Jennifer Armentrout: Onyx

“Kat?”

Slowly, I turned. Wind whipped around me as I stared at the apparition. Moonlight sliced his face in shadows, reflecting in his wide, bright eyes. He couldn’t be real.

“What are you doing, Kitten?” Daemon asked.

He seemed fuzzy. Daemon was never fuzzy. Fast and blurry sometimes, yes, but never fuzzy. “I…I need to cool down.”

Understanding shot across his face. “Don’t you dare go into that lake.”

I moved backward. Icy water lapped at my ankles and then my knees. “Why?”

“Why?” He took a step forward. “It’s too cold. Kitten, don’t make me come in there and get you.”

My head throbbed. Brain cells were definitely melting. I sunk farther down. Cold water soothed the burning in my skin. It washed over my head, stealing my breath and the fire. The burn eased, nearly fading. I could stay under here forever. Maybe I would.

Strong, solid arms surrounded me, pulling me back to the surface. Frigid air rushed me, but my lungs were seared. I dragged in deep gulps, hoping to extinguish the flames. Daemon was pulling me out of the blessed water, moving so fast I was in the water one second and standing on shore the next.

“What’s wrong with you?” he demanded, grasping my shoulders and giving me a light shake. “Have you lost your mind?”

“Don’t.” I pushed at him weakly. “I’m so hot.”

His intense gaze drifted down to my toes. “Yeah, you’re hot. The whole wet white shirt… It’s working, Kitten, but a midnight swim in November? That’s a little daring, don’t you think?”

He wasn’t making sense. The reprieve was over, and my skin was burning again. I stumbled from his hands, back toward the lake.

His arms were around me before I took two steps, turning me around. “Kat, you can’t get in the lake. It’s too cold. You’re going to get sick.” He brushed back the hair plastered to my cheeks. “Hell—sicker than you already are. You’re burning up.”

Something in what he said cleared a bit of the haze. I leaned into him, pressing my cheek into his chest. He smelled wonderful . Like spice and man. “I don’t want you.”

“Uh, now is not the time to get into that conversation.”

This was just a dream. I sighed, wrapping my arms around his taut waist. “But I do want you.”

Daemon’s arms tightened around me. “I know, Kitten. You aren’t fooling anyone. Come on.”

Letting go, my arms hung limply at my sides. “I…I don’t feel good.”

“Kat.” He pulled back. Both hands were on my face, holding my head up. “Kat, look at me.”

I wasn’t looking at him? My legs gave out. And then there was nothing. No Daemon. No thoughts. No fire. No Katy.

…

Things were hazy, disjointed. Warm hands kept the hair back from my face. Fingers smoothed over my cheek. A deep voice spoke to me in a language that was musical and soft. Like a song, but…more beautiful and comforting. I sunk into the sound, lost for a little while.

I heard voices.

Once, I thought I heard Dee. “You can’t. It’ll just make the trace worse.”

I was moved around. Wet clothing stripped away. Something warm and soft slid over my skin. I tried talking to the voices around me, and maybe I did. I wasn’t sure.

At some point, I was wrapped in a cloud and carried somewhere. A steady heart beat under my cheek, lulling me until the voices faded and cool hands eventually replaced the warm ones. Bright lights intruded. I heard more voices. Mom? Mom sounded worried. She was talking to…someone. Someone I didn’t recognize. He had the cool hands. There was a prick in my arm, a dull pain that radiated to my fingers. More hushed voices, and then I heard nothing.

There was no day or night, but this weird in-between where a fire raged in my body. Then the cool hands were back, pulling my arm out from underneath the covers. I didn’t hear Mom as I felt the prick again on my skin. Heat swept inside me, rushing through my veins. Gasping, I arched my back off the bed, and a strangled scream escaped the back of my throat. Everything burned. A fire raged inside me ten times worse than before, and I knew I was dying. I had to be…

And then there was a coolness in my veins, like a rush of winter’s air. It moved quickly, dousing the flames and leaving a trail of ice in its wake.

The hands moved to my neck, tugging something up. A chain…my necklace? The hands were gone, but I felt the obsidian humming , vibrating above me. And then I slept for what felt like an eternity, not certain I was ever going to wake up.

…

Four days of being in the hospital, and I had next to no recollection of any of it. Only that I woke up Wednesday in an uncomfortable bed, staring at a white ceiling and feeling fine. Great, even. Mom had been by my side, and it took a hefty amount of bitching to get released after I spent all day Thursday telling anyone who came within a block of my door that I wanted to go home. I’d obviously had a bad case of the flu, not something serious.

Now Mom watched me with shadowed eyes as I downed the glass of orange juice from our fridge. She was in jeans and a light sweater. It was odd seeing her out of her scrubs. “Honey, are you sure you’re feeling well enough to go back to class? You can take today off and go back on Monday if you want.”

I shook my head. Missing three days of classes already earned me the truckload of homework Dee had dropped off last night. “I’m fine.”

“Honey, you were in the hospital. You should take it easy.”

I washed out the cup. “I’m okay. Really, I am.”

“I know you think you’re feeling better.” She fixed my cardigan which I’d apparently buttoned wrong. “Will—Dr. Michaels—may have cleared you to go home, but you scared me. I’ve never seen you so sick. Why don’t I give him a quick call and see if he can check on you before he goes in for his rounds?”

Even more bizarre was that my mom was now referring to my doctor on a first-name basis—their relationship had taken a trip into serious land, it seemed, and I’d missed it. Grabbing my backpack, I stopped. “Mom?”

“Yes?”

“You came home in the middle of the night Monday, right? Before your shift ended?” When she shook her head, I was even more confused. “How did I get to the hospital?”

“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” She placed her hand on my forehead. “You don’t have a fever, but… Your friend brought you to the hospital.”

“My friend?”

“Yes, Daemon brought you in. Although, I’m curious how he knew you were so sick at three in the morning.” Her eyes narrowed. “Actually, I’m very curious.”

Oh, crap. “So am I.”

I’d never been more eager to get to trig in my life. How in the hell had Daemon known I was sick? The dream I had about the lake couldn’t have been real. No way. If it was…I was going to…I didn’t know what I’d do, but I was sure my flaming cheeks would be involved.

Lesa was the first to arrive. “Yay! You’re back! How are you feeling? Better?”

“Yeah, I’m doing okay.” My eyes darted to the door. A few seconds later, Carissa came in.

She tugged on a strand of my hair as she passed, smiling. “I’m glad you’re feeling better. We were all worried. Especially when we stopped by to visit and you were completely out of it.”

I wondered what I’d done in front of them that I couldn’t remember. “Do I even want to know?”

Lesa giggled, pulling out her textbook. “You mumbled a lot. And you kept calling out for someone.”

Oh, no. “I did?”

Taking pity on me, Carissa kept her voice low. “You were calling out for Daemon.”