The Burning Shadow

by Armentrout, Jennifer L.

  And she already had enough to feel guilty about.

  From what I gathered from Emery, repeated healings could link a human to a Luxen or an Origin on some kind of metaphysical level. I had no idea, but I really hoped Luc and I weren’t connected like that, because it seemed super-weird and invasive.

  “Hey,” Luc said.

  Pulling myself from my thoughts, I looked over at him. “Yeah?”

  “Are you a magician?”

  “What?” I laughed out loud as I glanced at the laptop screen. Shade was standing on the side of a dark road near Point Pleasant, West Virginia, making loud, weird animal sounds.

  “Because whenever I look at you, everything else disappears.”

  “Oh my God,” I said, rolling my eyes.

  “Someone needs to call the cops.”

  I bit down on my lip.

  “Because it’s got to be illegal to look as hot as I do—wait. I meant you. Got to be illegal to look as beautiful as you do.”

  Laughing under my breath, I shifted onto my back. Luc had the worst pickup lines I’d ever heard in my entire life, and nothing distracted me more than his ridiculous one-liners. “You’re a dork.”

  “Got an even better one.” He scooted down so our heads were resting on pillows. “Was your father an alien?”

  “I don’t want to see where you’re going with this.”

  “Because there’s nothing like you on earth.”

  “Please stop.”

  “Never.” There was a brief pause. “You must be a broom, because you’ve swept me off my feet.”

  “You’re a cornball of epic cornball proportions.”

  He was closer, our mouths inches apart. “But you miss me when I’m not here.”

  Closing my eyes, I let out a little sigh. I did miss his stupid shirts that were always so random. I missed the way he could irritate me one second and make me burst into laughter the next. I missed the dumb, mysterious little half grin that seemed to always be on his face, like he was in on all the universe’s secrets. I missed him randomly showing up at my bedroom window like a freak with a fresh, chilled can of Coke. I missed the way he sometimes seemed like he couldn’t take his eyes off me. I missed the way he looked at me, because no one, especially not Brandon, looked at me like I was the only important person to him in the whole world. I missed—

  “I miss you when you’re not here, Peaches.”

  I even missed that idiotic nickname.

  Taking a shallow breath, I opened my eyes and saw that his were closed, those thick lashes fanning his cheeks. “I miss you.”

  11

  “God,” Heidi groused Friday during lunch, drawing my gaze from my lunch tray. I thought it was Salisbury steak and gravy, but I wasn’t entirely sure, because the slab of meat also vaguely resembled meat loaf and tasted like wet cardboard. “What have we done to deserve this?”

  I looked up at the same time Zoe did, both of us scanning the packed, brightly lit cafeteria. We saw her at the same time. April. Heading straight for us, cutting between tables and people, her long ponytail snapping behind her. I had no idea why she was walking toward us. How could she not realize none of us wanted anything to do with her? We’d made that painfully clear.

  Plopping my elbow on the table, I groaned. “Not today, Satan.”

  Zoe sighed, dropping her peanut butter sandwich onto her napkin. “I’m not in the mood for her.”

  “Who is ever in the mood for her?” Heidi pressed her cheek into her fist as I placed my plastic fork down, just in case I caved to the urge to turn it into a projectile.

  April reached our table with unerring speed, her pale eyes flashing as her gaze zeroed in on me. “What did you do?”

  “Me?” I looked around the table, confused. “I haven’t done anything.”

  Squeezing in between Heidi and Zoe, she planted one French-manicured hand on the table and leaned forward, pointing the other directly in my face. “That’s bullshit.”

  “I’m out.” James stood, snatching a handful of chips off Zoe’s plate before he spun, leaving us to deal with April.

  Everything in me focused on the slim finger inches from my face. How easy would it be for me to reach out and snap it back? Too easy. One side of my lip curled up as my skin prickled with the desire to hear the crack—

  I caught myself lifting my hand. Shocked, I leaned away from her finger as my heart hammered against its cage. Was I going to break her finger? Not that anyone would blame me if I did it, but I wasn’t a violent person.

  At least I didn’t think I was.

  “I don’t know what you think I did,” I said after a moment. “But you really need to remove your finger from my face.”

  “And you need to remove your body from my presence,” Zoe added, leaning as far as she could to her left.

  “I’m not talking to you.” April glanced down at Zoe, her lip curling. “Are you wearing overalls?”

  Zoe’s dark brows lifted, and then she looked over at me. “Remind me that she’s not worth it.”

  “She’s not.” I met Zoe’s stare and then looked up at April. “I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about, and your finger is still in my face.”

  “You really don’t know that some guy accosted Brandon outside of his house this morning?” April’s finger was still in my face, getting closer.

  “Accosted?” Heidi giggled. “Sorry. That just sounds funny.”

  “Someone jumped him? You can safely assume it wasn’t me.”

  “No shit, but the guy jumped him because of you,” April snapped back, and a sense of knowing invaded me. “Got him outside of his car and then proceeded to break every single bone in his hand.”

  My mouth dropped open, and I had a sudden, sinking suspicion that I knew who it was.

  “And then told him if he ever looked at you or breathed in your general direction again, it would be the last thing he ever did.” April was practically humming with rage as she hissed, “And the guy was a Luxen. He had those freaky eyes.”

  My jaw was officially on the table. Luc. It had to have been Luc, but I hadn’t told him the night before. I had made sure not to even think Brandon’s name.

  Immediately, I thought about what Daemon had told me—had basically warned me.

  “He’s been at the hospital all morning, and he’ll have to wear a cast for three weeks,” April ranted, and there was a part of me that was surprised that was all Luc had done.

  “Then maybe Brandon shouldn’t grab people like he did yesterday.” Zoe picked up her sandwich and took a huge bite. “Just saying.”

  Had Zoe told Luc?

  “You tell your Luxen freak to stay away from Brandon—away from us—or he’ll regret it.”

  I couldn’t help it. A laugh burst out of me as I imagined telling Luc to stay away from them or else.

  April’s cheeks went a mottled red. “Do you think I’m funny?”

  “Yes.” I nodded.

  “We’ll see just how funny you think it is.” Then she flicked the tip of my nose.

  I jerked back out of surprise, and there was no stopping the red-hot burst of anger. I reacted without thinking. My fingers wrapped around hers before she even had a chance to pull her hand back.

  Surprise widened her eyes, and then her glossy red lips curved into a smirk. “Do it. I dare you, Evie.”

  The bone was fragile. I knew that. Hell, I knew firsthand exactly how frail bones could be and how easily they could break. My skin heated as I inhaled through my nose, holding her stare. I could easily do it. I wanted to. Probably more than I wanted to do anything in my life.

  And that was kind of messed up.

  I didn’t care, though.

  “Evie.” Zoe’s soft voice snapped me out of it.

  Blinking, I dropped April’s hand as if her touch scalded me. Unnerved, I clamped my hands together in my lap.

  April’s smirk grew. “Didn’t think so.” Straightening, she twirled around, nearly smacking Heidi and April in their face
s with her ponytail.

  Heidi was staring at me. “I really thought you were going to do it. Honest to God, I thought, Holy shit, she’s going to break April’s finger, and I didn’t know if I should stop you or applaud you.”

  I laughed, but it sounded as forced as it felt as I met Zoe’s stare. “Did you tell Luc?”

  “No. I didn’t.”

  Then how did …

  I twisted around, my gaze swinging exactly to where the Luxen usually sat. They were all there, all except one.

  Connor.

  Whipping around, I pulled my phone out of my backpack and fired off a quick text to Luc.

  We need to talk.

  * * *

  It was a little before five when Luc texted back. He didn’t question why I was texting him. His response was Meet me at Walkers.

  Walkers was a burger joint not too far from my house, and it served amazing pan-fried hamburgers. Like, old-school, not even remotely healthy kind of hamburgers. I hadn’t been there in ages, but I always gave them a look of longing every time I passed the usually packed parking lot.

  As I grabbed my small purse off the front seat and climbed out of the old Lexus that had belonged to the man I’d thought had been my father, it felt like a nest of butterflies was fluttering around in my chest.

  Why in the world was I so nervous?

  I had no idea.

  Okay. That was a lie.

  I was nervous because I’d kissed him two days ago. It wasn’t much of a kiss, but I’d done it. Even though I’d seen him since then, I was … I was crushing on Luc.

  Despite the fact I was 100 percent confident he’d broken Brandon’s hand. Not that Brandon hadn’t deserved it, but Luc couldn’t just run around breaking people’s hands.

  Closing the door, I hopped up on the sidewalk and made my way to the all-glass door. There were flyers plastered all along the front windows of the diner. Most looked like they’d been there a while and were offering things for sale or for free. Someone had a litter of adorable black-and-white kittens.

  But one of the flyers stood out. Kind of hard not to notice it since it was right in the center of the door and used big, bold letters.

  LUXEN NOT WELCOME HERE.

  Underneath the words was the standard alien face, the oval-shaped head and big, black eyes. The circle-backslash symbol was over the top of it for, I guess, aliens who couldn’t read?

  That had to be new. The last time I was here, they weren’t banning Luxen from eating their artery-clogging pieces of heaven.

  Why would Luc pick a place that discriminated against Luxen?

  Then again, I wasn’t exactly surprised by that.

  Opening the door, I was immediately surrounded by the drool-worthy scent of fried meat and onions, a combination that only worked in diners. Holding my purse, I scanned the round tables in the middle as I stepped forward. I didn’t see him. What if he wasn’t here yet? What if—

  There.

  I saw Luc.

  The fact that all I needed to see was a little bit of his hair over the red vinyl booths and knew it was him made me want to throat punch myself. Ugh. Crushes were stupid.

  I cut around a tableful of kids and started toward the back of the diner. To the right of where he sat, a TV was on, broadcasting some news station.

  Luc didn’t look up as I approached the table. He was focused on something on his phone. “Peaches,” he said. “Even in this place full of grease, I can still smell peaches.”

  Brows knitting, I slid into the booth across from him, placing my bag beside me. “You do realize how weird that is, your fascination with peaches?”

  “It’s not my fascination with peaches. It’s my fascination with the Peaches. You. Is that creepy?”

  “Yes,” I said, drawing the word out while this horrible part of me that existed deep, deep inside got kind of … giddy.

  “I also don’t care that it’s weird. I’m living my best life over here.” He finally looked up then, and I … God, my breath did this little catch thing. Those eyes. The violet color was startling, no matter how many times I saw them. He was—

  “Extraordinarily handsome? So much so that you find yourself wondering how such a perfect specimen could be sitting in front of you?”

  My jaw unhinged as heat infused my cheeks.

  “So hot that you almost can’t believe I’m real?” he continued. “I know. I have a hard time believing I’m real, too.”

  “That is not—”

  He leaned in, resting his chin on his palm. A lock of wavy hair fell forward, brushing his brows. “That’s not what you’re thinking?”

  I sucked in a shrill breath. I was not thinking that exactly, but yeah, some sort of variation. “Get out of my head, Luc.”

  He chuckled under his breath.

  My eyes narrowed. “Do I need to remind you that you said you wouldn’t read my thoughts? We’ve only had this conversation a million times.”

  “I said I would mostly not read your thoughts. And like I’ve said before, sometimes you’re so loud there’s no stopping it.” He shrugged as his gaze flickered over my shoulder. “About time. I’m thirsty.”

  An older woman appeared, placing tall sodas in front of each of us, along with straws. “Two Cokes.” She winked at Luc. “Your orders will be out shortly.”

  I waited until the waitress left and then leaned forward. “Aren’t you worried about being here since they’re anti-Luxen?” I asked. I couldn’t tell an Origin apart from a Luxen, so I doubted the owners of Walkers could. And I doubted they’d see a difference between the two even if they knew. Luc wasn’t wearing contacts. If a RAC drone roamed in here, the poo would hit the fan.

  One side of his mouth kicked up. “Do I look worried?”

  “No. You look pompous and arrogant.”

  The smirk spread into a grin. “I think those are two great looks on me.”

  “Pompous looks good on no one, dude,” I replied dryly. “And just FYI, I wasn’t thinking about you being hot.”

  That was, in fact, a total lie.

  Luc grinned as he arched a brow.

  Oh my God, he was doing it again. “Luc—”

  “I ordered you a bacon cheeseburger, no tomato and no pickles,” he interrupted, picking up one of the straws.

  Completely thrown off guard, I started to ask how he knew I didn’t like pickles or tomatoes on my burgers, but then it hit me. “I didn’t like them then, either?”

  His gaze flicked to mine and then away. “No. You liked to eat them separately. Garden tomatoes—”

  “Cut up and with salt?” I whispered.

  Those eyes met mine again. “Yes. Pickles were okay as long as—”

  “They aren’t on anything.” Sitting back, I dropped my hands into my lap. “Wow.”

  A long moment passed. “So, you wanted to see me? I know you miss me even though it was just last night you were snuggled up against me.”

  “I was not snuggled against you.” Was I? I honestly didn’t recall. He’d been gone when I awoke this morning.

  He shoved the straw into my drink. “You were wrapped around me like an octopus.”

  I glared at him.

  “By the way, just going to remind you that you told me last night you missed me.”

  I had. “I must’ve been high.”

  “On my presence.”

  Snorting, I picked up the straw wrapper and started folding it into tiny squares. “I texted you because we need to talk about Brandon.”

  “Who is that?” He sat back.

  I shot him a bland look. “You know exactly who he is. Especially since you broke his arm this morning.”

  “Oh, that guy.” He watched me, focusing on my fingers. “I broke his hand, actually. Not his arm. What about him?”

  My fingers stilled. “What about him? You broke his hand.”

  Luc nodded, sipping his drink. “That I did.”

  I stared at him for a moment. “That wasn’t okay, Luc.”

  “It wasn
’t?”

  The waitress appeared just then, placing two plates stacked with burgers and fries in front of us. “Anything else you two need?”

  I shook my head, and Luc said, “Not at the moment, but thank you.”

  The older lady nodded and then pivoted around, hurrying off to another table.

  Luc grabbed the ketchup bottle and then proceeded to drown his burger in it. “He shouldn’t have grabbed you in the first place.” He offered the bottle. “And he should definitely not have grabbed you hard enough to leave bruises.”

  I took the ketchup. “I agree, but that doesn’t mean breaking his hand is okay. This is not an eye-for-an-eye society.”

  “You’re right. It’s a hand-for-a-bruise society.” Luc bit down on his burger, and miraculously, none of the ketchup seeped out and hit his shirt. That alone had to be a result of alien superpowers. “We’re going to have to agree to disagree.”

  I sighed. “Luc.”

  “Do you know that a lot of people pronounce my name like Luck?” he asked as I took a smaller bite.

  Ketchup smacked off the table. I sighed again.

  “No. I didn’t know that. And don’t try to change the subject.”

  Half his burger was already gone. “Did you know that sometimes, when you’re asleep, you make little animal noises?”

  Lowering my burger, I frowned. “What?”

  His lips pursed as a thoughtful expression settled across his face. “Last night, when you fell asleep once Shane and Ryan got to the brewery, you were making these little cub-like noises.”

  My head slowly tilted to the side. “For real?”

  “For reals.”

  Warmth crept into my face. “You’re lying.”

  “I’d never do such a thing.” His eyes gleamed. “By the way, I left around four, and I’d swear Sylvia had already left the house.”

  “She’s been going into work early.” Rolling my eyes, I took a bite of my hamburger. “And stop trying to change the subject, you freak. You cannot run around and break people’s hands, Luc.”

  Finishing his burger, he moved on to his fries. “I can run around and do pretty much whatever I please.”