Daemon waited on the porch, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans. He had been gazing into the distance but pivoted around the moment I pushed open the door.

He brushed past me and into the hallway. The scent of him, a mixture of the outdoors and sandalwood, followed. It was a heady aroma, all completely his.

“You look nice today,” he commented unexpectedly.

I glanced down at my gray hoodie and tucked a tangled strand of hair behind my ear. “Uh, thanks.” I cleared my throat. “So…what’s up?”

His excuse for spending time with me was always the vague “Watching out for you,” so I wasn’t expecting anything different today. “I just wanted to see you.”

“Oh.” Well, hell…

He chuckled deeply. “I thought we could take a walk. It’s nice outside.”

Glancing back at my laptop, I debated. Spending time with him wasn’t something I should be doing. It just encouraged his…not-so-bad behavior.

“I’ll behave myself,” he said. “I promise.”

I laughed at that. “All right, let’s go.”

It was brisk outside, nowhere near as cold as it would become once the sun set. Instead of heading toward the woods, he steered me in the direction of his SUV. “Exactly where are we going to take a walk?”

“Outdoors,” he said dryly.

“Well, I think I figured that part out.”

“You ask a lot of questions, you know.”

“I’ve been told I’m very inquisitive.”

He leaned forward and whispered, “I think I figured that part out.”

I made a face at him, but I was intrigued. I climbed into the passenger’s seat. “Have you heard anything about Simon?” I asked after he’d backed out of the driveway. “I haven’t.”

“I haven’t either.”

An array of golden, red, and brown leaves blurred as Daemon flew down the highway. “Do you think an Arum had anything to do with his disappearance?”

Daemon shook his head. “I don’t think so. I haven’t seen any, but we can’t be too sure.”

An Arum taking Simon wouldn’t make any sense, but kids around here didn’t disappear without it having something to do with the Luxen and Arum. I glanced out the window at the familiar scenery. It didn’t take me long to realize where we were going. Confused, I watched Daemon pull the SUV off the road and park along the entrance to the field the kids partied in.

The same place we’d fought Baruck.

“Why here?” I asked, climbing out. Dead leaves of various colors littered the ground. With each step, my feet sunk an inch or two through the leaves. For a while, the only sound we heard was the rustling of our feet wading through the colorful sea of leaves.

“This place might hold a lot of residual energy from our fight and from Baruck’s death.” He stepped around a fallen tree limb. “Watch out, the branches are scattered everywhere.”

I moved around one particularly gnarly-looking one. “This might sound messed up, but I’ve wanted to come back here. I don’t know why. Crazy, huh?”

“No,” he said quietly. “It makes sense to me.”

“Is it the whole energy thing?”

“It’s what’s left over.” Daemon bent and pushed another fallen limb out of the way. “I want to see if I feel anything. If the DOD has been out here to check it out, it might be good to be in the know.”

We walked the rest of the way in silence. I was following slightly behind him, careful of the rough terrain. I felt a peculiar stirring in me as soon as it came into view. The ground was covered in leaves but the trees were still bent, looking even more grotesque as they twisted toward the ground. I stopped at the edge and tried to find the spot where Baruck had last stood.

I pushed the dead foliage with my foot. Soon, the scarred ground came into view. The soil seemed to remember what had happened that night and refused to let go of the memory.

This spot was like a sick gravesite.

“The ground will never heal,” Daemon said softly from behind me. “I don’t know why, but it took on his essence and nothing will grow from this spot.” He took over, pushing back the leaves until the area was uncovered completely. “Killing at first used to bother me.”

I tore my eyes away from the burned patch of ground. What little sun that peeked through the clouds caught the auburn tint in his dark hair.

Daemon smiled tightly. “I didn’t like it, taking a life. I still don’t. A life is a life.”

“It’s something you have to do. You can’t change it. It only wreaks havoc on you to dwell. It bothers me knowing that I’ve killed…two of them, but—”

“You aren’t wrong for what you did. Never think that.” His eyes met mine for a second, and he cleared his throat. “I don’t feel anything.”

I shoved my hands into the front pocket of my hoodie, curving them around my cell phone. “Do you think the DOD found anything?”

“I don’t know.” He crossed the small distance between us, stopping when I had to tilt my head back to see him. “Depends on if they’re using equipment I’m not familiar with.”

“And if they are, what does that mean? Is it something to be worried about?”

“I don’t think so, not even if the levels of energy are higher.” He reached out, smoothing back a strand of hair that had escaped my ponytail. “It doesn’t really tell them anything. Have you been experiencing any outbursts recently?”

“No,” I said, not wanting him to worry needlessly. Today I’d blown the light in my room. And I’d moved my bed about three feet.

His hand lingered on my cheek for a moment longer, and then he captured my hand, bringing it to his lips, placing the lightest kiss against the center of my palm. A hot shiver went up my arm. Peering through his dark lashes, he burned me with one smoldering look.

My lips parted and my heart fluttered in my chest like the many leaves that fell to the ground around us. “Did you bring me out here just to get me completely alone?”

“That may have been a part of my master plan.” Daemon’s head lowered and his hair fell forward, brushing my cheek. The slant of his mouth tilted and an exhilarating heartbeat later, his lips pressed against mine and my heart swelled.

I jerked back, breathing heavily. “No kissing,” I whispered.

His fingers tightened around mine. “I’m trying not to.”

“Then try harder.” I slipped my hand free and took a step back, shoving my hands back into the pocket of my hoodie. “I think we should head home.”

He sighed. “Whatever you want.”

I nodded. We started back to the car in silence. I stared at the ground, at war with what I wanted and what I needed. Daemon couldn’t be both.

“So I was thinking,” he said after a few moments.

I glanced at him warily. “About what?”

“We should do something. Together. Outside of your house and not just walking around.” He stared straight ahead. “We should go out to dinner or maybe a movie.”

My stupid heart started jumping again. “Are you asking me out?”

He laughed under his breath. “That’s what it sounds like.”

The trees were starting to thin out. Large bales of hay came into view. “You don’t want to take me out on a date.”

“Why do you keep telling me what I don’t want?” Curiosity colored his tone.

“Because you can’t,” I told him. “You can’t want any of this with me, not really. Maybe with Ash—”

“I don’t want Ash.” His features hardened as he stopped, facing me. “If I wanted her, I’d be with her. But I’m not. She’s not who I want.”

“Neither am I. You can’t honestly tell me that you’d risk every Luxen around here turning their backs on you for me.”

Daemon shook his head in disbelief. “And you have got to stop assuming you know what I want and what I would do.”

I started walking again. “It’s just the challenge and the connection, Daemon. Whatever you feel for me isn’t real.”

“That’s ridiculous,” he spat.

“How can you be sure?”

“Because I know.” Daemon appeared in front of me, eyes narrowed. He thumped his hand off his chest, directly above his heart. “Because I know what I feel in here. And I’m not the type of person to run from anything, no matter how hard it is. I’d rather face-plant against a brick wall than live for the rest of my life wondering what could’ve been. And you know what? I didn’t think you were the type to run, either. Maybe I was wrong.”

Stunned, I pulled my hands out and brushed my hair back. Knots formed in my stomach—the good warm and twisty kind. “I don’t run.”

“You don’t? Because that’s what you’re doing,” he argued. “You pretend what you feel for me isn’t real or doesn’t exist. And I know damn well you don’t feel anything for Bobby.”

“Blake,” I corrected him automatically. Walking around him, I headed for the car. “I don’t want to talk—”

We came to a standstill at the edge of the woods. Two giant black SUVs were parked on either side of Daemon’s, blocking him in. Two men stood beside one, dressed in black suits. Unease rolled through me like a chilled, dark wave. Daemon moved in front of me, hands at his sides. Tension tightened his muscles. I didn’t have to ask to know who they were.

The DOD was here.

Chapter 15

One of the Suits stepped forward, eyes trained on Daemon. “Hello, Mr. Black and Miss Swartz.”

“Hey, Lane,” Daemon answered in a monotone voice, apparently knowing the one guy. “I wasn’t expecting you today.”

Unsure of what I should do, I nodded and remained quiet, trying to make myself as small as possible.

“We got into town a little early and saw your car.” Lane smiled, and it gave me the creeps.

The other Suit’s eyes bounced to me. “What were you guys doing out here?”

“There was a party here last night, and we were looking for her cell phone.” Daemon grinned at me. “She lost it and we’re still looking for it”

The cell phone felt like it was burning a hole in my pocket now.

“So I can meet you guys later,” Daemon continued. “Once we find the…”

The passenger door of one of the Expeditions opened and a woman stepped out. She had icy blond hair pulled back in a tight bun, revealing sharp features that would’ve been pretty on someone who didn’t look like she might tase me. “Underage drinking?” The woman smiled. It reminded me of the kind painted on Barbie. Fake. Plastic. Wrong somehow.

“We weren’t drinking,” I said, going along with everything. “He knows better. His parents are like mine. They’d kill him.”

“Well, I was hoping to catch up with you, Daemon, and we could get an early…dinner.” Lane motioned toward his Expedition. “We only have a few hours. I hate to cut your cell phone search-and-rescue short.”