He nodded.
A crestfallen look appeared on her face as she looked away. “Obviously that couldn’t be explained away. She’s known since then?”
I figured this wasn’t the time to mention that I had my suspicions before then.
“She didn’t freak out,” Dee said. She listened to us, understood why it’s important, and that’s it. Until last night, what we are hasn’t even been an issue.”
“But you lied to me—both of you.” Mr. Garrison leaned against the wall, in a space between their TV and an overstocked bookcase. “How am I to trust you now?”
A dull, stabbing pain flared behind my eyes.
“Look, I understand the risk. More than any of you in the room,” Daemon said, rubbing his chest where the Arum had shoved his shadowy hand. “But what is done is done. We need to move forward.”
“As in contacting the DOD?” Andrew asked. “I’m sure they’d know what to do with her.”
“I’d like to see you try that, Andrew. Really I would, because even after last night, and I’m not yet fully charged, I could still kick your ass.”
Mr. Garrison cleared his throat. “Daemon, threats aren’t necessary.”
“Aren’t they?” Daemon asked.
A heavy silence fell in the room. I think Adam was on our side, but it was clear that Andrew and Ash weren’t. When Mr. Garrison finally spoke, I had a hard time meeting his gaze.
“I don’t think this is wise,” he said. “Not with what…with what happened before, but I’m not going to turn you over. Not unless you give me reason to. And maybe you won’t. I don’t know. Humans are such…fickle creatures. What we are, what we can do, has to be protected at all costs. I think you understand that.” He paused, clearing his throat. “You’re safe, but we aren’t.” Andrew and Ash looked less than thrilled by Mr. Garrison’s decision, but they didn’t push it. Other than exchanging looks with one another, they moved on to how to deal with the last Arum.
“He won’t wait. They’re not known for being patient,” Mr. Garrison said, sitting down on the couch. “I could contact the other Luxen, but I’m not sure if that would be smart. Where we may be more confident in her, they won’t be.”
“And there’s the problem that she’s a megawatt light bulb right now,” Ash added. “It doesn’t even matter if we don’t say anything. The moment she goes anywhere in town, they are going to know that something big happened again.” I scowled at her. “Well, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about that.”
“Any suggestions?” Daemon said. “Because the sooner she’s not carrying a trace, the better all of this is going to be.”
Yeah, because I bet he was looking forward to babysitting me again.
“Who cares?” Andrew said, rolling his eyes. “We have the Arum issue to worry about. He’s gonna see her no matter where we put her. All of us, right now, are in danger. Any of us near her are in danger. We can’t wait around. We have to find the last Arum.” Dee shook her head. “If we can get the trace off her, then that will buy us time to find him. Getting rid of the trace should be the first priority.”
“I say we drive her out to the middle of nowhere and leave her ass there,” Andrew muttered.
“Thanks,” I said, rubbing my temples. “You’re so very helpful with all of this.”
He smiled at me. “Hey, just offering my suggestions.”
“Shut up, Andrew,” Daemon said.
Andrew rolled his eyes.
“Once we get the trace off her, she’d be safe,” Dee insisted and tucked her hair back, face pinched. “The Arum don’t mess with humans, really. Sarah…she’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time.” They launched into another discussion about what was more important: locking me up somewhere, which didn’t make sense because my light could be seen through anything, or trying to figure out a way to make the trace fade other than killing me. And I seriously think Andrew believed that was a valid consideration. Asshole.
“I have an idea,” Adam said. Everyone looked at him. “The light around her is a byproduct of us using our power, right? And our power is concentrated energy. And we get weaker when we use our powers and use more energy.” Mr. Garrison blinked, his eyes sparking with interest. “I think I’m following you.”
“I’m not,” I muttered.
“Our powers fade the more we use them, the more energy we exert.” Adam turned to Daemon. “It should work the same with our traces, because the trace is just residual energy we are leaving on someone. We get her to exert her own energy; it should fade what’s around her. Maybe not completely, but get it down to levels that aren’t going to draw every Arum on Earth to us.” That hardly made any sense to me, but Mr. Garrison was nodding. “It should work.”
Daemon scratched his chest, his expression doubtful. “And how are we going to get her to exert energy.”
Andrew grinned from across the room. “We could take her out to a field and chase her around in our cars. That sounds fun.”
“Oh, fuc—”
Daemon’s laugh cut me off. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Funny, but not a good idea. Humans are fragile.”
“How about I shove my fragile foot up your ass,” I said, irritated. My head was pounding, and I didn’t find a single one of them funny. I pushed Daemon off the arm of the chair and stood. “I’m getting a drink. Let me know when guys come up with anything that won’t potentially kill me in the process.” Their conversation continued as I hurried from the room. I wasn’t thirsty. I just had to get out of there, away from them. My nerves felt shot. Entering the kitchen, I ran my hands through my hair. Blissful silence eased some of the pounding in my head. I squeezed my eyes shut until small spots danced behind my closed lids.