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Daemon squeezed his eyes shut "Son of a bitch…"

"It’s okay" I started to sit up "He needs you"

He let out a ragged sigh "Stay here and get some rest I’ll talk--or beat soently pushedin, I smiled "Try not to kill him"

"No promises" He stood, pulled on his paja short, he looked over his shoulder, his intense gazemy bones "Dammit"

A few seconds after he stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind hi, "Ouch What in the hell was that for?"

"Your ti sucks on an epic level," Dae sleepily, I rolled ontoreturned to nored me under Sometime later, I heard the door open and then Dae before the steady rise and fall of his chest lulled me back into the rhythm of sleep Every so often I’d wake up when his arht he’d cut offme as if even in his sleep he was haunted by the fear of losing ether to school on Monday The car still carried a musty, wet scent to it, a painful reminder of where our mission had ended--in a river On the way, Daemon was convinced that his brother had been talked down fro Mount Weather, but I knee needed to coet to Beth and Chris Dawson couldn’t wait forever, and I could understand that If it were Daemon locked up, I don’t think anyone would be able to stopagainst his truck a few spaces down He pushed off and trotted over the roaned "He is not who I want to see as soon as I get to school"

"Agreed," I said, wrapping my hand around Daemon’s "Just remember we are in public"

"No fun"

Blake slowed as he reached us, his gaze dipping to our joined hands and then quickly sweeping up "We all need to talk"

We kept walking--or Dae I want to do"

"I can understand that" He caught up to us "But I seriously didn’t know about the onyx shields in the doors I had no idea"

"I believe you," Daemon said

Blake’s step faltered "You punched me"

"That’s because he wanted to," I answered for Dae a wink from him "Look, I don’t trust you, but e the fact that we’re not going to be able to get in there"

"I talked to Luc last night He didn’t know about the shields, either" Blake shoved his hands into his pockets and stopped in front of us He was lucky Daeain--take down the ca breath "And what good does that do us? We can’t get past those doors"

"Or if every door is set up like that," I added, shivering I couldn’t ih that three or four tier, but the airborne onyx had covered everything

The three of us were huddled along the fence surrounding the track, careful of keeping our voices low so other students didn’t overhear us and wonder what the heck

"Well, I was thinking about that," Blake said, shifting from one foot to the other "While I ith Daedalus, they used to expose us to this stone each day Our forks and silverere encased in it A lot of stuff was, al we came into contact with Burned like holy hell to touch, but we didn’t have any other choice I’ve walked through the doors before and recently Nothing happened"

Daehed as he looked away fro to tell us?"

"I didn’t knohat it was None of us did" Blake’s gaze pleaded with mine "I didn’t think much about it"

Du Blake Probably exposing hiht, soht Why would they expose them to it? Sick and twisted punishment or for tolerance? And ould they want Luxen or hybrids to develop a tolerance to the one weapon that could be used against them?

"You can’t tell me you never knew about the onyx and what it could do," I said

He met me dead-on "I didn’t know that it could incapacitate us"

I pressed ether "You know, there’s so much we have to just trust you with That you really are working against Daedalus and not for the they are, and now, that you didn’t really know about onyx"

"I kno this looks"

"I don’t think you do," Daeainst the fence "We have no reason to trust you"

"And you’ve black you," I added

Blake exhaled roughly "Okay I don’t have a glowing history, but I want nothing et my friend away from theht this instant?" Daemon asked, obviously at his patience threshold

"I think we can get around the onyx," he said, pulling his hands out of his pockets and holding the to sound crazy"

"Oh, goodie," Daemon muttered

"I think we need to build up a tolerance If that hat Daedalus was doing, then that o in and out of those doors If we expose ourselves to it--"

"Are you insane?" Dae the back of his neck "You want us to expose ourselves to onyx?"

"Do you see any other option?"