Onyx (23 page)

He laughed again, and I wanted to kick him. “Kitten, you’re not helping me fight Arum.”

“Why not? If I can control the Source and help, why not? I could fight.”

“I think the reasons are pretty huge,” he yelled, all the humor vanishing. “First off, you’re a human.”

“Not really.”

His eyes narrowed. “Granted, you’re a mutated human, but a human who’s a hell of a lot weaker and more vulnerable than a Luxen.”

I exhaled slowly. “You don’t know how weak or vulnerable I’ll be fully trained.”

“Whatever. Secondly, you have no business going up against the Arum. That will never happen.”

“Daemon—”

“It won’t if I’m still alive. Do you understand that? You will never go after an Arum. I don’t care if you can stop the world from spinning.”

I tried to push down my anger. One thing I hated more than Daemon’s douche-nozzle side was him telling me what to do. “You don’t own me, Daemon.”

“It’s not about ownership, you little nut.”

“Nut?” I glared at him. “I wouldn’t call me names when I have a knife in my hand.”

He ignored that. “Thirdly, there is something off about Blake. You can’t tell me you don’t see or sense that.”

“Oh, don’t—”

“You know nothing about him—nothing deeper than that he likes to surf and blog. Big deal.”

“These aren’t good enough reasons.”

“Because I don’t want you in danger—how about that? Is that damn good enough for you?” he shouted, and I jumped. He looked away, drawing in several deep breaths.

I hadn’t realized that could’ve been the real reason behind it all. About every part of me softened, and my temper slipped away like a snowflake melting. “Daemon, you can’t stop me just to protect me.”

His head swung back to me. “I
need
to protect you.”

Need
was such a strong word that it stole my breath and my heart. “Daemon, I’m flattered—I am, but your job is not to protect me. I’m not Dee. I’m not another one of your responsibilities.”

“Damn right you’re not Dee! But you are my responsibility. I got you into this mess. And I will not be dragging you further into it!”

My head was spinning. His reasons for wanting me to stop training with Blake were right but all wrong. I needed to prove to him that I wasn’t a liability or something to be constantly watched over. If he felt that way and did keep putting himself in jeopardy because of me, he could lose his own life or Dee’s.

“I’m not stopping,” I said.

Daemon stared at me. “Does it even matter that I don’t want you in that kind of danger? That I won’t facilitate something as idiotic as you gearing up to go against the Arum?”

I flinched. Ouch, that stung. “Wanting to help you and your kind is idiotic?”

His jaw tightened. “Yeah, it is.”

“Daemon,” I whispered. “I get that you care—”

“You don’t get it. That’s the problem!” He stopped, pulling it all back in, sucking the air right out of the room with it. “I won’t be a part of this. I mean it, Katy. You chose this, then…whatever. I won’t have this hanging over my head like I do every freaking day with Dawson. I won’t make another mistake and condone this.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. My chest ached at the thought of him carrying that kind of guilt—guilt that didn’t belong to him. “Daemon—”

“What will it be, Katy?” He looked at me dead-on. “Tell me now.”

“I don’t know what to tell you,” I whispered, tears burning my eyes. Didn’t he see? Going through with this would give me a better chance of not turning out like Bethany and Dawson, of being able to take care of myself and protect him, because one day, he’d need it.

Daemon took a step back as though I’d hit him. “That was the wrong thing to say.” His face turned hard, his eyes like glaciers. The coldness radiating from him chilled me to the bone. He’d never looked more detached. “I’m done.”

Part of me wanted to skip classes the next day, but it wasn’t like I could hide forever. Unexpectedly, Daemon was a no-show. I didn’t see him in the halls, either, or when I grabbed my stuff out of my locker before lunch. He never showed.

I’d chased him right out of the damn school.

“Hey,” Blake said, strolling up to me. “You don’t look any better.”

Through the duration of bio, I’d pretty much had my face stuck in my textbook. I sighed, closing the door. “Yeah, not feeling it today.”

“Hungry?” When I shook my head, he tugged on my backpack. “Me neither. I know a place to go, no food and no people.”

Sounded good to me, because the last thing I could stomach right now was watching Adam and Dee go to second base at the lunch table. Turned out, the place Blake had in mind was the empty auditorium. Perfect.

We sat in the back, propping our feet up on the seats in front of us. Blake pulled an apple from his bag. “Did Daemon ever calm down last night?”

I groaned inwardly. “Yeah…not really.”

“I was afraid of that.” There was a pause as he bit into the shiny red fruit. “You really weren’t in any danger. If you didn’t stop it, one of us would’ve.”

“I know.” I scooted down and laid my head on the back of my seat. “He just doesn’t want to see me hurt.” And that actually hurt to say, because I knew there was a mile-long road of good intentions behind what he had been saying last night, but he needed to see me as an equal. Not someone who was weak and needed rescuing.

“That’s admirable.” Blake grinned around his apple. “You know I don’t like the tool, but he cares about you. And I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause trouble between you two.”

“It’s not your fault.” I patted his knee, not surprised when I got a little shock. “Everything will be okay.”

Blake nodded. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

He took another bite before he continued. “Is Daemon the one who healed you? I ask, because it may give me a better understanding of your power to know who changed you.”

Anxiousness blossomed. “Why would you think it was him?”

Blake gave me a pointed look. “It would explain how close you two are. My friend and I were close afterward. I almost always knew when he was around. We were like two halves of the same whole after he healed me. It was a strong…bond.”

Healing me was so forbidden that even an army of Arum couldn’t get me to admit that it had been Daemon. “That’s good to know, but that’s not the case.” Curiosity did get the best of me, though. “You say you two were close. Did it make you…attracted to him?”

“What?” He laughed. “No. We were like brothers, but the connection—whatever it is that they do to us—doesn’t force us to feel anything. It just makes us close to who healed us. It’s stronger than a familial bond, but not sexual or even emotional on that kind of level.”

I lowered my lashes before he could see the rush of fresh tears that burned my eyes. Great. I was the biggest asshat alive. This whole time I’d kept throwing the alien connection in Daemon’s face and it hadn’t been what was propelling him.

“Well, that’s good to know.” My own voice sounded strange to me. “Anyway...why is it so important who healed me?”

He looked at me like he doubted my IQ as he finished off his apple. “Because I hear that how strong the Luxen is who heals you is an indication of how much stronger you’ll be. At least, that’s what I’ve picked up from Liz. Her power and limitations were linked to who healed her. Same as me.”

“Oh.” Well, that explained how I blasted a satellite into outer space. Daemon’s ego would go through the charts if he knew. I started to grin, but thinking of him renewed the ache in my chest.

“Which is why I thought it was Daemon, but he’s pretty damn powerful. No offense, but you really haven’t done anything extraordinary, so…”

“Gee, thanks?” I laughed at his chagrined look. “Anyway, it’s not anyone you’d ever expect, and that’s all I’m willing to say about it, okay?”

“All right.” He held up the core of his apple, frowning. “You don’t trust me, do you?”

I was quick to tell him that I did, I stopped. Someone at least deserved my honesty. “Don’t take it personally, but right now, I think trust is something not easily given, considering.”

Blake glanced at me sideways and smiled. “Good idea.”

…

If I saw another knife in the next ten years, I’d need long-term psychiatric care. Spending time with a knife being thrown at me wasn’t my idea of fun.

Thankfully, I’d been able to stop them all. And without Daemon there, Blake stayed in one piece.

He moved onto throwing non-deadly stuff at my head, like pillows and books, by the end of the week. After several hours, I’d mastered the art of not eating fabric. I never let the books hit me or the floor, though. That just seemed sacrilegious.

It seemed ass backward to start off with the knives and end with the pillow, but I understood his master plan. My ability was also tied to my emotions—like fear. I needed to be able to tap into those strong feelings and use them when I wasn’t freaking out. I also needed to be able to control them when I was spazzing.

I groaned as I picked up all of the pillows off the floor and the books off the coffee table, putting them each back where they belonged.

“Tired?” Blake commented, lounging against the wall.

“Yeah.” I yawned.

“You know how the Luxen get tired from using their powers?” Blake grabbed the last book, placing it where he’d gotten it: the TV stand.

“Yeah, and I remember you saying something about us tiring out faster than they do.”

“We are just like the Luxen in that sense. They use up energy to do things—the whole sending-a-piece-of-them thing? We’re the same way, but they can go a lot longer than we can. I don’t know why. Has something to do with the fact that we only have half-alien DNA, but we have to be careful, Katy. The more abilities we use, the weaker we get. And faster.”

“Great,” I muttered. “So Daemon could’ve really held you against the wall all night?”

“Yep.” He stopped beside me. “Sugar helps. But so does the Melody Stone.”

“The what?” I rubbed the back of my neck as I dropped onto the couch.

“It’s a type of crystal—a very rare opal.” He sat beside me, so close that his thigh pressed against mine. I scooted away.

“What does it do?”

He rested his head back on the cushion and gave me a lopsided shrug. “From what I’ve learned, it can help increase our powers. Possibly even stabilize them so we don’t grow tired like the Luxen do.”

The whole crystal business didn’t make sense to me. It sounded like a bunch of New Age crap, but then again, what did I know? “Do you have one?”

Blake laughed. “No. They’re hard to get.”

Grabbing an abused pillow, I placed it under my head and closed my eyes, snuggling against the arm of the couch. “Well, then I guess it’s just me and sugar.”

There was a pause. “You did really well, though. You’re a fast learner.”

“Ha! You weren’t saying that the first week of training.” I yawned. “Maybe this won’t be so hard. I’ll get control of my abilities…and everything will go back to normal.”

“Things won’t ever be normal, Katy. Once you step outside the range of the beta quartz, the Arum will find you.” The couch dipped on my side, but I was too tired to open my eyes. “But if you can really control this, you’ll be able to defend yourself.”

And that’s what I wanted. To stand beside Daemon, not cower behind him. “You’re such a bearer of great news. You know that?”

“I don’t mean to.”

The cushion under me shifted even more, and I felt Blake’s fingers brushing my hair aside. My eyes snapped open, and I jerked up, twisting around to face him. “Blake.”

He sat back, placing his hand on his thigh. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I just wanted to make sure you were okay over there.”

Was that all? Or more? Oh, man, this was so awkward. “Things are really complicated right now.”

“Understandable,” he said, sitting back. “You like him, don’t you?”

I clutched the pillow to my chest, not sure what to say.

“Don’t lie.” He laughed when I frowned. “You always blush when you lie.”

“I don’t know why people keep saying that. My cheeks are not a human lie detector.” I toyed with a frayed thread, knowing we needed to have
that
conversation, especially since we were working together. “I’m sorry. Just right now—”

“Katy, it’s okay.” He placed his hand on mine, squeezing reassuringly. “For real. I like you. I do. Obviously. But you have a lot going on, and probably some of that was before I even came here. So it’s okay. Really.”

The first real smile in two days turned up my lips. “Thanks for being so…understanding.”

Blake pushed off the couch, running his hand through his hair. “Well, I have the time to be patient. I’m not going anywhere.”

…

I sat in class, trying to focus on what Carissa and Lesa were talking about. My skin was alternating between hot and cold flashes.

“So, Katy, you’ve been hanging out with surfer boy a lot.” Lesa cocked an eyebrow. “Care to share the details on that?”

I shrank in my seat. “No. We’re just hanging out.”

“Just hanging out,” Lesa repeated slyly, “is like code for having sex.”

Carissa’s mouth dropped open. “No, it’s not!”

“You obviously haven’t dated a lot of guys around here.” Lesa sat back in her chair, pulling on a tight curl. “Actually, pretty much everything with guys around here is code for sex.”

“I’m going to have to go with Carissa on this one. Hanging out does not equal sex the last time I—”

Tingles shot across my neck and my heart rate spiked. I caught a glimpse of Daemon coming through the doorway and I focused on Lesa’s face as though she were my lifeline.

Daemon glided past my seat and took his behind me. I clenched the edges of my notebook, hoping our teacher wouldn’t take his sweet time getting to class.

A pen poked me in the back.

An unbelievably giddy rush swept through me. I turned slowly. I couldn’t pick up anything from his guarded expression.

“I see you’ve been…busy,” he said, lashes lowered.

Sucky part about living next to Daemon was the fact he pretty much saw everything I did. And that meant he knew I was still training with Blake. “Yeah, kind of.”

Daemon’s elbows scooted over the desk as he cupped his chin in his hands. “So what is Bobo doing?”

“It’s
Blake
,” I said, voice low. “And you know what we’ve been doing. You’re more—”

“Not going to happen.” He then laughed under his breath, but there was no humor to it as he inched a little closer. His irises deepened. “I really wish you’d think about this.”

“And I wish
you
’d think about this.”

Daemon didn’t respond. He pulled his elbows back toward him, crossing his arms. Our conversation was obviously over. I twisted around, feeling icky.

Morning classes dragged. Lesa was waiting for me outside of bio, stopping me from going in. “Can I ask you a question?” she said, glancing around.

I sighed. “Sure.”

She pulled me against an unoccupied locker. “What’s going on? You kissed Daemon before Halloween, went out with Blake once, and now you went out with him again, but you and Daemon undeniably have something going on.”

I made a face. “Gee, it sounds like I’m a ho-bag or something.”

Lesa made a face. “I’m so not the one who’s going to slut shame. Trust me. I’m just curious. Do you have any idea what you’re doing?”

One of the reasons I liked Lesa? She didn’t beat around the bush. She spoke what she thought, and because of that, I was more open with her than anyone. “I honestly don’t know. I mean, I do. I’m not…dating Blake. And I’m not dating Daemon.”

“You’re not?”

I leaned against the cool steel and sighed. “It’s complicated.”

“Can’t be that complicated,” she said. “Who do you like?”

Closing my eyes, I finally put voice to it. “Daemon.”

“Ah-ha!” She bumped me with her hip. “Wait. How is it complicated? Daemon’s got it for you big time. Everyone can see that, even when you guys are at each other’s throats. And you like him. What’s the deal?”

How could I explain how messed up everything was? “It’s just really complicated. Trust me.”

Lesa frowned. “I’m going to have to take your word for it, because Blake is coming down the hall.” She whipped around so quickly it was like she’d been caught peeping down my shirt.

Bio was uneventful. Blake typically acted like we weren’t mutants or anything while we were in school, and I appreciated him for that. Here, I could be normal, as odd as that was.

I discovered they were serving cold lasagna and salad that smelled funny for lunch. Yum. I slopped some on my plate while craving a strawberry smoothie. Doubtful I’d get that delivered today. Daemon had stopped bringing me treats about the time training had started. I missed it. I missed him.