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.”
Acid churned in my stomach. “What do you mean?”
“The Arum in the diner, she couldn’t sense me because of the beta quartz—yeah, I know about that, too. But if we were outside of the quartz range, we are just like your…friend to them. We’re actually tastier.”
Well, that confirmed one of my fears. My hands slid off the steering wheel. I had no idea what to say. It was like having the carpet pulled out from underneath my feet and face-planting on the floor.
Blake sighed. “When I realized how much danger I was in, I started training physically and working on my abilities. I learned about their weakness through…others. I survived the best I could.”
“This is all great, the caring and sharing crap, but how did you end up here of all places?”
He looked at Daemon. “When I learned about the beta quartz, I moved here with my uncle.”
“Awful convenient,” Daemon murmured.
“Yeah, it is. The mountains. Very convenient for me.”
“There are plenty of other places packed with beta quartz.” Suspicion clouded Daemon’s tone. “Why. Here?”
“Seemed like the least populated area,” Blake answered. “I couldn’t imagine there being that many Arum here.”
“So everything was a lie?” I asked. “Santa Monica, the surfing?”
“No, not everything was a lie. I’m from Santa Monica and I still love surfing,” he said. “I’ve lied as much as you have, Katy.”
He had a point.
Blake leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. He sank into the shadows, fatigue weighing his shoulders down. It was obvious his little freeze show earlier had worn him out. “You’ve been hurt, haven’t you? And healed by one of them?”
Daemon stiffened beside me. My loyalty to my friends wouldn’t allow me to confirm that. I wouldn’t betray them, not even to someone who may be like me.
He sighed again. “You’re not going to tell me which one it was?”
“It’s not your business,” I said. “How did you know I was different?”
“You mean besides the obvious obsidian, the alien entourage, and the branch?” He laughed. “You’re full of electricity. See?” He reached between the seats and placed his hand over mine. Static crackled, jolting us both.
Daemon grabbed Blake’s hand and threw it back at him. “I do not like you.”
“Feeling’s mutual, bud.” Blake looked at me. “It’s the same whenever we touch an Arum or a Luxen, isn’t it? You feel their skin hum?”