Onyx

Chapter 30

Daemon and I checked out the office building in Moorefield the following morning. We’d thought it would be empty, considering it was sort of a holiday, but the whole plaza of offices was packed with cars.

Pulling the cap over his face, he jumped from the car and checked out the office on the street. When he returned, he grinned at me and quickly pulled out of the plaza. “It appears to be a lawyer’s office. Has at least two floors above the main one. They’re closed for New Year’s and obviously on Sunday. Bad news is they are outfitted with an alarm system.”

“Crap. Know a way around that?’

“Fry their systems. If I do it quickly enough, I shouldn’t trigger an alarm. But that’s not all. Above the entrances and windows is that same damn blackish-red gemstone.” His lips tipped up higher. “This is good, though. Whatever those stones are, they have to mean something.”

It did. Dawson could be in there right now. “What if it’s guarded?”

He didn’t answer.

I knew what that meant. He’d do anything to get his brother. Some people might think that’s wrong, but I understood. If that were my mom or something, no one would be safe. “When are you going back?”

Again, he was silent. And I knew that meant he didn’t want to tell me because he was planning to do this on his own. I pushed the issue the entire way home, but he didn’t cave.

“So are you going to Ash’s party?” he asked, changing the subject eventually.

“I don’t know.” I fiddled with the button on my sweater. “I can’t imagine her wanting me there, but back to—”

“I want you there.”

I glanced at him, my chest swelling to the point of bursting. Way to knock me off track in such a deliciously tender way.

Daemon’s eyes slid toward me. “Kitten?”

“Okay. I’ll go.” At least I’d be able to keep an eye on him there, because I knew he wouldn’t wait past tonight to check out the offices. Or at least that’s what I was telling myself. The fact he wanted me there didn’t outweigh the importance of my keeping an eye on him.

The party wasn’t starting until nine, and he was heading over early to help Adam with a few things. I was supposed to drive over with Dee, and with a sly wink, he said he was taking me home.

When I got back, I chatted with Mom before she left for work. She appeared happy to hear that I was spending New Year’s Eve with Dee. Of course, I left the part out about Daemon taking me home.

Grabbing a book off the counter, I headed upstairs to unwind. Surprisingly, I passed out about twenty-five pages into the urban fantasy novel.

Some time later, the sound of my bedroom door closing woke me up. I rolled onto my side, frowning as my eyes drifted from my door, then across my dresser, past the closet door, and over the silent, stiff form of Blake.

Blake?

I jerked up, but in a burst of alarming speed, he shot forward and clamped his hand over my arm. Fear dug in with razor-sharp barbs. Rearing up, I knocked his hand away and twisted, scrambling across the bed.

“Whoa! Whoa, calm down, Katy.” Blake darted around the bed, hands raised in a harmless gesture. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

My pulse was all over the place as I backed up against my desk, heart pounding. Seeing him in my bedroom was unexpected, terrifying. “How…how did you get in here?”

He winced as he ran a hand through his spiky hair. “I knocked for a couple of minutes, but you didn’t answer. I…sort of let myself in.”

The same way I’d let myself into Vaughn’s house. My eyes darted to the door behind him, and all I could think about was who his uncle was, how deeply involved he must be with the DOD…and how dangerous he could be.

“Katy, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He crept closer, and I felt the rush of static moving up my arms in response to the perceived threat. Somehow, he sensed it and blanched. “Okay. What is your deal? I’m not going to hurt you.”

“You already have,” I said, swallowing.

He looked wounded as he lowered his hands. “That’s why I came here as soon as I got back into town. I’ve had this whole week to think about what happened with the Arum, and I’m sorry. I understand why you’re upset.” He paused, looking contrite. “That’s why I’m here. I just wanted to talk things out with you.”

Was he telling the truth? My hands opened and closed at my sides. I felt like a caged animal with no way out.

“Obviously coming into your house like this wasn’t a good idea.” Blake smiled. “I just wanted to talk to you.”

I forced myself to calm down. “Okay. Um, can you give me a few seconds?”

Blake nodded as he backed out of the room, and I slumped against my desk, dizzy with adrenaline. He didn’t know that I’d discovered his relationship with Vaughn, and that meant I had the upper hand. And if he really was working with the DOD, I needed to calm the hell down. He wasn’t nearly as dangerous believing I didn’t have a clue about anything than if he did know.

I quickly changed into a pair of skinny jeans and a turtleneck. The whole way downstairs, I took deep, even breaths. Blake waited in the living room, sitting on the couch. I gave him a smile I didn’t feel. “Sorry. You just caught me off guard. I don’t like when people…just show up in my bedroom like that.”

“Understandable.” He rose slowly, and I noticed then a pallor clung to his skin, heightening the shadows under his eyes. “I won’t do it again.”

My eyes went to my laptop, and I suddenly wished I’d cleared the search history. I moved into the room, feeling like I was stepping into quicksand. I didn’t know how to talk to him, to even look at him. He was a stranger to me now. Someone that, no matter how harmless he looked right this second, I couldn’t trust. Part of me wanted to rage at him and the other wanted to run.

“We need to talk,” he said awkwardly. “Maybe it would be better if we went to get something to eat?”

My distrust spiked.

He laughed grimly. “I was thinking the Smoke Hole Diner.”

I hesitated, not wanting to go anywhere with him, but I also didn’t want to be in the house alone with him, and being out in public had to be a better choice. I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was near seven. “I have to be back here in an hour.”

“Doable.” He grinned.

I slid on my boots and snatched my phone. It was still snowing, so we opted for his truck. I glanced next door as I climbed in. Daemon’s SUV was gone and so was Dee’s car. She’d mentioned something about getting party favors.

“Did you have a good Christmas?” he asked, sliding the key into the ignition.

“Yeah, you?” My seat belt was stuck, as usual, and I tugged on it. “Do anything exciting?” Like go on a covert mission for the DOD?

“I spent some time with my uncle. Really boring.”

I froze at the mention of Vaughn, and the strap slipped away from my fingers, snapping back into the holder.

“Are you okay, Katy?”

“Yeah,” I said, taking a deep breath. “This damn seat belt is stuck. I don’t know why I have so many problems with seat belts, but they are always giving me crap.” I tugged on it, cursing under my breath. Finally I got it unstuck and twisted around. My gaze drifted over the dashboard and dipped to the floor.

Something gleamed under the exterior light, peeking out from the corner of the mat. I let go of the strap and bent, grabbing the cool metal off the floor while he fiddled with the wipers, brushing a thin coating of snow from the windshield.

I stared down at the strip of goldish blue metal, struck by the familiarity of it. I’d seen it before on someone. Turning it over, I saw the engraved shape of the state. A flakey reddish substance, kind of like rust, covered half of the state and the lettering. I smoothed my finger over it, revealing the name engraved on the band. Comprehension crept in slowly, mainly out of disbelief, because I knew who half this watch belonged to.

Simon…Simon Cutters…

I’d seen him wear this before. And…and the stuff on the band wasn’t rust. My stomach tilted and a violent shudder rolled through me. It was blood. Simon’s blood, most likely. My heart leaped into my throat, and I squeezed my hand over the band, hoping Blake hadn’t seen me pick it up.

My breath halted in my chest as I glanced at him.

Blake was staring back at me. His gaze dropped to my hand and then flicked up, meeting my eyes again. Our gazes locked. Pure, raw fear dug at me.

“Shit,” I whispered.

A small, weak smile crawled across his lips. “Dammit, Katy…”

I spun around in my seat, reaching for the door handle with my free hand. I threw it open and got half of my body out of the truck before his hand clamped down on my arm.

“Katy! Wait! I can explain.”

There was nothing to explain. The bloodied watch belonged to Simon—Simon who’d been missing. Add that onto everything else, and I was so out of there. I threw my weight forward, breaking his hold. Scrambling to my feet, I darted around the front of the truck.

Blake was fast, on me before I even reached the first step of the porch. He grabbed my shoulders and whirled me around. I went, swinging at him. He dodged the blows, catching my arms, pinning them to my sides in a brutal bear hug.

“Let me go!” I screamed, knowing there was no one who would hear me. I only had myself to get out of this mess. “Let me go, Blake!”

“I can explain.” He grunted as I managed to jab an elbow into his stomach, but he held on. “I didn’t kill Simon!”

I struggled, throwing my weight from one side to the next. Of course he’d lie. “Let go!”

“You don’t understand.”

Static rushed over my skin in response to the threat. Red-white light clouded the corners of my vision. Blake’s eyes widened slightly. “Don’t do it, Katy.”

“Let me go,” I growled, feeling the explosion of heated lightning zinging through my veins.

“I don’t want to hurt you, but I will,” he warned.

“So will I.” And I would—I could.

Blake let go, pushing me back. My boots slipped over the ice and snow, and my arms flailed wildly. Then he charged me. A flash of intense blue light blinded me. Pain reverberated off my skull, tearing through me, splintering my grasp on the Source. I screamed out, feeling my legs go out from underneath me.

He swooped in, catching me before I fell, half dragging me up the stairs. “I told you not to do it. You didn’t listen to me.”

Something was wrong with my motor function skills. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out except soft moans. My legs wouldn’t work. I couldn’t feel my feet. A metallic taste was in the back of my mouth; blood leaked out of my nose and, I think, my ears, too.

The door swung open in front of us, and he dragged me in. It slammed shut, shaking the pictures on the walls. I kept trying to talk, but only garbled words came out. What did he do to me?

“It’ll wear off,” he said, as if reading my mind. “Hurts, doesn’t it? One of the first things they teach us is to control a concentrated blast of Source so it’s like getting hit with a super-charged Taser. We all have to take a hit, just to know how bad it feels.”

He dropped me on the couch, and my head lolled to the side as I blinked slowly. His face blurred in and out, and then steadied. He looked grim as he leaned over me, brushing the strands of hair off my face. I tried to knock his hand away, but my arm wouldn’t cooperate.

“I know you can hear me. Just give it a couple more minutes, and it will wear off.” He sat back, one hand moving up my leg that was off the couch. He positioned it beside the other. My heart pounded, and I whimpered.

Shaking his head, he slipped his hand into my front pocket and slid out my cell phone. Holding it up between us, the Source flared in his hand, obliterating the fragile piece of electronics. He tossed the remains to the floor. “Now, listen to me, Katy.”

I squeezed my eyes shut against the rush of tears. That quickly, he had subdued me. And I’d been planning on training and fighting Arum—plus the DOD? I was so foolish.

“I didn’t kill Simon. I don’t know what happened to him, but you—you left me no other choice,” he said, voice grave. “I had to clean up after you, make sure you didn’t expose yourself before they knew what to do with you. If you hadn’t busted those windows in front of him, he’d still be hanging around here and dreaming about college. You didn’t leave me a choice.”

“No,” I croaked out, horrified at what he was saying.

“Yes! He would’ve told the world.”

“You’re…you’re insane. You…didn’t need to kill him.”

“Listen to me!” he yelled, dragging his fingers through his hair, eyes bugging. “After I left the party, I stayed and I saw him leave once you broke the windows. I followed him home, and he was so drunk he pulled over on the side of the road. He was going crazy about it and I had to turn him over. I don’t know what they did with him.”

“There…there was blood on his watch.”

“Simon fought back, but he was alive when I last saw him.”

But those who discovered the truth about the Luxen disappeared. Simon…Simon wasn’t coming back. And there wasn’t enough air in the house. My chest was rising and falling, but I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Tears built in my eyes as I stared up at him.

“Listen to me, Katy. This is bigger than you think.” He grasped my cheeks, forcing me to look at him. “You have no idea who this involves, the lies, and what people will do for power. I didn’t have a choice.”

I could feel my strength sliding back into me. A few more moments… “You’ve lied to me.”

“Not everything is a lie!” His grip dug in painfully, bruising my skin until a strangled cry escaped. He drew in a ragged breath. “You know, this wasn’t how it was supposed to go down. I was supposed to get you ready, to make sure you are a viable subject. And then I turn you in. If I don’t, they’ll kill Chris. I can’t—I won’t let that happen.”

Chris? Brain cells must’ve been damaged because it took a few seconds to remember who Chris was. “Your friend—the one who healed you?”

Blake closed his eyes, nodding. “They have Chris. And if I don’t perform, they’ll hurt him. They’ll kill him. And I can’t let that happen. Not because of what it means for me, because I know—I know if they kill him I die, but there are things they do…”

They knew… One couldn’t survive without the other. Oh my God, they knew. The kind of power that knowledge wielded was horrific.

“I know you understand how strong that bond is.” Blake opened his eyes. “You won’t tell me who healed you, but you’d do anything to protect that Luxen, wouldn’t you? Anything. Chris… He’s the only real family I have left. And I don’t care about what they do to me, but him?”

As I stared into Blake’s eyes, a thin tendril of sympathy wiggled free. If the DOD was holding Chris, using him to force Blake to do things for them, then he was trapped. There was a moment of stark clarity. Were Dawson and Bethany in the same position?

But there was something else. Blake and I did have something in common. He’d do anything for Chris. And I’d do anything for Daemon.

With a burst of energy, I buckled under him, trying to throw him off. He captured my hands and yanked me off the couch. I hit the floor on my side, knocking the air out of me. Rolling me over, he straddled my hips, lifting my joined wrists so they were above my head.

He pressed his weight down. “I didn’t want to do this. I never wanted anything to do with this.”

I clung to the anger boiling inside me, knowing if I caved to the fear—or worse yet, the compassion—I’d be useless. “Do what, exactly? Lie to me? Work for the DOD—for your uncle?”

Blake blinked. “You know about Brian? Since when?”

I didn’t give him the benefit of my answer.

His grip on my wrists tightened until I could feel the bones rubbing together. “Tell me!”

“I saw the obituary for your parents! I put two and two together.”

“When?” He shook me, snapping my head back. “How long have you known? Who have you told?”

“No one!” I screamed, dizzy and faint. “I haven’t told anyone.”

For several seconds, he stared at me, and then his grip loosened. “I hope so, for their sake. Things are bigger than you realize. Not everything I told you is a lie. The DOD does want humans like us. That’s their ultimate plan.” He eased up a little, but I still felt like I was being smothered by his weight. “I know what you’re doing, Katy. Don’t call upon the Source. I’m stronger than you. Next time you won’t recover so quickly. I will hurt you.”

“I already know that,” I spat.

“I like you. I really do. And I wish things were different. You have no idea how badly I wish things were different, Katy.” He closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them, they glistened with tears. “Everything I told you about my friend was true, but I grew up knowing about the Luxen. My dad worked as liaison to the DOD, on genetic engineering. And, well, you know who my uncle is. I’m not even sure if the whole accident that changed me wasn’t staged.” He laughed grimly. “They knew how close Chris and I were, so maybe they expected him to heal me. And the Arum did find my family. None of that is a lie.”

“But after that? Everything else is a lie.”

“My family was gone, Katy. All I had was my uncle. They trained me and since I’m young, they sent me to areas where they suspected a human around my age had been mutated.”

“Oh my God…” I felt sick, and I wanted him off me. I wanted him to be gone. “So this is what you do? Go around, pretending to be someone’s friend? Setting up others?”

“My job is to discover if they are salvageable.”

“Salvageable?” I whispered, knowing what he meant. “And if they’re not, they get put down.”

He nodded. “Or worse, Katy… There are worse things than death.”

I shuddered. It made sense, his obsession with me being able to control the Source, his escalating recklessness.

“I came here to see if you could control the Source. If you would be an asset to the DOD or a waste, but they already checked you out before I arrived, watching you, following how close you are with the Blacks. I heard they even engineered the Arum attacks on you, hoping one of the Blacks would step in and save you, heal you.”

I gasped. Everything that happened to me had been some sort of experiment? What if I’d died? “What if no one had survived the Arum attack to heal me?”

Blake laughed. “What’s one more dead Luxen to these people? But when they suspected that you’d been healed, they made the necessary calls, and I was brought in.” He lowered his head, voice dropping. “They also want to know which one healed you. No guesses. No assumptions. You’re going to have to tell them.”

My heart tumbled over. “I’ll never tell.”

A sad smile appeared on his lips. “Oh, you will. They have ways of making you talk. They already have their suspicions. My guess is Daemon. It’s so obvious, but they want proof. And if you don’t play their games, they’ll find ways to make you play.” The smile faded from his lips, eyes growing dark and haunted. “Just like they found a way to make me play.”

I swallowed, unnerved by the pain in his eyes. “Like with Bethany and Dawson?”

Blake’s lashes lowered, and he nodded. “There are more, Katy. You…you have no idea…but it doesn’t matter. You’ll probably be seeing him soon enough. All I need to do is make one call, and Uncle Brian and Nancy will come. Nancy will be ecstatic.” He grunted out an ugly laugh. “Uncle Brian has kept her out of the loop. She has no idea how well you’re doing. And they’re going to take you away. They take care of you…as long as you behave. You just have to behave.”

For a moment, my brain emptied and panic replaced any calm I’d gained. I struggled wildly under him, but he held me down easily.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered hoarsely, and God, I believed that he was. “But if I don’t do this, they will hurt Chris and I can’t…” He swallowed thickly.

My fear knew no limits at that point. Blake really had no choice. It was his life and his friend’s or mine. No. No, that wasn’t right. He did have a choice, because I would never give up someone else for my survival.

But would I for Daemon?

My heart turned over heavily, and I knew the answer to that. Shades of gray…one big, giant gray area I couldn’t think about right now.

“No. You do have a choice,” I insisted. “You can go against them. Escape! We can find a way to free—”

“We?” He laughed again. “Who is we, Katy? Daemon? Dee? You and me? Hell, every one of us could try to go against the DOD and we’d fail. And the Blacks are going to want to help me? Knowing that I work for the people who took their brother?”

My stomach twisted. “You still have a choice. You don’t have to do this. Please, Blake, you don’t have to do this.”

He looked away, jaw clenching. “But I do. And one day, you’ll be in the same position as I am. You’ll understand then.”

“No.” I shook my head. “I’d never do this to someone. I’d find a way out.”

His eyes met mine. They were empty, vast. “You’ll see.”

“Blake—”

A knock on the front door cut off my words. My heart tripled in beat, and Blake froze above me, eyes narrowed, breathing heavy. He pressed his hand over my mouth.

“Katy?” Dee called out. “It’s time to par-tay. Hurry up! Adam is waiting for us in the car.”

“What is she doing here?” he asked in a hushed voice.

I trembled, staring up at him with wide eyes. How was I supposed to answer with his hand over my mouth?

Dee banged on the front door again. “Katy, I know you’re in there. Answer the door.”

“Tell her you’ve changed your mind.” His hand pressed harder against my mouth. “Tell her or I swear to God, I’ll blow her into the Milky Way. I don’t want to do it, but I will.”

I nodded and very slowly, Blake lifted his fingers and hauled me to my feet. He pushed me out of the living room and toward the door.

“Come on,” Dee whined. “You’re not even answering your phone. Tell Blake you’ve got to go. I know he’s in there. His truck’s out front.” She giggled then. “So, yeah, hi, Blake!”

I squeezed my eyes against the tears. “I’ve changed my mind.”

“What?”

“I’ve changed my mind,” I repeated through the door. “I don’t want to go out tonight. I just want to stay home.”

Please, I begged silently. Please just go. I don’t want to drag you into this. Please.

There was a heavy pause, and then Dee banged on the door harder. “Don’t be a douche, Katy; you’re coming tonight. So open this goddamn door!”

Blake glared at me, and I knew she’d come through that door. I took a deep breath and I choked on a dry, hoarse sob. “I don’t want to go with you! I don’t want to even hang out with you, Dee. Go and leave me the hell alone.”

“Damn,” whispered Blake.

“Katy…?” Dee said, voice rough. “What’s going on? This…this doesn’t sound like you.”

I pressed my forehead against the door. Tears rolled down my cheeks. “It is me. It’s why I haven’t been hanging out with you. Okay? I don’t want to be friends with you anymore. So please leave me alone. Go bother someone else. I don’t have time for this.”

The only sound was her heels rapping off the porch. Blake moved to the window, watching them climb into Adam’s SUV. When he heard the sound of tires peeling, he marched over and gripped my arm. He pulled me back into the living room, forcing me to sit on the couch.

“She’ll get over it,” he said, pulling his cell out of his pocket.

“No,” I whispered, watching him type away on his phone. “She won’t.”

Since Blake was distracted by his phone, I saw my only chance. As I tapped into the Source, there wasn’t a single part of me that doubted my next actions, not even for a second. Rage clouded my sense of moral code. Everything was twisted now. There was no right, no wrong.

A fierce wind howled throughout the house. Pictures from the hallway shook and fell to the floor, shattering. The cupboards rattled, doors swung open, and books toppled over.

Blake whirled on me, lowering the phone, eyes filled with awe. “You really are sort of amazing.”

Strands of hair whipped around me, my fingers ached with energy that crackled all through me. I felt the tips of my feet leave the floor.

He snapped the phone shut and threw out his hand. The wind I was stirring kicked back on me, sending me into the wall. Stunned, I fought the force holding me back, but like with Beth, I couldn’t break it.

“You haven’t been fully trained.” Blake advanced on me, smiling wryly. “There’s a lot of potential, don’t get me wrong, but you can’t fight me.”

“Screw you,” I spat.

“I would’ve been game for that.” He brought his hand back toward him, and it was like an invisible string had been attached to me. Against my will, my body went right to him, and I was suspended there, kicking and thrashing at nothing but air. “Tire yourself out. It doesn’t matter.”

“I’m going to kill you,” I promised, welcoming the rising tide of fury building in me.

“You don’t have it in you.” He paused, cocking his head to the side. “Not yet, at least.”

His phone dinged, and he flipped it open, smiling. “Uncle Brian’s on his way. It’s almost over.”

I screamed, feeling the energy pulse around me. My vision clouded once again, and I felt each one of my cells warming. Anger fueled the alien part of me, giving it strength. I zeroed in on Blake.

He backed up, brows raised. “Give it your best shot. I’ll just throw it back on you.”

A window shattered upstairs, the sound explosive and jarring. I lifted my head as Blake spun around. Two streaks of light shot down the stairs, breaking apart and heading straight for Blake. One smaller and less powerful form drew up short.

The light flickered out, and Dee took shape, her mouth hanging open as she stared at me. “You’re…you’re glowing.”

The other light crashed into Blake, sending him several feet back. I turned, feeling myself lower to the floor. Blake roared as he pushed the light off him, and he, too, started to glow, much like Bethany had. An intense blue light surrounded him as he reared back and released a pulse of light.

Dee shot forward, flickering out as she grabbed for Adam. The pulse hit them and they froze. Both took on their human forms for a brief second. An iridescent stream of light leaked from Dee’s nose and spilled from her mouth.

I staggered forward, screaming her name. Blake grabbed me from behind, thrusting me down onto the floor.

She was the first to collapse. Blinking in and out, she crumpled, eyes closed. I struggled under Blake, managing to rise up on my elbows. I screamed again, but it didn’t even sound like me.

Adam…Adam was much worse. A river of light came from his mouth, his eyes, and his ears. His human body shuddered. Liquid radiance dripped onto the floor. He was swathed in light, but it flickered erratically. He took a step forward, raising his hand.

“No!” I screamed.

Blake reared off me, hitting Adam with another blast.

Adam went down.

Pushing on the back of my head, he forced my face into the wooden floor, pressing his knee into the center of my back. “Dammit,” he said hoarsely. “Dammit!”

I couldn’t breathe.

“I didn’t… I didn’t want that to happen,” he said, bending over me. His head pressed into my shoulder and his body shuddered. “Oh God, I didn’t want to hurt anyone.” He trembled, lifting his head. He croaked out a broken laugh. “Well, at least I know it wasn’t either of them who healed you. I’m pretty sure they’re both dead.”