Jennifer Armentrout - Onyx

“I don’t care.” I started limping back toward the car. “I want to go home.”

“Katy! Don’t act like this. Everything’s fine. You did—”

“Just take me home!” I screamed, close to tears, close to completely shutting down. Because there was something wrong with him. “I just want to go home.”

Running late to trig on the last day of classes before break, I eased into my seat and winced. There was a good chance that I’d broken my butt last night. Sitting was extremely painful. Lesa raised a brow as she watched me struggle to get comfortable.

“Are you okay?” Daemon asked, causing me to jump a little.

“Yeah,” I breathed out as I carefully turned halfway, surprised that he hadn’t poked me. “Just slept wrong.”

His eyes were sharp. “Did you sleep on the floor or something?”

I laughed dryly. “Feels like it.”

Daemon stopped me from turning around. “Kat…”

“What?” Unease crept through me. When he looked at me like that I felt exposed to the core.

“Never mind.” He sat back, eyes narrowed as he folded his arms. “You still on for tonight?”

Biting my lip, I nodded and made a mental note to pick up some energy drinks on the way home. When I’d gotten back last night, I brutalized Mom’s secret chocolate stash. It did nothing to help replenish my energy. Easing back around, I gritted my teeth and ignored the flare of pain. It could be worse. I could be dead right now.

Sitting in the seat during class sucked to the nth degree. My body ached from hitting the cold, hard ground last night. The only reprieve I had was that Blake wasn’t in bio, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. I’d lain awake last night, replaying everything that had happened. Would Blake have let me get seriously hurt or die if I hadn’t been able to use the Source to take out the Arum? I didn’t have an answer, and that troubled me.

Walking out of bio, Matthew called out to me. He waited until the class was empty before speaking. “How are you feeling, Katy?”

“Good,” I said, surprised. “You?”

Matthew smiled tightly as he leaned against the corner of his desk. “You looked like you were in pain during class. Hopefully my lecture wasn’t that bad.”

I flushed. “No, it’s not your lecture. I slept wrong last night. Now I’m all achy.”

He looked away. “I don’t want to keep you, but how is…”

Now I understood why he’d really stopped me. I glanced at the open door. “Daemon’s okay. I mean, he’s as okay as he can be, I guess.”

Matthew closed his eyes briefly. “That boy is like a son to me—both he and Dee are. I don’t want to see him doing anything crazy.”

“He won’t,” I told him, wanting to reassure the man. And I also didn’t want Matthew knowing that Daemon was stalking Vaughn. Doubted that would go over well.

“I hope so.” Matthew looked at me, eyes bloodshot. “Some things are best left…unknown, you know? People search for answers and they don’t always like what they get. Sometimes the truth is worse than the lie.” He turned back to his desk, messing with a stack of papers. “I hope you sleep better, Katy.”

Realizing I’d been dismissed, I left the class weirded out to the max. Was Matthew drinking while at work? Because that was the strangest conversation I’d ever had with him. And it was the longest conversation alone with him.

At lunch, I joined my friends and tried to forget about last night. Watching Dee and Adam make out was a good distraction. During the rare moments her mouth wasn’t attached to his, she talked about this weekend and Christmas. Whenever she looked at me, though, there was a sadness in her eyes. A gulf had developed between us, and I missed her. I missed my friends so much.

When classes were over, I headed to my locker to grab my English book, since there was a paper due once school started back up. Just as I shoved it into my backpack, I heard my name.

I looked up, tensing when I saw Blake. “Hey…you weren’t in bio.”

“I came in late today,” he said, leaning against the locker beside me. “I’m not going to be able to do any practice tonight or during Christmas break. I’m visiting some family with my uncle.”

Sweet relief flooded my system, leaving me dizzy. After last night, I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue training with Blake, despite my need to be able to defend myself. Now just wasn’t the time to talk about any of that. “That’s okay. I hope you have fun.” There was a distant, closed-off look in his eyes as he nodded. I cleared my throat. “Well, I’m going to get going. See you when—”

“Wait.” He stepped closer. “I wanted to talk to you about last night.”

I closed my locker door when I wanted to slam it shut. “What about it?”

“I know you’re pissed.”

“Yeah, I am.” I faced him. Could he really not understand why I was mad? “You risked my life last night. What if I didn’t use the Source? I’d be dead now.”

“I wouldn’t have let him hurt you.” Sincerity filled his words and eyes. “You were safe.”

“The bruises up and down the side of my body are telling me I got hurt.”

He blew out an exasperated breath. “I still don’t get why you’re not happier about this. The power you showed—it’s amazing.”

I shifted the bag off my bruised backside. “Look, can we talk about training when you get back?”

He looked like he wanted to argue, because those green flecks in his eyes deepened and churned, but he turned his cheek and let out a harsh breath. I wanted to be out of this school, to be home in my bed, and to be away from him . Away from this boy I’d once believed was normal, once believed wanted to help me because we were alike, and now I wasn’t sure if he really cared if I survived any of his training techniques at all.

…

Changing into a pair of loose sweats and a thermal when I got home, the first thing I did after that was take a nap, and I slept most of the evening away. Mom was gone when I got up, and I scrounged together a sandwich and then gathered all the books I’d gotten in the last month.

I stacked them beside my laptop and was in the process of getting my webcam to not zoom up my nose when I felt the familiar tingles like a warm breath on the back of my neck. I glanced at the clock. It wasn’t even ten o’clock yet.

Sighing, I got up and went to the front door, opening it before Daemon could knock. He stood there, his hand raised in midair. “I’m really beginning to dislike the fact that you know when I’m coming,” he said, frowning.

“I thought you loved it. It enables you to be such a great stalker.”

“I’ve already told you. I don’t stalk you.” He followed me into the living room. “I use it to keep an eye on you.”

“There’s a difference?” I sat on the couch.

Daemon sat right beside me, his thigh pressing against mine. “There is a difference.”

“Sometimes your logic scares me.” I wished I’d changed into something else. He was just in jeans and a sweater, but he looked good. And my thermal had little strawberries on it. Embarrassing. “So what are you doing over here so early?”

Leaning back against the cushions, he was even closer than before, smelling of a crisp autumn morning. Why, oh why, did he have to always get so close? “Bill didn’t come by tonight?”

I tucked my hair back behind my ear, ignoring the mad rush of the desire to climb into his arms. “No. He had something to do with family.”

His eyes narrowed on the laptop. “What are you doing? Making another one of those videos?”

“I was planning to. I haven’t done one in a while, but then you showed up. Plan ruined.”