Jennifer L. Armentrout 3 страница

Mom hated that there were books everywhere. They weren’t really

everywhere. Just wherever I was, like the couch, recliner, kitchen

counters, laundry room, and even the bathroom. It wouldn’t be like

that if she caved and installed a wall-to-ceiling bookcase.

But no matter how I tried to get into the book I was reading, it

wasn’t working. Half of it was the book. It had insta-love, the bane

of my existence. Girl sees boy and falls in love. Immediately. Soul

mate, breath stealing, toes curling, love after one conversation. Boy

pushes girl away for some paranormal reason or another. Girl still

loves boy. Boy finally admits love.

Who was I kidding? I sort of loved all that angst. It wasn’t the

book. It was me. I couldn’t clear my head and fully immerse myself in

the characters. I grabbed a bookmark off the coffee table and shoved

it in the book. Dog-eared pages were Antichrist of book lovers

everywhere.

Ignoring what was happening wasn’t working. It just wasn’t in me

to run from my troubles like this. Besides, if I was honest with

myself, I knew I was more than a little freaked out by what was

happening. What if I was imagining I was moving things? The fever

could’ve killed off a few brain cells. I dragged in air so fast my

head swam. Could a person get schizophrenia from being sick?

Now that just sounded stupid.

Sitting up, I pressed my head to my knees. I was fine. What was

happening… There had to be a logical explanation for it. I hadn’t

closed the locker door all the way and Simon’s lumbering steps had

jarred it open. And the glass-left on the edge. And there was a good

chance that Mom had left the cap on the tea loose. She was always

doing stuff like that.

I took several more deep breaths. I was okay. Logical explanations

made the world go around. The only fault in that line of thought was

the fact I lived next door to aliens, and that was so not logical.

Pushing off the couch, I checked the window to see if Dee’s car

was out front. Pulling on my hoodie, I headed next door.

Dee immediately pulled me into the kitchen. There was a sweet,

burned smell.

“I’m glad you came over. I was just about to come get you,” she

said, dropping my arm and rushing over to the counter. There were

several pots scattered across the countertop.

“What are you doing?” I peered over her shoulder. One of the pots

looked like it was filled with tar. “Ew.”

Dee sighed. “I was trying to melt chocolate.”

“With your microwave hands?”

“It’s an epic fail.” She poked at the gunk with a spatula. “I

can’t get the temp right.”

“Then why don’t you just use the stove?”

“Pfft, I loathe the stove.” Dee pulled the spatula up. Half of it

had melted. “Whoops.”

“Nice.” I shuffled over to the table.

With a wave of her hand, the pots flew to the sink. The tap turned

on. “I’m getting better at this.” She grabbed some dish soap. “What

were you and Daemon doing at lunch?”

I hesitated. “I wanted to talk about the whole lake thing. I’d

thought I…dreamed that.”

Dee cringed. “No, that was real. He got me when he brought you

back. I was the one to place you in dry clothes, by the way.”

I laughed. “I was hoping that was you.”

“Although he did volunteer for the job,” she said, her eyes

rolling. “Daemon is so helpful.”

“That he is. Where…where is he?”

She shrugged. “No clue.” Her eyes narrowed. “Why do you keep

itching your arm?”

“Huh?” I stopped, not even realizing I was doing that. “Oh, they

took my blood in the hospital to make sure I didn’t have rabies or

something.”

Laughing, she tugged up my sleeve. “I have some stuff that you can

put-holy crap, Katy.”

“What?” I glanced down at my arm and sucked in a breath. “Yuck.”

My entire inner elbow looked like a fleshy strawberry. All that

was missing was a leafy green cap. The raised splotches of red skin

were speckled with darker dots.

Dee ran a finger over it. “Does it hurt?” I shook my head. It just

itched like crazy. She dropped my hand. “All you did was get your

blood taken?”

“Yeah,” I said, staring at my arm.

“That’s really weird, Katy. It’s like you had some kind of

reaction to something. Let me get some aloe. That might help.”

“Sure.” I frowned at my arm. What could’ve done this?

Dee returned with a jar of the cool gunk. It helped with the

itching, and after I tugged my sleeve back down, she seemed to forget

about it. I hung out with her for the next couple of hours, watching

her destroy one pot after another. I laughed so hard my stomach hurt

when Dee leaned too close to a bowl she was heating and accidentally

set her shirt on fire. She’d raised one brow at my larger chest as if

to say she’d like to have seen me avoid the same mistake, sending me

into another fit of giggles.

When she ran out of chocolate and plastic spatulas, Dee finally

admitted defeat. It was after ten, and I said good-bye as I headed

home to get some rest. It had been a long first day back at school,

but I was glad I’d headed over and ended it hanging with Dee.

Daemon was crossing the road just as I shut the front door behind

me.

In less than a second, he was on the top step. “Kitten.”

“Hey.” I avoided his extraordinary eyes and face, because, well, I

was having a real hard time not recalling what his mouth had felt like

on mine earlier. “Where, um, so what have you been doing?”

“Patrolling.” He stepped onto the porch, and even though I was

busy staring at the crack in the wood floor, I could feel his gaze on

my face and the heat from his body. He stood close, too close.

“Everything is all quiet on the western front.”

I cracked a smile. “Nice reference.”

When he spoke, his breath teased the loose hair around my temple.

“It’s my favorite book, actually.”

My head jerked toward his, narrowly missing a collision. I hid my

surprise. “I didn’t know you knew how to read the classics.”

A lazy smirk appeared, and I’d swear he managed to get closer. Our

legs touched. His shoulder brushed my arm. “Well, I usually prefer

books with pictures and small sentences, but sometimes I step out of

the box.”

Unable to help it, I laughed. “Let me guess, your favorite kind of

picture book is the one you can color in?”

“I never stay in the lines.” Daemon winked. Only he could pull

that off.

“Of course not.” I looked away, swallowing. Sometimes it was too

easy to fall into the easy banter with him, too damn easy to imagine

doing this with him every night. Teasing. Laughing. Getting in way

over my head. “I’ve got…to go.”

He swung around. “I’ll walk you home.”

“Um, I live right there.” Not like he didn’t know that. Duh.

That lazy smirk spread. “Hey, I’m being a gentleman.” He offered

his arm. “May I?”

Laughing under my breath, I shook my head. But I gave him my arm.

The next thing I knew, he scooped me up into his arms. My heart leaped

into my throat. “Daemon-”

“Did I tell you I carried you all the way back to the house the

night you were sick? Thought that was a dream, eh? Nope. Real.” He

went down one step as I stared wide-eyed at him. “Twice in one week.

We’re making this a habit.”

And then he shot off the porch, the roar of the wind drowning out

my surprised squeal. The next second, he was standing in front of my

door, grinning down at me. “I was faster the last time.”

“Really,” I said slowly, dumbfounded. My cheeks felt numb.

“You…going to put me down?”

“Mmm.” Our eyes met. There was a tender look in his that warmed

and frightened me. “Been thinking about our bet? Wanna give in now?”

And he totally ruined that tender moment. “Put me down, Daemon.”

He placed me on my feet, but his arms were still around me, and I

had no idea what to say. “I’ve been thinking.”

“Oh, God…” I murmured.

His lips twitched. “This bet really isn’t fair to you. New Year’s

Day? Hell, I’ll have you admitting your undying devotion to me by

Thanksgiving.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure I’ll hold out until Halloween.”

“That’s already passed.”

“Exactly,” I muttered.

Laughing under his breath, he reached forward, tucking a strand of

hair behind my ear. The back of his knuckles brushed my cheek and I

pressed my lips together to stop a sigh. Warmth blossomed in my chest,

having nothing to do with the simple touch.

It had everything to do with the ache in his gaze. Then he pivoted

around, tipping his head back. Moments passed in silence. “The stars…

They’re beautiful tonight.”

I followed his gaze, a little thrown off by his sudden change in

topic. The sky was dark, but there were a hundred or so bright dots

glimmering against the inky night. “Yeah, they are.” I bit my lip. “Do

they remind you of your home?”

There was a pause. “I wish they did. Memories, even bittersweet

ones, are better than nothing, you know?”

A knot formed in my throat. Why had I asked him that? I knew he

didn’t remember anything about his planet. I tucked my hair back again

and stood beside him, squinting at the sky. “The Elders-do they

remember anything about Lux?” He nodded. “Have you ever asked them to

tell you about it?”

He started to respond, then laughed. “It is that simple, right?

But I try to avoid the colony as much as possible.”

Understandable, but I wasn’t entirely sure why. Daemon and Dee

rarely talked about the Luxen that remained in the colony hidden deep

within the forest surrounding Seneca Rocks. “What about Mr. Garrison?”

“Matthew?” He shook his head. “He won’t talk about it. I think

it’s too hard on him-the war and losing his family.”

Tearing my gaze away from the stars, I looked up at Daemon. His

profile was harsh and haunted. Christ, they’d had a tough life. All of

the Luxen. War had turned them into refugees. Earth was practically a

hostile planet to them, considering how they had to live. Daemon and

Dee couldn’t remember their parents and had lost their brother. Mr.

Garrison had lost everything and God only knew how many of them shared

the same tragedy.

The knot was growing bigger in my throat. “I’m sorry.”

Daemon’s head swung toward me sharply. “Why would you apologize?”

“I…I’m just sorry for everything…you guys have had to go through.”

And I meant it.

He held my gaze for a beat and then looked away, laughing under

his breath. There was no humor in the sound, and I wondered if I’d

said something wrong. Probably. “Keep talking like that, Kitten, and

I…”

“You what?”

Daemon backed off my porch, his smile secretive. “I’ve decided to

go easy on you. I’ll keep New Year’s Day as the deadline.”

I started to respond, but he was gone before I could, moving too

fast for my eyes to track.

Placing my hand against my chest, I stood there and tried to make

heads of what just happened. For a moment, a crazy moment, there had

been something infinitely more than mad animal lust between us.

And it scared me.

I went inside and eventually was able to push Daemon to the back

of my mind. Grabbing my cell, I went from room to room until I got a

signal and called Mom, leaving her a message. When she called back, I

told her about my arm. She said I probably bumped it on something,

even though it didn’t hurt and it wasn’t bruised, either. She promised

to bring me home a salve, and I felt better just hearing her voice.

I sat on my bed, trying to forget about all the weird stuff and

focus on my history homework. There was an exam on Monday. Studying on

a Friday was the height of lameness, but it was either that or I fail.

And I refused to fail. History was one of my favorite subjects.

Hours later, I felt the weird warmth that was becoming

increasingly familiar creep across my neck. Closing the textbook, I

hopped off the bed and crept toward the window. The full moon lit

everything in a pale, silvery glow.

I tugged up the sleeve of my shirt. The skin was still patchy and

red. Did being sick have anything to do with the locker, the glass of

tea and the connection to Daemon?

My gaze moved back to the window, drifting over the ground below.

I didn’t see anyone. A yearning sparked in my chest. I pulled the

curtain back farther and pressed my forehead against the cool glass. I

couldn’t understand or explain how I knew, but I did. Somewhere,

hidden in the shadows, was Daemon.

And every part of my being wanted- needed -to go to him. The ache

that had been in his eyes… It was so much, going beyond him and me.

More than what I undoubtedly could wrap my head around.

Denying that desire was one of the hardest things I’d ever done,

but I let the curtain slip free and went back to my bed. As I opened

my history text again, I focused on my chapter.

New Year’s Day? Wasn’t going to happen.

…

I was having one of those days where I wanted to start throwing

things because only breaking crap would make me feel better. My limit

for acceptable weirdness in my daily life had been maxed out.

On Saturday, the shower turned on before I even got in it. Sunday

night, my bedroom door opened as I walked toward it, smacking me right

in the face. And this morning, to top it all off, I’d overslept and

missed my first two classes, plus my entire closet emptied itself onto

my floor as I debated what to wear.

Either I was turning into an alien, about to have one crawl its

way out of my stomach, or I was crazy.

The only good thing about today was that I’d woken up without that

itchy rash on my arm.

The whole way to school, I debated what to do. These things

couldn’t be brushed aside as a coincidence any longer, and I needed to

get over myself and confront them. My new outlook on not being a

bystander in life meant I had to face the fact that I’d really

changed. And I needed to do something about it before I exposed

everyone. Just thinking about that possibility left a bitter taste in

my mouth. There was no way I could go to Dee, because I’d promised

Daemon not to tell anyone that he’d healed me. I had no other option

but to saddle him with another one of my problems.

At least that was how it felt. When I first moved here, I’d been

nothing but problems for him. Making friends with his sister, asking

way too many questions, almost getting myself killed…twice. Plus

discovering their big secret, and all the times I’d ended up with a

trace.

I frowned as I slid out of my car and slammed the door behind me.

No wonder Daemon had been such a douche canoe those months. I was

trouble. So was he, but still.

Late for bio and out of breath, I raced down the nearly empty

hall, praying that I’d be safely in my seat before Mr. Garrison

strolled in. As I reached for the heavy door, it swung open with a

powerful rush and slammed against the wall. The noise echoed down the

corridor, drawing the attention of a handful of other late students.

Blood drained from my face, inch by inch, as I heard the startled

gasp from behind me and knew I was busted. A million thoughts ran

through my numb brain and none of them was worth a damn. Closing my

eyes, fear settled like sour milk in my stomach. What was wrong me?

Something was-something was really bad.

“These damn drafty hallways,” Mr. Garrison said, clearing his

throat. “They’ll give you a heart attack.”

My eyes snapped open. He straightened his tie while he clenched

his brown suitcase tightly in his right hand.

I opened my mouth to speak and agree. Agreeing would be a good

thing. Yes, damn drafty hallways.

But nothing came. I just stood there like a damn fish. Gaping and

gaping.

Mr. Garrison’s blue eyes narrowed, and his scowl deepened until I

thought it would leave a permanent mark on his face. “Miss Swartz,

shouldn’t you be in class?”

“Yes, sorry,” I managed to croak.

“Then please, don’t just stand there.” He spread his arms and

ushered me inside. “And that is a tardy. Your second.”

Unsure of how I earned my first tardy, I shuffled into class,

trying to ignore the giggles from the other students who’d apparently

heard my ass getting chewed out. My cheeks flooded with color.

“Skank,” Kimmy said from behind her hand.

Several more giggles erupted from her side of the class, but

before I could say anything, Lesa shot the blonde a look. “That’s real

funny coming from you,” she said. “You are the same cheerleader who

forgot to wear her undies during the pep rally last year, aren’t you?”

Kimmy’s face turned blood red.

“Class,” Mr. Garrison said, eyes narrowing. “That’s enough.”

Passing Lesa a grateful smile, I took my seat next to Blake and

yanked out my textbook while Mr. Garrison began reading off the

attendance, making small swipes with his favorite red pen.

He skipped my name. I was sure it was on purpose.

Blake nudged me with his elbow. “Are you doing okay over there?”

I nodded. There was no way I was going to let him think that Kimmy

was the reason my face had gone albino white. And besides, Kimmy

calling me a skank probably had something to do with Simon, which

wasn’t even worth my anger right now. “Yeah, I’m perfect.”

He smiled, but it looked forced.

Mr. Garrison flipped off the lights and launched into a

stimulating lecture on tree sap. Forgetting about the boy beside me, I

started replaying the door incident over and over again in my head.

Had Mr. Garrison really believed it had been a draft? And if he

didn’t, what was stopping him from contacting the DOD and handing me

over?

Unease squirmed in my belly. Was I going to end up like Bethany?

Armentrout, Jennifer L.

Onyx (A Lux Novel)

Chapter 5

Carissa was waiting for me by my locker after biology. “Can I just

go home?” I asked as I switched my textbooks.

She laughed. “Having a bad day?”

“You could say that.” I thought about elaborating for a second,

but what could I tell her? “I was running late this morning. You know

how that just screws your day up from there.”

We headed down the hall, chatting about the party on Friday and

what we were going to wear. I really hadn’t put much thought into it,

figuring I’d just wear jeans and a shirt.

“Everyone is dressing up,” she explained, “since we don’t get a

lot of reasons to actually wear something nice around here.”

“We just had homecoming.” I groaned, knowing I didn’t have

anything dressy.

Carissa launched into the routine conversation about what colleges

I was going to apply to. She was hoping I would send an application

into WVU. Most of the students were applying there.

“Katy, you really need to start applying,” she insisted as she

grabbed a plate of what appeared to be Salisbury steak. “You’re going

to run out of time.”

“You know, I hear it from my mom every day. I will when I decide

where I want to go.” Problem was I had no idea where I wanted to go or

what I wanted to do.

“You don’t have forever,” she said, quick to remind me.

Dee was already at our table, and I launched into my own tirade

the moment I sat down. “So I can’t wear jeans to the party? I have to

wear a dress?”

“Huh?” Dee blinked and looked at me.

“Carissa told me I had to wear a dress on Friday night. I didn’t

really plan for that.”

Dee picked up her fork and pushed the food around on her plate.

“You should wear a dress. We get to be pretty princesses for the night

and dress up for the party.”

“We’re not six.”

Lesa snorted and repeated, “Pretty princesses?”

“Yes, pretty princesses. You can borrow one of my dresses. I have

enough.” Dee poked at her green beans.

Something was not right with her. She wasn’t eating and was now

suggesting I could wear one of her dresses. “Dee, I don’t think I’d

fit in one of your dresses.”

She turned her angelic face to mine, lips turned down at the

corners. “I have plenty of dresses you can wear. Don’t be silly.”

I stared at her, dumbfounded. “If I wore one of your dresses, I’d

look like a tightly packaged sausage.”

Dee’s gaze darted over my shoulders, and whatever she was going to

say died on her lips. Her eyes widened and face paled. I was afraid to

turn around, half expecting to find a set of DOD officers strolling

through our school cafeteria in black suits.

The picture in my brain was equally hilarious and frightening.

I slowly twisted in my seat, preparing myself to be thrown on the

floor and handcuffed, or whatever it was they did. It took me a moment

to find what Dee was utterly transfixed by, and when I did, I was

confused.

It was Adam Thompson-the nice twin as I liked to refer to him and

he was Dee’s… friend? Boyfriend?

“What’s going on?” I asked, swiveling around.

Her gaze darted to me. “Can we talk later?”

In other words, it wasn’t something she could say in front of the

others. I nodded and glanced behind me. Adam was getting food, but I

noticed someone else.

Blake stood by the doors to the cafeteria, scanning the crowds for

someone. His gaze found our table and his hazel eyes settled on me. He

smiled, flashing a set of ultra-white teeth, and waved.

I gave him a little wave back.

“Who’s that?” Dee asked, frowning.

“His name is Blake Saunders,” Lesa said, eyeing her lunch. She

poked it with her fork as if she expected it to jump off her plate and

run away. “He’s a new kid in our biology class. I found out he’s

living with his aunt.”

“Did you go through his personal files or something?” I asked,

amused.

Lesa snorted. “I overheard him talking to Whitney Samuels. She was

giving him the third degree.”

“I think he’s coming over here.” Dee turned to me, her expression

unreadable. “He’s cute, Katy.”

I shrugged. He was very cute. Blake reminded me of a surfer, and

that was hot. And he was human. Bonus points there. “He’s nice, too.”

“Nice is good,” Carissa said.

Nice was great, but…I glanced at the table in the back. Daemon

wasn’t sitting with us today. He seemed to be in a heated discussion

with Andrew. There was also no Ash. Strange. My eyes bounced back to

Daemon.

He looked up at that exact moment. The smirk on his face faded. A

muscle in his jaw popped. He looked… pissed. Whoa. What’d I do now?

Dee kicked me under the table, and I twisted back around.

Standing beside me was Blake. A nervous smile was on his face as

his eyes flickered over the table. “Hey.”

“Hi,” I said. “Want to sit?”

Nodding, he took the empty seat beside me. “Everyone is still

staring at me.”

“Ah, it should fade in a month or so,” I told him.

“Hi,” Lesa chirped. “I’m Lesa with an e, and this is Carissa and

Dee. We’re Katy’s cool friends.”

Blake laughed. “Nice to meet you. You’re in bio, right?”

Lesa nodded.

“So where are you from?” asked Dee, her voice surprisingly tight.

Last time I’d heard that tone was when Ash had shown up at the diner

with Daemon before school started.

“Santa Monica.” After another round of aah s, he grinned. “My

uncle was getting tired of the city, so he wanted to get as far away

from it as possible.”

“Well, this is as far as you can get.” Lesa grimaced after taking

a bite of her food. “I bet lunch was better in Santa Monica.”

“Nah, it’s also questionable there.”

“So how are you adjusting to your classes?” Carissa folded her

hands on the table, as if she were going to do an interview for the

school newspaper. All she needed was a pen and paper.

“Okay. It’s a much smaller school than my old one, so I’ve been

able to find my way around easily. The people are nicer here, except

for the whole staring thing. How about you?” He turned to me. “Since

you’re still technically new?”

“Oh no, I hand over new-kid status completely to you. But it’s

pretty cool around here.”

“Not much happens, though,” Lesa added.

The conversation moved easily. Blake was super friendly. He

answered every one of our questions and was quick to laugh. Turned out

he had gym with Lesa and art with Carissa.

Every so often, he’d glance at me and smile, revealing a set of

straight white teeth. It had nothing on Daemon’s smile-whenever he

decided to grace our world with its presence-but it was nice. And it

was also drawing the attention of the other girls. Their eyes kept

darting back and forth between us. My cheeks were growing hotter by

the second.

“We’re having a party Friday night.” Lesa flashed me a quick grin.

“You’re more than welcome to come. Dee’s parents are letting us have

it at their house while they’re away this weekend.”

Dee stiffened with the fork halfway to her mouth. She didn’t say

anything, but I could tell she wasn’t happy with the invite. What was

her deal? Half the school appeared to be invited.

“That sounds cool.” Blake glanced at me. “You’re going?”

I nodded, twisting the lid on my water.

“She doesn’t have a date,” Lesa added with a sly look.

My mouth gaped. Real smooth move there.

“No boyfriend?” Blake sounded surprised.

“Nope.” Lesa’s eyes sparkled. “You have a girlfriend you left back

in California?”

Dee cleared her throat as she found the food on her plate to be of

extreme interest.

Mortified, I wanted to hide under the table.

Blake chuckled. “No. No girlfriend.” He turned his attention back

to me. “But I’m surprised you don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Why?” I asked, wondering if I should be flattered. Like my

awesomeness was just so extreme that I couldn’t be single?

“Well,” Blake said, leaning in toward me. When he spoke, it was

right in my ear. “That guy over there. He’s been staring at you since

I sat down. And he doesn’t look happy.”

Dee was the first to look. Her lips formed a tight smile. “That’s

my brother.”

Blake nodded as he leaned back. “Did you guys date or something?”

“No,” I said. Every muscle in my body demanded that I take a

look-see. “He’s just…Daemon.”

“Huh,” Blake said, stretching. He nudged my arm. “So no

competition there?”

My eyes widened. Boy, he was bold. His hotness level went up ten

points. “Not likely.”

A slow smile crept over Blake’s lips. He had a fuller bottom one.

Looked totally kissable. “Good to know, because I was wondering if you

wanted to grab something to eat after school?”

Whoa. I glanced at Dee, who looked just as surprised as I did. I

had every intention of finding out why she was acting so weird over

Adam and then talking to Daemon about the weird stuff that had been

happening.

Dee misinterpreted my hesitation. “We can get together tomorrow

after school.”

“But-”

“It’s okay.” Her look seemed to say, Go out, have fun. Be normal.

Or maybe that was my wishful thinking, because she didn’t seem very

Дата добавления: 2015-11-13