“Yes.” He dragged a hand down his face. “Arum don’t come here a lot, because they don’t think any Luxen are here. The beta quartz in the Rocks throws off our energy signature, hides us. That’s one of the reasons why there are a lot of us here. But there must have been one coming through. He saw your trace and knew there had to be one of us nearby. It was my fault.”
“It wasn’t your fault. You weren’t the one who attacked me.”
“But I basically led him to you,” he said, voice tight.
At first I couldn’t speak. There was this horrible punched-in-the-gut type of feeling that spread to the tips of my fingers and down to my toes. I felt the blood drain out my face so fast it left me dizzy.
Suddenly, what that man had said made sense. Where are they? He’d been looking for them. “Where is he now? Is he still around? Is he going to come back? What—”
Daemon’s hand found mine and squeezed. “Kitten, calm down. You’re going to have a heart attack.”
My eyes dropped to our hands. He didn’t pull his away. “I’m not going to have a heart attack.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I rolled my eyes.
“He isn’t a problem anymore,” he said after a few seconds.
“You…you killed him?”
“Yeah, I kind of did.”
“You kind of did? I didn’t know there was any ‘kind of’ in killing someone.”
“Okay, yes, I did kill him.” There wasn’t a single ounce of doubt or remorse in his voice, like killing someone didn’t even faze him. I should be afraid, very afraid of him. Daemon sighed. “We’re enemies, Kitten. He would’ve killed me and my family after absorbing our abilities if I didn’t stop him. Not only that, he would’ve brought more here. Others like us would’ve been in danger. You would’ve been in danger.”
“What about the truck? I’m glowing brighter now.” I ignored the clenching in my stomach. “Will there be another?”
“Hopefully there are none nearby. If not, the traces on you should fade. You’ll be safe.”
He was guiding his thumb across my hand in a silent alphabet. It was sort of soothing, comforting. “And if not?”
“Then I’ll kill them, too.” He didn’t hesitate. “For awhile, you’re going to need to stay around me, until the trace fades.”
“Dee said something like that.” I bit my lip. “So you don’t want me to stay away from you guys anymore?”
“It doesn’t matter what I want.” He glanced down at his hand. “But if I had my way, you wouldn’t be anywhere near us.”
I sucked in a sharp breath, pulling my hand free. “Gee, don’t be honest or anything.”
“You don’t understand,” Daemon replied. “Right now, you can lead an Arum right to my sister. And I have to protect her. She’s all I have left. And I have to protect the others here. I’m the strongest. That is what I do. And while you’re carrying the trace on you, I don’t want you going anywhere with Dee if I’m not with you.” Sitting up, I glanced toward the shore. “I think it’s time I head back.”
His fingers wrapped around my arm. The skin tingled. “Right now, you can’t be out there by yourself. I need to be with you until the trace fades.”
“I don’t need you to play babysitter.” My jaw ached from how hard I was clenching it. The whole staying away from Dee pissed me off, but I understood. Doesn’t mean his words didn’t hurt. “I’ll stay away from Dee until it fades.”
“You’re still not getting it.” His grip didn’t tighten, but I had a feeling he wanted to shake the crap out of me even though I knew he never would. “If an Arum gets ahold of you, they aren’t going to kill you. The one at the library—he was playing with you. He was going to get you to the point that you’d beg for your life and then force you to take him back to one of us.” I swallowed. “Daemon—”
“You don’t have a choice. Right now, you’re a huge risk with the trace. You are a danger to my sister. I will not let anything happen to her.”
His love for his sister was admirable, but did nothing to stop the flow of anger rushing through my veins. “And then after the trace fades? Then what?”
“I prefer that you’d stay the hell away from all of us, but I doubt that’s going to happen. And my sister does care for you.” He let go of my arm and leaned back, resting on his elbows. “As long as you don’t end up with another trace, then I don’t have a problem with you being friends with her.” My hands balled into fists. “I’m so grateful to have your approval.”
His little half smile didn’t reach his eyes. His smiles rarely did. “I’ve already lost one sibling because of how he felt for a human. I’m not going to lose another.”
Anger was still simmering in me, but his words caught my attention. “You’re talking about your brother and Bethany.”
There was a pause and then, “My brother fell in love with a human…and now they’re both dead.”
Chapter 19
Like he’d turned off my bitch switch, all I could do was stare at him. There was a feeling in my gut that told me I already knew this stuff but hadn’t wanted to acknowledge it. God, he was such a jerk, but my anger eased off, lessening and leaving uncertainty in its wake.
“What happened?” I asked.