Obsidian

My eyes dropped to our hands. He didn’t pull his away. “I’m not going to have a heart attack.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” I rolled my eyes.

“He isn’t a problem anymore,” he said after a few seconds.

“You…you killed him?”

“Yeah, I kind of did.”

“You kind of did? I didn’t know there was any ‘kind of’ in killing someone.”

“Okay, yes, I did kill him.” There wasn’t a single ounce of doubt or remorse in his voice, like killing someone didn’t even faze him. I should be afraid, very afraid of him. Daemon sighed. “We’re enemies, Kitten. He would’ve killed me and my family after absorbing our abilities if I didn’t stop him. Not only that, he would’ve brought more here. Others like us would’ve been in danger. You would’ve been in danger.”

“What about the truck? I’m glowing brighter now.” I ignored the clenching in my stomach. “Will there be another?”

“Hopefully there are none nearby. If not, the traces on you should fade. You’ll be safe.”

He was guiding his thumb across my hand in a silent alphabet. It was sort of soothing, comforting. “And if not?”

“Then I’ll kill them, too.” He didn’t hesitate. “For awhile, you’re going to need to stay around me, until the trace fades.”

“Dee said something like that.” I bit my lip. “So you don’t want me to stay away from you guys anymore?”

“It doesn’t matter what I want.” He glanced down at his hand. “But if I had my way, you wouldn’t be anywhere near us.”

I sucked in a sharp breath, pulling my hand free. “Gee, don’t be honest or anything.”

“You don’t understand,” Daemon replied. “Right now, you can lead an Arum right to my sister. And I have to protect her. She’s all I have left. And I have to protect the others here. I’m the strongest. That is what I do. And while you’re carrying the trace on you, I don’t want you going anywhere with Dee if I’m not with you.” Sitting up, I glanced toward the shore. “I think it’s time I head back.”

His fingers wrapped around my arm. The skin tingled. “Right now, you can’t be out there by yourself. I need to be with you until the trace fades.”

“I don’t need you to play babysitter.” My jaw ached from how hard I was clenching it. The whole staying away from Dee pissed me off, but I understood. Doesn’t mean his words didn’t hurt. “I’ll stay away from Dee until it fades.”

“You’re still not getting it.” His grip didn’t tighten, but I had a feeling he wanted to shake the crap out of me even though I knew he never would. “If an Arum gets ahold of you, they aren’t going to kill you. The one at the library — he was playing with you. He was going to get you to the point that you’d beg for your life and then force you to take him back to one of us.” I swallowed. “Daemon—”

“You don’t have a choice. Right now, you’re a huge risk with the trace. You are a danger to my sister. I will not let anything happen to her.”

His love for his sister was admirable, but did nothing to stop the flow of anger rushing through my veins. “And then after the trace fades? Then what?”

“I prefer that you’d stay the hell away from all of us, but I doubt that’s going to happen. And my sister does care for you.” He let go of my arm and leaned back, resting on his elbows. “As long as you don’t end up with another trace, then I don’t have a problem with you being friends with her.” My hands balled into fists. “I’m so grateful to have your approval.”

His little half smile didn’t reach his eyes. His smiles rarely did. “I’ve already lost one sibling because of how he felt for a human. I’m not going to lose another.”

Anger was still simmering in me, but his words caught my attention. “You’re talking about your brother and Bethany.”

There was a pause and then, “My brother fell in love with a human…and now they’re both dead.”

Chapter 19

Like he’d turned off my bitch switch, all I could do was stare at him. There was a feeling in my gut that told me I already knew this stuff but hadn’t wanted to acknowledge it. God, he was such a jerk, but my anger eased off, lessening and leaving uncertainty in its wake.

“What happened?” I asked.

He was staring over my shoulder, focused on the trees behind me. “Dawson met Bethany, and I swear to you, it was like love at first sight. Everything for him became about her. Matthew — Mr. Garrison — warned him. I warned him that it wasn’t going to work. There was no way we can have a relationship with a human.” Pressing his lips together, he took a moment. “You don’t know how hard it is, Kat. We have to hide what we are all the time, and even among our own kind, we have to be careful. There are many rules. The DOD and Luxen don’t like the idea of us messing with humans.” He paused, shaking his head. “It’s as if they think we’re animals, beneath them.”

“But you’re not animals,” I said. They were definitely not like us, but they weren’t beneath us.

“Do you know anytime we apply for something, it’s tracked by the DOD?” He glanced at me, eyes troubled. Angry. “Driver’s license, they know. If we apply for college, they see it. Marriage license to a human? Forget it. We even have a registration we have to go through if we want to move.” I blinked. “Can they do that?”

He laughed humorlessly. “This is your planet, not ours. You even said it. And they keep us in place by funding our lives. We have random check-ins, so we can’t hide or anything. Once they know we’re here, that’s it.” Not sure what to say, I remained quiet. Everything about their life seemed controlled, chronicled. It was frightening and sad.

“And that’s not all. We’re expected to find another Luxen, and to stay there.”

Alarm trickled through my system. Was he obligated to Ash? It seemed the wrong time to ask. And it seemed even more wrong that I wanted to ask. “That doesn’t seem fair.”

“It’s not.” Daemon sat up in one fluid motion, dropping his arms over his bent knees. “It’s easy to feel human. I know I’m not, but I want the same things that all humans want.” He stopped, shaking his head. “Anyway, something happened between Dawson and Bethany. I don’t know what. He never said. They went out hiking one Saturday and he came back late, his clothing torn and covered with blood. They were closer than ever. If Matt and the Thompsons didn’t have their suspicions before, they did then. That following weekend, Dawson and Bethany went out to the movies. They never came back.” I squeezed my eyes shut.

“The DOD found him the next day in Moorefield, his body dumped in a field like garbage.” His voice was low, rough. “I didn’t get to say good-bye. They took his body before I could even see him, because of the risk of exposure. When we die or get hurt, we resort back to our true form.” I ached for that — for him and Dee. “Are you sure he’s…dead then, if you’ve never seen his body?”

“I know an Arum got him. Drained him of his abilities and killed him. If he were still alive, he would’ve found a way to contact us. Both his and Bethany’s bodies were taken away before anyone could see. Her parents will never know what happened to her. And all we know is that he had to have done something that left a trace on her, enabling the Arum to find him. That’s the only way. They can’t sense us here. He had to have done something major.” My chest squeezed. I couldn’t imagine what he and Dee had to have felt. My father’s death had been expected. It hurt — it had felt like his sickness and eventual death was killing me — but he hadn’t been murdered.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I know there’s nothing I can say. I’m just so sorry.”

He shifted slightly, lifting his head to the sky. In a second, the mask he wore slipped down. And there was the real Daemon. Still a total badass, but there was pain in him, a vulnerability in the lines of his face that I doubted anyone ever got to see. And suddenly, I felt like I was intruding, witnessing this moment. For it to be me, of all people, to see beneath the layers of attitude didn’t seem right. It should’ve been someone he cared about, someone important to him.

“I…I miss the idiot,” he said raggedly.