Onyx (19 page)

“So everything was a lie?” I asked. “Santa Monica, the surfing?”

“No, not everything was a lie. I’m from Santa Monica and I still love surfing,” he said. “I’ve lied as much as you have, Katy.”

He had a point.

Blake leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. He sank into the shadows, fatigue weighing his shoulders down. It was obvious his little freeze show earlier had worn him out. “You’ve been hurt, haven’t you? And healed by one of them?”

Daemon stiffened beside me. My loyalty to my friends wouldn’t allow me to confirm that. I wouldn’t betray them, not even to someone who may be like me.

He sighed again. “You’re not going to tell me which one it was?”

“It’s not your business,” I said. “How did you know I was different?”

“You mean besides the obvious obsidian, the alien entourage, and the branch?” He laughed. “You’re full of electricity. See?” He reached between the seats and placed his hand over mine. Static crackled, jolting us both.

Daemon grabbed Blake’s hand and threw it back at him. “I do not like you.”

“Feeling’s mutual, bud.” Blake looked at me. “It’s the same whenever we touch an Arum or a Luxen, isn’t it? You feel their skin hum?”

I remembered the first time we’d touched in biology. “How do you know about the DOD?”

“I met another human like us. She was under the DOD’s thumb. Apparently she exposed her abilities and they swooped in. She told me everything about the DOD and what they really want, which isn’t the Luxen or the Arum.”

Now that had Daemon’s full attention. He was practically in the backseat with Blake. “What do you mean?”

“They want people like Katy. They don’t give two shits about the aliens. They want us.”

Icy fear shot through me as I gaped at him.
“What?”

“You need to explain that a lot better,” Daemon ordered as static built in the tiny car.

Blake leaned forward. “Do you really think the DOD doesn’t know what both the Arum and Luxen are capable of, that after studying your kind for decades and decades that they don’t know what they’re dealing with? And if you really believe not, then you’re stupid or naive.”

Another jolt of terror shuttled through me, but this time for Daemon and my friends. Even I had my doubts, but they’d seemed so convinced that they’d hidden their talents.

Daemon shook his head. “If the DOD knew about our abilities, they wouldn’t let us live free. They’d have us locked up in a heartbeat.”

“Really? The DOD knows the Luxen are a peaceful race and they know the Arum aren’t the same as your kind. Having the Luxen free takes care of the Arum alien problem. Besides, don’t they get rid of any Luxen who causes a problem?” Blake jerked back as Daemon nearly went over the seat, but I grabbed his sweater. Not like I could hold him in place, but he stopped. “Look, all I’m saying is there are bigger fish the DOD wants. And that’s the humans the Luxen mutate. We’re just as strong as you—even stronger in some cases. The only thing is, we tire out a lot quicker and it takes us longer to recharge, so to speak.”

Daemon settled back, his hands clenching and unclenching.

“The only reason why the DOD lets you believe that your big, bad secret is hidden is because they know what you can do to humans,” Blake said. “And we’re what they care about.”

“No,” I whispered, my brain rebelling against the idea. “Why would they care about us instead of them?”

“Gee, Katy, why would the government be interested in a bunch of humans who have more powers than the very creatures who created us? I don’t know. Maybe because they’d have a superhuman army at their disposal or a group of people who can get rid of the aliens if need be?”

Daemon swore under his breath—a work of art with curse words. And that scared me more than anything, because that meant Daemon was actually starting to listen to what Blake was saying. And believe it.

“But how…how are you stronger than the Luxen?” I asked.

“That’s a good question,” Daemon admitted softly.

“In the diner, when I knew the guy was going to skip out on his meal? It’s because I could pick up on bits of his thoughts. Not all of them, but enough to know what he’s planning. I can hear almost any human—any one that’s not mutated.”

“Mutated?” God, that word brought forth some really gross images.

“You’re mutated. Tell me, have you been sick recently? Had a really high fever?”

Apprehension rose so quickly it left me dizzy. From the other seat, Daemon tensed.

“I can tell by your expression you have. Let me guess, you had a fever so bad that it felt like your entire body was on fire? Lasted a couple of days and then you felt fine—better than ever?” He turned to the window again, shaking his head. “And now you can move things without touching them? Probably have no control. The table shaking inside wasn’t me. It was
you
. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Soon you’ll be able to do a hell of a lot more, and if you don’t get control of it, it’s going to be really bad. This damn place is swarming with DOD, hidden in plain sight. And they’re here looking for hybrids. Far as I know, the Luxen don’t typically heal humans, but it happens.” He glanced at Daemon. “Obviously.”

Hands shaking, I tucked my hair behind my ears. There was no point in lying about what I could do. He’d been right. Jesus. Daemon had
mutated
me. “Then why are you here if it’s such a risk now?”

“You,” he said, ignoring Daemon’s barely audible growl. “Honestly, I thought about not coming back. Moving on, but there’s my uncle…and you. That’s not many like us who haven’t been caught by the DOD. You need to know what kind of danger you’re in.”

“But you don’t even know me.” It seemed absurd that he’d risk so much.

“And we don’t know you,” Daemon added, eyes narrowed.

He shrugged. “I like you. Not you, Daemon.” He smiled. “But Katy.”

“I really, really do not like you at all.”

My stomach twisted. This wasn’t the time to get into that mess. My brain was on overload. “Blake…”

“That wasn’t said to make you say you like me or not. I’m just stating the fact. I like you.” He glanced at me, eyes shuttered. “And you don’t know what you’ve stepped in. I can help you.”

“Bullshit,” Daemon said. “If she needs help controlling her abilities, then I can do it.”

“Can you? What you do is second nature to you. Not to Katy. I had to learn how to rein in my abilities. I can teach her. Stabilize her.”

“Stabilize me?” My laugh sounded a bit choked. “What’s going to happen? I’m going to explode or something?”

He looked at me. “You can seriously end up hurting yourself or others. I’ve heard things, Katy. Some mutated humans… Well, let’s just say it doesn’t end pretty.”

“You don’t need to scare her.”

“I’m not trying to. It’s just the truth,” Blake responded. “And if the DOD finds out about you, they’re going to take you in. And if you can’t control your abilities, they will put you down.”

I gasped, turning away. Put me down? Like a feral animal? All of this was happening way too fast. Just last night I’d been having a good,
normal
time with Daemon. The very thing I’d wanted from Blake, who turned out not to be normal at all. And the whole time I believed Blake was attracted to me because he wanted to be, he was drawn to me because we were both X-Men wannabes.

Ha. Irony was such a bitch.

“Katy, I know this is a lot. But you have to be prepared. You leave this town, the Arum are going to be on you. That is, if you can slide by the DOD.”

“You’re right. This is a lot.” I faced him. “I thought you were normal. And you’re not. You’re telling me that I have the DOD gunning for me. That if I ever decide to leave this place, I’m going to be a Snack Pack for an Arum. And better yet, I may lose complete control of whatever powers I have and wipe out a family of four, then be
put down
! All I wanted to do today was eat some goddamn fries and
be normal
!”

Daemon let out a low whistle and Blake winced. “You’re never going to be normal, Katy. Never again.”

“No shit,” I snapped. I wanted to hit something, but I needed to pull it together. If I’d learned anything from my dad’s sickness, it was that things couldn’t be changed. But I could change how I dealt with them. Since I moved here—since I met Daemon and Dee—I’d changed.

Taking a deep breath, I pulled in the anger, fear, and frustration. Perspective was needed. “What are we going to do?”

“We don’t need his help,” Daemon said.

“But you do,” Blake whispered. “I heard about the window thing with Simon.”

I glanced at Daemon, and he shook his head.

“What do you think will happen next time? Simon ran off, doing God knows what. You won’t get so lucky again.”

Simon’s disappearance wasn’t luck. I didn’t want to look at it that way. Tipping my head back, I closed my eyes. Ice settled in my limbs. It was no longer a fear of exposing the Luxen, but myself now, too. And my mom.

“How do you know so much about them?” I asked, voice small.

“The girl I was telling you about? She told me everything. I wanted to help her…to get away, but she wouldn’t leave. The DOD had something or someone that meant a lot to her.”

God. The DOD was like the mafia. They’d use any means necessary. I shivered. “Who was she?”

“Liz something,” he said. “Don’t know her last name.”

The walls of the car seemed to shift even closer. Trapped. I felt trapped.

Daemon was boiling over in the seat next to me. “You know,” he said to Blake, “there’s nothing stopping me from killing you. Right now.”

“Yes, there is.” Blake’s voice was even. “There’s Katy and the fact I doubt you’re a cold-blooded killer.”

Daemon stiffened. “I don’t trust you.”

“You don’t have to. Only Katy does.”

And that was the thing. I wasn’t sure I did trust him, but he was like me. And if he could help me not expose Daemon and my friends, I’d do anything. It was just that simple. Everything else would have to be played by ear.

I looked at Daemon. He was staring ahead now, hand on the dashboard as if the plastic was grounding him somehow. Did he feel as helpless as I did? It didn’t matter. I couldn’t—wouldn’t risk him.

“When do we start?” I asked.

“Tomorrow if you can,” Blake said.

“My mom leaves for work after five.” I swallowed.

Blake agreed and Daemon said, “I’ll be there.”

“Not necessary,” Blake shot back.

“And I don’t care. You aren’t doing a damn thing with Katy without me being there.” He faced the boy again. “I don’t trust you. Just so we’re clear.”

“Whatever.” Blake climbed out of the car. Cold air rushed in, and I called out his name. He stopped with his hand on the door. “What?”

“How did you get away from the Arum when they attacked you?” I asked.

Blake looked away, eyes squinting at the sky. “That’s not something I’m ready to talk about, Katy.” He shut the door and jogged off toward his car.

I sat there for several minutes, staring out the window, not really seeing anything. Daemon muttered something under his breath and then opened his door, disappearing into the shadows surrounding the diner. He’d left me.

I didn’t even remember the trip home. Pulling into the driveway, I killed the engine and sat back, closing my eyes. Night seeped into my silent car. I got out, took a step, and heard my porch steps groan.

Daemon had beaten me home. He came down the steps, his baseball cap hiding his eyes.

I shook my head. “Daemon…”

“I don’t trust him. I don’t trust a damn thing about him, Kat.” He took off his hat, thrust his fingers through his hair, and then slammed the cap back down. “He comes out of nowhere and knows
everything
. Every instinct is telling me he can’t be trusted. He could be anyone, working for any organization. We don’t know anything about him.”

“I know.” Suddenly, I was just so freaking tired. All I wanted to do was lay down. “But at least this way we can keep an eye on him. Right?”

He gave a short, dry laugh. “There are other ways of dealing with him.”

“What?” My voice rose and was carried away by the wind. “Daemon, you can’t be thinking…”

“I don’t even know what I’m thinking.” He took a step back. “And dammit, my head is so not in the right place at this moment.” There was a pause. “Why were you with him in the first place?”

My heart lurched. “We were grabbing something to eat and I was—”

“You were what?”

Somehow I felt like I’d walked into an even bigger trap. Unsure of how to answer, I didn’t say anything. That was my biggest mistake.

Understanding dawned, and he tipped his chin up. For an instant, the green of his eyes darkened with raw emotion. “You went to Bryon after…”

After I’d spent the night with him…wrapped in
his
arms. I shook my head, needing him to understand why I went to see Blake. “Daemon—”

“You know, I’m not really surprised.” His smile was half knowing and half bitter. “We kissed. Twice. You spent the night using me as your own body pillow…and liking it. I’m sure that had you freaking out the moment I left. You ran straight to Boris, because he really doesn’t make you feel anything. And feeling something for me scares the hell out of you.”