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pleased with Blake’s interest in me. “It’s fine,” Dee adds.
I could wait one more day to talk to Daemon. I glanced over at
Blake and our eyes locked. I found myself nodding.
Blake’s smile remained on his face the rest of the lunch. Toward
the end, I caved and had to look because I could still feel him. Blake
had been right. Daemon was staring. Not at me, but at the boy next to
me. There wasn’t anything friendly in the hard line of his jaw or his
sharp jewel-toned eyes.
Daemon’s gaze slid to mine. There was a flutter deep in my chest.
I tried to draw in a breath, but I felt pierced. My lips tingled.
There was definitely no competition there.
…
Blake and I decided to go to the Smoke Hole after school. We took
separate cars, and the wind was howling when we got there, tearing at
the bare branches of the trees surrounding the parking lot as we
rushed inside.
His cheeks were flushed under his tan as we grabbed a seat near
the crackling fireplace. “I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to
the wind here. It’s brutal.”
“Me, too,” I said, rubbing my chilled hands over my arms. “And
I’ve been told to expect a lot of snow come winter.”
Interest lit up his eyes, making the specks of green stand out.
Nowhere near as bright as Daemon’s, though. “Perfect snowboarding
weather, then. Do you snowboard?”
I laughed. “I’d kill myself in two seconds. I went skiing once
with my mom and it wasn’t pretty.”
Blake grinned and then shifted his attention to the waitress
taking our orders. Surprisingly, I wasn’t nervous. There wasn’t a
tipsy feeling in my stomach when our gazes met. My skin didn’t feel
stretched too thin. And I wasn’t sure what that meant. It seemed so…
normal.
He told me about surfing while we waited for my slice of cheese
pizza and his cup of chili. I told him the closest I’d come to surfing
was watching the guys down in Florida. I didn’t have that kind of
coordination, and he tried to convince me it wasn’t that hard.
I laughed. A lot. We took our time eating. With him, I wasn’t
thinking about aliens from outer space or the looming threat of the
DOD or Arum. It was the most relaxing hour I’d spent in a long time.
Toward the end, he was ripping a napkin into tiny pieces while he
grinned at me. “So, you have a blog?”
Surprised, I nodded and figured I’d get my geekdom out of the way.
“Yeah, I love books. I review them on the blog.” I paused. “How did
you know?”
Blake leaned forward and whispered, “I looked you up. I know, kind
of a nerdy thing to do, but I found your blog. I like how you write
your reviews. Very witty. And you’re passionate about it.”
Flattered and completely won over by the fact he actually read my
reviews, I smiled. “Thank you. The blog is really important to me.
Most people don’t get it.”
“Oh, I totally do. I used to blog about surfing.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “Yep, I miss the surfing and blogging-the whole
connecting with people all around the world that shared the same
passion. It’s a pretty awesome community.”
This guy was perfect. He didn’t make fun of me like Daemon had
over the whole blog thing. Cool points for Blake. I took a sip of my
drink as I glanced out the window. Dark, thick clouds blanketed the
sky. “When I first saw you, I had you pegged for a surfer. You have
that look.”
“What kind of look is that?”
“You just have the surfer-boy look going on. The hair, the
tan-it’s very cute.”
“Cute?” He arched a brow.
“Okay, it’s pretty hot.”
He grinned. “I like the sound of that.”
He had one of those personalities, much like Dee, where I couldn’t
help but feel comfortable around him. A welcome change from the
pins-and-needles feeling I got around Daemon.
When we left the diner close to five, I couldn’t believe how much
time had passed. The wind whipped at my hair, but I was still buzzing
too much from my afternoon with Blake to care about the fact I hadn’t
bought a jacket yet.
Blake nudged me with his elbow. “I’m glad you came with me.”
“So am I.” I twirled my keys as we stopped by his truck.
“I don’t normally put myself out there.” He leaned against the
hood of his truck, crossing his ankles. “You know, just asking like
that in front of an entire table of strangers.”
Brisk wind cooled my warm cheeks. “You seemed pretty confident.”
“I am when I want something.”
Pushing off the hood, he moved to stand in front of me. Oh God.
Was he going to kiss me? I totally loved the easy afternoon we’d just
spent, but, well…I just didn’t feel right leading him on. I didn’t
know what was going on with Daemon, if anything really was going on,
but I knew it wasn’t fair to pretend I was completely free. I had
feelings for Daemon; I just wasn’t sure what they meant.
Blake leaned toward me, and I froze.
Above him, the branches shook and groaned under the force of the
wind.
There was a loud crack, and my head jerked up. One of the thick
branches broke under the weight of the wind. Panic leaped into my
throat as it spiraled down to where Blake stood. There was no way he
could move fast enough, and the size of the branch promised major
damage.
Static rushed over my skin, crackling between the layers of my
clothing. I felt the tiny hairs on the back of my neck raise. Heart
racing, I shot forward and I thought I screamed Stop, but it was only
in my head.
And the branch stopped…in midair, suspended by nothing.
Armentrout, Jennifer L.
Onyx (A Lux Novel)
Chapter 6
The branch hung there, hovering as if it were tethered by an
invisible string. My breath pawed at my chest, not quite making it
out. I stopped the branch- I did that. Panic and power rushed through
me, leaving me dizzy.
Blake was staring at me, his eyes wide with what? Fear?
Excitement? He stepped to the side and lifted his gaze. The rush of
power left me at once. The heavy branch crashed, cracking the pavement
like it would’ve done to Blake’s skull. My shoulders slumped as I
dragged in air. Sharp, slicing pain erupted behind my eyes and I
winced.
“Wow…” Blake ran a hand through his spiky hair. “That would’ve
killed me.”
I swallowed, unable to speak. Shock rippled through me, lapping at
my sides. I felt and recognized the warmth tingling across the nape of
my neck, but I couldn’t move. This little “event” had sapped me of
energy, and my head…it throbbed something fierce-a kind of scary pain
that signaled something was very wrong.
Oh, God, was this it? Was I having an aneurysm?
“Katy…it’s okay,” Blake said, stepping forward as his eyes darted
behind me.
A warm, strong hand curled around my arm. “Kat.”
I sagged at the sound of Daemon’s voice. Turning to him, I lowered
my head, shielding my face with my hair. “Sorry,” I whispered.
“Is she okay?” Blake asked, sounding worried. “The branch-”
“Yes. She’s fine. The falling branch scared her.” Each word
sounded like he spoke it through gritted teeth. “That’s all.”
“But-”
“See you later.” Daemon started walking, taking me along with him.
“Are you okay?”
I nodded, staring straight ahead. Everything seemed too bright for
a cloudy day. Too real. The whole afternoon had been perfect. Normal.
And I’d ruined it. When I didn’t answer, Daemon took my keys from my
numb fingers and opened the passenger door.
Blake called out my name, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at
him. I had no idea what he must be thinking, but I knew it couldn’t be
good.
“Get in,” Daemon said almost gently.
For once, I obeyed without question. When he climbed in on the
driver’s side and moved the seat back, I snapped out of it. “How…how
are you here?”
He didn’t look at me as he turned the ignition and pulled out of
the parking space. “I was driving around. I’ll have Dee and Adam get
my car.”
Turning in my seat, I saw Blake by his car. He was still standing
there like we’d left him. Knots twisted my insides. I felt sick.
Trapped by what I’d done.
“Daemon…”
His jaw worked. “You’ll pretend like nothing happened. If he
brings it up, you’ll tell him that he moved out of the way. If he even
suggests that you…that you stopped that branch, you laugh it off.”
Understanding seeped in. “I need to act like you did in the
beginning?”
He nodded curtly. “What just happened back there never happened.
Do you understand me?”
Close to tears, I nodded.
Silence ticked away the minutes. Halfway home, the headache eased
up and I felt almost normal, except it was like I had pulled an
all-nighter. Neither of us spoke until he pulled into the driveway of
my house.
Daemon yanked the keys from the ignition and sat back. He faced
me, eyes sheltered by a long wave of hair. “We need to talk. And you
need to be honest with me. You don’t seem surprised you just did
that.”
I nodded again. He was furious, and I couldn’t blame him. I’d
possibly exposed them all to a human-a human who could go to the
press, who could talk at school, and who could catch the attention of
the DOD. They’d find out that the Luxen had special abilities. They’d
learn about me.
We went inside my empty house. The central air was blowing heat
from the vents, but I was shivering uncontrollably as I sat on the
recliner. “I was planning on telling you.”
“You were?” Daemon stood in front of me, hands clenching and
unclenching at his sides. “When, exactly? Before or after you did
something that puts you at risk?”
I flinched. “I didn’t plan on this happening! All I wanted was to
have a normal afternoon with a boy-”
“With a boy?” he spat, eyes flaring an intense green.
“Yes, with a normal boy!” Why did that sound so surprising? I took
a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I did plan on coming to you tonight, but
Blake asked me to grab something to eat with him and I just wanted one
freaking afternoon with someone like me.”
His frown went so deep I thought his face would crack. “You have
friends who are normal, Kat.”
“It’s not the same thing!”
Daemon seemed to get what I wasn’t really saying. For a second,
his eyes widened and I’d swear there was a flicker of pain in them,
but then it was gone. “Tell me what’s been happening.”
Guilt shot through me, pulling behind it spiky barbs that dug in
deep. “I think I did get alien cooties, because I’ve been moving
things…without touching them. Today, I opened the door to Mr.
Garrison’s classroom without touching it. He seemed to think it was a
drafty hallway.”
“How often has this been happening?”
“On and off for around a week. The first time it was my locker
door, but I thought it was a fluke, so I didn’t say anything. Then I
thought about wanting a glass of tea, and the glass flew out of the
cabinet and the tea started pouring itself in the fridge. The shower
turned itself on, doors opened, and a couple of times, clothes flew
from my closet.” I sighed. “My room was a mess.”
A snicker escaped. “Nice.”
My hands balled into fists. “How can you think this is funny? Look
at what happened today! I didn’t mean to stop the branch! I mean, I
didn’t want it to hit him, but I didn’t consciously stop the damn
thing. The whole healing-me thing-it changed me, Daemon. If you
haven’t guessed it yet, I couldn’t move things before. And I don’t
know what’s wrong with me. I get a splitting headache and feel
exhausted afterward. What if I’m dying or something?”
Daemon blinked and was suddenly beside me, sitting on the arm of
the chair. Our legs touched. His breath stirred my hair. I shrank back
as my heart rate picked up. “Why do you have to move so fast?
It’s…wrong.”
He sighed. “Sorry, Kitten. For us, moving fast is natural. It’s
actually more effort to slow down and appear ’normal,’ as you put it.
I guess I just forget I have to pretend around you.”
My heart ached. Why did everything I say lately come out as a
criticism?
“You’re not dying,” he said.
“How do you know?”
His eyes latched onto mine. “Because I’d never let that happen.”
He said it so strongly that I believed him. “What if I’m turning
into an alien?”
A look crossed his face, like he wanted to laugh, and I could get
why. It did sound absurd. “I don’t know if that’s possible.”
“Moving stuff with my mind shouldn’t be possible.”
He sighed. “Why didn’t you tell me when this first happened?”
“I don’t know,” I said, unable to look away. “I should’ve. I don’t
want to put you guys at risk. I swear I’m not doing it on purpose.”
Daemon leaned back. His pupils turned luminous. “I know you aren’t
doing anything on purpose. I wouldn’t have thought that.”
My breath caught as he held my gaze with his strange eyes. The
prickly feeling was back, spreading over my skin. Every inch of me
became painfully aware of him.
He was silent for a moment. “I don’t know if it was a product of
my healing you those times or when you connected with us during
Baruck’s attack. Either way, it’s obvious that you’re using some of my
abilities. I’ve never heard of this happening before.”
“Never?” I whispered.
“We don’t heal humans.” Daemon paused, pursing his lips. “I’ve
always thought it had something to do with exposing our abilities, but
now I’m wondering if it’s more than that. If the real reason is
because we…change humans.”
I swallowed. “So I am turning into an alien?”
“Kitten…”
All I could think about was the movie Alien and that thing
crawling out of the dude’s stomach, except mine would be a glowing
ball of light or something. “How do we stop this?”
Daemon stood. “I want to try something, okay?”
My brows rose. “Okay.”
Closing his eyes, he let out a long breath. His form flickered and
faded. A few seconds later, he was in his true form, radiating a
powerful red-white light. He was shaped like a human, and I knew he
would be warm to touch. It was still strange seeing him like this. It
drove home the point-the one I forgot sometimes-that he wasn’t from
this planet.
Say something to me, his voice whispered in my thoughts.
In their true form, Luxen don’t speak out loud. “Uh, hi?”
His chuckle tickled inside me. Not aloud. Say something to me, but
not out loud. Like what happened in the clearing. You spoke to me
then.
When he’d been healing me, I’d heard his thoughts. Would it happen
again? Your light is really pretty, but it’s blinding me.
I heard his ghost inhale. We can still hear each other. His light
dimmed, and he was standing in front of me again, solid, eyes
troubled. “So my light was blinding you, huh?”
“Yeah, it was.” I fiddled with the chain around my neck. “Am I
glowing now?” It usually happened when they went into their true form,
leaving a faint trace behind.
“No.”
So that had changed, too. “Why can I still hear you? You act like
I shouldn’t.”
“You shouldn’t, but we’re still connected.”
“Well, how do we get unconnected?”
“That’s a good question.” He stretched idly as his gaze roamed
across the room. “You have books everywhere, Kitten.”
“That’s really not important right now.”
One hand outstretched. A book flew off the arm of the couch and
into his hand. As he turned it over, his brows rose and his gaze moved
over it quickly. “His touch kills? Really, what is this stuff you’re
reading?”
I shot from the chair, snatching the book away and holding it
close to my chest. “Shut up. I love this book.”
“Uh huh,” Daemon murmured.
“Okay, back to the important stuff. And stop touching my books.” I
set it back where I’d left it. “What are we going to do?”
His gaze settled on me. “I’ll figure out what is happening with
you. Just give me some time.”
I nodded, hoping we had enough time. There was no telling what I’d
accidentally do next, and the last thing I wanted was to expose Dee
and the others. “You do realize this whole thing is why you…”
He arched a brow.
“It’s why you suddenly like me.”
“I’m pretty sure I liked you before this, Kitten.”
“Well, you had one hell of a way of showing it.”
“True,” he admitted. “And I’ve already said I’m sorry for the way
I treated you.” He took a fortifying breath. “I always liked you. From
the moment you first flipped me off.”
“But you didn’t start to want to spend time with me until after
the first attack, when you healed me. Maybe we were already starting
to, like…morph together or whatever.”
Daemon frowned. “What is it with you? It’s like you need to
convince yourself I can’t possibly like you. Does doing that make it
easier to tell yourself you don’t have feelings for me?”
“You treated me like a red-headed stepchild for months. I’m sorry
if I have a hard time believing that whatever you feel is real.” I sat
on the couch. “And it has nothing to do with what I feel.”
His shoulders tensed. “Do you like that guy you were with?”
“Blake? I don’t know. He’s nice.”
“He was sitting with you today at lunch.”
My brow arched. “Because there was an open seat and it’s a free
world where people can pick where they want to sit.”
“There were other seats open. He could’ve sat anywhere else in the
cafeteria.”
It took me a few seconds to respond. “He’s in my bio class. Maybe
he just felt comfortable with me, because we’re both sort of new.”
Something flickered across his face, and then he was standing in
front of me. “He kept staring at you. And obviously he wanted to spend
time with you outside of school.”
“Maybe he likes me,” I said, shrugging. “Lesa invited him to the
party on Friday.”
Daemon’s eyes darkened to an evergreen. “I don’t think you should
be hanging around him until we know what’s up with you moving stuff.
You doing that thing with the branch was only one instance. We can’t
have a repeat of that.”
“What? I’m not supposed to date or hang out with anyone now?”
Daemon smiled. “Anyone human, yes.”
“Whatever.” I shook my head, standing. “This is a stupid
conversation. I’m not dating anyone anyway, but if I were, I wouldn’t
stop just because you said so.”
“You wouldn’t?” His hand shot out, tucking back a strand of hair
behind my ear. “We’ll just have to see about that.”
I stepped sideways, keeping distance between us. “There’s nothing
to see.”
Challenge filled his eyes. “If you say so, Kitten.”
Folding my arms, I sighed. “This isn’t a game.”
“I know, but if it were, I’d win.” He flickered out and appeared
by the entrance to the foyer. “By the way, I’ve heard what Simon has
been saying.”
Heat swept over my face. Another problem, but less important in
the grand scheme of things. “Yeah, he’s being a douche. I think it’s
his friends. He actually apologized to me, and then when his friends
showed up, he told them I was trying to get with him.”
Daemon’s eyes narrowed. “That’s not okay.”
I sighed. “It’s no big deal.”
“Maybe not to you, but it is to me.” He paused, his shoulders
squaring. “I’ll take care of it.”
Armentrout, Jennifer L.
Onyx (A Lux Novel)
Chapter 7
I didn’t get much sleep that night, so trig the next day sucked
worse than normal. There was a six-foot-three alien behind me. Not
talking to me, just breathing softly against the back of my neck. And
no matter how far I scooted up, I could still feel him. I was
hyperaware of him-when he moved, when he wrote something down, when he
scratched his head.
Halfway through class, I debated making a run for the door.
It was also day two of no pen pokes.
On the other hand, Simon kept glancing over his shoulder
throughout class. Needing a distraction, I glared at his head. A slow
flush crept over the back of his neck. He could feel me drilling holes
into his head. Ha. Jerk-face.
Brown hair curled against the faintly flushed skin. He normally
kept it cut close to the skull. I supposed he was in need of a
haircut, since most boys around here didn’t let their hair grow more
than an inch or two. The dull gray shirt he wore stretched over his
broad shoulders as he tensed under my stare. He glanced over his
shoulder at me.
I arched a brow.
Simon turned back stiffly, and his shoulders rose as he took a
deep breath. Annoyance flared and my fingers burned. The tool had half
the school thinking I was easy. My attention fell back to the book in
front of him.
The heavy English text flipped off the desk, smacking Simon right
in the face.
My mouth dropped open as I sat back. Holy crap…
Jumping up, he stared at the book now lying on the floor as if it
were some kind of creature he’d never seen before. Our teacher’s eyes
narrowed as he searched for the source of the disruption.
“Mr. Cutters, is there something you would like to share with the
class?” he asked in a tired, bored voice.
“W-what?” Simon stuttered. He looked around frantically, and then
his eyes settled on the book. “No, I knocked my book off the desk.
Sorry.”
He let out a loud sigh. “Well, then pick it up.”
There were a few scattered chuckles from the other students. Simon
was beet red as he swiped the book off the floor. He placed it in the
middle of his desk and continued staring at it.
After the class settled down and the teacher turned back to the
chalkboard, Daemon poked me with his pen. I twisted around.
“What was that?” he whispered, eyes narrowed. There was no
mistaking the amusement in the tilt to his lips, though. “Very bad
kitty…”
…
Blake arrived to bio minutes before the bell. He was wearing a
vintage Super Mario Bros. shirt today. “You look…”
“Like crap?” I supplied, resting my cheek on my fist. I had no
idea how to prepare myself for seeing him after the branch issue.
Playing it cool wasn’t something I was particularly skilled at.
“I was going to say tired.” His eyes narrowed as he watched me.
“Are you okay?”
I nodded. “Look, about yesterday? I’m sorry I freaked out. The
branch-”
“Scared you?” he said, eyes locked onto mine. “It’s no big deal.
It shocked me, too. It all happened quickly, but I’d swear that branch
stopped.” He tilted his head to the side. “Like it was suspended for a
few seconds.”
“I…” What was I supposed to say? Deny. Deny. Deny. “I don’t know.
Maybe the wind caught it or something.”
“Yeah, maybe. Anyway, the big party is coming up.”
I smiled faintly, relieved at the change in topic. Would it be
that easy? Damn. I was a better liar than Daemon gave me credit for.
“You coming?”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“Good.” I toyed with my pen, remembering what Daemon had said
about not hanging out with Blake. Screw that. “I’m glad you’re
coming.”
Blake’s smile was infectious. We chatted for a little while about
the party, waiting for class to begin. A couple of times, his hand
brushed mine. I doubted it was on accident. And I liked that. There
wasn’t anything forcing him to do it, except that maybe he wanted to
touch me. He seemed to like me all on his own, and that made him a
thousand times more attractive. And, well, that boyish smile of his
helped. I could see him shirtless, surfing the waves. He was totally
dateable.
Taking a deep breath, I did something I rarely ever did. “You can
stop by my place first, before the party, if you want?”
His lashes lowered, fanning his golden cheeks. “That sounds cool.
Like a date?”
I flushed. “Yeah, kind of. I guess you can say that.”
Blake leaned in, his breath surprisingly cool on my cheeks. Minty.
“I’m not sure I like the ’kind of’ thing. I like the idea of calling
it a date.”
My gaze flicked up, meeting his. The little specks of green in his
eyes were nowhere near as vibrant as Daemon’s-why was I even thinking
about him? “We can call it a date.”
He sat back. “Sounds better.”
I smiled, glancing down at my notebook. A date-not
dinner-and-the-movies kind of date-but a date nonetheless. We
exchanged numbers. I gave him directions. Excitement bubbled through
me. I snuck a look at him. He was watching me with a crooked smile on
his face.
Oh, the party just got a whole lot more interesting.
I refused to think about what Daemon would do when he saw me
arrive with Blake. A small part of me wondered if I’d asked Blake just
to find out.
…
Curled up on my couch after school on Thursday, Dee toyed with a
ring on her finger and kept her voice low due to Mom sleeping
upstairs. “The new boy seems to really have the hots for you.”
I plopped down beside her. “You think so?”
Dee smiled, but it was off. “Yeah, I think so. I’m surprised
you’re actually okay with him coming to the party. I really thought…”
“You thought what?”
Her gaze skittered away. “I just thought there might be something
between you and Daemon.”
“Oh, no, there’s nothing between us.” Besides a whacked-out alien
bond and all our secrets. I cleared my throat. “Let’s not talk about
your brother. What’s up with Adam?”
Crimson swept across her pale cheeks. “Adam and I have been trying
to spend more time together, you know? Everyone expects us to be
together, and there is a part of me that likes him. The elders know
that since we’re both eighteen already, we’re coming of age.”
“Coming of age?”
She nodded. “Once we reach eighteen, we’re old enough to be
mated.”
“What?” My eyes bugged. “Mated? Like, marrying and making babies?”
“Yeah.” She sighed. “We usually wait until we’re done with school,
but knowing that we’re getting close, Adam and I are trying to decide
what we want to do.”
I was still stuck on the whole mating thing. “Do the elders tell
you who you can be with?”
Dee frowned. “Not really. I mean, they want us with another Luxen
and to reproduce as soon as possible. I know that sounds messed up,
but our race is dying off.”
“I get that, but what if you didn’t want to have kids? What if you
fell in love with another boy or…a human?”
“They would outcast us.” She faded and then was standing on the
other side of the coffee table. “All of them would turn their backs on
us. That’s what they would’ve done to Dawson if he…if he were still
alive and with Bethany. And I know he would still be with her. Dawson
loved Beth.”
And her brother’s love had ultimately led to their deaths. I
lowered my gaze, feeling for the remaining siblings. “Would they force
you to leave or something?”
She shook her head. “They’d make us want to leave, but we can’t,
not without the DOD’s permission. It’s a lot of pressure.”
No doubt. I had to worry about what college to pick. Not about
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