Onyx

Chapter 12

We got back to his house before the rest of them showed up, and I was trying to keep calm as I settled into the recliner in the corner. Daemon wasn’t panicking, but he didn’t know what was going on yet. Outside, several car doors slammed shut. I wrapped my arms around my waist, and Daemon moved to my side, sitting on the arm of my chair.

Ash and the Thompson boys were the first to come in. Adam smiled at us before sitting next to Dee. She offered him the bag of popcorn she’d been scarfing and he dug in. Andrew took one look in my direction and rolled his eyes. “Anyone have a clue why she’s here?”

I loathed Andrew.

“She needs to be here,” Mr. Garrison said, closing the door behind him. He moved to the center of the living room, all eyes on him. Outside of school, he always dressed down in jeans. “I want to keep this little get-together short.”

Ash smoothed a hand over her purple tights. “The DOD knows about her, right? We’re all in trouble?”

My breath caught. I wasn’t mad at the scornful tone in her voice. A lot was at stake if the DOD found out about me, about them. “Do they, Mr. Garrison?”

“As far as I know, they don’t know about you,” he said. “The elders called a meeting tonight because of the increase in DOD presence here. It appears something has caught the DOD’s attention.”

I sank back against the chair, relieved. But then it hit me. I may be off the hook, but they weren’t. I glanced around the room, not wanting to see any of them in trouble. Not even Andrew.

Adam stared at a buttery piece of popcorn. “Well, what did they see? No one’s done anything wrong.”

Dee sat the bag of popcorn aside. “What’s the deal?”

Matthew’s ultra-bright blue gaze circled the room. “One of their satellites picked up the light show from Halloween weekend, and they’ve been out to the field, using some sort of machine that picks up on residual energy.”

Daemon scoffed. “The only thing they’re going to find is a burned patch of ground.”

“They know we can manipulate light for self-defense, so from what I’ve gathered, that’s not what caught their attention.” Mr. Garrison glanced at Daemon, frowning. “It’s the fact that the energy was so strong it disrupted a satellite’s signal and they weren’t able to snap any pictures of the event. Nothing like that has ever happened before.”

Daemon kept his expression blank. “I guess I’m just that awesome.”

Adam laughed under his breath. “You’re so powerful you’re disrupting signals now?”

“Disrupted only the signal?” Mr. Garrison barked a short laugh. “It destroyed the satellite—a satellite designed to track high-frequency light and energy. It zeroed in on Petersburg, and the event destroyed the satellite.”

“Like I said, I’m that awesome.” Daemon’s smile was smug, but I was filling with anxious energy.

“Wow,” Andrew murmured. Respect gleamed in his eyes. “That’s pretty awesome.”

“As awesome as that is, the DOD is very curious. The elders believe they will be here a while, monitoring things. That they’ve been here.” He glanced at his wristwatch. “It’s imperative that everyone is on their best behavior.”

“What do the other Luxen have to say about this?” Dee asked.

“They aren’t too concerned at this point. And they have no reason to be,” Matthew said.

“Because it was Daemon who caused such a disruptive burst of energy and not them,” Ash said, and then she gasped. “Does the DOD suspect we have more abilities?”

“I think they want to know how it’s possible that he was able to do something like that.” Matthew studied Daemon. “The elders told them there was a fight between our kind. No one implicated you, Daemon, but they already know you’re strong. You can be expecting a visit from them soon.”

He shrugged, but fear spiked in me. It hadn’t been Daemon who’d taken out Baruck, so how could he explain what happened? And would the DOD guess the Luxen were far more powerful than they realized, capable of almost anything?

If so, my friends—and Daemon—were in danger.

“Katy, it’s very important that you’re careful when hanging around the Blacks,” Mr. Garrison continued. “We don’t want the DOD suspecting that you know anything you shouldn’t.”

“Speak for yourself,” Andrew muttered.

I shot him a look, but Daemon responded before I could. “Andrew, I’m going to knock the—”

“What?” Andrew exclaimed. “I’m just telling the truth. I don’t have to like her because you’re infatuated with the stupid human. None—”

Daemon was across the room in a flash. Fully enveloped in intense reddish-white light, he snatched Andrew up and slammed him into the wall with such force the pictures around them rattled.

“Daemon!” I shrieked, rising to my feet at the same time Mr. Garrison shouted.

Ash jumped from her chair, gasping. “What are you doing?”

Grabbing her snack, Dee sighed and sat back. “Here we go. Popcorn?”

Adam took a handful. “Honestly, Andrew needs his ass kicked. The DOD being here isn’t Katy’s fault. She has just as much to lose as we do.”

His sister whirled on him. “So you’re taking her side now? A human’s?”

“This isn’t about sides,” I said, keeping an eye on the boys.

Both were in full Luxen mode. So was Matthew. Nothing but a male-shaped form of intense bluish light, he grabbed Daemon and yanked him off Andrew.

Ash glared at me for a long moment. “None of this would be happening if you hadn’t shown up here. You would’ve never gotten the original trace on you. The Arum would’ve never seen you, and this whole messed-up chain of events would’ve never happened!”

“Oh, shut up, Ash.” Dee threw a handful of popcorn at her. “Seriously. Katy risked her life to make sure the Arum didn’t know where we lived.”

“That’s great and dandy,” Ash snapped back. “But Daemon wouldn’t have gone all Rambo on the Arum if his precious human wasn’t in danger every five seconds. This is her fault.”

“I’m not his precious human!” I took a deep breath. “I’m just his…his friend. And that’s what friends do. They protect each other.”

Ash rolled her eyes.

I sat down. “Well, it’s what human friends do, at least.”

“And it’s what the Luxen do,” Adam said, staring at his sister. “Some just forget that.”

With a disgusted sigh, she spun around and headed for the door. “I’ll wait outside.”

Watching her go, I wondered if she’d find a reason to blame me for everything, even those gaudy purple tights of hers. But in a way, this situation was my fault. It had been my bizarro output of energy that had drawn the DOD here. My chest ached.

Mr. Garrison finally broke the boys apart. Andrew flickered into his human form, eyes narrowed on a still-iridescent Daemon. “Dude, that was just wrong. Knock me around all you want, but I’m not going to be okay with her.”

“Andrew,” Mr. Garrison warned.

“What?” He backed off, though. “Do you really think she can hold her own against the DOD if they question her? Because of how close she is to Dee and you, they will ask her questions. And you, Daemon, are you planning to do a repeat of your brother? Wanna die for her, too?”

Daemon’s light flared brighter, and I knew he was going to charge Andrew again. This was ridiculous. Without thinking, I shot across the room and wrapped my fingers around his glowing wrist. It was strange to touch him like this. Warmth and electricity shot up my arm. The back of my neck tingled.

“That was a low blow,” I said to Andrew, because someone needed to. “He doesn’t even deserve your ass kicking, Daemon.”

“She’s right,” Adam said. Until then I hadn’t realized he’d moved, but he was on the other side of Daemon. “But if you want to put him out of commission for the next week after that comment, I’ll help.”

“Gee, thanks, brother.” Andrew scowled.

Tense silence followed, and then Daemon’s light faded and he settled back into his human form. He glanced down to where my hand curved around his wrist, and then his gaze flicked up, meeting mine. Charged air passed from his skin to mine, shocking me with a crack. I let go of his wrist and stilled under his intense stare.

“This is the kind of display we cannot afford.” Mr. Garrison drew in a deep breath. “I think that’s enough for this evening. Both of you need to cool down and keep in mind that they are here. We need to be careful.”

They left after that, including Dee. She wanted to spend time with Adam and also make sure he didn’t end up mauling Andrew, which left Daemon and me alone. I should’ve left, but after Andrew’s thoughtless comment, I needed to know that Daemon was okay.

I followed him into the kitchen. “I’m sorry about what Andrew said. That was wrong.”

Daemon’s jaw worked as he grabbed two cans of Coke, handing me one. “It is what it is.”

“Still not right.”

His eyes searched my face in a way that made me feel exposed to the core. “Are you worried about the DOD being here?”

I hesitated. “Yeah, I am.”

“Don’t be.”

“Harder said than done.” I played with the tab on the can. “It’s not me I’m worried about. They think you’re responsible for what happened—the crazy energy thing. What if they think you’re…a danger?”

Daemon didn’t answer for several moments. “It’s not just me, Kitten. Even if I had done that, it’s never been about me. It’s about all the Luxen.” He paused, lowering his gaze. “You know what Matthew believes?”

“No.”

A cynical grin pulled at his full lips. “He believes that one day, probably not in our generation, but some day, my kind and the Arum will nearly outnumber yours.”

“Really? That’s kind of…”

“Scary?” he said.

I tucked my hair back. “I don’t know if it’s scary. I mean, the Arum thing is, but your kind—the Luxen—freaky powers aside…you’re not very different from us.”

“What about the fact we’re made of light?”

I smiled a little then. “Well, besides that.”

“It got me thinking,” he said, “that if some of our kind believes this, how come the DOD isn’t worried?”

He had a good point. And I was trying not to let my fear for him take over, but my brain was throwing out all kinds of wild scenarios. All of them ended with him being taken in by the DOD. “What happens if they think you are a threat? And don’t beat around the bush about it.”

“When I was at the compound before, there were Luxen who didn’t assimilate.” The muscle in his jaw started ticking. “Mostly they didn’t want to be kept under the thumb of the DOD. Others I guessed were viewed as a threat because they asked too many questions. Who really knows?”

My mouth felt dry. “What happened to them?”

Several moments passed before Daemon answered. Each second that went by, the unease in my stomach grew. Finally, he nodded. “They killed them.”