Oblivion

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  loud, but the moment I thought them, they rang true. We were told that Arum killed them. That the DOD found their bodies and…and disposed of them. What if that was a lie? My hand curled into a fist. What if the DOD got hold of them, because Dawson had done…had done the forbidden? And where was our friendly government watch group?

  “The DOD hasn’t checked in with you guys recently, right?” I asked.

  “No.”

  I folded my arms, my gaze returning to the window. “And that’s damn strange, isn’t it?”

  He cleared his throat. “Yeah, it is.” There was a pause. “Where are you going with this, Daemon?”

  I met his searching gaze. “We never saw their bodies, Adam.”

  “No…no, we didn’t.” Adam paled under the golden tone of his skin. “What are you saying?”

  What I was saying was something that could get us all in a world of trouble. “I don’t know what I’m saying,” I said. “Don’t talk to Dee about any of this, okay? It’s just me thinking out loud, and I don’t want her to worry. You feel me?”

  Adam nodded slowly, his gaze suddenly fixed and distant. “Yeah, I feel you.”

  Showered and freshly shaved, I headed outside. Stars twinkled in the dark sky. Stepping off the porch, I looked next door. As expected, only Kat’s car sat in the driveway. Her birthday, and she was spending the evening alone.

  That sucked.

  I knew what I needed to do. I didn’t like how things ended between us last night, and I needed to apologize.

  Within a heartbeat, I was in front of her door. Loud music thumped from inside. I knocked, but it became apparent that unless I knocked the door down, there was no way Kat was hearing me. Wrapping my hand around the knob, I discovered the door was unlocked. I hesitated, wondering if I should let myself in, but then I heard her—her singing.

  I opened the door and stepped inside. The music was loud and became much clearer. It was an old song—“Hungry Like the Wolf.” Closing the door behind me, I slowly grinned as her voice rose.

  “A scent and a sound, I’m lost and I’m found. And I’m hungry like the wolf. Something on a line, it’s discord and rhyme.” Kat appeared in the hallway, just outside the laundry room, her back to me as she swung her arms around and above her head, but I was fascinated by the knee-high socks she was wearing. And the little shorts, but mostly the socks. They had…reindeer all over them. “—whatever, whatever, la la la— Mouth is alive, all running inside, and I’m hungry like the—”

  “It’s actually, ‘I howl and I whine. I’m after you,’ and not blah or whatever.”

  Kat shrieked and whipped around. Her foot slipped and before I could even say hello, she landed on her butt. Her hand flew to her chest. “Holy crap. I think I’m having a heart attack.”

  “And I think you broke your butt.” I could barely stop myself from laughing.

  Sprawled across the hallway, she glared up at me. “What the hell? Do you just walk into people’s houses?”

  “And listen to girls absolutely destroy a song in a matter of seconds? Well, yes, I make a habit of it. Actually, I knocked several times, but I heard your…singing, and your door was unlocked.” I shrugged. “So I just let myself in.”

  “I can see that.” She stood, wincing. “Oh, man, maybe I did break my butt.”

  “I hope not. I’m kind of partial to your butt.” I flashed a quick smile. “Your face is pretty red. You sure you didn’t smack that on the way down?”

  She groaned. “I hate you.”

  “Nah, I don’t think you do.” I glanced down. “Nice socks.”

  Rubbing her backside in a way that made me jealous of her hand, she sent me a hateful look. “Do you need something?”

  Shoving my hands into my pockets, I leaned against the wall. “No, I don’t need something.”

  “Then why did you break into my house?”

  “I didn’t break in. The door was unlocked, and I heard the music. I guessed you were the only one here. Why are you doing laundry and singing eighties songs on your birthday?”

  Her eyes widened. “How…how do you know it’s my birthday? I don’t even think I told Dee.”

  I smiled at her. “The night you were attacked at the library and I went to the hospital with you? When you were giving them your personal information, I overheard you.”

  “Really.” She stared at me. “And you remembered?”

  “Yep. Anyway, why are you doing chores on your birthday?”

  “I’m obviously that lame.”

  “That is pretty lame. Oh, listen!” I looked in the direction of the living room, where the music was coming from. “It’s ‘Eye of the Tiger.’ Do you want to sing along to that? Maybe jog up the stairs and pump your fists in the air?”

  “Daemon.” She shuffled past me, went into the living room, and picked up the remote, turning the song down. “Seriously, what do you want?”

  I followed her. “I came over to apologize.”

  “What? You’re going to apologize again? I don’t even know what to say. Wow.”

  I frowned. “I know it seems like a huge surprise to you that I do have feelings and therefore do feel bad at times for things that I may have…caused.”

  “Hold up. I have to record this. Let me grab my phone.” She turned, scanning the coffee table.

  “Kat, you’re not helping. I’m being serious. This is…hard for me.”

  She rolled my eyes. “Okay. I’m sorry. Want to sit? I have cake. Cake should sweeten your disposition a little.”

  “Nothing can soften me. I’m as cold as ice.”

  “Hardy-har-har. It’s made of ice cream and has the yummy crunchy middle part.”

  “Okay, that may work. The crunchy middle part is my favorite,” I said.

  “Okay,” she said softly. “Then come on.”

  We went into the kitchen. Kat grabbed a hair tie off the counter and tugged her hair back. “How big of a piece do you want?” She pulled the cake out of the freezer.

  “How big of a piece are you willing to part with?”

  “As big as you want.” She grabbed a knife out of the drawer and placed it over the cake.

  I looked over her shoulder. “Bigger.”

  She moved the knife to the side.

  “Even bigger.”

  She moved it by a couple of inches.

  “Perfect,” I said.

  Kat tried to cut the cake, but got an inch down. “I hate cutting these freaking things.”

  “Let me try.” I reached around, and our hands brushed as I took the knife from her. Electricity shivered over my skin. “You need to run it under hot water. Then it cuts right through it.”

  Stepping aside, Kat let me take over. I ran the knife under the hot water and then chopped through the cake easily. “See? Perfect.”

  She grabbed two plates and placed them on the counter. “Do you want something to drink?”

  “Milk is always good if you’ve got some.”

  Getting the milk, she poured two tall glasses, which surprised me, because usually she made me get everything. She grabbed the silverware and motioned toward the living room.

  “You don’t want to eat in here?” I asked.

  “No. I don’t like eating at the dinner table. It seems so formal.”

  Grabbing my plate and cup, I followed her out into the living room. She sat on one end of the couch and I on the other. As I shoved my fork into the cake, I spotted roses. I cleared my throat. “Nice roses. Brad?”

  “Blake.” She shrugged. “Yeah, they’re nice, aren’t they?”

  “Whatever,” I grumbled. “So why are you spending tonight by yourself? It’s your birthday.”

  The corners of her lips turned down. “My mom had to work, and I just didn’t feel like doing anything. It’s not as bad as it sounds. I’ve spent many of them by myself.”

  “I guess you probably would have preferred I hadn’t stopped by then, huh?” I stabbed the cake until I forced the ice cream away from the cookie part. I
took a bite. “I really did come to apologize for last night.”

  She set the plate on the coffee table and tucked her legs under her. “Daemon—”

  “Wait.” I held up my fork. “Okay?”

  Kat snapped her mouth shut.

  My gaze flipped to my plate. “Nothing happened between Ash and me last night. She was just…messing with you. And I know that’s hard to believe, but I’m sorry if it…hurt you.” I drew in a deep breath. “Contrary to what you think about me, I don’t jump from girl to girl. I do like you, so I wouldn’t mess around with Ash. And I haven’t. Ash and I haven’t done anything for months, before you even came around. Things are complicated between Ash and me. We’ve known each other since we came here. Everyone expects us to be together. Especially the Elders, since we’re ‘coming of age.’ Time to start making babies.” I shuddered.

  “Even Ash expects us to be together,” I went on, stabbing the cake again. “And all of this? I know it’s hurting her. I never wanted to do that.” I paused, and having spoken that out loud, I knew it was true. Ash may act like it didn’t bother her, but I knew it did. “I never wanted to hurt you, either. And I’ve done both of those things.” I felt heat seep across my cheeks, but I continued, because all of this needed to be said. “I can’t be with her the way she wants—the way she deserves. Anyway, I wanted to apologize for last night.”

  There wasn’t a moment of hesitation.

  “So do I,” she said. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like I did. I guess the whole window thing freaked me out.”

  “What you did last night with the windows. Well, that was one hell of a display of power that you have no control of.” I glanced at her. “I’ve been thinking about it. And I keep thinking of Dawson and Bethany. That evening they returned from hiking, and he was covered in blood. I think she may have gotten hurt.”

  “And he healed her?”

  “Yep. I don’t know more.” It was easier saying it out loud now. “They…they died a couple of days later. I guess it’s like two photons splitting, separate but the same. That explains how we can sense each other. I don’t know. It’s a theory.”

  “Do you think whatever is happening with me will stop?”

  I ate the last of the cake and then placed my plate on the coffee table. “We may get lucky. What you’re doing might fade over time, but you need to be careful. No pressure, but it’s a threat to all of us. I’m not trying to be…cruel. It’s the truth.”

  “No, I understand. I could expose you all. I’ve almost done it several times.”

  I leaned against the couch, tossing my arm along the back. “I’m checking around to see if anyone has heard of this happening. I have to be careful, though. Too many questions will give way to suspicion.”

  She fingered the necklace as I turned to the television and smiled. An eighties hair band played, screaming about losing love. “After seeing your dance skills earlier, you would have blended right in with the eighties.”

  “Can we not mention that again?” she muttered.

  I grinned as I looked over at her. “You were this close to having ‘Walk Like an Egyptian’ down.”

  “You’re a douche.”

  I laughed. “Did you know I had a purple Mohawk?”

  “What?” She giggled as she cocked her head to the side. “When?”

  “Yep, purple and black. It was before we moved here. We were living in New York. I guess I went through this phase. Pierced nose and all.”

  She busted out laughing, and I tossed a throw pillow at her. She placed it in her lap. “You were a skater boy, huh?”

  “Something like that. Matthew was with us. He became our guardian of sorts. He had no idea what to do with me.”

  “But Matthew—he’s not that much older.”

  “He’s older than he looks. He’s around thirty-eight.”

  “Wow. He’s aging well.”

  I nodded. “He arrived at the same time we did, in the same area. I guess he thought he was responsible for us, being the oldest out of everyone.”

  “Where did you guys…?” She winced. “Where did you all land?”

  Reaching over, I picked a piece of lint off her shirt. “We landed near Skaros.”

  “Skaros?” She wrinkled her nose. “Uh, is that even on Earth?”

  “Yes. It’s actually a small island near Greece. It’s known for this rocky region where a castle once stood. I’d like to go back one day. It’s kind of like our birthplace, I guess.”

  “How many of you landed there?”

  “A couple dozen, or at least that’s what Matthew has told us. I don’t remember anything from the beginning.” My lips pursed. “We stayed in Greece until we were around five, and then we came to America. There were twenty or so of us, and as soon as we arrived, the DOD was there.”

  “How did all of that go?” she asked, her expression open and curious.

  It was weird talking about this stuff. It was something none of us really went into, but I imagined that Dawson had done it with Beth. “Not very well, Kitten. We didn’t know that humans were aware of us. All we did know was there were Arum around, but the DOD came as a huge surprise to us. Apparently they knew about us from the moment we got here. They rounded up hundreds who had arrived in America.”

  She clutched the pillow to her chest. “What did they do with you guys?”

  “They kept us in a facility out in New Mexico.”

  “No shit.” Her eyes went wide. “Is Area 51 the real deal? Wow. I thought the whole Area 51 thing had been around a while.”

  “My family and friends arrived fifteen years ago, but that doesn’t mean the Luxen didn’t come before that.” I laughed at her expression. “Anyway, they kept us there for the first five years. They—the DOD—had been assimilating the Luxen for years. We learned a lot about humans during that time, and when we were…deemed ready to fully assimilate, they let us go. Usually with an older Luxen who could take care of us. Since Matthew had a relationship with us, we were placed with him.”

  Her brow wrinkled. “But you guys would’ve been only ten years old. Did you live with Matthew until recently?”

  “Believe it or not, we mature differently than humans. At ten I could’ve gone to college. We develop a lot faster, our brains and whatnot. I’m actually smarter than I act.” I grinned when she looked wholly unimpressed. “Matthew lived with us until we moved here. At fifteen, we were pretty much adults. The DOD set us up with a house and money.”

  “But what about people asking questions—looking for your parents?”

  “There’s always an older Luxen we can pass off for our parent, or we can morph into an older version. The morphing thing we try to avoid because of the trace.”

  Shaking her head, she settled back against the couch and appeared to be letting everything sink in. “Do you want me to leave?”

  Her gaze lifted to mine. “No. You don’t have to. I mean, I’m not doing anything, and if you have nothing to do, you can stay or whatever…”

  I felt like I had just won a major battle. Slowly, I looked away, my gaze falling to the shiny red laptop sitting on the coffee table. “I see someone got something for her birthday.”

  “Yeah, Mom got it for me. I’ve been without since…well, since then.”

  I scratched my cheek. “Yeah, I didn’t apologize for that, did I?”

  “No,” she sighed.

  “That’s never happened before, the whole blowing-stuff-up part,” I admitted after a moment.

  “Same here.”

  Staring at the TV, I relaxed a little. “It happened with Dawson, in a way. It was how Bethany found out.” I paused, fighting a smile. “He was making out with her and lost control. Turned full Luxen while kissing her.”

  “Yikes. That had to be…”