Of course, Blake was jonesing for payback. Springing forward, he placed the onyx against my palm. Being prepared wouldn’t have changed a damn thing. It was like cupping fire and keeping your damn hand over the flame. Red-hot pain rippled over my hand and up my arm. A tremor rocked me and then the pain was whipping out, scattering cells, and it became—
Blake removed the piece of onyx.
I hit the ground, on my hands and knees. “Crap…”
Kat was at my side, touching my shoulders. “Are you okay?”
“He’s fine,” Blake said, placing the onyx on the ground. I looked up, seeing his right hand shake. “It started to burn. There must be a limit to my tolerance…”
Unsteady, I pushed to my feet. “I’m okay.” Turning, I saw my brother staring at Blake like he was seconds from tearing the hybrid apart with his bare hands. “I’m fine, Dawson.”
“How do we know this will work?” Matthew demanded. “Touching onyx is completely different from being sprayed all over with it.”
“I’ve walked out of those doors before and nothing happened. And it’s not like they’ve sprayed onyx in my face before,” Blake said. “This has to be it.”
“Okay.” Kat stepped forward. “Let’s do this.”
Locking my jaw down was the only way to stop myself from telling Kat not to do this. Wasn’t easy standing there and watching Blake slip on the gloves and pick up the piece of onyx. Instead of bringing the jagged shard of onyx to Kat, he went to Matthew. Within seconds, the older Luxen was on his knees, gasping for air. Then it was Dawson’s turn, and I forced myself not to look away or intervene when Blake placed the onyx against Dawson’s hand.
It took a little longer for it to affect him, which would make sense if Daedalus had been prepping Dawson with it. But then he, too, was on his knees. The curse words I let loose pinked the tips of Kat’s ears.
But then it was her turn.
Blake started toward her, but I couldn’t let him be the one to do it. He was not going to hurt her again. Swiping the other glove off the ground, I took the piece of onyx from him.
“No,” Kat said, stepping back. “I don’t want you to do this.”
“I’m not letting him do this.”
“Then let someone else do this. Please.” She looked away, but no one stepped forward. “This isn’t right.”
None of this was right, but I didn’t trust anyone else to do this. “It’s either me or no one.”
Her gaze sharpened and a moment passed. “Do it.”
Shit. A part of me was hoping she wouldn’t let me do it. Anger dug in as she met my gaze. “I hate this,” I said, my voice low.
“I do, too.” She took a deep breath. “Just do it.”
Once again, I wanted to look away, but I wouldn’t let myself. I was going to be here with her for this, but she lowered her gaze, and for that I was grateful. I didn’t want to stare into her eyes while I was handing her unimaginable pain. Hating everything about this, I placed the onyx against her hand.
A moment passed and then her brow creased. Her lashes slammed down, fanning her cheeks. Her jaw jutted out. My stomach churned. She bit down on her lip. Her body jerked, and then she was on her knees.
Fuck.
Throwing the rock aside, I knelt down next to Kat. She shuddered. “All right…okay…not too bad.”
“Bull.” I hauled her to her feet. I couldn’t do this—watch her in pain every damn day to build up tolerance. My skin was crawling. “Kat—”
She tugged free, dragging in air. “Really, I’m okay. We need to keep going.”
Looking away, I counted to ten in my head, then fifty, and I made it to a hundred without it doing any good, because all of us went through the same process again. None of us were able to withstand the onyx any longer than the first time.
“It’s like getting hit with a Taser,” Matthew said, as he dropped a sheet of plywood over the onyx, then placed two heavy rocks on the board. It was late, and all of us were feeling the pain. “Not that I’ve ever been Tased, but I image that’s how it feels.”
We started to head back to the house, and I was a few steps in front of Kat. Blake was trailing her, and I was close enough to hear what he was saying.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I liked Carissa. I wish…”
“If wishes were fishes, we’d all throw nets, right? Isn’t that what they say?” Bitterness sharpened Kat’s tone, and I hated hearing that.
“Yeah, that’s what they say.” Blake paused. “Things are gonna get crazy at school.”
“Why do you care?” she fired back. “You’re going to leave as soon as you get Chris. You’ll just be another one of those kids who vanished into thin air.”
“I would stay if I could. I can’t, though.”
I slowed down. That bastard was not staying. If I had to hog-tie him and this Luxen and ship them out to the West Coast in one big box, I would.
“I would stay,” I heard Blake say again. “I—”
That was it. Spinning around, I saw him place his hand on her shoulder. I was in front of him in under a heartbeat, prying his fingers off her shoulder. “Don’t touch her.”