“You did at the library,” I murmured. “And at the car…”
His head lowered against mine. “That was just to help with a sprain and bruises. That was nothing like this.”
The arm that had been broken didn’t even ache as I lifted it. I turned my head toward him, my cheek brushing his. I stared in amazement at the bent trees that folded around us in a perfect circle. My gaze fell to the ground and settled on the space Baruck once stood. The only trace of him was the scorched earth he left behind.
“How did I do that?” I whispered. “I don’t understand.”
He buried his head in the crook of my neck, breathing in deeply. “I must’ve done something to you when I healed you. I don’t know what. It doesn’t make sense, but something happened when our energies joined. It shouldn’t have affected you — you’re human.” I was beginning to wonder about that.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Okay. Sleepy. You?”
“The same.”
I watched in silence as his curious eyes followed his thumb over my chin, and he traced along my lower lip.
“I think, for now, it would be best if we kept this between our-selves — the whole healing thing and what you did back there. Okay?”
I nodded, but stilled as his hands drifted around my face, removing the smudges our battle had left behind.
A tumble of black waves shifted over his forehead and a smile spread across his face, reaching his eyes, deepening them to a brilliant green. His fingers splayed across my cheeks and his head slanted, and I couldn’t help but think of what I’d overheard as his mouth brushed against mine. There was an infinitely tender quality to his soft kiss. It reached deep inside me, sending my heart into overdrive. It was innocent, intimate. Soul-burning as he tipped my head back and explored my lips as if it was the first time we’d kissed. And maybe it was — a real kiss.
When he finally pulled back, he laughed unsteadily. “I was worried that we’d broken you.”
“Not quite.” My gaze moved over every inch of his weary face. “Did you break yourself?”
He snorted. “Almost.”
I took a breath, a little dizzy. “What now?”
A slow, tired smile pulled at his lips. “We go home.”
Chapter 30
It literally hurt deep inside not being able to post my Waiting on Wednesday, but I still had several weeks before my birthday. And even though Dee would let me borrow her computer, I didn’t want to use it for that. Pouting, I grabbed the can of soda out of Dee’s fridge and went back into the living room.
Aliens could sure eat a lot of food.
“Do you want more pizza?” Dee offered, staring at the last slice with such longing that I was beginning to think that she and Adam needed to re-evaluate their relationship.
I shook my head. Dee had eaten enough to feed a small starving village and frankly, I wasn’t hungry. Eating while Dee and Adam stared at me was getting tedious and uncomfortable. Dee didn’t think I noticed, and Adam was currently on pause from asking another question about what happened that night with Baruck.
As far as everyone knew, Daemon had killed Baruck and I hadn’t been injured as badly as Dee had thought. Somehow Daemon had convinced her that I was just stunned. I peeked at them.
But it had been me — I’d killed someone. Again.
Surprisingly, the thought didn’t fill me with the same amount of dread and sickness as it initially did. Over the last couple of days, I’d come to a certain understanding with my actions. It was a level of shaky acceptance that made it easier to swallow even if I would never forget.
It was either him or me and my friends.
The alien asshat had to go.
Everyone was still staring. Lovely.
Dee sat down next to me and took a sip of her soda. Convinced or not, Dee knew something was up when I returned with Daemon that morning…and something was.
She nudged my leg with hers, gaining my attention. “Are you feeling okay?”
If I had a dollar for every time she asked that question, I’d have a new laptop already. It wasn’t like I didn’t know I was lucky to be alive, and I should be suffering from post-traumatic stress, but I did feel fine. I never felt physically better, to be honest. I felt like I could go out and run a marathon or climb a mountain. I didn’t want to look into the reason for that too closely. Enough things had already successfully freaked me out.
Someone cleared his throat, jarring me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see Dee and Adam staring at me expectantly. I couldn’t remember what they wanted. “What?”
Dee smiled a little too brightly. “We were wondering how you were handling things? If you are worried about there being more Arum.”
“Oh, do you think there will be?” I immediately responded.
“No,” Adam reassured me. Ever since the battle with Baruck, he actually started talking to me. It was a nice change in things. Ash and Andrew were a different story. “We don’t think so.”
I shifted uncomfortably and my skin itched. I wasn’t sure how long I could sit here with them staring at me at me like I was an experiment gone wrong.
“I thought you said Daemon would be back soon?” Adam settled in the recliner.
Dee’s eyes shifted from Adam to me. “Daemon should be here any minute.”
I hadn’t seen Daemon since that morning. I’d asked Dee several times where he had gone, but she never answered me. Eventually, I gave up pestering her.
The two of them started talking, making plans for Thanksgiving break coming in a few weeks. I zoned out, like I’d been doing for the last three days. It was strange. I couldn’t concentrate. I felt off, like I was missing a part of me.
Warmth slipped over my skin, like a warm breeze. It came out of nowhere. I looked up, seeing if anyone else noticed what I’d felt. They were still talking. I shifted on the couch as the feeling increased.
Dee’s front door opened, and my breath caught in my throat.
Within seconds, Daemon entered the room. His hair was a tousled mess and there were shadows under his eyes. Without saying a word, he dropped onto the couch, his heavy lashes hiding his eyes, but I could feel his stare.
“Where have you been?” I asked in a voice that sounded shrill to my own ears.
Silence fell while two more sets of beautifully odd eyes settled on me. I felt my cheeks turn hot and I leaned back, feeling like an idiot. I folded my hands and kept my eyes pinned to them. What a way to draw attention to myself.
“Well hello, honey, I’ve been out boozing and whoring. I know, my priorities are pretty off.”
My lips thinned at his sarcastic response. “Dick,” I muttered.
Dee groaned. “Daemon, don’t be a jerk.”
“Yes, Mommy. I’ve been with another group, searching the whole damn state to make sure there aren’t any Arum that we’re not aware of,” Daemon said, his deep voice soothing a weird ache within me at the same time I wanted to thump him upside the head.
Adam leaned forward. “There aren’t any, right? Because we told Katy she didn’t have anything to worry about.”
His eyes left me briefly. “We haven’t seen a single one.”
Dee hooted happily and clapped her hands. She turned to me, her smile genuine this time. “See, nothing to worry about. Everything is over.”
I smiled back at her. “That is a relief.”
