The Darkest Star

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  “I like her,” Heidi said after a moment. A small grin appeared. “I just want to make sure she likes me.” She lifted a shoulder. “We’ve talked a little and danced, but she hasn’t asked for my number or asked to meet up outside of here.”

  “Have you asked for hers?”

  “No.”

  “Will you?”

  “Hoping she’ll make that move.” Heidi exhaled loudly. “I’m being stupid. I should just ask for hers and get it over with.”

  “You’re not being stupid. I would be doing the same thing, but I think you should at least ask for her number tonight. That should be your goal.”

  “True,” she replied, forehead creasing. “But that stage…”

  “Stop with the stage.” I laughed.

  The truth was, I wasn’t the best person to be dispensing relationship advice. I’d only ever been in one somewhat serious relationship, and Brandon and I had lasted a whopping three months, ending right before summer.

  I broke up with him over text.

  Yep.

  I was that person.

  As awful as it was to admit to even myself, I’d only gone out with Brandon because all my friends had been coupling off and, well, peer pressure was a bitch and I wanted to feel whatever it was they kept going on and on about every time they posted online or in their snaps. I wanted to be … I wanted to know what that felt like. I wanted to fall in love.

  And all I did was fall into boredom.

  I drew in a shallow breath as my gaze found its way back to the couch, the one with the guy with the messy bronze hair. He looked about my age. Maybe a year or two older. Instinct told me that anything to do with him would not be boring. “Who … who is that?”

  Heidi seemed to know who I was talking about without my pointing him out. “His name is Luc.”

  “Just Luc?”

  “Yep.”

  “No last name?”

  She laughed as she spun me around, away from them. “Never heard his last name. He’s just Luc, but you see the blond guy who appears as friendly as a rabid porcupine?”

  “The one looking at his phone?” I smiled, because that felt like a good description of the guy.

  She started walking around the dance floor, pulling me with her. “He’s a Luxen.”

  “Oh.” I resisted the urge to look over my shoulder to see if he was wearing a metal band around his wrist. I hadn’t noticed it when I saw the phone in his hands.

  The band was known as a Disabler, a form of technology that neutralized the Luxen’s otherworldly talents, which were derived by what the Luxen called the Source. The Source. Still sounded completely made-up, but it was real and it was deadly dangerous. If they attempted to go all Luxen on someone, the Disabler stopped them by releasing shocks equivalent to being hit by a Taser. While that wasn’t pleasant for anyone, it was particularly painful and debilitating to the Luxen.

  Not to mention, all public spaces were designed to immediately quell any incidents that might arise with the Luxen. The shiny reddish-black metal above every door and the specks in the ceilings of most establishments were some kind of aerosol weapons that had no effect on humans.

  Luxen?

  Whatever mist it dispensed supposedly caused extreme pain. I’d never seen it happen—thankfully—but my mom had. She’d told me it was one of the worst things she’d ever witnessed.

  I doubted Foretoken had such a weapon installed.

  Because I was nosy, I asked, “Is Luc a Luxen?”

  “Probably. Never been close enough to him to tell for sure, but I’m guessing he is.” Their eye color was usually a dead giveaway, as was the Disabler. All registered Luxen were required to wear them.

  We stopped near the stage, and Heidi slipped her arm free. “But the guy with the blue hair? He’s definitely human. I think his name is Kent or Ken.”

  “Cool,” I murmured, curling an arm over my stomach. My wristlet dangled. “What about Emery?”

  Heidi looked over my shoulder at Emery. Relations of the fun and naughty kind between humans and Luxen were illegal. No one could stop a Luxen and a human from getting together, but the two couldn’t marry and they faced hefty fines if their relationship was reported.

  “She’s human,” Heidi answered.

  I honestly couldn’t care less if a Luxen and human wanted to engage in a little bow-chicka-wow-wow. Not like it impacted me on any level, nor was it any of my business, but relief still swept through me. I was happy that Heidi wasn’t trying to get involved with someone she’d have to hide her relationship with while also risking paying thousands of dollars or going to jail if she couldn’t. Heidi would be eighteen soon. The responsibility to pay such a ridiculous fine wouldn’t fall on her family.

  I glanced up at the stage again, spotting the girl dancing closest to us. “Wow. She’s beautiful.”

  Heidi followed my stare and nodded. The girl was older with a head full of shimmery blond hair. She spun and twisted, her body snakelike in its movements.

  Arms in the air, hands clasped together, the girl whirled, and her skin was … it was fading and blurring around the edges, almost like she was disappearing right in front of us.

  Luxen.

  The girl was definitely on the away team. Luxen had this wild ability to assimilate our DNA and look like this, like humans, but that wasn’t their true appearance. When they were in their real form, they glowed like a high-watt lightbulb. I’d never seen what was under all the bright light, but my mom told me they had skin that was nearly translucent. Kind of like a jellyfish’s.

  Heidi cast a grin over at me. “I’m going to dance. You coming?”

  I hesitated as I looked at the teeming throng. I did love to dance … in the privacy of my bedroom, where I could look like a double-jointed Muppet. “I’m going to grab a water first.”

  She pointed a finger at me. “You better join me.”

  Maybe I would, but just not now. As I backed up, I watched her disappear onto the mass of twisting bodies, and then I wheeled around and moved along the edge of the stage. I made my way to the bar, squeezing between two occupied stools. The bartender was down at the other end of the bar, and I had no idea how to get his attention. Should I lift my hand and wave it around like I was hailing a cab? I didn’t think so. That would look stupid. How about the three-finger Hunger Games salute? I’d just seen the movies on TV last weekend. A marathon of all four movies had been playing, so I felt like I could pull it off. I volunteer for a glass of water.

  Luckily, the bartender was slowly making his way to where I stood. I opened my wristlet and tapped on the screen of my phone. There was a missed text from Zoe. A call from April and—

  An odd feeling started at the nape of my neck. It was like a breath with no air. It traveled down my spine, raising the tiny hairs all over my body. It felt like …

  It felt like someone was standing right behind me.

  I zipped up my tiny purse and then glanced over my shoulder, half expecting to come face-to-face with someone, but no one was there. At least not creepily close or anything. I scanned the crowd. There were so many people, but no one seemed to be paying any attention to me. The feeling, though, it only increased.

  I swallowed hard as my gaze tracked over to that alcove.

  The guy who’d sat down was gone, but the big guy in overalls—Mr. Clyde—was inside. He was leaning over that old-looking couch, speaking to Luc, and Luc was—oh God—he was staring straight at me. Anxiety burst open, spreading through my system like a noxious weed.

  Did Clyde realize we had fake IDs?

  Okay. Wait a second. He had to have known from the moment we came in that we had fake IDs, and even if he now had a problem with the IDs, why would he report that to Luc? I was being ridiculously paranoid—

  “Yo. Need a drink?”

  Twisting back to the bar, I nodded nervously. Bartender was a Luxen. Those bright green eyes were definitely not in the human color wheel. My gaze dipped. The silver band was tight around his wrist. “Ju
st a, um, a water.”

  “Coming up.” He grabbed a plastic cup, filling it up with water he poured from a bottle, and then shoved a clear straw into it. “No charge.”

  “Thanks.” I took the cup and then slowly turned back around. What to do? What to do?

  Sipping my drink, I ambled around the stage and stopped by a pillar that looked like a unicorn had puked glitter all over it. I stretched up on the tips of my toes and scanned the crowd until I found Heidi.

  A wide smile broke out across my face. She wasn’t alone. Emery had come to her, and she was eyeing Heidi like I eyed tacos on most days.

  That was what I wanted at some point in my life, for someone to look at me like I looked at tacos.

  Heidi’s back was to me, her shoulders swaying as Emery’s arm swept around Heidi’s waist. I so wasn’t going to bust up their little dance party. I would wait until they were done. Meanwhile, I was going to do my best not to think about how I looked lurking by the edge of the dance floor. I knew I probably looked pretty dumb. Maybe even a little creepy. I took another drink. Wasn’t like standing here all night was a viable—

  “Evie?”

  I turned at the sound of a vaguely familiar voice. Shock splashed through me. A girl from school stood behind me. We had had class together last year. English. “Colleen?”

  She smiled as she tilted her head. The tops of her cheekbones glittered. She had the smoky eye thing going on, just like me. “What in the world are you doing here?”

  I lifted a shoulder. “Just hanging out. You?”

  “With some friends.” Her brows knitted as she tucked several strands of blond hair behind her ear. “I didn’t know you hung out here.”

  “Um, this is my first time.” I took a sip of water as I glanced over my shoulder. I didn’t know Colleen all that well, so I had no idea if this was something she did every weekend or if this was her first time here too. “Do you come here a lot?”

  “Sometimes.” She smoothed a hand over the skirt of her dress. It was a slightly lighter blue than mine, and strapless. “I didn’t know you liked to come—” Her head jerked toward the dance floor, and her flushed cheeks deepened in color. I thought maybe someone had called her name. “I’ve got to go. You’ll be here for a while?”

  I nodded, having no idea how long I’d be here.

  “Cool.” She started backing up, grinning. “We should chat later. Okay?”

  “Okay.” I wiggled my fingers at her and watched as she turned, slipping past the churning bodies along the edge of the dance floor. I knew that people from school came here, but I guess I hadn’t been expecting to see anyone, which was stupid—

  A hand landed on my shoulder. Startled, I jumped and water splashed over my hands and hit the front of my dress. Wrenching forward, I pulled away from the grip and spun around, prepared to throat-punch whoever had grabbed me, like my mom had taught me. I froze, my stomach dropping as I found myself staring into the studded face of Mr. Clyde.

  Oh, this couldn’t be good.

  “Hi?” I said weakly.

  “You need to come with me.” The hand on my shoulder grew heavier. “Now.”

  2

  My stomach hollowed as I glanced at the sparkly pillar like it could be of some help. “Uh, why?”

  His dark gaze met mine, and all I could focus on was the tiny diamond under his eye. That had to be such a painful piercing. He didn’t speak as he gripped my arm with a meaty hand and wheeled me around. Panic blossomed as I looked at the dance floor, unable to see Heidi or Emery in the crush of dancers.

  Heart pounding in my chest, I held on to my water as Clyde led me away from my pretty pillar. My cheeks caught fire as a few people at the tables stared. An older girl smirked and shook her head as she lifted a glass of amber-colored liquor to her mouth.

  This was so embarrassing.

  I was about to be thrown out. Just my luck. Which meant I was going to have to text Zoe or someone to come get me, because I was not going to ruin Heidi’s night. Not when Emery had approached her. I was going—

  Clyde wasn’t leading me to the front of the club.

  He suddenly cut to the left, dragging me along with him. My heart dropped all the way to my pinched toes when I realized where he was taking me. The shadowy alcove—to the couch.

  Sitting in the same lazy sprawl as before, still tapping those long, tapered fingers, was Luc. His lips tilted up at the corners.

  Shock stole my breath. Normally I would be relatively excited about chatting with an extraordinarily hot guy—especially with a guy who, wow, had such thick black lashes—but everything about this was wrong.

  I was not the kind of girl who got randomly picked out in a club and then escorted by someone who looked they belonged in the WWE for a one-on-one with the resident hottie. I wasn’t knocking myself. I was just the embodiment of the Triple A.

  Average life.

  Average face.

  Average body.

  And what was happening right now was not average.

  “What is going…?” I trailed off as Clyde steered me past the blond Luxen, who was still staring down at his phone, toward one end of the couch. The hand left my arm and then landed on my shoulder once more.

  “Sit,” Luc said, and that one word was spoken in the kind of voice that probably left a trail of really bad decisions in its wake.

  I sat.

  Not that I had much choice. Clyde sat me down and then lumbered off, bumping and moving people out of the way like a human bulldozer.

  Pulse pounding erratically, I stared in the direction Clyde had gone in, but I was completely aware of the boy sitting about a foot from me. My hand was shaking, and when I inhaled deeply, I caught the scent of pine and soap over the bitter tang of alcohol. Was that coming from him? The pine and soap scent? If so, he smelled amazing.

  Was … was I really smelling him?

  What was wrong with me?

  “You can stare in Clyde’s direction all you want, but no amount of wishful thinking is going to bring him back,” Luc advised. “Though, if you’re wishing for that and it works, then you’re made of awesome dark magic.”

  I had no idea how to respond to that. My brain had emptied of all words. The plastic cup crinkled under my fingers as the music halted for a brief second. Several people on the dance floor stopped, their chests rising and falling heavily. Then a thick, steady tempo of drums picked up, and the people on the dance floor just lost it.

  My eyes widened as fists pumped the air and the dancers on the stage dropped to their knees, slamming their palms against the floor. Shouts grew louder and louder, a rising crescendo that matched the drums. Voices rose, chanting out lyrics that made goose bumps explode all over my arms.

  Safe from pain and truth and choice …

  A shiver broke out across my skin. Something about this—the song, the chants and cheers—was familiar. The weird feeling of déjà vu rose as I frowned. I didn’t recognize this song, but that wiggling sensation was still dominating the back of my brain.

  “Like the song?” he asked.

  Slowly, I turned my head toward him. His smile was a wolf’s smile, leaving me wholly unnerved. I lifted my gaze. The breath I’d taken punched out of my lungs.

  The smile faded from his lips, and he stared at me like … I don’t know. There was an almost surprised pinch to his striking features, but his …

  His eyes.

  I’d never seen eyes like his. They were amethyst in color, a vibrant, polished purple, and the black lines around his pupils were irregular, fuzzy even. They were utterly beautiful eyes, but …

  Heidi’s suspicion was correct. “You’re a Luxen.”

  The blond staring at his phone snorted.

  Luc tilted his head to the side as the odd look washed away from his face. “I’m not a Luxen.”

  Yeah, I was calling total BS on that. Humans did not have eyes like that unless they were wearing contacts. My gaze shot to the hand that rested on his thigh. There was a leather cuff
around his wrist with some kind of weird stone in the middle of it. An oval gem that was a kaleidoscope of milky colors. What he wore was not a Disabler used to keep a Luxen from killing half of the people in this club in less than ten seconds.

  “Are you a human wearing freaky contacts then?”

  “Nope.” He raised a shoulder in a halfhearted shrug. Why would he deny being a Luxen? Before I could ask that question, he spoke again. “Are you enjoying yourself tonight?”

  “Uh, yeah … I … think so.”

  He bit down on his plump lower lip, drawing my attention. Goodness, those were totally kissable lips. Not that I was thinking about kissing him or anything; it was just a pure, clinical observation that anybody in my situation would make.

  “You don’t sound very convincing. You actually look like you would rather be anyplace but here,” he continued, those heavy lashes lowering once more. “So, what are you doing here?”

  His question jolted me.

  “Your friend comes here a lot. She fits in. Has fun. You have never come here.” Those lashes lifted and his odd eyes latched on to mine. “And I would know if you had been here before.”

  I stiffened. How in the world did he know this was my first time here? There had to be at least a hundred people here, and all of them blended together.

  “You stand by the dance floor all by yourself. You don’t have fun and…” His stare dropped, coasting over the front of my dress. Without looking, I knew he was staring at the water stain. “You don’t fit in here.”

  Okay. Wow. That was blunt, and I finally found my voice. “This is my first time here—”

  “I already knew that.” He paused. “Obviously. Because I just said that.”

  Irritation chipped away at the unease and confusion. Luxen or not, I didn’t know who in the hell this guy thought he was. He was rude, and I was not going to sit here and let someone talk to me like that. “I’m sorry. Who are you again?”

  That half smile spread an inch. “My name is Luc.”

  Was his name supposed to hold the answers to the universe? “And?”