“What is this from?” I asked softly, tracing one with a finger before I could stop myself.

He jerked back, drawing in a sharp breath, and I froze. For a second, we both sat there, rigid. Then, not really knowing why, I slowly reached for his arm, cupping my fingers around his wrist. Garret didn’t move, his steely eyes trained on me as I gently drew his arm forward again. His skin was cool, and I could feel the strength in his hands, in the muscles coiling back like a spring. But his arm remained perfectly still as I touched the scar again, tracing the circle with a fingertip. “It looks like it hurt.”

Garret let out a shaky breath. “It was fairly painful, yes.” His voice was tight, as if everything had seized up and he could barely breathe.

“What happened?”

“An accident. I was attacked by the neighbor’s Rottweiler a few years back.” His arm shook a little, but he didn’t pull away. “I’m told I was lucky I didn’t lose any fingers.”

Fascinated, I turned his palm over. Another scar marred his forearm, and a thick, jagged line crossed his wrist, making me shiver.

Whatever had done this to him, it had been nasty. I looked up and found Garret watching me, the intensity of his gaze making my breath catch. Heat rose to my cheeks, and my heart pounded, as he continued to stare at me. The rest of the world faded away, and all I could imagine was leaning forward, meeting him halfway across the table, and…My phone chirped, indicating a new text, startling us both.

Abruptly, Garret pulled his arm from my grip and rose, sliding back the chair. I blinked, startled again by how quickly he could move;

one moment his hand was in mine, his skin cool beneath my touch, the next he was gone, and I was gazing at an empty seat. Frowning, I dug my phone from my pocket and looked at the screen. There were several missed calls from a number I didn’t recognize, so they were probably spam or telemarketers. But the text was from Dante, which almost never happened, and the message was even more ominous.

Where are u? Come home RIGHT NOW. T is here.

“Crap,” I muttered. Across the table, Garret watched me with serious gray eyes as I stuck the phone back in my pocket and rose, gazing up at him. “That was my brother,” I said. “There’s some kind of crisis at the house—he wants me to come back right away.”

Garret nodded. “I’ll take you home.”

There were no strange cars in the driveway when we rolled up to the house, nothing to indicate anything unusual was happening, but my stomach still twisted nervously as we pulled to a stop.

Why is Talon here? Do they… My stomach tied itself into a knot.

Do they know about me and Cobalt? Have they come to take me back?

Forcing my gaze from the house, I looked at Garret, wondering if this was the last time I’d see him. “Thanks,” I said, trying to smile.

“For lunch and the ride and everything. I guess I’ll talk to you later.”

“Ember.” He hesitated, as if trying to find the right words. “Are you in trouble?” he finally asked. “Do you want me to come in and explain what happened?”

“Um.” I cringed inside. Definitely no, and especially not today.

Liam and Sarah had made it very clear that they didn’t want our friends in the house, for any reason. I always met everyone at the beach, or we’d hang at Kristin’s huge sprawling beach house, or head down to the Smoothie Hut. No one seemed to care that Dante and I never invited anyone inside. Lexi and Kristin had never been past the front door, and neither had any of Dante’s friends. We’d told everyone that our uncle was an eccentric writer who needed absolute quiet to work, and that was that.

Under normal circumstances, Liam would blow a gasket if I invited some strange boy into the house. Today, with Talon visiting, it was out of the question.

“You don’t have to do that,” I told him. “I’ll be all right. See you around, Garret.”

He looked faintly disappointed, which struck me as a little strange.

I couldn’t think of any boy who wanted to come in and take the heat for me. Dante’s friends, Calvin and Tyler especially, didn’t even knock on the door when they picked him up. They sat in the driveway and honked.

“You still owe me a surf lesson,” he said as I reached for the door handle. I looked back, and he smiled. “Tomorrow, if you’re up for it,” he offered quietly, those metallic eyes never leaving my face. “No Lexi or Calvin or anyone else this time. Just you and me.”

“Garret…” I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know if Talon would still be here tomorrow, if I would still be here tomorrow. Maybe Talon had come to whisk me back to the organization, proclaiming I was rebellious and disobedient, unfit for a life among humans. I didn’t want to promise him tomorrow when I wasn’t sure I would ever see him again.

But, a day with Garret, alone…How could I say no? I liked being with him. I liked his quiet confidence and subtle sense of humor, the way having fun seemed like such a novelty to him. He challenged me, he was easy to talk to, and he wasn’t bad on the eyes, either. (Okay, so that was a lie; he was super cute, even my dragon side agreed with that). I felt he was hiding so much, that I wasn’t even seeing the real Garret at all, and the more I hung out with him, the more I would learn.

Also, being with him did strange, twisty things to my insides. my dragon instincts did not approve; they still didn’t like this human with his amazing reflexes and bright, intense eyes. The eyes of a predator. But there was another part of me that couldn’t resist. And the thought of never seeing him again was unfathomable. Even if I knew it was probably for the best.