Blake smirked. “I’d like to see you try.”
“You might want to rethink that.” Daemon laughed low. “Because you have no idea what I’m capable of, boy.”
“See, that’s the funny thing.” Blake gripped Daemon’s wrist. “I know exactly what you’re capable of.”
A shiver rolled down my spine. Who in the hell was Blake?
Flannel Shirt Guy came out of the diner, hitching up his ragged pants. He spit out a mouthful of chew as he approached us. “Boys, you’re gonna wanna break this up right now before someone calls the—”
Blake raised his free hand and Flannel Shirt Guy just stopped. With a sinking feeling, I looked over my shoulder. Everyone in the parking lot was frozen. No doubt they were just as immobile inside the diner.
A whitish-red light crept along the outline of Daemon’s body. Tense silence fell. I knew he was seconds away from going all Luxen on Blake.
Daemon’s grip must’ve tightened, because Blake gasped. “I don’t care who or what you are, but you better give me a reason not to blast you into your next pathetic life real quickly.”
“I know what you are,” Blake choked out.
“That’s not helping,” Daemon growled, and I had to agree. I spared a nervous glance at Flannel Shirt Guy. He was still there, frozen with his mouth hanging open, showing off stained teeth. The light around Daemon was getting stronger. “Try again.”
“I just killed an Arum, and even though you’re an arrogant prick, we’re not enemies.” A choke cut off his next words, and I grabbed both of Daemon’s shoulders. There was no way I could let him strangle Blake. “I can help Katy,” Blake wheezed. “Good enough for you?”
“What?” I demanded, dropping my hands.
“Yeah, see, you saying her name alone makes me want to kill you. So, no, not good enough for me.”
Blake’s eyes darted to mine. “Katy, I know what you are, what you will become capable of, and I can help you.”
Shocked, I stared at him.
Daemon leaned in to Blake. His eyes were pure white and glowing, like diamonds. “Let me ask you a question. If I kill you, will these people unfreeze?”
Blake’s eyes widened, and I knew Daemon wasn’t kidding around. He didn’t like Blake to start off with and the boy—or whatever he was—obviously posed a threat of an unknown kind. He knew a lot, too much, and he knew what I was. What I was? Oh, hold up.
I shot forward. “Let him go, Daemon. I need to know what he’s talking about.”
His glowing eyes were focused on Blake. “Get back, Kat. I mean it; get the hell back.”
Like hell. “Stop it.” When he didn’t respond, I screamed, “Stop! Just freaking stop for a couple of minutes!”
Daemon blinked and his eyes flickered to mine. Taking the distraction, Blake swiped his arm across Daemon’s and broke the hold. He scrambled to the side, putting distance between them.
“Jesus.” Blake rubbed his throat. “You have anger management problems. It’s like a disease.”
“There’s a cure and it’s called kicking your ass.”
Blake flipped him off. Daemon started forward, and I barely managed to get in front of him. Placing my hands on his chest, I looked into eyes that were unrecognizable to me. “Stop. You need to stop now.”
Daemon’s lip curled into a snarl. “He’s a—”
“We don’t know what he is,” I cut in, already knowing what he was going to say. “But he did kill an Arum. And he hasn’t hurt me or anyone else, and he’s had plenty of opportunity to do so.”
Daemon exhaled roughly. “Kat—”
“We need to hear him out, Daemon. I need to hear what he has to say.” I took a deep breath. “Besides, these people have been frozen, like, twice now. That can’t be good for them.”
“I don’t care.” His gaze flicked to Blake, and, dear God, the look on his face should’ve sent Blake running. But he shook out his broad shoulders and stepped back, turning those diamond eyes on me. I shrank back. “He’ll talk. And then I’ll decide whether or not he gets to see tomorrow.”
Well, that was the best we could hope for at this point. I glanced back at Blake, who rolled his eyes. Boy had a death wish. “Can you, um, fix them?” I waved at Flannel Shirt Guy.
“Sure.” He flicked his wrist.
“Police,” Flannel Shirt Guy finished.
I turned to the guy. “Everything’s fine. Thank you.” Spinning around, I pushed my windblown hair out of my face. “My car—if you guys can get along in such an enclosed space?”
Without responding, Daemon stalked over and slid into the passenger seat. I let out a ragged breath and headed for the driver’s side.
“Is he always so damn touchy?” Blake asked.
I shot him a dark look as I opened the door. Not looking at Daemon, I turned the heat on and then twisted around in my seat, facing Blake in the back. “What are you?”
Staring out the window, his jaw worked. “The same thing I suspect you are.”
My breath caught. “And what do you think I am?”
Daemon cracked his neck but said nothing. He was like a grenade that had its tab pulled. We all were just waiting for him to explode.
“I didn’t know at first.” Blake sat back. “There was something about you that drew me to you, but I didn’t understand what it was.”
“Proceed with caution when it comes to your next word choices,” Daemon growled.
I squirmed in my seat, clutching the obsidian in my hand. “What do you mean by that?”
Blake shook his head and then stared straight ahead. “The first time I saw you, I knew you were different. Then when you stopped the branch and I saw your necklace, I knew. Only those who know to fear the shadows wear obsidian.” Seconds ticked by in silence. “Then our date…yeah, that glass and plate didn’t just fall into my lap on its own.”
A snicker came from the passenger seat. “Good times.”
Unease tripled my heart rate. “How much do you know?”
“There are two alien races on Earth: the Luxen and the Arum.” He paused as Daemon twisted in his seat. Blake swallowed. “You’re capable of moving things without touching them and you can manipulate light. I’m sure you can do more. And you can also heal humans.”
The inside of the car was too small. There wasn’t enough air. If Blake knew the truth about the Luxen, wouldn’t that mean the DOD did? I dropped the necklace and clenched the steering wheel, my heart racing.
“How do you know this?” Daemon asked, his voice surprisingly even.
There was a pause. “When I was thirteen, I was leaving soccer practice with a friend of mine—Chris Johnson. He was a normal kid like me, except he was super fast, never got sick, and I never saw his parents at any games. But who cares, right? I didn’t until I was goofing around and stepped off the curb, right in front of a speeding cab. Chris healed me. Turns out he was an alien.” Blake’s lips twisted into a wry grin. “I thought it was pretty cool. My best friend was an alien. Who gets to say that? What I didn’t know and what he never told me was that he lit my ass up. Five days later, four men entered my house.
“They wanted to know where they were,” he continued, hands clenching into fists. “I didn’t know what they meant. They killed my parents and my little sister right in front of me. And when I still couldn’t help them, they beat me within an inch of my life.”
“Oh my God,” I whispered, horrified. Daemon looked away, jaw working.
“Not sure he really exists,” Blake said, letting out a dry laugh. “Anyway, it took me a while to figure out that when you’re healed, you take on their abilities. Shit just started flying everywhere after I was sent to live with my uncle. When I realized that my friend had changed me, I researched as much as I could. Not that I needed to. The Arum found me again.”