it felt like my stomach dropped to my feet. “Just let me check the house again, and I’ll be right back.”
Before I left the room, she was already in the bed, and when I glanced back at her, she had the covers tugged up to her chin and was staring at the ceiling. A small smile pulled at my lips as I made quick work of double-checking the doors. Then I grabbed my phone out of my room. Dee would be home soon, and if I was smart, I could’ve just told Kat that. Sit up with her and wait until a more appropriate bedmate appeared, but that’s not what I did.
I returned to the guest bedroom and got a little stuck in the doorway when I saw her in the bed again. She should be in my bed. As soon as that mess of a thought entered my head, I pushed it right back out, blaming the night’s drama. Shutting the door behind me, I went to the large bay windows overlooking the front yard.
Kat scooted over to the edge of the bed as I walked around to the other side, and I hid my smile. You’d think we were sharing a tiny bed based on how far she moved over. I climbed in beside her, leaving the comforter at my waist. My temperature ran way higher than hers.
Neither of us spoke.
Both of us lay there, side by side, staring at the ceiling. If anyone said a year ago I’d be lying in a bed with a human girl like this, I would’ve told them to get off drugs.
Biting down on my lip, I turned my head toward hers. A handful of seconds passed before she looked over at me. I grinned at her.
Kat laughed, and yeah, I liked that sound. “This…this is so awkward.”
My grin spread. “It is, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” She giggled.
It sounded crazy to laugh after everything, but my laughter joined hers. This was ridiculous. Everything. Ninety percent of the time we lived to annoy the crap out of each other. I knew that went both ways, but I’d saved her life in the past. She saved mine tonight. And here we were, sharing a bed for no real reason. At least on my side, the shit was funny.
And Kat was…there were no words.
I reached over, catching the tiny tears that had coursed down her cheeks. They weren’t sad tears. Our eyes locked as I lowered my hand. “What you did back there? It was sort of amazing,” I murmured.
One side of her lips twitched up. “Right back atcha. Are you sure you’re not injured?”
I grinned. “No. I’m fine, thanks to you.” Shifting away from her, I turned off the lamp on the nightstand the good ol’-fashioned way—the human way.
The room was plunged into darkness. “Am I glowing?” she asked.
Well, duh. She’d gotten a dose in the field and I’d lit that street up with the Source like a carnival. “Like a Christmas tree.”
“Not just the star?”
I rolled onto my side, close enough to her that my hand brushed her arm. “No. You’re super bright. It’s kind of like looking at the sun.”
She held up her hand, and that was cute. “It’s going to be hard for you to sleep then.”
“Actually, it’s kind of comforting. It reminds me of my own people.”
“The whole obsidian thing?” She looked over at me. “You never told me about that.”
“I didn’t think it would be necessary. Or at least I’d hoped it wouldn’t be.”
“Can it hurt you?”
“No. And before you ask what can, we don’t make a habit of telling humans what can kill us,” I replied evenly. “Not even the DOD knows what’s deadly to us. But the obsidian negates the Arum’s strengths. Just like the beta quartz in the Rocks throws off a lot of the energy we put off, but with obsidian, all it takes is a piercing and…well, you know. It’s the whole light thing, the way obsidian fractures it.”
“Are all crystals harmful to the Arum?”
“No, just this type. I guess it has something to do with the heating and cooling. Matthew explained it to me once. Honestly, I wasn’t paying attention. I know it can kill them. We carry it whenever we go out, usually hidden. Dee carries one in her purse.”
She shuddered. “I can’t believe I killed someone.”
“You didn’t kill someone . You killed an alien—an evil being that would’ve killed you without thinking twice. That was going to kill me.” I absently rubbed at my chest. “You saved my life, Kitten.”
Kat didn’t respond, and I knew it was going to be hard for her to understand.
“You were like Snowbird,” I said after a few moments.
“How do you figure?” she asked.
I smiled slightly. “You could’ve left me there and run, like I said. But instead you came back and you helped me. You didn’t have to.”
“I…I couldn’t leave you there.” The next breath she took was audible. “It wouldn’t have been right. And I would’ve never been able to forgive myself.”