Daemon’s eyes lit up with interest. “Do you have pictures? Please tell me you have pictures.”
Her face broke out in a wide smile. “Actually, I do!” She spun toward a bookcase in the corner, stock full of humiliating pictures. “I chronicled every—”
“Oh, look at the time.” I grabbed Daemon’s arm and pulled. He didn’t budge. “We really need to go.”
“There’s always tomorrow,” he said to my mom, winking. “Right?”
“I don’t go to work until five.” She grinned.
That was so not happening. On the way out, she stopped and gave me another hug. “You do look beautiful, baby. I mean it.”
“Thank you.” I squeezed her back.
She held on like she was never going to let go and I didn’t mind, because after tomorrow night, there was a chance that I may not come back. So I needed my mommy’s hug and I wasn’t too proud to admit that.
“I’m happy for you,” she whispered. “He’s a good boy.”
I gave a watery smile. “I know.”
“Good.” She pulled back, patting my arms with both hands. “Curfew?”
“I—”
“You have none tonight.” To my shock, she smiled. “Just behave and don’t do anything you’ll regret in the morning.” Her gaze drifted over my shoulder, and she muttered, “Wouldn’t be much.”
“Mom!”
Laughing, she gave me a light shove. “I’m old, not dead. Now get going and have fun.”
I left as fast as I could. “You didn’t hear that last part, right?”
Daemon grinned.
“Oh, God…”
Tipping his head back, he laughed as he took my hand. “Come, milady, your chariot awaits.”
I laughed as I climbed into Dolly and once he was inside, we argued over the radio until we were halfway to the school and Daemon sent me a sideways glance. “You really do look beautiful, Kitten. I mean it.”
I smiled, running my fingers over the beads on my clutch. “Thank you.”
There was a pause. “I thought you looked beautiful homecoming night, too.”
My head snapped toward him, clutch forgotten. “Really?”
“Hells yeah. I hated that you were with someone else.” He laughed at my expression and then refocused on the dark road. The easy grin tugged at my heart. “When I saw you with Simon? I wanted to beat the ever-loving crap out of him and snatch you away.”
I laughed. Sometimes I forgot that during those tumultuous first months of knowing each other, a teeny tiny part of him may have liked me.
“So, yeah, I thought you were beautiful then.”
I bit my lip and then hoped I hadn’t smeared my lip gloss. “I always thought you were…” Beautiful wasn’t exactly a manly descriptor, so I went with, “Very handsome.”
“What you mean is that you always thought I was incredibly hot and you couldn’t take your eyes off me.”
“We really need to work on your modesty.” The woods blurred outside the windows, and I could see my grin in the reflection. “But God, did you ever tick me off.”
“It’s a part of my charm.”
I snorted.
The prom was held the same place homecoming was—the high school gymnasium. Real fancy here. The parking lot was packed and because we were running a little late, we had to leave Dolly in the nosebleed section.
Daemon took my hand as we strolled up to the school. The air was warm with just a hint of coolness. The nights were still pretty cold here in May, but I didn’t need a shawl or anything, not with Daemon beside me. He always blew off an incredible amount of heat.
At homecoming, the gymnasium had been transformed by all the fall festive decorations, but for prom, white lights had been strung along the ceiling and down the closed bleachers, forming a dazzling waterfall effect. Large, leafy potted plants had been brought in, surrounding the white-linen-covered tables sitting at the edge of the matted dance floor.
Music was loud, and I could barely hear what Daemon was saying to me as he tugged me forward. Lesa appeared out of nowhere, taking my hand and pulling me toward the floor. She looked awesome in a deep blue trumpet dress that flattered her hourglass curves. Out on the floor other girls surrounded us. Laughter mingled with the beat and I thought of the club in Martinsburg and the cages.
Totally different worlds.
Daemon reappeared, stealing me away from the girls. It was a slow dance and his arm fit perfectly around my waist. I rested my cheek on his shoulder, glad that he and Dee had convinced me into doing the prom thing. Getting out and doing this felt great, like a seven-ton weight was lifted from my shoulders.
Daemon hummed along with the song, his chin brushing my cheek every so often. I liked the way his chest thrummed against mine, reminding me of the natural way his body felt.
Toward the end of the song, I opened my eyes and they locked with Blake’s.
I sucked in a sharp breath. Hadn’t expected him to be here, so seeing Blake caused quite a bit of shock to shoot through me. Was he with someone? No girl was near him, but that didn’t mean anything. Something about the way he stood there watching us was above the acceptable creep factor for my taste.
A couple moved in, laughing as the boy pawed at her hips. When they passed on, Blake was gone, but a weird, icky feeling had popped up in my stomach. The feeling I got whenever I saw Blake, which meant I tried not to think about him at all.
Seeing him made me think of someone else, though. I lifted my head. “Dawson didn’t come?”
Daemon shook his head. “Nah, I think he’d feel like he was betraying Beth if he did.”
“Wow,” I whispered, unsure of what to think of that. His dedication to Beth was more than admirable—it was sort of awe-inspiring. Maybe it was the alien DNA.
Daemon’s arm tightened and the tux pulled taut across his shoulders.
Yes, definitely the alien DNA at work on many, many aspects.
After the slow dance, Andrew and Dee joined us. She looked as divine as I thought she would in her dress and fresh, clean look. I noted that Dee and Andrew kept a discreet distance between each other. To me, it was clear they were just friends—more only because they shared something they lost.
When Daemon left to find something to drink, I was blindsided by Ash and her human date…and her little black dress.
Ash grinned like a cat that ate an entire family of canaries. “David, this is Katy. Don’t worry about remembering her name. You’ll probably forget.”
I ignored her and offered a hand. “Nice to meet you.”
David was handsome—very handsome—and could easily hold his own with the Luxen. He had curly brown hair and his warm whiskey-colored eyes were friendly, too.
He gave a good handshake. “My pleasure.”
And polite. What was he doing with Ash?
“I have certain talents,” she whispered in my ear, as if she read my thoughts, and I frowned at her. “Ask Daemon. He can tell you all about them.” Straightening, she laughed.
Instead of hitting her, which was something I really wanted to do—and I could feel the Source begging me to be used—I smiled sweetly as I brushed past her and placed my hand on the exposed length of her slender back. A high-charged electric surge passed from my hand to her skin.
Letting out a low shriek, Ash jumped and spun around. “You…”
Beside her, David looked confused, but behind him, Dee busted out laughing. I kept smiling, giving Ash a little wink before turning around. Daemon stood there with two cups, one eyebrow arched.
“Bad little Kitten,” he murmured.
Grinning, I stretched up and kissed him. It was an innocent one—or maybe it was on my end, but Daemon totally took it there. When we parted, I was breathless.