“And that’s more of a reason why I don’t want you doing this.” His eyes flared an intense green. A sure sign he was seconds from tapping into his protective-fueled temper. “You have no idea what went through my head when I saw you in that cage-when I hear how your voice still rasps when you get excited or upset. You screamed until there-”

“I don’t need a reminder,” I snapped, and then cursed under my breath. I tried to rein in my own temper. I put my hand on his arm. “One of the things I love about you is how protective you are, but it also drives me crazy. You can’t protect me forever.”

His look said he could and would try.

I exhaled roughly. “I need to do this-I need to help Dawson and Beth.”

“And Blake?” he asked.

“What?” I stared at him. “Where did that come from?”

“I don’t know.” He moved his arm away from me. “It doesn’t matter. Can-”

“Wait. It does matter. Why would I want to help Blake after what he pulled? He killed Adam! I wanted him dead. You were the one who was, like, turning over a new leaf or something.”

The moment those words left my mouth, I regretted them. His expression went on lockdown.

“I’m sorry,” I said, meaning it. “I know why you didn’t want to

do away with Blake, but I have to do this. It’ll help me get past what I caused. Like making amends or something.”

“You don’t-”

“I do.”

Daemon turned his cheek, jaw clenching. “Can you do this for me? Please?”

My chest ached, because when Daemon said please, which was rare, I knew how much something bothered him. “I can’t.”

Seconds passed and his shoulders tensed. “This is stupid. You shouldn’t be doing this. All I’m going to worry about is you getting hurt.”

“See? That’s the problem! You can’t always be worried about my getting hurt.”

His brow arched. “You’re always getting hurt.”

My mouth dropped open. “I am not!”

He laughed. “Yeah, try that again.”

I pushed at him, but he was a wall of immovable muscle. Infuriated, I scrambled over him, even more furious when I saw the humored glint in his eyes. “God, you tick me off.”

“Well, at least I got you-”

“Don’t even finish that statement!” I snatched up my socks and tights. Rolling them on, I hobbled on one foot. “Ugh, I hate you sometimes.”

He sat up in one fluid motion. “Not too long ago, you were really, really loving me.”

“Shut up.” I moved on to the other leg. “I’m going with you guys on Sunday. That’s it. End of discussion.”

Daemon stood. “I don’t want you going.”

I wiggled up my tights, glaring at him. “You don’t get to say what I can and can’t do, Daemon.” I grabbed one of my boots, wondering how it got all the way over there. “I’m not a frail, helpless heroine in need of your rescue.”

“This isn’t a book, Kat.”

I yanked on my other boot. “No, really? Crap. I was hoping you skipped to the end and would tell me what happens. I actually love spoilers.”

Spinning around, I left and went downstairs. Of course, he was a step behind me, one giant shadow. We made it outside when he stopped me.

“After everything that went down with Blake, you said you wouldn’t doubt me,” he said. “That you would trust my decisions, but you’re doing it again. Not listening to me or common sense. And when this blows up in your face again , what am I supposed to do then?”

I gasped, backing up. “That’s

That was a low blow.”

He placed his hands on his hips. “It’s the truth.”

Tears stung my eyes, and it took a couple of seconds to get the next words out. “I know all of this is coming from a good place, but I don’t need a friendly reminder of how badly I screwed up. I totally know. And I’m trying to fix that.”

“Kat, I’m not trying to be a dick.”

“I know, it just comes easily to you.” Headlights peeked through the fog, coming up the road. My voice was hoarse when I spoke next. “I’ve got to go. Mom’s home.”

I hurried down the steps and across the gravel and hard, frozen ground. Before I reached my own porch, Daemon appeared. Stopping short, I sputtered, “I hate when you do that.”

“Think about what I said, Kat.” His gaze flickered over my shoulder. Mom’s car was almost here. “You have nothing to prove.”

“I don’t?”

Daemon said no, but it didn’t seem like it when he said he expected everything to blow up in my face again.

Tossing and turning, my brain wouldn’t shut down. I replayed everything that had gone down from the point I’d stopped the branch in front of Blake to the moment I found Simon’s bloodied watch in his truck. How many times had there been signs that he was more than what he said he was? Too many. And how many times had Daemon stepped in and tried to talk me out of training with Blake? Too many.

I flipped onto my back, squeezing my eyes shut.

And what had he meant about Blake? Did he really think I wanted to help him and for what purpose? The last thing I wanted to do was breathe the same air as Blake. There was no way Daemon could be jealous. No. No. No. I’d have to spin kick him in the face if that was the case. And then cry, because if he doubted me

I couldn’t even think about that.

Only one good thing had come from the mess-Dawson. But everything else was

Well, it was the reason I couldn’t sit back and twiddle my thumbs.

I turned onto my side, punched my pillow, and forced my eyes to stay closed.

At the crack of dawn, I drifted off for what felt like seconds to only face the sun creeping through my bedroom window a minute later. Pulling myself out of bed, I showered and changed.

A dull ache had taken up residency behind my eyes. By the time I got to school and grabbed my books out of my locker, it hadn’t faded like I’d hoped. I shuffled into trig and checked my phone for the first time since last night.

No messages.

I dropped the phone back into my bag and rested my chin in my hands. Lesa was the first one in.

Her nose wrinkled when she spotted me. “Ew. You look terrible.”

“Thanks,” I muttered.

“You’re welcome. Carissa has the bird flu or something. Hope you don’t have it.”

I almost laughed. Since Daemon had healed me, I hadn’t even sneezed once. And according to Will, once mutated, you couldn’t get sick, which was why he had tried to force Daemon to mutate him.

“Maybe,” I said.

“Probably that club you went to.” She shivered.

Warmth danced along my neck, and I averted my eyes like a wuss as Daemon took his seat behind me. I knew he was staring at me. He didn’t say anything for about sixty-two seconds. I counted them.

He poked me in the back with his trusty pen.

I twisted around, keeping my face blank. “Hey.”

A single brow arched. “You look well-rested.”

He, on the other hand, looked like he normally did. Freaking perfect. “Got tons of sleep last night. You?”

Daemon popped the pen behind his ear and leaned forward. “I slept for about an hour. I think.”

I lowered my gaze. I wasn’t happy that last night sucked for him, too, but at least it meant he was thinking about it. I started to ask, but he shook his head. “What?” I said.

“I haven’t changed my mind, Kitten. I was hoping you had.”

“No,” I said, and the bell rang. One last meaningful look, and I turned around. Lesa shot me a weird expression, and I shrugged. Wasn’t like I could explain why we were only exchanging a few syllables today. That would be an entertaining conversation.

When the bell rang, I debated on making a run for the door but reconsidered when two denim-clad legs filled my peripheral vision. I couldn’t stop the tumbling my stomach did, even when I was angry with him.

I was such a loser.

Daemon didn’t say anything as we left or when we parted ways, and after each class he appeared out of freaking nowhere. The same happened before bio, and he walked with me up the stairs, eyes scanning over the heads of the students.