Текст книги "Opal"

Автор книги: Jennifer L. Armentrout

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He sat up, swinging his legs off the couch. He would’ve had a baby face if it wasn’t for the keen intelligence in his eyes or the experience set in the hard lines of his mouth. “So, you crazy kids want to break into the Daedalus stronghold and you want my help?”

I gaped. Luc was a mother-freaking kid .

Armentrout, Jennifer L.

Opal ( A Lux Novel)

Chapter 15

I waited for the kid to yell, “Psyche!” and scamper off to the nearest playground, but as the seconds stretched out, I came to accept that our messiah of information was barely a teen.

Luc smiled as if he knew what I was thinking. “Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Surprised about anything, that is.”

He stood, and I was shocked to discover that he was almost as tall as Daemon. “I was six when I decided to play chicken with a speeding cab. It won. Lost the coolest bike evah and a lot of blood, but lucky me, my childhood friend was an alien.”

“How

how did you get away from Daedalus?” And so young, I wanted to add.

Luc moved over to the table, his steps smooth and effortless. “I was their star pupil.” His grin was wicked, almost disturbing. “Never trust the one who excels. Isn’t that right, Blake?”

Leaning against the wall, Blake gave a lopsided shrug. “Sounds about right.”

“Why?” Luc sat on the edge of the desk. “Because eventually the pupil becomes smarter than the teacher, and I had some really, really intelligent teachers. So.” He clapped his hands together. “You must be Daemon Black.”

If Daemon was surprised Luc knew his name, he didn’t show it. “That would be me.”

The kid’s ridiculously long lashes lowered. “I’ve heard of you. Blake’s a big fan.”

Blake raised a middle finger.

Daemon said drily, “Glad to know my fan club is far reaching.”

Luc cocked his head to the side. “And what a fan club-oh, my bad, I didn’t introduce you to your fellow Luxen all-star. This guy goes by Paris. Why? I don’t know.”

Paris smiled tightly as he extended his hand toward Daemon. “Always nice to meet another not bound by old beliefs and unnecessary rules.”

Daemon shook his hand. “Same. How did you fall in with him?”

Luc laughed. “Long story for a different day-if there is a different day.” Those extraordinary peepers slid back to me. “Do you have any idea what they will do to you if they realize you’re a fully functional hybrid?” He tipped his head down, grinning. “We are so very rare. Three of us together is actually quite amazing.”

“I have a good imagination,” I said.

“Do you?” Luc’s brows rose. “I doubt Blake has even told you the half of it-the worst of it.”

I glanced at Blake. His expression went on lockdown. An icy wind ran up my spine that had nothing to do with my lack of clothing.

“But you know that.” Luc stood and stretched, like a cat after a nap. “And still you are willing to take the huge risk of going into the hornet’s nest.”

“We really don’t have a choice.” Daemon shot the quiet Blake a dark look. “So are you going to give us the codes or not?”

Luc shrugged, running his fingers over the stacks of money. “What’s in it for me?”

I exhaled roughly. “Other than pissing off Daedalus, we really don’t have much to offer.”

“Hmm, I don’t know about that.” He picked up a cluster of hundreds secured with a rubber band. A second later, the edges of the bills curled inward, paper melting until the scorched scent filled the air and nothing remained.

I was envious, considering the whole using-light-for-heat-and-fire thing completely passed me over. “What can we do for you?”

“Obviously money’s not an issue,” Daemon added.

Luc’s lips twitched. “Money isn’t needed.” He brushed his fingers off on his jeans. “Power isn’t, either. Honestly, the only thing I need is a favor.”

Blake snapped off the wall. “Luc-”

His eyes narrowed. “A favor is all I want-one that I can collect at any time. That’s what I want in return, and I’ll give you all you need to know.”

Well, that sounded easy. “O-”

“Wait,” Daemon cut me off. “You want us to agree to a favor without knowing what that favor is?”

Luc nodded. “Where’s the risk if you know everything?”

“Where’s the intelligence if we don’t?” Daemon shot back.

The kid laughed. “I like you. A lot. But my help doesn’t come without its own peril in exchange.”

“God, you’re like the preteen mafia,” I muttered.

“Something like that.” He flashed a beatific smile. “What you-all of you-don’t understand is there are things much, much bigger than a brother’s girlfriend or a friend

or even ending up under the man’s thumb. There’s change brewing behind the winds, and the winds are going to be fierce.” He looked at Daemon. “The government fears the Luxen, because they represent mankind’s fall from the top of the food chain. To fix that, they’ve created something much stronger than a Luxen. And I’m not talking about ordinary little baby hybrids.”

I shivered. “What are you talking about?”

His purplish eyes met mine, but he said nothing.

Paris folded his arms. “Not to be rude, but if you’re not willing to deal, there’s the door.”

Daemon and I exchanged looks. I honestly didn’t know what to say. It seriously was like making a deal with the mafia-with a creepy kid-mafia boss.

“Guys,” Blake said. “He’s our only chance.”

“Christ,” Daemon muttered. “Fine. We owe you a favor.”

Luc’s eyes gleamed. “And you?”

I sighed. “Sure. Why not.”

“Awesome! Paris?” He held out his hand. Paris bent down, grabbed a small MacBook Air, and handed it over. “Give me a sec.”

We watched him punch away at the keyboard, brows drawn in concentration. While we waited, a door at the back of the room opened and the young girl from the stage peeked her head into the room.

Luc’s head jerked up. “Not now.”

The girl’s frown was epic, but she closed the door. “She’s the girl on-”

“Don’t finish that sentence if you want me to continue. Don’t even talk about her. Frankly, you’ve never even seen her,” Luc said, eyes fastened on the screen again. “All deals will be off.”

I clamped my mouth shut even though I had a thousand questions about how the two of them got away and how they were surviving virtually unprotected.

Finally, Luc placed the laptop on the desk. The screen was split into four sections, black and white, also grainy, like security film. One image contained woods. Another was of a tall fence and gate, the other a security booth, and the final one showed a man in uniform patrolling another section of fence.

“Say hello to Mount Weather-owned by FEMA, secured by Homeland Security. Nestled away in the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains, it’s used as a training facility and a stowaway for all the pretty officials in case someone bombs us,” Luc said, snickering. “Also known as a complete front for the DOD and Daedalus, because underground, there are six-hundred thousand mother-effin’ square feet for training and torture.”

Blake stared at the screen. “You hacked into their security systems?”

He shrugged. “Like I said, star pupil and all. See this section here.” He pointed to the screen where a guard patrolled the fence, almost blending into the grainy background. “This is the ‘secret’ entrance that doesn’t exist. Very few people are aware of it-Blakey-boy is.”

Luc tapped the space bar, and the camera moved to the right. A gate came into view. “Here’s the dealio: Sunday evening at nine p.m. is going to be your best bet. It’s a shift change and staffing is at a minimum-only two guards will be patrolling this gate. ’Cause, you know, Sunday is kind of a down day.”

Paris whipped out a pad and a pen.

“This gate is your first obstacle of choice. You’ll need to take out the guards, but that’s a duh. I’ll make sure the cameras are down between nine and nine fifteen-you know, pull a Jurassic Park moment. You’ll have fifteen minutes to get in, get your buddies, and get the hell out. So don’t let a spitting dragon take you down.”

Daemon choked on a laugh.

“Fifteen minutes,” Blake murmured, nodding. “Doable. Once inside the compound, the entrance leads to elevators. We can take them down to the tenth floor and go right up to the cell.”

“Great.” Luc tapped his finger on the gate. “The code to this gate is Icarus . See a trend?” He laughed. “You get inside the compound, you’ll see three doors side by side.”

Blake nodded again. “The middle door-I know. The code?”

“Wait. Where do the other doors take you?” I asked.

“To the great Oz,” Luc said, tapping the space bar until the camera was now focused on the doors. “Actually, nowhere interesting. Just offices and actual FEMA stuff. Anyone want to guess what the code to this door is?”

“Daedalus?” I threw out.

He grinned. “Close. The code to this door is Labyrinth . It’s a hard word to spell, I know, but make sure you do it correctly. You get one chance. Enter the wrong code and it’ll get ugly. Take the elevator to the sixth floor like Blake said and then you enter the code DAEDALUS -all caps. Voila !”

Daemon shook his head, doubtful. “There’re only codes to enter? That’s their security?”

“Ha!” Luc hit a few buttons and the screen went black. “I’m doing more than giving you codes and taking down cameras, my new BFF. I’m going to take down their eye recognition software. It can go down for about ten to fifteen minutes a day without raising an eyebrow.”

“What happens if we’re still in there and it goes back up?” I asked.

Luc raised his hands. “Uh, kind of like being on a plane that’s about to crash. Stick your head between your knees and kiss ’em goodbye.”

“Oh, that sounds great,” I said. “So you’re like a mutant hacker, too?”

He winked. “But be careful. I’m not taking down any other security precautions they may’ve decided to put up. That will raise concerns.”

“Whoa.” Daemon frowned. “What other security precautions could they have?”

“They rotate the codes every other day, I’ve discovered. Other than that, nothing but guards, but it’s a shift change.” Blake grinned. “We’ll be fine. We got this.”

Paris handed over a sheet with the codes scribbled down. Daemon snatched it before Blake could and slipped it into his pocket. “Thank you,” he said.

Returning to the couch and his DS, Luc dropped down, his smile fading. “Don’t thank me yet. Actually, don’t thank me at all. I don’t exist, you know, not until I need my favor.” He flipped open his DS. “Just remember, this Sunday at nine p.m. You have fifteen minutes and that is all.”

“Okay.” I drew out the word, glancing at Blake. I would love to know how these two met. “Well, I guess

”

“We’ll be going,” Daemon supplied, taking my hand. “It was nice, kind of, meeting you all.”

“Whatevs,” he said, thumbs flying over the game board. Luc’s voice stopped us at the door. “You have no idea what waits for you. Be careful. I would hate for my dealing to be one-sided if you all get yourselves killed

or worse.”

I shuddered. Nice way to close the conversation with a healthy dose of freak-us-out.

Daemon nodded at the other Luxen, and we headed out, Blake closing the door behind him. Only then did I realize the room was soundproof.

“Well,” Blake said, smiling. “That wasn’t too bad, was it?”

I rolled my eyes. “I have the feeling we just made a deal with the devil, and he’s going to come back and want our firstborn child or something.”

Daemon waggled his brows. “You want kids? Because you know, practice makes-”

“Shut up.” I shook my head and started walking.

We hurried through the club, around the still-packed dance floor. I think all of us were ready to get out of there. As we neared the exit, I looked around Daemon and Blake, my eyes drifting over the dance floor.

Part of me wondered how many, if any, were hybrids. We were rare, but like I sensed at first, there was something different about this place. Something really different about the kid called Luc, too.

Pro Wrestler greeted us at the door. He stepped aside, massive arms folded across his chest. “Remember,” he said. “You were never here.”

Armentrout, Jennifer L.

Opal ( A Lux Novel)

Chapter 16

We got home late from Martinsburg, and I went straight to bed. Daemon followed, but all we did was curl up and sleep. Both of us were exhausted from everything, and it was nice with him there, a steady presence that relaxed and soothed my frazzled nerves.

I was a zombie on Thursday, and Blake’s disgustingly chipper attitude in bio made me want to hurl.

“You should be happier,” he whispered as I hastily scribbled down notes. No doubt I’d failed the exam yesterday. “After Sunday, everything will be over.”

Everything will be over . My pen stopped. A muscle in my neck tensed. “It won’t be easy.”

“Yes, it will be. You just need faith.”

I almost laughed. Faith in who? Blake? Or the mafia kid? I didn’t trust either of them. “After Sunday, you’ll be gone.”

“Like the last decade,” he replied.

After class, I packed up my stuff, smiled at something Lesa said, and then waited for Dawson. I didn’t like to leave him alone with Blake. Not when Dawson was eyeballing the dude like he wanted to pummel information out of him.

Blake brushed past us, grinning as he switched his books to his other hand. He swaggered on down the hall, waving at a group of kids that called out his name.

“I don’t like him,” Dawson grumbled.

“Get in line.” We headed down the hall. “But we need him until Sunday.”

Dawson stared ahead. “Still don’t like him.” And then he asked, “He had a thing for you, didn’t he?”

My cheeks burned. “What makes you think that?”

A small smile appeared. “My brother’s hate for him knows no bounds.”

“Well, he did kill Adam,” I said in a low voice.

“Yeah, I know, but it’s personal.”

I frowned. “How is it more personal than that?”

“It is.” Dawson pushed open the door, and we were attacked by the giggle squad on the landing.

Kimmy was captain. “Wow. Why aren’t I surprised?”

I found myself moving in front of Dawson. “And why do I have no clue what you’re talking about?”

Behind me, Dawson shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

“Well, it’s pretty obvious.” She leaned against the rail, her backpack resting on the top. Around her, the girls tittered. “One brother isn’t enough for you.”

Before I could react, Dawson stepped around me and spat, “You’re sad and revolting.”

Kimmy’s smile froze, and maybe the old Dawson would’ve never said anything like that, because she and all her friends looked like someone just walked over their graves. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I wanted to laugh, but I was so angry-so repulsed by the suggestion I’d be seeing two twin brothers.

I honestly don’t know what happened next. A pulse of energy left me, and the pretty pink backpack shook and then tipped over the railing. The weight jerked Kimmy. Her heeled shoes came off the floor, and in a flash I saw what was going to happen.

She was going to go right over the railing, headfirst.

A scream started in my throat and came out of Kimmy. Her friends’ horrified looks were permanently etched in my memory, and my heartbeat skyrocketed.

Dawson shot forward, catching one of her flailing arms. He had her on her feet before her scream had faded from my ears. “I got you,” he said, surprisingly gentle. Kimmy gulped in air, clutching Dawson’s hand. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”

He carefully pried her fingers off his and stepped back. Her friends immediately surrounded her. Then he turned to me, his eyes clouded. Cupping my elbow, he quickly steered me down the stairwell.

As soon as we were out of hearing distance, he stopped and faced me. “What was that?”

My breath caught and I looked away, confused and full of shame. Everything had happened so fast, and I’d been so furious. But it had been me-a part of me that had acted without thought or knowledge. A part of me that had known the weight of her bag would’ve toppled her right over the edge.

At lunch, I didn’t tell Daemon about what happened with Kimmy in the stairwell, convincing myself that since Carissa and Lesa were with us, it was so not the conversation to have. It was nothing more than an excuse, but I felt as revolting as Kimmy’s words. Later that day, when we were at Daemon’s house, going over plans for Sunday with the crew, I told myself it still wasn’t the time.

Especially when Dee was demanding to go and Daemon was having none of that.

“I need you and Ash to hang back, along with Matthew, just in case something goes wrong.”

Dee folded her arms. “What, you don’t think I can handle myself with you guys? That I might trip and stab Blake to death?”

Her brother shot her a bland look. “Well, now that you say it

”

She rolled her eyes. “Is Katy going in with you?”

My shoulders slumped. Here we go.

Daemon’s body tensed. “I don’t want-”

“Yes.” I cut him off with a deadly look. “Only because I got most of us into this mess, and Blake won’t do any of this without Daemon and me.”

Ash smirked from the settee. Other than staring at Daemon like she wanted to rekindle their romance, she wasn’t doing or saying much. “How valiant of you, Katy.”

I ignored her. “But we do need people on the outside in case something goes wrong.”

“What?” Andrew asked. “You don’t trust Blake? Go figure.”

Daemon sat back, running both his hands through his hair. “Anyway, we’ll be in and out. Then everything

everything will be over.”

His brother blinked slowly, and I knew he was thinking about Beth. Maybe even picturing her, and I wondered how long it had been since he last saw her. So I asked and surprisingly, he answered.

“I don’t know. Time there was different. Weeks? Months?” He stood, shoulders rolling. “I don’t think I was at that Mount place. The place was always warm and dry whenever I was taken outside.”

Taken outside, like a pet or something. Wrong on so many levels.

Dawson let out a ragged breath. “I need to walk or move.”

I looked around quickly. The sun had set a while ago. Not like he needed it, though. He was already out the door before anyone could say a thing.

“I’ll go.” It was Dee this time.

Andrew stood. “I’ll follow.”

“I guess I’m out of here.” This from Ash.

Matthew sighed. “One of these days, we will get through everything without any drama.”

Daemon laughed tiredly. “Good luck with that.”

In about five minutes, everyone except Daemon was cleared out of the house. Perfect time to ’fess up to almost breaking Kimmy’s neck, except there was a glint in Daemon’s jade-colored eyes.

My mouth dried. “What?”

Daemon stood and stretched, flashing a slice of taut skin. “It’s quiet.” He offered his hand and I took it in mine. “It’s never quiet around here. Not anymore.”

He did have a point. I let him tug me to my feet. “It’s not going to last long.”

“Nope.” He pulled me to him and a second later, I was in his arms and we were zooming up the stairs. He placed me on my feet in his bedroom. “Admit it. You like my method of travel.”

Feeling a little dizzy, I laughed. “One of these days I’m going to be faster than you.”

“Keep dreaming.”

“Tool,” I threw back.

Daemon’s lips curved up on one side. “Trouble.”

“Oh.” I widened my eyes. “Harsh.”

“We should make use of this quiet time.” He advanced toward me, like a predator with its prey in its sight.

“Really?” Suddenly feeling way too hot, I backed up until I hit his bed.

“Really.” He kicked off his shoes. “I say we have about thirty minutes before someone interrupts us.”

My gaze dropped as he pulled off his shirt and tossed it. I sucked in a sharp breath. “Probably not that long.”

His lips formed a wicked smile. “True. So let’s say we have twenty minutes, give or take five.” He stopped in front of me, his eyes hooded. “Not nearly enough time for what I’d like to do, but we can work around that.”

Heat swept through my veins, and I felt dizzy again. “We can?”

“Mmm-hmm.” He placed his hands on my shoulders and pressed down until I was sitting on the very edge of the bed. Running his hands to my cheeks, he knelt between my boneless legs so that we were eye level with each other.

Daemon’s lashes lowered, fanning his cheeks. “I’ve missed you.”

I wrapped my fingers around his wrists. “You’ve seen me every day.”

“Not enough,” he murmured and pressed his lips where my pulse pounded along my neck. “And we’re always with someone.”

God, wasn’t that the truth. Last time we were alone for any considerable amount of time, we’d both slept. So these moments were precious, brief, and stolen.

I smiled as he trailed a line of kisses up my chin, stopping short of my lips. “We probably shouldn’t spend it talking, then.”

“Uh-huh.” He kissed a corner of my lips. “Talking is such a time waster.” And then he kissed the other corner. “And when we talk, we usually end up arguing.”

I laughed. “Not always.”

Daemon pulled back, brows raised. “Kitten

”

“Okay.” I scooted back and he followed, climbing over me, his arms huge and powerful. God, I was in way over my head with him sometimes. “You might be right, but you’re wasting time.”

“I’m always right.”

I opened my mouth to disagree, but his lips took control of mine, and his kiss reached deep down inside me, melted muscle and bone. His tongue swept over mine, and at that moment, he could have been right all he wanted as long as he kept kissing me like that.

I slid my fingers through his hair, tugging when he lifted his head. I started to protest, but he was kissing his way down my throat, over the edge of my cardigan, down the little buttons shaped like flowers, and lower still, until I couldn’t keep ahold of his head. Or really keep track of where he was heading.

Daemon sat back on his haunches, going for my boots. He tugged one off, pitching it over his shoulder. It bounced off the wall with a soft thud . “What are these made of? Rabbit skin?”

“What?” I giggled. “No. They’re faux sheepskin.”

“They’re so soft.” He got the other one off and that too hit the wall. My socks were next. He kissed the top of my foot, and I jerked. “Not as soft as this, though.” Grinning, he lifted his head. “Love the tights, by the way.”

“Yeah?” My gaze fixed on the ceiling, but I really wasn’t seeing a damn thing. Not when his hands moved up my calves. “Is it

because they’re red?”

“That.” I felt his cheek on my knee, and my hands fluttered to the bed. “And because they’re so thin. And hot, but you already know that.”

Hot? I felt hot. His hands traveled up my outer thighs, under the denim skirt, pushing the material up and up. I bit down on my lip, hard enough that a metallic taste sprung into my mouth. The material really was thin, a fragile almost nonexistent barrier between his skin and mine. I could feel every touch, and even the slightest was like a thousand volts of electricity.

“Kitten

”

“Hmm?” I fisted the covers.

“Just making sure you’re still with me.” He kissed the side of my leg, right above my knee. “Don’t want you falling asleep or anything.”

Like sleep was possible. Ever.

His eyes flared. “You know what. Give me two minutes. That’s all I need.”

“Whatever,” I said. “What are you going to do with the leftover eighteen minutes?”

“Snuggle.”

I started to laugh, but his fingers found the band along the top of my tights, and he pulled them down, cursing when they got tangled at my feet.

“Need help?” I offered, voice shaking.

“Got it,” he muttered, balling them up. They too went flying somewhere.

Things were going further than they had before. I was nervous, but I didn’t want to stop. I was too curious, and I trusted him irrevocably. And then there was nothing separating his hands from my skin or his lips and I stopped thinking, wasn’t capable of forming any coherent thought. There was just him and the crazy rush of sensations he pulled forth, drew from me like an artist rendering some kind of masterpiece. Then I wasn’t even me anymore, because my body couldn’t shake that much. Like a balloon being pulled down and then released, I was floating and there was a soft whitish glow slipping over the walls that wasn’t coming off Daemon.

When I came back down, Daemon’s eyes were brilliant diamonds. He looked sort of awed, which I found strange, because he awed me.

“You glowed a little,” he said, rising up. “I’ve only seen you do that once.”

I knew the night, but I didn’t want to think about that right now. I was happy where I was floating. It was good-great, even, and I really couldn’t talk. My brain was mush. I had no idea that could be like that. Heck, I was shocked it even happened. I felt like I needed to say thank you or something.

The smile he gave me was part male pride and arrogance, like he knew he’d scrambled my brain. He stretched out beside me, tugging me close to him. He lowered his head, kissing me softly, deeply.

“Wasn’t even two minutes,” he said. “Told you.”

My heart was somewhere in my throat. “You were right.”

“Always.”

Armentrout, Jennifer L.

Opal ( A Lux Novel)

Chapter 17

Sometime later, I tried to stretch and when I spoke, my voice was muffled against his chest. “I can’t move.”

His laugh rumbled through me as he loosened his embrace. “This is how we snuggle.”

“I really should head next door soon.” I yawned, not wanting to leave. I was so relaxed I couldn’t feel my toes. “Mom will be home soon.”

“Do you have to leave now?”

I shook my head. We had maybe an hour. I wanted to make her dinner, so another thirty or forty minutes tops. Daemon placed a finger on my chin and lifted it. “What?” I asked.

His eyes searched mine. “I wanted to talk before you leave.”

Anxiety blossomed low. “About what?”

“Sunday,” he said, and my anxiety turned darker. “I know you feel like you got us into this, but you know you didn’t, right?”

“Daemon

” I so knew where this conversation was heading. “We are at this point because of the decisions I-”

“We,” he corrected gently. “Decisions we made.”

“If I hadn’t trained with Blake and had listened to you, we wouldn’t be here. Adam would be alive. Dee wouldn’t hate my guts. Will wouldn’t be running around doing God knows what.” I squeezed my eyes shut. “I could go on and on. You get my drift.”

“And if you hadn’t made any of those decisions, we wouldn’t have Dawson back. It was kind of a stupid-smart move.”

I laughed drily. “There’s that.”

“You can’t carry this guilt with you, Kat.” The bed moved as he rose up on one elbow. “You’ll end up like me.”

I peeked at him. “What? An extremely tall and douchey alien?”

He smiled. “The jerky part, yes. I blamed myself for what happened to Dawson. It changed me. I’m still not back to where I was before everything happened. Don’t do that to yourself.”

Harder said than done, but I nodded. Last thing I wanted was for Daemon to worry about the possibility of my future therapy bills. And it was time to get to what I knew he wanted. “You don’t want me going Sunday.”

Daemon took a deep breath. “Hear me out, okay?” When I nodded, he continued. “I know you want to help, and I know you can. I’ve seen what you’re capable of. You can be pretty scary when mad.”

He has no idea , I thought wryly.

“But

if things go south, I don’t want you involved.” His gaze held mine. “I want you to be somewhere safe.”

I knew where he was coming from and I wanted to reassure him, but staying behind wasn’t something I could do. “I don’t want you involved, Daemon. I want you somewhere safe, but I’m not asking you to stay out of it.”

His brows knitted. “That’s different.”

I sat up, smoothing out my sweater. “How’s that different? And if you say it’s because you’re a guy, I’m going to hurt you.”

“Come on, Kitten.”

My eyes narrowed.

He sighed. “It’s more than that. It’s because I have experience. That simple. You don’t.”

“Okay, you have a point, but I’ve also been inside a cage. With that intimate knowledge, I have more reason than you not to get caught.”

“And that’s more of a reason why I don’t want you doing this.” His eyes flared an intense green. A sure sign he was seconds from tapping into his protective-fueled temper. “You have no idea what went through my head when I saw you in that cage-when I hear how your voice still rasps when you get excited or upset. You screamed until there-”

“I don’t need a reminder,” I snapped, and then cursed under my breath. I tried to rein in my own temper. I put my hand on his arm. “One of the things I love about you is how protective you are, but it also drives me crazy. You can’t protect me forever.”

His look said he could and would try.

I exhaled roughly. “I need to do this-I need to help Dawson and Beth.”

“And Blake?” he asked.

“What?” I stared at him. “Where did that come from?”

“I don’t know.” He moved his arm away from me. “It doesn’t matter. Can-”

“Wait. It does matter. Why would I want to help Blake after what he pulled? He killed Adam! I wanted him dead. You were the one who was, like, turning over a new leaf or something.”

The moment those words left my mouth, I regretted them. His expression went on lockdown.

“I’m sorry,” I said, meaning it. “I know why you didn’t want to

do away with Blake, but I have to do this. It’ll help me get past what I caused. Like making amends or something.”

“You don’t-”

“I do.”

Daemon turned his cheek, jaw clenching. “Can you do this for me? Please?”

My chest ached, because when Daemon said please, which was rare, I knew how much something bothered him. “I can’t.”

Seconds passed and his shoulders tensed. “This is stupid. You shouldn’t be doing this. All I’m going to worry about is you getting hurt.”

“See? That’s the problem! You can’t always be worried about my getting hurt.”

His brow arched. “You’re always getting hurt.”

My mouth dropped open. “I am not!”

He laughed. “Yeah, try that again.”

I pushed at him, but he was a wall of immovable muscle. Infuriated, I scrambled over him, even more furious when I saw the humored glint in his eyes. “God, you tick me off.”

“Well, at least I got you-”

“Don’t even finish that statement!” I snatched up my socks and tights. Rolling them on, I hobbled on one foot. “Ugh, I hate you sometimes.”

He sat up in one fluid motion. “Not too long ago, you were really, really loving me.”

“Shut up.” I moved on to the other leg. “I’m going with you guys on Sunday. That’s it. End of discussion.”

Daemon stood. “I don’t want you going.”

I wiggled up my tights, glaring at him. “You don’t get to say what I can and can’t do, Daemon.” I grabbed one of my boots, wondering how it got all the way over there. “I’m not a frail, helpless heroine in need of your rescue.”

“This isn’t a book, Kat.”