Folding my hand over the stone, I concentrated on the environment around me—the couch, the floor, and the TV. I figured it would be the same as reflecting the image of a person, but what did I know? I’d never done this before.
Energy skated over my skin, seeping through tissue and bone. I could see the faint shimmer appearing over my hand and it traveled up my arm. A second passed, and then my arm blended into the floor.
Kat’s eyes widened. “Daemon?”
I chuckled.
“Daemon?” She turned toward the couch. “I can’t see you at all.”
“Not at all?”
She shook her head as her eyes narrowed. Stepping back, her forehead scrunched as she stared right where I stood, in the front of the couch. “Oh my God, you’re totally like the Predator.”
“This is so cool.” I let go of the reflection. “God, I am so going to sneak into your bathroom like the Invisible Man.”
Kat shot me a bland look. “Give me the opal.”
Laughing, I handed it over. “Want to hear something crazier than me being completely invisible? It barely took any energy away. I feel fine.”
“Wow.” She turned the stone over. “We need to test this out.”
We headed to the lake about fifteen minutes before anyone else was supposed to show. “You try it.”
Kat stepped back from me. In one hand she held the opal, and she lifted the other hand. Within seconds, a ball of whitish-red light appeared on her hand. “Wow.” She glanced at me, awed. “This is…different.”
I nodded. “Do you feel tired or anything?”
“No.” Pivoting, she walked to the bank of the lake. “I could never do the heat-to-fire thing. Burned my fingers pretty bad the last time I tried it.”
“Should you be trying it now, then?”
“But you’re here to heal me.”
I frowned, moving closer to her. “Worst logic ever, Kitten.”
Kat grinned as she focused on a slender crooked branch. The ripple of energy washed over my skin. The scent of burned ozone filled the air. White light flared over her knuckles and within a second, the stick collapsed into an ash replica. “Uh.”
“That wasn’t fire,” I said, “but it was pretty damn close.
“Let me have it,” I said. “I want to see if it has any effect on the onyx.”
Handing it over, she followed me to the pile of onyx. I held the opal in one hand and then unearthed the pile of onyx. Preparing myself for the very unpleasant sensation, I picked up one of the shards.
Nothing. No burn or sting. Just nothing.
“What’s happening?” she asked.
I lifted my gaze to hers. “Nothing—I don’t feel anything.”
“Let me try.”
It was the same for Kat. The onyx had no effect on her while she held the piece of the opal. Both of us knew what that meant. Whoever carried the opal would have no reaction to the onyx, and they got a nice power-up.
Of course, I would make damn sure that Kat carried it.
The others arrived, and I slipped the piece of opal in my pocket. With Blake there, I didn’t want him to know we had it. Since it was in my pocket, I quickly discovered that unless it was against my skin, it had no effect on the onyx. In my mind, I saw Luc’s cuff. No doubt the opal was sewn in so it was always touching his skin.
As the night wound down and everyone else headed back, Kat stayed behind with me. “It didn’t work in your pocket, did it?”
“No.” I dug the opal out. “I’m going to hide this somewhere. Right now, I don’t think we need anyone fighting over it or it getting into the wrong hands.”
“Do you think we’re ready for next Sunday?”
Nervousness gathered in her voice. We had a little over a week before we headed to Mount Weather.
I slipped the opal back into my pocket and then gathered her in my arms. “We’re going to be ready as we ever will be, and I don’t think we can keep Dawson off much longer.”
Kat agreed with the last part. Truth was, even if we weren’t ready, we were going to have to do it, because I’d been right about Dawson. He hadn’t said anything, but we couldn’t hold him back much longer.
No matter what, we’d be ready for Mount Weather on Sunday.
While the girls went dress shopping on Saturday, I headed out with the guys to grab an early dinner. I was wondering how the whole thing was going down for Kat. It was the first time she was hanging out with Dee since Adam died, and Ash was also with them.
I was pretty sure Ash still hadn’t forgiven Kat for spaghetti-gate.
We piled into a booth in the back of Smoke Hole. Dawson immediately grabbed the menu. Every time he came here now, he wanted to try something new. Luckily, the menu was absurdly large, and he usually found something on it he hadn’t tried. It was strange. He’d never done that before.
After ordering our drinks, I checked my phone and found a text from Kat.
What R U doing?
With Andrew, Matthew & Dawson, getting dinner. Want smthing?
Andrew stared at me. I ignored him. My phone dinged.
You.
Hell, that made me sit up straighter. Standing, I ignored the way Matthew sighed. “Be right back.”