“Wait.” He held up his fork. “Okay?”
Sitting back, I nodded.
He glanced down at his plate, his jaw clenching. “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.” Daemon 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.”
There was a peculiar fluttering in my chest. Never in my life had I had such a hard time figuring myself out as I did when it came to Daemon. I understood books. I did not understand boys—especially alien boys.
“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.” He shuddered.
It was official. I liked the sound of that even less the second time around.
“Even Ash expects us to be together,” Daemon went on, stabbing his cake. “And all of this? I know it’s hurting her. I never wanted to do that.” He paused, struggling for the right thing to say. “I never wanted to hurt you, either. And I’ve done both of those things.”
Two bright red spots blossomed across his cheeks. I ran my hand over my leg and looked away. I didn’t want him to know that I saw him blush.
“I can’t be with her the way she wants—the way she deserves.” He stopped, exhaling. “Anyway, I wanted to apologize for last night.”
“So do I.” I bit my lip. “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.” He glanced at me, lashes lowered. “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. 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.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s a theory.”
“Do you think whatever is happening with me will stop?”
He scooped up the last of his cake and then placed his 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.”
He leaned back against the couch in a lazy, arrogant sprawl that made my toes curl. “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.”
I fingered the necklace as Daemon turned to the television and smiled. An eighties hair band played, screeching about a love lost and found, to only be lost again.
“After seeing your dance skills earlier, you would have blended right in with the eighties,” he said.
I rolled my eyes. “Can we not mention that again?”
He grinned as he turned to me, a sly look on his face. “You were this close to having ’Walk Like an Egyptian’ down.”
“You’re a douche.”
Daemon laughed. “Did you know I had a purple Mohawk?”
“What?” I laughed, not even able to imagine that, especially around these parts. “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,” he said, grinning.
I busted out laughing, and he shoved a throw pillow at me. I picked it up and placed it in my 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.”
Daemon 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…?” How in the world would I say this? Coming up empty, I winced. “Where did you all land?”
Reaching over, he picked a piece of lint off my thermal. “We landed near Skaros.”
“Skaros?” I scrunched up my face. “Uh, is that even on Earth?”
“Yes.” He smiled slightly. “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.” His 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.”
I couldn’t imagine what that must’ve been like for him and the others. To be so young, to be from a different world, and then to be thrust right into the hands of a foreign government had to be scary. “How did all of that go?”