“You,” he said, ignoring Daemon’s barely audible growl. “Honestly, I thought about not coming back. Moving on, but there’s my uncle…and you. That’s not many like us who haven’t been caught by the DOD. You need to know what kind of danger you’re in.”

“But you don’t even know me.” It seemed absurd that he’d risk so much.

“And we don’t know you,” Daemon added, eyes narrowed.

He shrugged. “I like you. Not you, Daemon.” He smiled. “But Katy.”

“I really, really do not like you at all.”

My stomach twisted. This wasn’t the time to get into that mess. My brain was on overload. “Blake…”

“That wasn’t said to make you say you like me or not. I’m just stating the fact. I like you.” He glanced at me, eyes shuttered. “And you don’t know what you’ve stepped in. I can help you.”

“Bullshit,” Daemon said. “If she needs help controlling her abilities, then I can do it.”

“Can you? What you do is second nature to you. Not to Katy. I had to learn how to rein in my abilities. I can teach her. Stabilize her.”

“Stabilize me?” My laugh sounded a bit choked. “What’s going to happen? I’m going to explode or something?”

He looked at me. “You can seriously end up hurting yourself or others. I’ve heard things, Katy. Some mutated humans… Well, let’s just say it doesn’t end pretty.”

“You don’t need to scare her.”

“I’m not trying to. It’s just the truth,” Blake responded. “And if the DOD finds out about you, they’re going to take you in. And if you can’t control your abilities, they will put you down.”

I gasped, turning away. Put me down? Like a feral animal? All of this was happening way too fast. Just last night I’d been having a good, normal time with Daemon. The very thing I’d wanted from Blake, who turned out not to be normal at all. And the whole time I believed Blake was attracted to me because he wanted to be, he was drawn to me because we were both X-Men wannabes.

Ha. Irony was such a bitch.

“Katy, I know this is a lot. But you have to be prepared. You leave this town, the Arum are going to be on you. That is, if you can slide by the DOD.”

“You’re right. This is a lot.” I faced him. “I thought you were normal. And you’re not. You’re telling me that I have the DOD gunning for me. That if I ever decide to leave this place, I’m going to be a Snack Pack for an Arum. And better yet, I may lose complete control of whatever powers I have and wipe out a family of four, then be put down! All I wanted to do today was eat some goddamn fries and be normal!”

Daemon let out a low whistle and Blake winced. “You’re never going to be normal, Katy. Never again.”

“No shit,” I snapped. I wanted to hit something, but I needed to pull it together. If I’d learned anything from my dad’s sickness, it was that things couldn’t be changed. But I could change how I dealt with them. Since I moved here—since I met Daemon and Dee—I’d changed.

Taking a deep breath, I pulled in the anger, fear, and frustration. Perspective was needed. “What are we going to do?”

“We don’t need his help,” Daemon said.

“But you do,” Blake whispered. “I heard about the window thing with Simon.”

I glanced at Daemon, and he shook his head.

“What do you think will happen next time? Simon ran off, doing God knows what. You won’t get so lucky again.”

Simon’s disappearance wasn’t luck. I didn’t want to look at it that way. Tipping my head back, I closed my eyes. Ice settled in my limbs. It was no longer a fear of exposing the Luxen, but myself now, too. And my mom.

“How do you know so much about them?” I asked, voice small.

“The girl I was telling you about? She told me everything. I wanted to help her…to get away, but she wouldn’t leave. The DOD had something or someone that meant a lot to her.”

God. The DOD was like the mafia. They’d use any means necessary. I shivered. “Who was she?”

“Liz something,” he said. “Don’t know her last name.”

The walls of the car seemed to shift even closer. Trapped. I felt trapped.

Daemon was boiling over in the seat next to me. “You know,” he said to Blake, “there’s nothing stopping me from killing you. Right now.”

“Yes, there is.” Blake’s voice was even. “There’s Katy and the fact I doubt you’re a cold-blooded killer.”

Daemon stiffened. “I don’t trust you.”

“You don’t have to. Only Katy does.”

And that was the thing. I wasn’t sure I did trust him, but he was like me. And if he could help me not expose Daemon and my friends, I’d do anything. It was just that simple. Everything else would have to be played by ear.

I looked at Daemon. He was staring ahead now, hand on the dashboard as if the plastic was grounding him somehow. Did he feel as helpless as I did? It didn’t matter. I couldn’t—wouldn’t risk him.

“When do we start?” I asked.

“Tomorrow if you can,” Blake said.

“My mom leaves for work after five.” I swallowed.

Blake agreed and Daemon said, “I’ll be there.”

“Not necessary,” Blake shot back.

“And I don’t care. You aren’t doing a damn thing with Katy without me being there.” He faced the boy again. “I don’t trust you. Just so we’re clear.”

“Whatever.” Blake climbed out of the car. Cold air rushed in, and I called out his name. He stopped with his hand on the door. “What?”

“How did you get away from the Arum when they attacked you?” I asked.

Blake looked away, eyes squinting at the sky. “That’s not something I’m ready to talk about, Katy.” He shut the door and jogged off toward his car.

I sat there for several minutes, staring out the window, not really seeing anything. Daemon muttered something under his breath and then opened his door, disappearing into the shadows surrounding the diner. He’d left me.

I didn’t even remember the trip home. Pulling into the driveway, I killed the engine and sat back, closing my eyes. Night seeped into my silent car. I got out, took a step, and heard my porch steps groan.

Daemon had beaten me home. He came down the steps, his baseball cap hiding his eyes.

I shook my head. “Daemon…”

“I don’t trust him. I don’t trust a damn thing about him, Kat.” He took off his hat, thrust his fingers through his hair, and then slammed the cap back down. “He comes out of nowhere and knows everything. Every instinct is telling me he can’t be trusted. He could be anyone, working for any organization. We don’t know anything about him.”

“I know.” Suddenly, I was just so freaking tired. All I wanted to do was lay down. “But at least this way we can keep an eye on him. Right?”

He gave a short, dry laugh. “There are other ways of dealing with him.”

“What?” My voice rose and was carried away by the wind. “Daemon, you can’t be thinking…”

“I don’t even know what I’m thinking.” He took a step back. “And dammit, my head is so not in the right place at this moment.” There was a pause. “Why were you with him in the first place?”

My heart lurched. “We were grabbing something to eat and I was—”

“You were what?”

Somehow I felt like I’d walked into an even bigger trap. Unsure of how to answer, I didn’t say anything. That was my biggest mistake.

Understanding dawned, and he tipped his chin up. For an instant, the green of his eyes darkened with raw emotion. “You went to Bryon after…”

After I’d spent the night with him…wrapped in his arms. I shook my head, needing him to understand why I went to see Blake. “Daemon—”

“You know, I’m not really surprised.” His smile was half knowing and half bitter. “We kissed. Twice. You spent the night using me as your own body pillow…and liking it. I’m sure that had you freaking out the moment I left. You ran straight to Boris, because he really doesn’t make you feel anything. And feeling something for me scares the hell out of you.”

My mouth snapped close. “I did not run straight to Blake. He texted me about getting something to eat, and it wasn’t even a date, Daemon. I went to tell him—”

“Then what was it, Kitten?” He stepped forward, peering down at me. “He obviously likes you. You’ve kissed him before. He’s willing to risk his own safety to train you.”

“It’s not what you think. If you’d let me explain…”

“You don’t know what I think,” he snapped.

Something awful unfurled in my stomach. “Daemon—”

“You know, you’re unbelievable.”

I was sure he didn’t mean that in a good way.

“The night of your party, when you thought I was messing around with Ash? You were so pissed that you went outside and blew up windows, exposing yourself.”

I flinched. All true.

“And now you’re doing—what? Messing around with him in between kissing me?”

But I like you. The words wouldn’t leave my lips. I didn’t know why, but I couldn’t say them. Not when he was looking at me, full of anger and distrust and, worse yet, disappointment. “I’m not messing around with him, Daemon! We’re just friends. That’s all.”

Skepticism drew his lips into a tight line. “I’m not stupid, Kat.”

“I didn’t say that you were!” Irritation spiked, overshadowing the deep ache in my chest. “You’re not giving me a chance to explain anything. As usual, you’re acting like a freaking know-it-all and you keep cutting me off!”

“And as usual, you’re a bigger problem than I could’ve ever imagined.”

Flinching as though I’d been slapped, I took a step back. “I’m not your problem.” My voice cracked. “Not anymore.”

Regret seeped through his anger. “Kat—”

“No. I was never your problem in the first place.” Anger sped through me like an out-of-control forest fire. “And I’m sure as hell not your problem now.”

The windows in his eyes to all those emotions slammed shut, leaving me trembling in the dark. And I knew. I knew I’d hurt him more than I thought possible. I’d hurt him in a way much worse than he’d ever hurt me.

“Hell. This”—he waved his hand around me—“isn’t even important right now. Just forget it.”

He was gone before I could even finish my sentence. Stunned, I turned around, but he was nowhere. A pang hit me in the chest and tears filled my eyes as I turned back to my door.

The sudden realization smacked me upside the head.