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This was the girl who stood before Vaughn and watched the life seep out of him.
Maybe later I would be bothered by how quickly the change came over me. How easy it was for me to go from the girl whod just bought her prom dress and flirted with her boyfriend to this stranger who now occupied my body, ready to do anything to protect those I loved.
But right now, I didnt care.
Youre not going to hurt Daemon. Youre not going to hurt me, I said. And you are sure as hell not going to hurt my mother.
Will lifted the gun. The metal looked too heavy for his feeble hand. What are you going to do, Katy?
What do you think? I took a bold step forward, my brain and mouth propelled by this stranger. Come on, Will, youre smart enough to figure it out on your own.
You dont have it in you.
Calmness settled over me, and I felt my lips spread into a smile. You dont know what Im capable of.
Up until then, I hadnt known what I was capable of, not truly, but seeing Will, staring down the barrel of that gun, I knew exactly what I was capable of. And as wrong as it may be, I was okay with what I was going to have to do.
Completely accepting of it.
There was a part of me that was scared of how easy that acceptance was and I wanted to cling to the old Katy, because she wouldve had a problem with this. She wouldve been sickened by this and the words I was saying.
You do look a little ill, Will. You might want to get checked out. Oh, wait. I widened my eyes i
The hand around the gun trembled. You think youre so smart and brave, dont you, little girl?
I shrugged. Perhaps, but I do know Im completely healthy. What about you, Will?
Shut up, he hissed.
Stepping next to the kitchen table, I eyed the gun. If I could distract him, then I could take him out. I really didnt want to test the whole stopping-a-bullet theory.
Just think of all that money you paid, and it didnt even work out in the end, I said. And youve lost everything-your career, your money, my mom, and your health. Karmas a tool, isnt it?
You stupid bitch. Spittle flew from between his chapped lips. Im going to kill you, and youll die knowing that your precious freak will be dead, too. And then Im going to sit here and wait for your mother to come home.
My humanity clicked off. I was so done with this.
Will smiled. Wheres your smart mouth now?
My gaze dropped to the gun, and I felt the Source soar over my skin. My fingers splayed, their tips already tingling. Drawing in the power, I focused on the gun. His hand shook again. The muzzle of the gun swayed to the left. The trigger finger twitched.
Wills throat spasmed as he swallowed. What
What are you doing?
I lifted my gaze, and I smiled.
His bloodshot eyes widened. You-
I waved my hand to the left and several things happened next. There was a popping sound, like a cork being pulled from a champagne bottle, but the sound and everything else was lost in the roar of electricity that flowed outward and then the gun flew from his hand.
It was like a bolt of lightning-pure and raw.
The stream of whitish-red light arced across the room, slamming into Wills chest. Maybe-maybe if he wasnt so ill, it wouldnt have done much, but the man was weak and I wasnt.
He flew backward, bouncing off the wall next to the fridge, his head flopping on his neck like a rag doll. He made no sound as he hit the floor in a boneless heap. That was it-it was over. No more wondering about Will or where he was, what he was doing. This part of our lives was closed.
My house is like the killing fields , I thought.
I exhaled and something-I dont know, something went wrong. Air was stuck in my throat, in my lungs, but when I dragged in a breath, there was this burning pain I hadnt noticed before. But as the Source receded back into me, the burning grew across my chest, spread over my stomach.
I looked down.
A red inkblot had formed on the pale blue shirt and it spread
larger and larger, an irregular circle that bled.
I pressed my hands against the circle-it was damp, warm, and sticky. Blood. It was blood-my blood. My head swam.
Daemon, I whispered.
Armentrout, Je
Opal ( A Lux Novel)
Chapter 33
I dont remember falling, but I was staring at the ceiling, trying to keep my hands pressed to the gunshot wound, because Id seen people do that on TV, but I couldnt feel my hands, so I wasnt sure if they were there or by my sides.
My face was wet.
I was going to die in minutes, maybe sooner, and Id failed Daemon and my mom. Failed them, because Daemon would die, too, and my mom-oh, God, my mom would come home to find this. She wouldnt survive this, not after Dad.
A shudder rolled through my body and my chest labored for breath. I didnt want to die alone on the cold, hard floor. I didnt want to die at all. I blinked and when I reopened my eyes, the ceiling was fuzzy.
Nothing really hurt, though. Books got that right. There was a point where there was so much pain I couldnt process it or I was beyond it. Probably beyond it
The front door opened and a familiar voice called out, Katy? Where are you? Somethings wrong with Daemon
My lips worked, but there was no sound. I tried again. Dee?
Footsteps crept closer and then, Oh my God
oh my God.
Dee was suddenly in my line of sight, her face fuzzy around the edges. Katy-holy crap, Katy
hold on. She moved my bloodstained hands away and placed hers over the wound as she looked up, seeing Will crumpled beside the fridge. God
I worked to get out one word. Daemon
She blinked rapidly, her form fading out for a second and then her face was in front of mine, her eyes glowing like diamonds, and I couldnt look away. Her eyes, her words, consumed me. Andrew is bringing him over. Hes okay. Hes going to be okay, because youre going to be okay. Got that?
I coughed out a response and something wet and warm covered my lips. It had to be bad-blood-because Dees face paled even more as she placed both of her hands over the wound and closed her eyes.
My lids seemed way too heavy and the sudden warmth radiating from hers ebbed and flowed through me. Her shape faded out and she was in her true form-bright and lustrous like an angel-and I thought if I were to die, then at least I saw something as beautiful as this before the end.
But I had to hang on, because it wasnt just my life that hung in the balance. It was Daemons. So I forced my eyes open, kept them trained on Dee, watching as her light flickered over the walls, bathing the room. If she healed me, would we be linked? The three of us? I couldnt wrap my head around that. And it wouldnt be fair to Dee.
And then there were voices. I recognized Andrews and Dawsons. There was a thud beside my head and then he was there, his beautiful face pale and strained. Id never seen him so pale, and if I concentrated, I could feel his heart laboring like mine. His hands were shaking as they touched my cheeks, smooth under my parted lips.
Daemon
Shh, he said, smiling. Dont talk. Its okay. Everything is okay.
He turned to his sister, gently pulling her stained hands back. You can stop now.
She mustve responded directly to him, because Daemon shook his hand. We cant risk you doing this. You have to stop.
Someone, it sounded like Andrew, said, Man, youre too weak to do this. And then I realized it was him, and he was on my other side. I think he held my hand. I mayve been hallucinating, though, because I saw two Daemons.