Jennifer Armentrout - Obsidian

“Never!” cried Dee. Then she laughed. “Okay. Maybe.”

“Figured,” Daemon muttered, stretching out his long legs.

Unable to stop myself, I turned toward him. Our eyes locked. The air between us seemed to stretch with heat and electricity. The last time I’d seen him, we’d been kissing. And I had no idea where that left us.

Dee shifted next to me, clearing her throat. “I’m still hungry, Adam.”

He laughed. “You’re worse than I am.”

“True.” Dee hopped to her feet. “Let’s go to Smoke Hole. I think they are having homemade meatloaf.” She edged around me, leaned down, and gave Daemon a peck on the cheek. “Glad you’re back. I’ve missed you.” Daemon smiled up at his sister. “Missed you, too.”

When the door shut behind Dee and Adam, I let out the breath I’d been holding. “Is everything really okay?” I asked.

“For the most part.” He reached out with one hand, running his fingers over my cheek. Daemon sucked in a sharp breath. “Hell.”

“What?”

He sat up and scooted closer, his leg pressing against mine. “I have something for you.”

Not what I was expecting. “Is it going to blow up in my face?”

Leaning back, he chuckled and reached into the front pocket of his jeans. He pulled out a small leather pouch and handed it to me.

Curious, I pulled on the little string and carefully emptied the pouch into my palm. I glanced up, and when he smiled, I felt my heart turn over. It was a piece of obsidian about three inches long, polished and shaped into a pendant. The glass was shiny black. It seemed to hum against my skin, cool to the touch. The silver chain it hung from was delicate, spiraling over the top of the pendent. The other edge was sharpened into a fine point.

“Believe it or not,” Daemon said, “even something as small as that can actually pierce Arum skin and kill them. When it gets really hot you’ll know an Arum is nearby even if you don’t see one.” He carefully picked up the chain, holding the clasps. “It took me forever to find a piece like this since the blade turned to crap. I don’t want you to take this off, okay? At least when…well, for the most part.” Shocked, I pulled my hair out of the way and twisted around, letting him hook the necklace around my neck. Once it was clasped, I faced him. “Thank you. I mean it, for everything.”

“It’s not a big deal. Has anyone asked you about your trace?”

I shook my head. “I think they’re expecting to see one because of all the fighting.”

Daemon nodded. “Hell, you’re bright as a comet right now. The sucker has got to fade or we’ll be back to square one.”

A slow heat built inside me. Not the good kind. “And what is square one, exactly?”

“You know, us being…stuck together until the damn trace fades.” His gaze flickered away.

Stuck together? My fingers dug into my denim-clad knees. “After everything I’ve done, us being around each other is being stuck together?”

Daemon shrugged.

“You know what? Screw you, buddy. Because of me, Baruck didn’t find your sister. Because of what I did, I almost died. You healed me. That’s why I have a trace. None of this is my fault.”

“And it’s mine? Should I have left you to die?” His eyes burned now, like emerald pools. “Is that what you wanted?”

“That’s a stupid question! I don’t regret that you healed me, but I’m not dealing with this hot and cold shit from you anymore.”

“I do believe you protest too much with the whole liking me part.” A wry grin twisted his lips. “Someone sounds like they are trying to convince themselves.”

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. As much as it bothered me to say this, because there was a part of me that wanted him, I did. “I think it would be best if you’d stay away from me.”

“No can do.”

“Any of the other Luxen can watch over me or whatever,” I protested. “It doesn’t have to be you.”

His eyes met mine. “You’re my responsibility.”

“I am nothing to you.”

“You’re definitely something.”

My palms itched to have a close encounter of the bitch-slap kind with his face. “I dislike you so very much.”

“No. You don’t.”

“Okay. We need to get this trace off me. Now.”

A wicked smile played over his lips. “Maybe we can try making out again. See what that will do to this trace. It seemed to work last time.”

My body liked the idea. I, however, did not. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen again.”

“It was just a suggestion.”

“One that will never. Happen,” I bit out each word deliberately. “Again.”

“Don’t act like you didn’t have as much fun—”

I smacked him in the chest hard. He only laughed, and I started to push off, but… wait . I pressed my hand against his chest as I stared at him.

Daemon arched a brow. “Are you feeling me up, Kat? I’m liking where this is heading.”

I was — nice chest and all— but that wasn’t the point. His heart beat against my palm, a strong tempo that was slightly accelerated. Thump. Thump, thump. Thump. I placed my other hand against my own chest. Thump. Thump, thump. Thump.

I started to feel dizzy. “Our heartbeats…they’re the same.” Both of our hearts were racing now, completely synchronized. “Oh my God, how is this possible?”

Daemon started to look pale. “Oh crap.”

My lashes lifted. Our eyes locked. The air seemed to spark around us, filled with tension. Oh crap, indeed.

He placed his hand over mine and squeezed. “But it’s not too bad. I mean, I’m pretty sure I morphed you into something and this whole heart thing proves we must be connected.” He grinned. “Could be worse.”

“What could be worse exactly?” I asked, stunned.

“Us being together.” He shrugged. “It could be worse.”

Part of me wasn’t sure I’d heard him right. “Wait a sec. You think we should be together because of some kind of freaky alien mojo that has connected us? But two minutes ago you were bitching about being stuck with me?”

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t bitching. I was pointing out that we are stuck together. This is different…and you’re attracted to me.”

My eyes narrowed. “I’ll get back to that last statement in a second, but you want to be with me because you now feel…forced?”

“I wouldn’t say forced exactly, but…but I like you.”

I stared at him. It was all too easy to recall what I’d overheard when he’d healed me. Part of me had thought that maybe what he’d felt was real, but maybe it was the product of whatever the hell he’d done. That made sense considering what he was saying.

Daemon frowned. “Oh no, I know that look. What are you thinking?”

“That this is the most ridiculous declaration of attraction I’ve ever heard,” I said, standing. “That is so lame, Daemon. You want to be with me because of whatever crazy stuff that had happened?” He rolled his eyes as he stood. “We like each other. We do. It’s stupid that we keep denying it.”

“Oh, this is coming from the dude who left me on the couch topless ?” I shook my head. “We don’t like each other.”

“Okay. I should probably apologize for that. I’m sorry.” Daemon took a step forward. “We were attracted to each other before I healed you. You can’t say that’s not true, because I’ve always…been attracted to you.” I took a step back. “Being attracted to me is as lame a reason to be with me as the fact we’re stuck together now.”

“Oh, you know it’s more than that.” He paused. “I knew you would be trouble from the start, from the moment you knocked on my door.”