That elicited a black scowl. "What did you expect me to do, build traps with sharp sticks at the bottom?" he demanded, raising his voice for the first time and looking around the room in a gesture of frustration. He was about to swing it back toward her when a speck of movement in the mouth of the hallway to the bedroom caught his attention, and he fought to hide his immediate chilled dismay.
He'd forgotten to lock up Kat.
The kitten toddled sleepily around the corner, having no doubt just crawled out from under a heap of Daniel's bedding. If she smelled the new guest, she made no sign, and slipped around the book stacks toward the kitchen, where her food and water was.
Daniel looked sharply back at Vaughn and fought to pull his mind back to the conversation. "I don't want you here," he repeated.