you're feeling a little paranoid. I would be if I'd been attacked after moving to a new town."
"See, you are doing it now!" I pointed out.
"Getting all uptight because I'm asking a question, and Dee does the same thing."
"Do you think maybe it's because we know you've been through a lot and we don't want to add to it?"
"But how can you add to it?"
He slowed in his pace. "I don't know. We can't."
I shook my head as he stopped near the edge of the lake and flipped off the flashlight. In the night, the water gleamed like a shined onyx. A hundred stars reflected off the still surface like the night sky, but less infinite. It seemed as if I could reach out and touch them.
"The day at the lake," Daemon said after a few moments. "There were a few minutes when I was having a good time."
My breath caught hearing that. There were a few minutes that I'd enjoyed it, too. I tucked my hair back. "Before you turned into Aquaman?" Daemon was quiet, his shoulders unnaturally tense. "Stress will do that, make you think things are happening that aren't."
Looking at him, his striking features lit by the pale moonlight, he didn't seem real. The exotic eyes, the curve of his jaw, all of it seemed more defined out here. Daemon stared at the dark sky, a brooding and pensive look to his face.
"No, it doesn't," I said finally. "There is something...odd here."
"Other than you?" he said.
Several responses lined up, but I pushed them away. Arguing with him in the middle of the woods at night wasn't on the top of my list of things to do. "Why did you want to talk, Daemon?"
He clasped a hand on the back of his neck.
"What happened yesterday at lunch is only going to get worse. You can't be friends with Dee, not like the kind of friend you want to be." A hot flush crawled down my cheeks, spreading over my neck. "Are you serious?" Daemon lowered his hand. "I'm not saying you have to stop talking to her, but pull it back.
You can still be nice to her, talk to her at school, but don't go out of your way. You're only going to make it harder on her and yourself." Every hair on my body rose all at once. "Are you threatening me, Daemon?"
Our eyes locked. His were full of... what?
Regret? "No. I'm telling you how it's going to be. We should head back."
"No." I dug in, staring at him. "Why? Why is it wrong if I'm friends with your sister?" A second passed, and his jaw tensed. "You shouldn't be out here with me." He drew in a harsh breath, his eyes wide. He took a step forward. A warm breeze kicked up, scattering fallen leaves and tossing my hair back. The gust seemed to come from behind Daemon, almost as if it were fueled by his mounting anger. "You aren't like us. You are nothing like us. Dee deserves better than you, people that are like her.
So leave me alone. Leave my family alone." It was a smack in the face, only worse. Out of everything I was expecting him to say, he went for a doozy. I drew in a deep breath, but it hitched in my throat. I took a step back, blinking away the rush of angry tears.
Daemon didn't take his eyes off me. "You wanted to know why. That's why." I swallowed thickly. "Why...why do you hate me so much?"
For a brief second, the mask cracked and pain contorted his features. It was so quick, I couldn't be sure I'd actually seen it. He didn't answer.
The tears building in my eyes were about to spill down my cheeks. I refused to cry in front of him, to give him that kind of power. "You know what? Screw you, Daemon."
He looked away. "Kat, you can't - "
"Shut up!" I hissed. "Just shut up." I headed around Daemon and started walking. My skin felt hot and cold, my insides burned with fire and ice. I was going to cry. I knew it. That was what that choking feeling was in the back of my throat.
"Kat," Daemon called out. "Please wait up." I picked up my pace until I was almost running.
"Come on, Kat, don't walk so far ahead.
You're going to get lost. At least take the flashlight!"
As if he cared. I wanted to be free of him before I lost it. There was a