Onyx (18 page)

Daemon reached out, brushing a strand of hair off my cheek with the tips of his fingers. Electricity shimmered through me. There was no denying the attraction—the pull that didn’t want to let either of us go. My gaze was fixed on his lips like an addict. Memories of the way they’d felt seared me. All of this was crazy. Inviting him to stay, getting in bed with him, and thinking what I was about him. Crazy. Exciting.

I swallowed. “We should go to sleep.”

His hand palmed my cheek, and I wanted to touch him. I wanted to be closer. “We should,” he agreed.

Lifting my hand, I brushed my fingers over his lips. They were pillowy soft yet firm. Intoxicating. Daemon’s eyes flared, and my stomach hollowed. He shifted his head closer and his lips brushed the corner of mine. His hands slid from my face and down my neck, and when he dipped his head again, his lips brushed over the tip of my nose. And then he kissed me. A slow-burning, toe-curling kiss that left me aching for so, so much more. I felt like I was spinning into that kiss, falling into him.

He pulled back with a groan and settled beside me, wrapping an arm around my waist. “Good night, Kitten.”

Heart pounding, I let out a long sigh. “That’s all?”

Daemon laughed. “That’s all…for now.”

Biting my lip, I willed my heart to slow down. It seemed to take forever. Then finally, I wiggled closer until he snaked an arm under my head. I turned onto my side, resting my cheek against his upper arm. Our breaths mingled as we lay there, staring at each other silently until his eyes drifted shut. For the second time that night, I admitted that maybe I’d been wrong about Daemon. Maybe I didn’t even know myself. And there was no wine to blame this time.

I drifted off to sleep wondering what he meant by “for now.”

When Blake texted me and asked to meet him at the Smoke Hole Diner Friday evening, I didn’t know what to do. It seemed…wrong to have an early dinner with him when last night I’d slept in Daemon’s arms.

My cheeks flushed. We didn’t do anything other than that one kiss, but it was just as intimate, if not more. My feelings for him were all over the place and what he did for me yesterday, with the dinner and the Christmas tree, meant something I couldn’t ignore.

But I also couldn’t ignore Blake. He was my friend, and after last night, I needed to make sure he didn’t expect anything more than that—a friendship. Because somewhere over the course of a day, even though I hadn’t figured out things with Daemon, I did realize that he was right about one thing.

I was using Blake.

He was uncomplicated and harmless. Totally a nice guy and dateable, but my feelings were lukewarm for the surfer. Nothing like how I felt for Daemon. And it wasn’t right. If Blake did like me, I couldn’t string him along anymore.

So I texted him back and said okay, hoping this wouldn’t be the most awkward dinner of my life.

The weather had changed the moment the sun went behind the mountains. The comfortable autumn air was replaced by near-frigid winds, and the sky took on a constant gloomy, overcast presence.

I pulled into the closest parking space to the door of the diner. The wind had screamed the whole trip, and I dreaded getting out of my warm car. I couldn’t help but notice that the space of glass above the restaurant’s business hours held a picture of Simon on it. I grimaced, threw open the door, and hurried into the surprisingly crowded restaurant.

Blake was sitting near the fireplace. He stood and smiled when he saw me. “Hey, glad you made it.”

When he reached out as if he wanted to hug me, I pretended not to notice and sat. “I can’t believe how cold it is. How was your trip?”

Frowning slightly, he took his seat and methodically straightened his silverware around a pretend plate. “It wasn’t bad. Not very exciting.” When the cutlery was positioned just so, he glanced up. “How was your break?”

“Not very different than yours.” I paused, recognizing a few kids from school. They were clustered together, drinking sodas and eating a large oven pizza. Chad—the boy Lesa was dating—waved at me and I waved back. “But I’m not ready for it to be over.”

We paused while a plump waitress took our orders. I got a soda and a basket of fries and he ordered soup.

“Hopefully this doesn’t end up all over me,” he joked.

I cringed. Not likely, since Daemon wasn’t here…yet. “I really am sorry about all that.”

Blake tapped his straw off my hand before peeling the paper from around the plastic. “It’s not a big deal. Stuff happens.”

I nodded, studying the steamed-over windows. He cleared his throat, frowning again as his eyes narrowed on a middle-aged man near the bar who was looking around nervously. “I think that guy’s about to skip out on his bill.”

“Huh, really?”

Blake nodded. “And he thinks he’s getting away with it. He has so many times before.”

In stunned silence, I watched the man take one last drink and stand without getting his check.

“Someone is always watching,” Blake added with a slight smile.

A couple sitting behind the man, both in flannel shirts and well-worn jeans, were also watching the customer about to flee. The man leaned toward the woman, whispering something. Her heavy face twisted into a scowl, and she slammed her hand down on the table. “No-good bums, always thinking they can get a free meal!”

The outburst caught the attention of the manager who was taking an order by the door. He turned to face the startled man. “Hey! Did you pay for that?”

The man stopped and fumbled in his pockets. He muttered an apology and hastily threw several crumpled bills on the table.

My head snapped back to Blake. “Whoa, that was…uncanny.”

He shrugged.

I waited until the waitress returned with our order and left, my unease growing. “How did you know he was going to do that?”

Blake blew on his spoonful of vegetable soup. “A good guess.”

“Bullshit,” I whispered.

His gaze met mine. “It was just a lucky guess.”

Doubt bubbled up. Blake wasn’t an alien—at least I assumed he wasn’t, and none of the Luxen I knew could read minds or foresee anything, but that was just too weird. It could’ve been a lucky guess, but every instinct was telling me there was something more.

I munched on the fries. “So do you have lucky guesses a lot?”

He shrugged. “Sometimes. It’s just intuition.”

“Intuition,” I said, nodding. “That’s some spot-on intuition.”

“Anyway, I heard about that kid going missing. That totally sucks.”

The abrupt change of subject was jarring. “Yeah, it does. I think the cops believe he ran away.”

Blake twirled his spoon in the soup. “Did they ask Daemon a lot of questions?”

I frowned. “Why would they?”

Blake’s hand stilled. “Well…because Daemon did get in a fight with him. I mean, it seems likely they would question him.”

Okay, he had a point, and I was being way too twitchy about this. “Yeah, I think they did, but he didn’t have anything to do with—” I froze, not believing what I was feeling. Dull heat flared between my breasts.

It couldn’t be.

I dropped the fry back into the basket. The obsidian flared under my sweater. Frantically, I reached around my neck, tugging on the chain. When the obsidian slipped free, I wrapped my hand around it, wincing as the stone scorched my palm. Panic clawed up my throat as I lifted my eyes.

Blake was doing something with his wrist, but my eyes latched onto the front door. It swung open. Fallen leaves scattered across the tile. The low hum of conversation continued, the customers unaware a monster was in their mix. Near-scalding heat radiated from the obsidian. Our table started to rattled softly.

In the doorway, a tall and pale woman with dark sunglasses covering half her face scanned the crowded patrons. Her raven-colored hair hung in thick, ropey strands around her cheeks. Her red lips were spread in a serpent’s smile.

She was an Arum.

I was starting to stand, seconds away from ripping the obsidian off my neck. Would I really charge her? I wasn’t sure, but I couldn’t stand here and do nothing. My muscles tensed. Arum always traveled in fours, so if there was one, that meant there were three more somewhere.

Blood pounded in my ears. I was so intent on the female Arum that I hadn’t paid attention to Blake until he was in front of me.

He raised one hand.

Everyone stopped.
Everyone
.

Some people had forks of food halfway to their mouths. Others were stopped in mid-conversation, mouths hanging open in silent laughter. A few had even stopped walking with one foot off the ground. A waitress had been lighting a candle with a small lighter. She was frozen but the flame still danced above the lighter. No one talked, no one moved, and no one even seemed to breathe.

Blake? I took a step back from him, unsure of whom I should be more afraid of—the Arum or the harmless surfer boy.

The female Arum hadn’t frozen. She was moving her head side to side in slick, fluid motions as she studied the frozen humans and, I assumed, a few Luxen.

“Arum,” Blake accused, voice low.

She whipped around, her head still moving. She took off her sunglasses, squinted. “Human?”

Blake laughed. “Not quite.”

And then he launched himself at her.

Blake was a freaking ninja.

Moving lightning fast, he dipped under the Arum’s outstretched arm and spun around, delivering a vicious spin kick to her back. She staggered forward a step and whirled. The air around her hand darkened with black energy. She reared back, preparing to deliver a blow.

Dropping down, he spun and knocked her leather-encased legs from underneath her. The dark energy flickered out as they both rose to their feet again, circling each other in the narrow space between the cramped tables and frozen people.

I sort of just stood there, mystified and entranced by the display. There was no expression on Blake’s face. It was like a kickass switch had been thrown, and his whole being was focused on the Arum.

Blake darted in, his palm catching the Arum’s chin, snapping her head back. Teeth rattled, and when she lowered her head, a dark, oily substance leaked from her lip.

She faded out, taking on her true form. Her shadowy body was thick and smoky as it charged Blake.

He laughed.

And pivoted around so fast that his hand was just a blur as it sunk deep into what appeared to be her chest. His watch…wasn’t a normal watch. It was a shred of obsidian currently embedded in the Arum’s chest.

Blake jerked his hand back.

As she took on a human form, her face was pale and shocked. A second later, she exploded in a rush of black smoke that blew my hair back and filled the air with a bitter scent.

Not even out of breath, Blake turned to me and pressed something on his watch. He placed it back on his wrist, then ran a hand through his messy hair.

I gaped at him, the obsidian rapidly cooling under my hand. “Are you, like…Jason Bourne or something?”

Striding over to our table, he dropped a twenty and a ten on the plaid tablecloth. “We need to talk somewhere private.”

Eyes wide, I took a deep breath. My world just got a little more insane, but if I could deal with aliens, I could deal with ninja Blake. That didn’t mean I was going somewhere with him until I knew what the hell he was, though. “My car.”

He nodded, and we headed for the door. Blake held it open for me as he faced the frozen diner. With a wave of his hand, everyone started moving. No one seemed to notice that they’d been frozen for minutes.

We were two steps from my car when I realized my hands were shaking and the back of my neck was tingling.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Blake muttered and took ahold of my hand.

I didn’t even have to look. There was no Infiniti SUV in the parking lot that I could see, but then again, Daemon had his own special method of travel if necessary.

A tall, imposing shadow fell upon us, and I lifted my gaze. Daemon stood there, a black baseball cap pulled low, shielding the upper half of his face.

“What…what are you doing here?” I asked, and then realized Blake was holding my hand. I pulled it free.

Daemon’s jaw was so hard it could cut through marble. “I was just about to ask you the same thing.”

Oh…oh dear, this didn’t look good. Suddenly, the Arum chick and ninja Blake didn’t even matter. Only Daemon did and what he must be assuming. “This isn’t what—”

“Look, I don’t know what’s going on between you two or whatever.” As Blake spoke, he curved his hand around my elbow. “But Katy and I need to talk—”

One second, Blake was talking, and the next, he was pressed against the window of the Smoke Hole Diner, with a six-foot-and-then-some alien all up in his grille.

Daemon’s face was an inch from Blake’s, the bill of his baseball cap creasing Blake’s forehead. “You touch her again and I will—”

“You’ll what?” Blake shot back, his eyes narrowed. “What are you going to do, Daemon?”

I grabbed Daemon’s shoulder and pulled. He didn’t budge. “Daemon, come on. Let him go.”

“You want to know what I’m going to do?” Daemon’s entire body tensed under my hand. “You know where your head and ass are? Well, they’re about to become well acquainted with each other.”

Oh, good Lord. We were starting to gain an audience. People were watching from their cars. No doubt an entire restaurant was witnessing this go down from the inside. I tried again to break the two boys apart, but both of them ignored me.

Blake smirked. “I’d like to see you try.”

“You might want to rethink that.” Daemon laughed low. “Because you have no idea what I’m capable of, boy.”

“See, that’s the funny thing.” Blake gripped Daemon’s wrist. “I know exactly what you’re capable of.”

A shiver rolled down my spine. Who in the hell was Blake?

Flannel Shirt Guy came out of the diner, hitching up his ragged pants. He spit out a mouthful of chew as he approached us. “Boys, you’re gonna wanna break this up right now before someone calls the—”

Blake raised his free hand and Flannel Shirt Guy just stopped. With a sinking feeling, I looked over my shoulder. Everyone in the parking lot was frozen. No doubt they were just as immobile inside the diner.

A whitish-red light crept along the outline of Daemon’s body. Tense silence fell. I knew he was seconds away from going all Luxen on Blake.

Daemon’s grip must’ve tightened, because Blake gasped. “I don’t care who or what you are, but you better give me a reason not to blast you into your next pathetic life real quickly.”

“I know what you are,” Blake choked out.

“That’s not helping,” Daemon growled, and I had to agree. I spared a nervous glance at Flannel Shirt Guy. He was still there, frozen with his mouth hanging open, showing off stained teeth. The light around Daemon was getting stronger. “Try again.”

“I just killed an Arum, and even though you’re an arrogant prick, we’re not enemies.” A choke cut off his next words, and I grabbed both of Daemon’s shoulders. There was no way I could let him strangle Blake. “I can help Katy,” Blake wheezed. “Good enough for you?”

“What?” I demanded, dropping my hands.

“Yeah, see, you saying her name alone makes me want to kill you. So, no, not good enough for me.”

Blake’s eyes darted to mine. “Katy, I know what you are, what you will become capable of, and I can help you.”

Shocked, I stared at him.

Daemon leaned in to Blake. His eyes were pure white and glowing, like diamonds. “Let me ask you a question. If I kill you, will these people unfreeze?”

Blake’s eyes widened, and I knew Daemon wasn’t kidding around. He didn’t like Blake to start off with and the boy—or whatever he was—obviously posed a threat of an unknown kind. He knew a lot, too much, and he knew what I was.
What I was?
Oh, hold up.

I shot forward. “Let him go, Daemon. I need to know what he’s talking about.”

His glowing eyes were focused on Blake. “Get back, Kat. I mean it; get the hell back.”

Like hell. “Stop it.” When he didn’t respond, I screamed, “Stop! Just freaking stop for a couple of minutes!”

Daemon blinked and his eyes flickered to mine. Taking the distraction, Blake swiped his arm across Daemon’s and broke the hold. He scrambled to the side, putting distance between them.

“Jesus.” Blake rubbed his throat. “You have anger management problems. It’s like a disease.”

“There’s a cure and it’s called kicking your ass.”

Blake flipped him off. Daemon started forward, and I barely managed to get in front of him. Placing my hands on his chest, I looked into eyes that were unrecognizable to me. “Stop. You need to stop now.”

Daemon’s lip curled into a snarl. “He’s a—”

“We don’t know what he is,” I cut in, already knowing what he was going to say. “But he did kill an Arum. And he hasn’t hurt me or anyone else, and he’s had plenty of opportunity to do so.”

Daemon exhaled roughly. “Kat—”

“We need to hear him out, Daemon.
I
need to hear what he has to say.” I took a deep breath. “Besides, these people have been frozen, like, twice now. That can’t be good for them.”

“I don’t care.” His gaze flicked to Blake, and, dear God, the look on his face should’ve sent Blake running. But he shook out his broad shoulders and stepped back, turning those diamond eyes on me.
I
shrank back. “He’ll talk. And then I’ll decide whether or not he gets to see tomorrow.”

Well, that was the best we could hope for at this point. I glanced back at Blake, who rolled his eyes. Boy had a death wish. “Can you, um, fix them?” I waved at Flannel Shirt Guy.

“Sure.” He flicked his wrist.

“Police,” Flannel Shirt Guy finished.

I turned to the guy. “Everything’s fine. Thank you.” Spinning around, I pushed my windblown hair out of my face. “My car—if you guys can get along in such an enclosed space?”

Without responding, Daemon stalked over and slid into the passenger seat. I
let out a ragged breath and headed for the driver’s side.

“Is he always so damn touchy?” Blake asked.

I shot him a dark look as I opened the door. Not looking at Daemon, I turned the heat on and then twisted around in my seat, facing Blake in the back. “What are you?”

Staring out the window, his jaw worked. “The same thing I suspect you are.”

My breath caught. “And what do you think I am?”

Daemon cracked his neck but said nothing. He was like a grenade that had its tab pulled. We all were just waiting for him to explode.

“I didn’t know at first.” Blake sat back. “There was something about you that drew me to you, but I didn’t understand what it was.”

“Proceed with caution when it comes to your next word choices,” Daemon growled.

I squirmed in my seat, clutching the obsidian in my hand. “What do you mean by that?”

Blake shook his head and then stared straight ahead. “The first time I saw you, I knew you were different. Then when you stopped the branch and I saw your necklace, I knew. Only those who know to fear the shadows wear obsidian.” Seconds ticked by in silence. “Then our date…yeah, that glass and plate didn’t just fall into my lap on its own.”

A snicker came from the passenger seat. “Good times.”

Unease tripled my heart rate. “How much do you know?”

“There are two alien races on Earth: the Luxen and the Arum.” He paused as Daemon twisted in his seat. Blake swallowed. “You’re capable of moving things without touching them and you can manipulate light. I’m sure you can do more. And you can also heal humans.”

The inside of the car was too small. There wasn’t enough air. If Blake knew the truth about the Luxen, wouldn’t that mean the DOD did? I dropped the necklace and clenched the steering wheel, my heart racing.

“How do you know this?” Daemon asked, his voice surprisingly even.

There was a pause. “When I was thirteen, I was leaving soccer practice with a friend of mine—Chris Johnson. He was a normal kid like me, except he was super fast, never got sick, and I never saw his parents at any games. But who cares, right? I didn’t until I was goofing around and stepped off the curb, right in front of a speeding cab. Chris healed me. Turns out he was an alien.” Blake’s lips twisted into a wry grin. “I thought it was pretty cool. My best friend was an alien. Who gets to say that? What I didn’t know and what he never told me was that he lit my ass up. Five days later, four men entered my house.

“They wanted to know where
they
were,” he continued, hands clenching into fists. “I didn’t know what they meant. They killed my parents and my little sister right in front of me. And when I still couldn’t help them, they beat me within an inch of my life.”

“Oh my God,” I whispered, horrified. Daemon looked away, jaw working.

“Not sure he really exists,” Blake said, letting out a dry laugh. “Anyway, it took me a while to figure out that when you’re healed, you take on their abilities. Shit just started flying everywhere after I was sent to live with my uncle. When I realized that my friend had changed me, I researched as much as I could. Not that I needed to. The Arum found me again.”

Acid churned in my stomach. “What do you mean?”

“The Arum in the diner, she couldn’t sense me because of the beta quartz—yeah, I know about that, too. But if we were outside of the quartz range, we are just like your…
friend
to them. We’re actually tastier.”

Well, that confirmed one of my fears. My hands slid off the steering wheel. I had no idea what to say. It was like having the carpet pulled out from underneath my feet and face-planting on the floor.

Blake sighed. “When I realized how much danger I was in, I started training physically and working on my abilities. I learned about their weakness through…others. I survived the best I could.”

“This is all great, the caring and sharing crap, but how did you end up here of all places?”

He looked at Daemon. “When I learned about the beta quartz, I moved here with my uncle.”

“Awful convenient,” Daemon murmured.

“Yeah, it is. The mountains. Very convenient for me.”

“There are plenty of other places packed with beta quartz.” Suspicion clouded Daemon’s tone. “Why. Here?”

“Seemed like the least populated area,” Blake answered. “I couldn’t imagine there being that many Arum here.”