His eyes searched mine. “Thank you.”
“For what?” I loved the feel of his arms around me and how I fit against him, hard against soft.
He trailed his fingers over my arm, and I was amazed by how he could make me shiver. “For everything,” he said.
Elation swelled inside my chest, and as we lay in each other’s arms, our breaths coming out ragged, our bodies tangled together, we still couldn’t get enough of each other. We kissed. We talked. We lived.
Chapter 34
When I left Daemon’s house early Sunday morning, he stayed with me until he heard my mom’s car pull up the driveway. Then he did that freaky, super speed alien thing and got out without being seen. But while he’d lay there in bed beside me, apparent that he didn’t want to leave me alone after what happened with Will, I never felt safer in my life. Sex had nothing to do with that, but when he came back in the afternoon and we left to get lunch for us and my mom, every small look and brush of our skin meant something infinitely more—a tender and knowing quality that had been there before, but was emphasized.
I didn’t look any different. Part of me thought it would be posted on my forehead or something and I was half afraid that my mom would somehow guess and then we’d have that mortifying birds and the bees’ conversation again, but she didn’t.
Life went on and for a little while. It was the same… a little better in some areas, but over the next week, Daemon and I had very little time together. No one talked about Will with the exception of asking if I was okay. Even Andrew had asked and sounded genuine. Other than that, it was like that event never happened. There was a really good chance that Daemon had something to do with that.
Our practices had increased with Dawson, Matthew, and Blake, and they also included the rest of our crew. Everyone knew their plan. Everyone also knew that we wouldn’t get another chance after Sunday if we failed.
We were already pushing our luck.
Blake stood apart from the group. He’d been that way since I’d confronted him about his creepy, stalkerish behavior… Thank God. “The time frame is still the same. We have fifteen minutes to get in and get out with them.”
“And if anything goes wrong?” Dee asked, nervously twirling her hair around her faded fingers.
Daemon picked up a piece of Onyx. All of us at this point could handle it for about a minute and twenty seconds. And with the tiny piece of opal, it didn’t even bother Daemon and I.
“We’ll be fine with the onyx shields.” He tossed the rock back into the pile. “Each of us can withstand it long enough.”
“But it’s not being sprayed in your faces,” Dee protested, eyes wide. “You’re just handling it.”
Blake inched closer. “It was never sprayed in my face. All I did was handle it over and over again. It’s the only logical explanation.”
“No. It’s not.” She let go of her hair and faced her brothers. “Handling onyx and having a tolerance is one thing. Having it sprayed in your face is totally different.”
Dee had a point, but it was all we could do.
Dawson smiled for her and it was always strange to me when he did smile, because it was so rare to see a real one, and it transformed his face. “We’re going to be okay, Dee. I promise.”
“And the lasers—you have the lasers to watch out for,” Andrew threw in, grimacing.”
“No doubt,” Blake said. “But they shouldn’t be an issue. The emergency doors are activated only when the alarm goes off and if everything goes smoothly, we’ll be fine.”
“That’s a big if,” Dee muttered.
Heck ya, it was a huge if, but we were in this to the end. Just looking at Dawson reaffirmed why we were about to put our lives on the line again. Because I knew beyond a doubt, if it were Daemon locked in Mount Weather, I’d take as many risks as there were to free him.
Part of Dawson was missing and the other half was Beth. None of us could expect him to walk away from this. And all of us would go to the end of the earth for the ones we loved.
After another grueling session with the onyx, we called it a night and gimped back to the houses. Matthew and the Thompsons left, as did Blake. Dee went inside while the three of us lingered and finally Dawson disappeared somewhere around the side of the house.
Daemon took my hand and sat on the third step up, pulling me down between his legs, so that my back was against his chest. “You feeling okay?”
“Yes,” I said. It was the same question he asked every, single time after practice. And yeah, I sort of loved him for that. “You?”
“You don’t need to worry about me.”
I rolled my eyes, but leaned back, liking the feel of his chest and the way his arms circled me. He dipped his head, pressing his lips against my pulse. I could tell where his mind was going and I was on board that train.
Dawson reappeared, the fading sun casting a halo around him. That train came to a crashing halt. He shoved his hands into his jeans and rocked back on heels, not saying a word.
Daemon sighed and straightened. “What is it?”
“Nothing,” he said, eyes squinting at the rapidly darkening sky. “I was just thinking.”
We waited quietly, because we both knew that Dawson couldn’t be rushed. He’d say whatever it was he wanted to say when he was ready. Again, I found myself wondering what he was like before all this terrible stuff had happened to him.
Finally, Dawson said, “You guys don’t need to do this on Sunday.”
Daemon’s arms fell away. “What?”