Onyx (A Lux Novel)

Daemon met me outside and tried to take the keys. “Nope. My mom’s car means I’m driving.”

He glared at me but got into the passenger seat. His long legs were no match for the cramped seating. He looked like he’d outgrown the car. I laughed. Daemon scowled.

I turned on a rock station, and he changed it to an oldies station. Moorefield was only fifteen minutes away, but it would be the longest damn drive of my life.

“So how did you drop Butter-face?” he asked before we even pulled out of the driveway.

I shot him a dirty look. “I told him I have plans with my mom. It’s not like I spend every waking minute with Blake.”

Daemon snorted.

“What?” I glanced at him. He stared out the window, one hand on the oh-shit handle. As if my driving was thatbad. “What?” I repeated. “You know what I’m doing with him. It’s not like we’re hanging out and watching movies.”

“Do I really know what you’re doing with him?” he asked softly.

My hands tightened on the wheel. “Yes.”

The muscle worked in his jaw, and then he turned, angling his body toward me the best he could given the limited space. “You know, your whole life doesn’t have to involve training with Bradley. You can take time off.”

“You could also join us. I liked it…when you helped out, when you were there,” I admitted, feeling my cheeks burn.

There was a pause. “You know my stance on that, but you need to stop avoiding Dee. She misses you. And that’s just messed up.”

Guilt chewed at me with small, razor-sharp teeth. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” he said. “What for? For being a crappy friend?”

In a second, anger flashed through me, wild and hot like a fireball. “I’m not trying to be a crappyfriend, Daemon. You know what I’m doing. You’rethe one who told me to keep her out of this. Just tell Dee I’m sorry, okay?”

The familiar challenge was in his voice. “No.”

“Can we not talk?”

“And that would also be a no.”

But he didn’t say anything else while he gave me directions to the subdivision where Vaughn lived. I parked the car halfway between the suspected six houses, grateful that my mom tinted the windows of her car.

Then Daemon started in again. “How has your training been going?”

“If you got over yourself, you’d know.”

He smirked. “Are you still able to freeze things? Move objects around?” When I nodded, his eyes narrowed. “Have you had any unexpected outbursts of power?”

Besides the whole mini cyclone in my living room after seeing Bethany, I hadn’t. “No.”

“Then why are you still training? The whole purpose was for you to get control. You have.”

Wanting to bang my head against the steering wheel, I groaned. “That’s not the only reason, Daemon. And you know that.”

“Obviously I don’t,” he retorted, pushing back against his seat.

“God, I love how you’re all up in my personal business but don’t want to be involved in it.”

“I like talking about your personal business. It’s usually entertaining and always good for a laugh.”

“Well, I don’t,” I snapped.

Daemon sighed as he twisted in his seat and tried to get comfortable. “This car sucks.”

“It was your idea. I, on the other hand, think the car is a perfect size. But that might be because I’m not the size of a mountain.”

He snickered. “You’re the size of a little, itty bitty doll.”

“If you say a vacant doll, I will hurt you.” I wound the necklace chain around my fingers. “Got that?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I stared out the windshield, caught between wanting to just be angry with him—because that was easy—and wanting to explain myself. So much bubbled up in me that nothing would come out.

He sighed. “You’re worn down. Dee’s worried. She won’t stop bugging me to check on you and see what’s wrong, since you won’t hang out with her anymore.”

“Oh, so we’re back to you doing things to make your sister happy? Are you getting bonus points for asking?” I asked before I could stop myself.

“No.” He reached out, catching my chin in a gentle grasp, forcing me to look at him. And when I did, I couldn’t breathe. His eyes churned. “I’m worried. I’m worried for a thousand different reasons and I hate this—I hate feeling like I can’t do anything about it. That history is on repeat and even though I can see it as clear as day, I can’t stop it.”

His words opened up a hole in my chest and suddenly I thought of Dad. When I was little and would get upset, usually over something stupid like a toy I wanted, I could never really put my frustration into words. Instead, I’d throw a fit or pout. And Dad…he always said the same thing.

Use your words, Kitty-cat. Use your words.

Words were the most powerful tool. Simple and so often underestimated. They could heal. They could destroy. And I needed to use my words now. I wrapped my fingers around his wrist, welcoming the jolt that touching him gave me.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

Daemon looked confused. “About what?”

“About everything—about not hanging out with Dee and being a terrible friend to Lesa and Carissa.” I took a deep breath and gently pulled his hand away. I looked out the windshield, blinking back tears. “And I’m sorry about not being able to stop training. I get why you don’t want me to. I really do. I understand that you don’t want me in danger and that you don’t trust Blake.”

Daemon sat back against the seat and I forced myself to continue. “Most of all, I do know you fear that I’m going to end up like Bethany and Dawson—whatever really did happen to them—and you want to protect me from that. I understand. And it…it kills me knowing that it hurts you, but you’ve got to understand why I need to be able to control and use my abilities.”

“Kat—”

“Let me finish, okay?” I glanced at him and when he nodded, I took another breath. “This isn’t just about you and what you want. Or what you’re afraid of. This is about me—my future and my life. Granted, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life when it came to college, but now I face a future where if I step out of the range of the beta quartz, I’m going to be hunted. Like you. My momwill be in danger if an Arum sees and follows me home. And then there’s this whole DOD mess.”

I squeezed my hand around the obsidian. “I have to be able to defend myself and the people I care about. Because I can’t expect you to always be there to protect me. It’s not right or fair to either of us. That’s why I’m training with Blake. Not to piss you off. Not to get with him. I’m doing it so that I can stand beside you, as your equal, and not be someone you need to protect. And I’m doing this for myself, so that I don’t have to rely on anyone to save me.”

Daemon’s lashes lowered, shielding his eyes. Seconds passed in silence and then he said, “I know. I know why you want to do this. And I respect that. I do.” There was a “but” coming. I could feel it in my bones. “But it’s hard to stand back and let this happen.”

“You don’t know what’s going to happen, Daemon.”

He nodded and then turned to the passenger window. One hand came up, rubbing along his jaw. “It’s hard. That’s all I can say about this. I’ll respect what you want to do, but it’s hard.”

I released the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding on a soft sigh and nodded. I knew he wasn’t going to say anything more about this. Respecting my decision was better than an apology. At least now, we were on the same page, and that was important.

I peeked at him. “Anyway, what are we going to do if we see Vaughn?”

“Haven’t thought that far ahead yet.”

“Wow. This was a good plan.” I paused. “I really doubt Bethany is in one of these houses. That would just be too dangerous.”

“I agree, but why did they have her out in public like that?” He’d asked the million-dollar question. “Where anyone could see her?”

I shook my head. “I got the distinct impression that Vaughn wasn’t too happy. Maybe she escaped.”