“Not really.”
His eyes narrowed. “Granted, you’re a mutated human, but a human who’s a hell of a lot weaker and more vulnerable than a Luxen.”
I exhaled slowly. “You don’t know how weak or vulnerable I’ll be fully trained.”
“Whatever. Secondly, you have no business going up against the Arum. That will never happen.”
“Daemon—”
“It won’t if I’m still alive. Do you understand that? You will never go after an Arum. I don’t care if you can stop the world from spinning.”
I tried to push down my anger. One thing I hated more than Daemon’s douche-nozzle side was him telling me what to do. “You don’t own me, Daemon.”
“It’s not about ownership, you little nut.”
“Nut?” I glared at him. “I wouldn’t call me names when I have a knife in my hand.”
He ignored that. “Thirdly, there is something off about Blake. You can’t tell me you don’t see or sense that.”
“Oh, don’t—”
“You know nothing about him—nothing deeper than that he likes to surf and blog. Big deal.”
“These aren’t good enough reasons.”
“Because I don’t want you in danger—how about that? Is that damn good enough for you?” he shouted, and I jumped. He looked away, drawing in several deep breaths.
I hadn’t realized that could’ve been the real reason behind it all. About every part of me softened, and my temper slipped away like a snowflake melting. “Daemon, you can’t stop me just to protect me.”
His head swung back to me. “I need to protect you.”
Need was such a strong word that it stole my breath and my heart. “Daemon, I’m flattered—I am, but your job is not to protect me. I’m not Dee. I’m not another one of your responsibilities.”
“Damn right you’re not Dee! But you are my responsibility. I got you into this mess. And I will not be dragging you further into it!”
My head was spinning. His reasons for wanting me to stop training with Blake were right but all wrong. I needed to prove to him that I wasn’t a liability or something to be constantly watched over. If he felt that way and did keep putting himself in jeopardy because of me, he could lose his own life or Dee’s.
“I’m not stopping,” I said.
Daemon stared at me. “Does it even matter that I don’t want you in that kind of danger? That I won’t facilitate something as idiotic as you gearing up to go against the Arum?”
I flinched. Ouch, that stung. “Wanting to help you and your kind is idiotic?”
His jaw tightened. “Yeah, it is.”
“Daemon,” I whispered. “I get that you care—”
“You don’t get it. That’s the problem!” He stopped, pulling it all back in, sucking the air right out of the room with it. “I won’t be a part of this. I mean it, Katy. You chose this, then…whatever. I won’t have this hanging over my head like I do every freaking day with Dawson. I won’t make another mistake and condone this.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. My chest ached at the thought of him carrying that kind of guilt—guilt that didn’t belong to him. “Daemon—”
“What will it be, Katy?” He looked at me dead-on. “Tell me now.”
“I don’t know what to tell you,” I whispered, tears burning my eyes. Didn’t he see? Going through with this would give me a better chance of not turning out like Bethany and Dawson, of being able to take care of myself and protect him, because one day, he’d need it.
Daemon took a step back as though I’d hit him. “That was the wrong thing to say.” His face turned hard, his eyes like glaciers. The coldness radiating from him chilled me to the bone. He’d never looked more detached. “I’m done.”
Chapter 21
Part of me wanted to skip classes the next day, but it wasn’t like I could hide forever. Unexpectedly, Daemon was a no-show. I didn’t see him in the halls, either, or when I grabbed my stuff out of my locker before lunch. He never showed.
I’d chased him right out of the damn school.
“Hey,” Blake said, strolling up to me. “You don’t look any better.”
Through the duration of bio, I’d pretty much had my face stuck in my textbook. I sighed, closing the door. “Yeah, not feeling it today.”
“Hungry?” When I shook my head, he tugged on my backpack. “Me neither. I know a place to go, no food and no people.”
Sounded good to me, because the last thing I could stomach right now was watching Adam and Dee go to second base at the lunch table. Turned out, the place Blake had in mind was the empty auditorium. Perfect.
We sat in the back, propping our feet up on the seats in front of us. Blake pulled an apple from his bag. “Did Daemon ever calm down last night?”
I groaned inwardly. “Yeah…not really.”
“I was afraid of that.” There was a pause as he bit into the shiny red fruit. “You really weren’t in any danger. If you didn’t stop it, one of us would’ve.”
“I know.” I scooted down and laid my head on the back of my seat. “He just doesn’t want to see me hurt.” And that actually hurt to say, because I knew there was a mile-long road of good intentions behind what he had been saying last night, but he needed to see me as an equal. Not someone who was weak and needed rescuing.
“That’s admirable.” Blake grinned around his apple. “You know I don’t like the tool, but he cares about you. And I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause trouble between you two.”
“It’s not your fault.” I patted his knee, not surprised when I got a little shock. “Everything will be okay.”
Blake nodded. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
He took another bite before he continued. “Is Daemon the one who healed you? I ask, because it may give me a better understanding of your power to know who changed you.”
Anxiousness blossomed. “Why would you think it was him?”
Blake gave me a pointed look. “It would explain how close you two are. My friend and I were close afterward. I almost always knew when he was around. We were like two halves of the same whole after he healed me. It was a strong…bond.”
Healing me was so forbidden that even an army of Arum couldn’t get me to admit that it had been Daemon. “That’s good to know, but that’s not the case.” Curiosity did get the best of me, though. “You say you two were close. Did it make you…attracted to him?”
“What?” He laughed. “No. We were like brothers, but the connection—whatever it is that they do to us—doesn’t force us to feel anything. It just makes us close to who healed us. It’s stronger than a familial bond, but not sexual or even emotional on that kind of level.”
I lowered my lashes before he could see the rush of fresh tears that burned my eyes. Great. I was the biggest asshat alive. This whole time I’d kept throwing the alien connection in Daemon’s face and it hadn’t been what was propelling him.
“Well, that’s good to know.” My own voice sounded strange to me. “Anyway...why is it so important who healed me?”
He looked at me like he doubted my IQ as he finished off his apple. “Because I hear that how strong the Luxen is who heals you is an indication of how much stronger you’ll be. At least, that’s what I’ve picked up from Liz. Her power and limitations were linked to who healed her. Same as me.”
“Oh.” Well, that explained how I blasted a satellite into outer space. Daemon’s ego would go through the charts if he knew. I started to grin, but thinking of him renewed the ache in my chest.
“Which is why I thought it was Daemon, but he’s pretty damn powerful. No offense, but you really haven’t done anything extraordinary, so…”
“Gee, thanks?” I laughed at his chagrined look. “Anyway, it’s not anyone you’d ever expect, and that’s all I’m willing to say about it, okay?”