Onyx (A Lux Novel)

Blake’s hand pressed into me as he leaned around. “I don’t think we got the chance to introduce ourselves the other night at the diner. My name is Blake Saunders.” He offered his free hand.

Daemon glanced at Blake’s hand before returning his gaze to me. “I know who you are.”

Oh, geez. I twisted toward Blake. “This is Daemon Black.”

His smile faltered. “Yeah, I know who he is, too.”

Laughing under his breath, Daemon straightened. At his full height, he was a good head taller than Blake. “It’s always nice to meet another fan.”

Yeah, Blake had no idea what to say to that. He shook his head slightly and faced me. “Well, I need to get going.”

I smiled. “All right. Thanks for…everything.”

He smiled a little as he leaned in, wrapping his arms loosely around me. Acutely aware of Daemon’s intense stare, I placed my hands on Blake’s back and leaned up, pressing my lips against his smooth cheek.

Daemon cleared his throat.

Blake laughed softly in my ear. “I’ll call you. Behave.”

“Always,” I said, letting go.

With one last grin tossed in Daemon’s direction, Blake sauntered out the door. Had to give it to the boy, he held his own—sort of—against Daemon.

I faced him, scowling as I started fiddling with the obsidian around my neck. “You know, you couldn’t have been much more of a jerk if you tried.”

He arched a brow. “Thought I told you not to hang out with him?”

“Thought I explained that just because you say I can’t doesn’t mean I won’t.”

“You did?” His gaze followed the obsidian, and then he lowered his head. “You look really nice tonight, Kitten.”

My stomach hollowed. Must ignore—must ignore. “I think Dee has her hands full, but she did a great job decorating the house.”

“Don’t let her fool you into believing she did all of this herself. She recruited me from the moment I got home.”

“Oh.” Surprise shot through me. I couldn’t picture Daemon stringing paper lanterns without lighting them on fire and then throwing them. “You both did a great job.”

Daemon’s gaze dipped again, and I shivered under his intense scrutiny. Why, oh why, did Blake need to bail early, leaving me behind with Daemon? “Where did you get this dress?” he asked.

“Your sister,” I told him blandly.

He frowned, looking half disgusted. “I don’t even know what to say about that.”

“Say about what, babe?”

Daemon stiffened. Tearing my gaze from him, my eyes locked with Ash’s. Holding my stare, she smiled sweetly and wrapped a thin arm around his narrow waist. She leaned into him, as if she were all too familiar with the lines of his body. And she was. They’d been dating on and off for a while.

Oh, this was fabulous. He’d just given Blake the stink eye and now Ash was leeched to his side. And God, I didn’tlike that at all. Irony was such a bitch.

“That’s a cute dress. It’s Dee’s, right?” Ash asked. “I think she got it when we went shopping together, but it usually looks looser on her.”

Oh, that felt like a jellyfish sting. An unreasonable emotion crept up my spine the longer she stood there, in her skintight sweater dress that ended an inch below her butt. “I think you forgot some jeans or the bottom part of your dress.”

Ash smirked, but then turned her attention back to Daemon. “Babe, you rushed off so fast. I had to search the entire upstairs for you. Why don’t we go back to your room and finish what we started?”

The punched-in-the-gut feeling nearly doubled me over. I had no idea where it was coming from or why I felt that way. It wasn’t reasonable. I didn’t like Daemon— I didn’t. He could make out with the Pope for all I cared, and I’d just kissed Blake. But that hot feeling was there, stealing through my veins.

Daemon stepped out of Ash’s embrace while scratching a spot above his heart. He caught my eyes, and I raised my brows expectantly. He wanted to be with me? Yeah, seemed like it…in between whatever he was doing with Ash.

I turned away before I said something that would embarrass me later. Dee’s high-pitched giggle followed my steps. Daemon spoke, but it was lost in the crowd of people. Needing air and distance, I stepped out onto the crowded front porch.

I couldn’t figure out what was going on. There was no way I was jealous. That sowasn’t what I was feeling. And I had a date coming up with a hot, normal human boy. There was no way I cared that Daemon and Ash were doing whatever.

Then it struck me as I headed down the steps. Oh my God, I didcare. I cared— I caredthat he’d been upstairs with Ash doing things that…I couldn’t even wrap my brain around without wanting to do physical damage. My head spun. Images of Ash kissing him sucked the air out of my lungs. What was wrong with me?

Dazed, I started walking. At some point, I kicked off my heels and tossed them aside. I kept walking, my feet bare against the cold grass and gravel. I didn’t stop until I stood beside the empty house at the end of the road. Taking several gulps of fresh, clean air, I tried to get control of my overexposed emotions. Part of me knew what I was feeling was ridiculous, but it still seemed like the world had stopped spi

My breath shuddered in my chest. I squeezed my eyes shut and swore. What I was feeling wasn’t right. The last time I’d been this jealous was when all the bloggers went to a book conference last year and Mom wouldn’t let me go. Hell, this was worse. I wanted to scream. I wanted to run back in there and pull out every strand of Ash’s hair. Jealousy I had no right to coursed through my veins, blinding any rational thought trying to tell me I was being stupid. But my blood was boiling. My palms were sweaty and they felt foreign and cold. My entire body was shaking.

I stood there, lost in my swirling emotions and messed-up thoughts until I heard the sound of feet crunching over grass. The figure moved out of the dark shadows and a stretch of moonlight bounced off a gold and blue watch.

Simon.

My stomach sunk all the way to my toes. What in the hell was he doing here? Had Dee invited him? I hadn’t told her what had happened between us, but there was no doubt she had heard the rumors.

“Katy, is that you?” He staggered to the side and leaned against the house. Fully visible, he had a swollen-shut eye that was an ugly shade of violet. Bruises marred his jaw. A lip was split.

I gaped. “What happened to your face?”

Simon lifted a flask to his mouth. “Your boyfriend happened to my face.”

“Who?”

He took a drink, wincing. “Daemon Black.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Whatever.” Simon inched closer. “I came here to talk…to you. You’ve got to call him off.”

My eyes widened. When Daemon said he’d take care of the problem, he hadn’t been screwing around. Part of me felt bad for the dude, but it was overshadowed by the fact he and his friends had half the school calling me a skank.

“You’ve got to tell him I didn’t mean anything that night. I’m…sorry.” He lurched forward, dropping the flask. Jesus. Daemon must’ve put the fear of God in him. “You’ve got to tell him I set everyone straight.”

I stepped back as the wave of alcohol and desperation crashed into me. “Simon, I think you should sit down or something, because—”

“You’ve got to tell him.” He grabbed my arm with damp, beefy fingers. “People are starting to talk. I can’t…have that kind of shit being said about me. Tell him or else.”

The hairs on the back of my neck rose. Fury tore through me like a speeding bullet. I wouldn’t be pushed around or threatened. Not by Simon or anyone. “Or else what?”

“My dad’s a lawyer.” His hand tightened as he swayed. “He’ll—”

A couple of things happened next.

He pitched toward me, too close, and my heart sped up. A horrible cracking sound deafened my ears. Four of the five windows we stood next to trembled and then cracked. A large, jagged fracture streaked down the middle of each window, and then small ones spread out until the entire windows shuddered under the unseen force and exploded, sending shards of glass raining down on us.