Oblivion

She shivered as she sat on the sunbaked rock. “How can you do things without me seeing?”

Leaning back on my elbows, I stretched out my legs. “We’re made of light. We can manipulate the different spectra around us, using them. It’s like we’re fracturing the light, if that makes any sense.”

“Not really.”

“You’ve seen me turn into my natural state, right?” When she nodded, I went on. “And I sort of vibrate until I break apart into tiny particles of light. Well, I can selectively eliminate the light, which allows us to be transparent.”

She tucked her knees against her chest. “That’s kind of amazing, Daemon.”

I smiled as I folded my arms behind my head and lay back. “I know you have questions. Ask them.”

Kat slowly shook her head. “Do you guys believe in God?”

“He seems like a cool guy.”

She blinked. “Did you guys have a god?”

“I remember there was something like a church, but that’s all. The Elders don’t talk about any religion,” I explained.

“What do you mean by ‘elders’?”

“The same thing you’d mean. An old person.”

She scrunched her nose.

That made me grin. “Next question?”

“Why are you such an ass?”

I laughed under my breath. “Everyone has to excel at something, right?”

“Well, you’re doing a great job.”

Closing my eyes, I welcomed the sun soaking into me. “You do dislike me, don’t you?”

Kat didn’t respond right off. “I don’t dislike you, Daemon. You’re hard to…like. It’s hard to figure you out.”

“So are you,” I admitted and then decided to rock this whole honesty thing. “You’ve accepted the impossible. You’re kind to my sister and to me—even though I admit I’ve been a jerk to you. You could’ve run right out of the house yesterday and told the world about us, but you didn’t. And you don’t put up with any of my crap.” I laughed. “I like that about you.”

“You like me?”

“Next question?” I said smoothly.

Kat leaned in closer. “Are you guys allowed to date people—humans?”

I shrugged one shoulder as I glanced over at her. “‘Allowed’ is a strange word. Does it happen? Yes. Is it advised? No. So we can, but what would be the point? Not like we can have a lasting relationship when we have to hide what we are.”

She appeared to consider that. “So, you guys are like us in other, uh, departments?”

I sat up, arching a brow. “Come again?”

Her cheeks flushed in the sunlight. “You know, like sex? I mean, you guys are all glowy and stuff. I don’t see how certain stuff would work.”

Like sex?

She was legit asking me if we could have sex?

The question made me want to laugh. It also made me want other things that had to do with what she was thinking, and the fact that I physically responded that way so quickly was a bit disconcerting.

It was also interesting.

And I was also an idiot.

My lips curled up in a half smile and before I could really think about what I was doing, I moved, rolling her onto her back before she could blink an eye. She sucked in a soft breath. I hovered over her, my wet hair falling forward as I braced my weight on my hands. A droplet of water sneaked free, landing on her cheek. She didn’t even notice it.

“Are you asking if I’m attracted to human girls?” I lowered myself, and our bodies met in all the areas that counted. With our wet clothes, it felt like there was barely anything between our skin. She was amazingly soft under me, and I could feel her shallow breaths. As close as we were, I saw the way her eyes dilated. I shifted my hips just the slightest and I felt her gasp in every part of me. “Or are you asking if I’m attracted to you?”

Our eyes met and held. Silence stretched out between us, and I knew she had her answer.

And I also knew I needed to get off her before I engaged in total dumbassery.

Taking more effort than it should have, I rolled off her. When I spoke, there was no mistaking the change in my voice. “Next question.”

Kat didn’t sit up. “You could’ve just told me, you know?” She turned her head toward me. “You didn’t have to show me.”

True dat.

“And what fun would there be in telling you?” I turned my head toward her. “Next question, Kitten?”

“Why do you call me that?”

“You remind me of a little fuzzy kitten, all claws and no bite.”

Her lips twitched. “Okay, that makes no sense.”

I shrugged.

A moment passed. “Do you think there are more Arum around?”

That was a tough one. I tipped my head back, studying her to determine how real she wanted me to get. “They are always around.”

“And they’re hunting you?” Her voice dropped.

I flipped my gaze to the sky. “It’s the only thing they care about. Without our powers, they are like…humans, but vicious and immoral. They’re into ultimate destruction and whatever.”

“Have you…fought a lot of them?”

“Yep.” I rolled onto my side, facing her. “I’ve lost count of how many I’ve faced and killed. And with you lit up like you are, more will come.”

Her gaze momentarily lifted. “Then why did you stop the truck?”

“Would you have preferred I let it pancake you?” I asked, referencing what she had said that night.

“Why did you?” she persisted.

I clenched my jaw. “Honestly?”

“Yes.”

“Will it get me bonus points?” I asked softly.

Her chest rose with a deep breath, and then she lifted her hand. She brushed back the strand of hair that had fallen across my forehead. Her fingers grazed my skin, and I stilled, closed my eyes briefly. Such a soft, i

“Depends on how you answer the question,” she said.

When I opened my eyes, her features were tinged in white. She pulled her hand back, exhaling softly. I eased onto my back, my arm against hers. “Next question?”

Kat folded her hands together over her stomach, and she didn’t pull away. “Why does using your powers leave a trace?”

Much safer ground. “Humans are like glow-in-the-dark T-shirts to us. When we use our abilities around you, you can’t help but absorb our light. Eventually, the glow will fade, but the more we do, the more energy we use, the brighter the trace. Dee blurring out doesn’t leave much of anything. The truck incident and when I scared the bear, that leaves a visible mark. Something more powerful, like healing someone, leaves a longer trace. A faint one, nothing big so I’m told, but it lingers longer for some reason.

“I should’ve been more careful around you,” I continued. “When I scared the bear, I used a blast of light, which is kind of like a laser. It left a large enough trace on you for the Arum to see you.”

“You mean the night I was attacked?” Her voice was hoarse.

“Yes.” I scrubbed my hand down my face. “Arum don’t come here a lot, because they don’t think any Luxen are here. The beta quartz in the Rocks throws off our energy signature, hides us. That’s one of the reasons why there are a lot of us here. But there must have been one coming through. He saw your trace and knew there had to be one of us nearby. It was my fault.”

“It wasn’t your fault. You weren’t the one who attacked me.”

“But I basically led him to you,” I pointed out.

As my words sank in, she paled. Fear filled her gaze. I hated that, and like earlier, I was concerned with how much of this information she could handle.

“Where is he now? Is he still around?” she asked. “Is he going to come back? What—”

Reaching between us, I found her hand and squeezed gently. “Kitten, calm down. You’re going to have a heart attack.”

Her lips parted slowly. “I’m not going to have a heart attack.”

“Are you sure?” Her hand felt warm and small inside mine.

“Yes.” That earned me another epic eye roll.

“He isn’t a problem anymore,” I explained.

She turned her head more fully toward me. “You…you killed him?”

“Yeah, I kind of did.” I wasn’t trying to scare her, but she needed to know I would kill anyone who threatened my family…and now her.