Opal (2 page)

Using every ounce of self-control I had, I focused on what he was saying. “I’m dealing. You don’t need to worry about me.”

He looked doubtful. “Your voice…”

I winced and uselessly cleared my throat again. “It’s getting much better.”

His eyes darkened as he ran his thumb along my jaw. “Not enough, but it’s growing on me.”

I smiled. “It is?”

Daemon nodded and brought his lips to mine. The kiss was sweet and soft, and I felt it in every part of me. “It’s kind of sexy.” His mouth was on mine again, taking it deeper and longer. “The whole raspy thing, but I wish—”

“Don’t.” I placed my hands on his smooth cheeks. “I’m okay. And we have enough things to worry about without my vocal chords. In the big scheme of things, they’re nowhere near the top of the list.”

He arched a brow and wow, I did sound kind of uber-mature. I giggled at his expression, ruining my newly discovered maturity. “I have missed you,” I admitted.

“I know. You can’t live without me.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Just admit it.”

“There you go. That ego of yours getting in the way,” I teased.

His lips found the underside of my jaw. “Of what?”

“The perfect package.”

He snorted. “Let me tell you, I have the perfect—”

“Don’t be gross.” I shivered, though, because when he kissed the hollow of my throat, there was nothing flawed about that.

I would never tell him this, but beside the…
pricklier
side of him that reared its ugly head from time to time, he was the closest thing to perfect I’d ever met.

With a knowing chuckle that had me squirming, he slid his hand down my arm, over my waist, and caught my thigh, hooking my leg around his hip. “You have such a dirty mind. I was going to say I’m perfect in all the ways that count.”

Laughing, I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Sure you were. Completely innocent, you are.”

“Oh, I’ve never claimed to be
that
nice.” The lower part of his body sank into mine, and I sucked in a sharp breath. “I’m more—”

“Naughty?” I pressed my face into his neck and inhaled deeply. He always had this outdoorsy scent, like fresh leaves and spice. “Yeah, I know, but you’re nice under the naughty. That’s why I love you.”

A shudder rolled through him, and then Daemon froze. A stuttered heartbeat passed and he rolled onto his side, wrapping his arms around me tightly. So tightly I had to wiggle a little to lift my head.

“Daemon?”

“It’s okay.” Voice thick, he kissed my forehead. “I’m okay. It’s…early still. No school or Mom coming home, yelling your full name. Just for a little while we can pretend that crazy doesn’t wait for us. We can sleep in, like normal teenagers.”

Like normal teenagers. “I like the sound of that.”

“Me, too.”

“Me, three,” I murmured, snuggling against him until we were practically one. I could feel his heart beating in tandem with mine. Perfect. This was what we needed—quiet moments of being normal. Where it was just Daemon and me—

The window overlooking the front yard blew apart as something large and white crashed through it, sending chunks of glass and snow shooting onto the floor.

My startled scream was cut off as Daemon rolled, springing to his feet as he slipped into his true Luxen form, becoming a human shape of light that shone so brightly I could only stare at him for a few precious seconds.

Holy crap
, Daemon’s voice said, filtering through my own thoughts.

Since Daemon hadn’t gone ape wild on someone, I scrambled to my knees and peered over the edge of the bed.

“Holy crap,” I said out loud.

Our precious moment of being normal ended with a body lying on my bedroom floor.

Chapter 2

I stared down at the dead man, dressed like he was prepared to join the rebel alliance on the Hoth system. My thoughts were a little hazy at first, which was why it took me a few seconds to realize, dressed like that, he’d really blend in with the snow. Except for all the red streaming from his head…

My already pounding heartbeat skyrocketed. “Daemon…?”

He pivoted, slipping back into his human form as he wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me back from the carnage.

“He’s a-an Officer,” I stuttered, smacking at his arms to get free. “He’s with the—”

Dawson suddenly stood in the doorway, his eyes glowing much like Daemon’s were. Two bright white lights, like polished diamonds. “He was sneaking around outside by the tree line.”

Daemon’s arm loosened. “You…you did this?”

His brother’s gaze flickered to the body.
It
—because I couldn’t really think of
it
as a human being—lay in a twisted, unnatural heap. “He was watching the house—taking pictures.” Dawson held up what looked like a melted camera. “I stopped him.”

Yeah, Dawson had stopped him right through my bedroom window.

Letting go of me, Daemon made his way over to it. He knelt and pulled back the insulated white down jacket. There was a charred spot on the chest that smoked. The smell of burned flesh wafted into the air.

I climbed off the bed, pressing my hand to my mouth just in case I started to hurl. I’d seen Daemon hit a human with the Source—their power based in light—before. Nothing but ashes had remained, but it had a hole burned through its chest.

“Your aim is off, brother.” Daemon let go of the jacket, the thick cords of muscles in his back bunched with tension. “The window?”

Dawson’s eyes drifted to the window. “I’ve been out of practice.”

My mouth dropped open. Out of practice? Instead of incinerating it, he’d knocked it into the air and through my window. Not to mention he’d
killed
it. No, I wouldn’t think of that.

“My mom’s gonna kill me,” I said, feeling numb. “She’s really going to kill me.”

A broken window—of all the things to focus on, but it was something, something other than
it
lying on my floor.

Daemon stood slowly, eyes sheltered and jaw set like stone. He didn’t take his gaze off his brother, his expression a blank mask. I turned to Dawson, our gazes colliding, and for the first time, I was scared of him.

…

After a quick change and bathroom visit, I stood in the living room, surrounded by aliens for the first time in days. A perk of being made of light, I guessed—the ability to go just about anywhere in a blink of an eye.

Since Adam’s death, everyone had pretty much given me a wide berth, so I was unsure what was about to go down. Probably a lynching. I knew I’d want one for whoever had been responsible for the death of someone I loved.

Hands shoved into his pockets, Dawson pressed his forehead against the window by where the Christmas tree had once stood, his back to the room. He’d said
nothing
since the bat signal had been sent out and the aliens had come a-running.

Dee sat perched on the couch, her eyes fixed on her brother’s back. She looked wired, her cheeks flushed with anger. I think it bothered her being in this house. Or just being near me. We hadn’t had a chance to really talk after…everything.

My gaze slid to the other occupants. The evil wonder twins, Ash and Andrew, were seated beside Dee, their gazes locked onto the spot where their brother, Adam, had last stood…and died.

Part of me hated being in the living room since it reminded me of what had happened when Blake finally fessed up to his true purpose. When I had to come in here, which wasn’t often since I moved all my books out of the living room, I looked right at the spot to the left of the throw carpet under the coffee table. The pine floors were bare and shiny now, but I could still see the pool of bluish liquid that I’d mopped up along with Matthew on New Year’s Eve.

I wrapped my arms around my waist to try to suppress the shudder.

Two sets of footfalls came down the steps, and I turned, finding Daemon and his guardian, Matthew. Earlier, they’d gotten rid of…
it
, incinerating it outside, deep in the woods, after doing a quick run of the area.

Walking to my side, Daemon tugged on the edge of my hoodie. “It’s been taken care of.”

Matthew and Daemon had gone upstairs no more than ten minutes ago with a tarp, a hammer, and a bunch of nails. “Thank you.”

He nodded as his gaze slid to his brother. “Did anyone find a vehicle?”

“There was an Expedition near the access road,” Andrew said, blinking. “I torched it.”

Matthew sat on the edge of the recliner, looking like he needed some liquor. “That’s good, but it’s not good.”

“No shit,” Ash snapped. Upon a closer look, she wasn’t the picture perfect ice princess today. Her hair hung limply around her face, and she wore sweats. I didn’t think I’d ever seen her in sweats. “That’s
another
dead DOD Officer. How many does that make it? Two?”

Well, actually, that made it number four, but they didn’t need to know that.

She tucked her hair back, her chipped fingernails pressing into her cheeks. “They’re going to wonder where they are, you know? People don’t disappear.”

“People disappear all the time,” Dawson said quietly without turning around, his words sucking the oxygen from the air.

Ash’s bright sapphire eyes slid to him. Well, everyone pretty much looked at Dawson, since that was the first time he’d spoken since we all gathered. She shook her head but wisely remained quiet.

“What about the camera?” Matthew asked.

I picked up the melted thing, turning it over. Warmth still radiated from it. “If there’re pictures, they’re gone now.”

Dawson turned around. “He was watching this house.”

“We know,” Daemon said, moving closer to me.

His brother tilted his head to the side and when he spoke, his voice was empty. “Does it matter what was on the camera? They were watching you—
her
. All of us.”

Another shudder rolled through me. It was his tone more than anything that got to me.

“But next time, we need to kind of…oh, I don’t know, talk first and then throw people through windows later.” Daemon crossed his arms. “Can we try that?”

“And we can just let killers go?” Dee said, voice shaking as her eyes darkened, flashing with fury. “Because that’s apparently what should happen. I mean, that Officer could’ve killed one of us, and you would have just let him go.”

Oh, no. My stomach sank.

“Dee,” Daemon said, stepping forward. “I know—”

“Don’t ‘I know, Dee’ me.” Her lower lip trembled. “You let Blake go.” Her gaze moved to me, and it felt like a kick in the stomach. “Both of you let Blake go.”

Daemon shook his head as he unfolded his arms. “Dee, there was enough killing that night. Enough death.”

Dee reacted as though Daemon had hit her with his words, wrapping her arms around her waist for protection.

“Adam wouldn’t have wanted that,” Ash said quietly, sitting back against the couch. “More deaths. He was such a pacifist.”

“Too bad we can’t ask him how he really feels about it, isn’t it?” Dee’s spine stiffened, as though she was forcing herself to bite out her next words. “He’s dead.”

Apologies bubbled up in my throat, but before they could break free, Andrew spoke. “Not only did you guys let Blake go, you lied to us. From her?” He gestured at me. “I don’t expect loyalty. But you? Daemon, you kept everything from us. And Adam died.”

I whipped around. “Adam’s death isn’t Daemon’s fault. Don’t put that on him.”

“Kat—”

“Then whose is it?” Dee’s gaze met mine. “Yours?”

I sucked in a sharp breath. “Yeah, it is.”

Daemon’s body went rigid beside me, and then, always the referee, Matthew jumped in. “All right, guys, that’s enough. Fighting and casting blame isn’t helping anyone.”

“It makes us feel better,” Ash muttered, closing her eyes.

I blinked back tears and sat on the edge of the table, frustrated that I was even close to crying because I didn’t own the right to those tears. Not like they did. Squeezing my knees until my fingers dug in through the soft material, I let out a breath.

“Right now, we need to get along,” Matthew went on. “All of us, because we have lost too much already.”

There was a pause and then, “I’m going after Beth.”

Everyone in the room turned to Dawson again. Not a single thing had changed in his expression. No emotion. Nothing. And then everyone started talking at once.

Daemon’s voice boomed over the chaos. “Absolutely not, Dawson—no way.”

“It’s too dangerous.” Dee stood, clasping her hands together. “You’ll get captured, and I won’t survive that. Not again.”

Dawson’s expression remained blank, like nothing his friends or family had said made any difference to him. “I have to get her back. Sorry.”

It looked like a dumbfounded stick had smacked Ash in the face. I probably looked the same. “He’s insane,” she whispered. “Freaking insane.”

Dawson shrugged.

Matthew leaned forward. “Dawson, I know, we all know, that Beth means a lot to you, but there’s no way you can get her. Not until we know what we’re dealing with.”

Emotion flashed in Dawson’s eyes, turning them forest green. Anger, I realized. The first emotion I’d seen from Dawson was anger. “I know what I’m dealing with. And I know what they are doing to her.”

Prowling forward, Daemon stopped in front of his brother, legs spread wide, arms crossed again, ready for battle. Standing together like that, it was surreal seeing them. They were identical, with the exception of Dawson’s thinner frame and shaggier hair.

“I cannot allow you to do that,” Daemon said, voice so low I barely heard him. “I know you don’t want to hear that, but no way.”

Dawson didn’t budge. “You don’t have a say over it. You never did.”

At least they were talking. That was a good thing, right? Somehow I knew that the two brothers going toe-to-toe was oddly comforting as much as it was distressing. Something Daemon and Dee thought they’d never experience again.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dee moving toward them, but Andrew reached out, catching her hand and stopping her.

“I’m not trying to control you, Dawson. It’s never been about that, but you just got back from hell. We just got
you
back.”

“I’m still in hell,” Dawson replied. “And if you get in my way, I will drag you down with me.”

A look of pain shot across Daemon’s face. “Dawson…”

I jumped to my feet, reacting to Daemon’s response without thinking. An unknown urge propelled me to do so. I guess that urge was love, because I didn’t like the pain flickering across his face. Now I understood why my mom got all Mama Bear sometimes when she thought I was threatened or upset.

A wind blew through the living room, stirring the curtains and flipping the pages of Mom’s magazines. I felt the girls’ eyes on me and their surprise, but I was focused.

“All right, the alien testosterone right now is a little too much, and I really don’t want to have an alien brawl in my house on top of the broken window and the dead body that came through it.” I took a breath. “But if you two don’t knock it off, I’ll kick both of your asses.”

Now everyone was staring at me. “What?” I demanded, cheeks flushing.

A slow, wry smile teased Daemon’s lips. “Simmer down, Kitten, before I have to get you a ball of yarn to play with.”

Annoyance flared deep inside me. “Don’t start with me, jerk-face.”

He smirked as he focused on his brother.

Beside him, Dawson looked sort of…amused. Or in pain—one of the two, because he really wasn’t smiling or frowning. But then, without saying a word, he stalked out of the living room, the front door slamming shut behind him.

Daemon glanced at me, and I nodded. Sighing deeply, he followed his brother, because there really was no telling what Dawson would do or where he would go.

The alien Kumbaya fell apart after that. I followed them to the door, my attention fixed on Dee. We so needed to talk. First off, I had to apologize for a lot of things, and then I had to try to explain myself. Forgiveness wasn’t expected, but I needed to try to talk.

I clenched the door knob until my knuckles bleached. “Dee…?”

She stopped on the porch, back straight. She didn’t face me. “I’m not ready.”

And with that, the front door tore free from my hand and swung shut.