“And she found out about you guys?”
Several seconds passed before he answered. “Yes.”
I glanced at him again. His face was stoic as he stared straight ahead. “And that’s why she disappeared?”
Again, there was a gap of silence. “Yes.”
Okay. He was only going to give me one-word answers. Nice. “Did she tell someone? I mean, why did she…have to disappear?”
Daemon sighed heavily. “It’s complicated, Kat.”
Complicated meant a lot of things. “Is she…dead?”
He didn’t answer.
I stopped, digging an odd-shaped pebble out of my sandal. “You’re just not going to tell me?”
He grinned at me with infuriating ease.
“So why did you want to come out here?” I shook the rock out and put my sandal back on. “Because it’s fun for you to be all evasive?”
“Well, it is amusing to watch your cheeks get all pink when you’re frustrated.”
I glared at him.
Daemon smirked and started walking again. We didn’t say anything until we reached the lake. He went to the edge and glanced back to where I stopped a few feet behind him. “Besides the twisted fact that I like watching you get all bent out of shape, I figured you’d have more questions.” Well, it was sick he liked pissing me off. Even sicker was the fact I liked watching him get all pissy, too. “I do.”
“Some I won’t answer. Some I will.” Daemon paused, looking thoughtful. “Might as well get all your questions out of the way. Then we don’t have a reason to bring any of this up again, but you’re going to have to work for those questions.” Never bring up the fact that they were aliens? Ha. Okay. “What do I have to do?”
“Meet me on the rock.” He turned back to the lake and kicked off his shoes.
“What? I’m not wearing a bathing suit.”
“So?” He turned around, grinning. “You could almost strip down—”
“Not going to happen.” I folded my arms.
“Figured,” he replied. “Haven’t you ever gone swimming in your clothes before?”
Yes. Who hadn’t? But it wasn’t even that warm. “Why do we have to go swimming for me to ask questions?”
Daemon stared at me a moment, then his lashes lowered, fanning his cheeks. “It’s not for you, but for me. It seems like a normal thing to do.” The tips of his cheekbones turned pink in the sun. “The day we went swimming?”
“Yes,” I said, taking a step forward.
He looked up, his eyes meeting mine. The green churned slowly, giving an appearance of vulnerability. “Did you have fun?”
“When you weren’t being a jerk and if I ignore the fact that you were bribed into it, then yes.”
A smile pulled at his lips as he looked away. “I had more fun that day than I can remember. I know it sounds stupid, but—”
“It’s not stupid.” My heart lurched. At once, I sort of understood him better. Underneath it all, I think he wanted to be normal. “Okay. Let’s do this. Just don’t go underwater for five minutes.” Daemon laughed. “Deal.”
I kicked off my sandals while he tugged off his shirt. I tried not to stare at him, especially since he was watching me like he expected me to change my mind. Tossing him a quick grin, I stepped up to the water’s edge and dipped my toes in. “Oh my god, the water is cold!” He winked at me. “Watch this.” His eyes took on that eerie glow, his whole body vibrating and breaking apart into a fiery ball of light…that flew up into the sky and dove straight in, lighting the lake like a pool light. He zipped around and around the rocks in the center, at least a dozen times in as many seconds. Show-off.
“Alien powers?” I asked, teeth chattering.
Water ran off his hair as he leaned over the edge of the rock, extending a hand. “Come in, it’s a little warmer now.”
Gritting my teeth in preparation for the icy water, I was shocked to discover its temperature wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t warm, but it wasn’t icy cold anymore. Stepping all the way in now, I waded out to the rocks. “Any other cool talents?”
“I can make it so that you can’t even see me.”
I took his hand, and he pulled me out into the water and onto the rock, wet clothes and all. He let go, scooting back. Shivering, I welcomed the warmth of the sun-baked rock. “How can you do things without me seeing?” Leaning back on his elbows, he looked unaffected by the cold swim. “We’re made of light. We can manipulate the different spectrums around us, using them. It’s like we’re fracturing the light, if that makes any sense.”
“Not really.” I needed to pay more attention in science class.
“You’ve seen me turn into my natural state, right?” When I nodded, he went on. “And I sort of vibrate until I break apart into tiny particles of light. Well, I can selectively eliminate the light, which allows us to be transparent.” I pulled my knees to my chest. “That’s kind of amazing, Daemon.”
He smiled up at me, flashing a dimple in one cheek before he laid back on the rock, folding his hands behind his head. “I know you have questions. Ask them.”
I had so many questions I wasn’t sure which one to start with. “Do you guys believe in God?”
“He seems like a cool guy.”
I blinked, not sure whether to laugh at that or not. “Did you guys have a God?”
“I remember there was something like a church, but that’s all. The elders don’t talk about any religion,” he said. “Then again, we don’t see any elders.”