“So, they might’ve changed the inside extensively, perhaps to set up a base for Talon operatives.”

“That’s what I’m thinking.” Tristan’s voice turned contemplative.

“Of course, we’re going to have to get inside to investigate. Breaking and entering is out, obviously—if we’re wrong, it could spook the real sleepers into moving, and if it is a Talon base, they’ll likely have a ton of alarms set up. We can’t risk alerting the targets. So it looks like it’s up to you.”

“Anything unusual on the surveillance?”

“No. All clear on this end so far.”

“Garret?”

I turned. Ember stood behind me, phone in hand, looking abashed.

“Kristin and Lexi are leaving in a few minutes,” she announced. “But they want to know if I’ll need a ride home.”

I was confused for a second, before I realized what she was asking.

“Understood,” I told Tristan quickly. “Gotta go.”

I hung up. Ember still waited, green eyes watching me expectantly.

“It’s your call,” I told her. “If you need to leave with your friends, I understand. Or, I can drive you home.” And if I drove her home, perhaps there was a way I could get her to ask me inside. Though, if I was being honest, I wasn’t ready to leave just yet. And I didn’t think she was, either.

She smiled. “You wouldn’t mind?”

“Only if you agree to one more game of zombie island.”

The grin grew wider, and her eyes flashed. “Deal.”

Ember

We played three more times. I think he let me win the last one, but I wasn’t complaining. I could never get Lexi or Kristin to play games with me, and Dante was rarely at the mall, so having Garret around was pretty great. After we got bored with shooting zombies, we tried a racing game (I won that one), a fighting game where we were pretty evenly matched (I still beat him), and then Garret absolutely stomped me in air hockey. His reflexes and hand-eye coordination were amazing, better than I’d ever seen in a human before. My super-competitive side would’ve been annoyed but, unlike my brother, he was so damn humble about it. Plus, he really seemed to be having fun.

Later, we revisited the food court, as I was hungry again from a long day of shooting zombies and needed a snack. As I munched a slice of pizza, Garret sat across from me with a soda, his expression thoughtful.

“What?” I asked at last. “Do I have pepper stuck in my teeth or something?”

He smiled. “You keep surprising me,” he said, resting his elbows on the table between us. “I have several things I need to get done today, but I keep getting pulled into zombie games and racing and buying mall food. I’ve never done that before.” The smile twitched into a smirk. “I’ve decided it’s your fault. You’re very distracting.”

I cocked my head. “Good distracting, or bad distracting?”

“I haven’t decided yet.”

“Well, when you figure it out, let me know. I’ll be sure not to care very much.” Finishing the last of my crust, I wiped my hands on a napkin, then noticed Garret’s arm resting on the counter, lean and tan and muscular.

I blinked. A jagged, pale circle marred his forearm near the elbow, shiny and white against his tan skin. I looked closer and saw another scar near his wrist, like an old, faded puncture wound, and several tiny ones scattered between the pair. They were faint, the smaller ones barely visible, but judging from the larger two, his arm had definitely taken some damage.

“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.”