forward.
Simon spun around and took off, stumbling and limping over bushes. A white glow burned around him. He was traced. I didn’t give a shit. Dead silence fell between us. Even the music seemed to have disappeared. I took a few precious seconds to calm myself down. It wasn’t working. I started walking, a couple of feet between us because my fury was too close to the surface. I knew my eyes were glowing at this point, and I knew there was a good chance Simon had seen that briefly.
Something shimmery on the ground caught my attention.
Kat’s shawl.
Snatching it off the ground, I turned around and headed back to where Kat still stood. It was the first time I was getting a good look at her. Curls had slipped free, falling around her face. Her eyes were bright, even in the darkness. My gaze dropped. The front of her red dress was torn.
I was going to kill Simon.
Cursing under my breath, I handed the shawl to her. She took it with shaking hands.
“I know,” she whispered, pressing the shawl to the front of her ruined dress. “Please don’t say it.”
“Say what? That I told you so?” Disgust dripped from my tone. “Even I’m not that much of an ass. Are you okay?”
She nodded and drew in a deep breath. “Thank you.”
I watched her shiver. The shawl hid nothing, covered nothing. Shrugging off the tux jacket, I stepped around her and draped it over her shoulders. “Here.” My voice was rough. “Put this on. It will…cover up everything.”
Kat looked down at herself, and her shoulders tensed. She shoved her arms into my jacket and then tugged the edges together. Pressing her lips together, she fiddled with it, not looking at me, not looking at anything.
I was so going to kill Simon.
Besides murdering him very slowly, I also wanted to…I wanted to gather Kat close. I wanted to hold her, and the urge was intense and entirely unfamiliar to me. I wasn’t even sure she’d want my comfort. I wasn’t even sure I could give it.
But I hated seeing her like this.
Placing the tips of my fingers against her cheek, I smoothed back some of the wild strands of hair. Her gaze lifted. Those beautiful gray eyes were full of tears.
“Come on,” I whispered. “I’m taking you home.”
Her gaze searched mine, and then she nodded. She took one step before she said, “Wait.”
Was she really going to argue with me now? “Kat.”
“Won’t Simon have a trace on him, like me?”
“He does.”
“But—”
“It’s not my problem right now.” I took her hand, steering her down the worn path. Truth was, the trace on Simon was strong enough to attract the attention of an Arum, and I knew it made me terrible, but I didn’t care. Not right now.
We reached my car, and I opened the passenger door for her. She peeked over at me and then climbed in. I closed the door and headed around the front of the SUV while I pulled out my phone. I texted Dee, letting her know I was taking Kat home. I didn’t mention what happened. That was up to Kat if she wanted to go into detail.
Once inside, I passed a short look in Kat’s direction. “I let Dee know I was taking you home. When I got here, she said she saw you but couldn’t find you.”
She nodded as she yanked on the seat belt. The jerky motion caused the belt to get stuck. Frustration poured out of her. “Dammit!”
Leaning over the center console, I gently pried her icy fingers off the strap and tilted my head as I pulled on it. My jaw grazed her cheek and then my lips, and I liked to think that last part was accidental. But I wasn’t sure. I locked down those thoughts, ignoring the rush of sensations the brief touches conjured. The seat belt was twisted, and I set about straightening it. As I flipped the strap over, the back of my knuckles brushed across her chest. The jacket I’d given her had gaped open, probably while she struggled with the restraint, and there was nothing between the back of my hand and the swell of her chest.
That hadn’t been on purpose.
I jerked my hand back as I lifted my gaze to hers.
Holy shit, when did we get this close?
There was maybe an inch between our mouths, and her sweet breath danced over my lips. The back of my damn hand tingled like I’d shoved it into an electric socket—a really soft electric socket. As if compelled, my gaze lowered to her parted lips. I wanted…
What I wanted was wrong, way wrong. Kat had almost been assaulted, for Christ’s sake.
I clicked her seat belt in and then returned to my side of the SUV, turning the key. Reaching over, I kicked on the heat, then I clutched the steering wheel, damn near cracking it as I navigated my way out of the field strewn with cars.
We didn’t talk.
Thick, strained silence filled the inside of the car. I glanced over at Kat several times during the drive. Her head was resting back against the seat and her eyes were closed. I didn’t think she was asleep. Not when her hands were so tightly balled in her lap.
I had no idea what she was thinking, but if she was thinking half of what was going through my head, she had to be going crazy over there. Because I was still thinking about killing Simon. I was thinking about how Kat looked standing there, her eyes filling with tears. I thought about the front of her dress torn and how close…how close she came to something horrific happening. And I wanted to kill Simon more. I was also thinking about those moments when we first got in the car and how close our mouths had been.
I was thinking about the fact that I wanted to kiss her.
And I shouldn’t want that. I couldn’t want that.
Halfway to the house, I decided I needed to hear her voice, to know that she was okay over there. “Kat?” She didn’t respond. Her eyes remained closed, and I figured she was ignoring me. For some reason, I sensed that—
Then I felt it.
As if the air conditioner had suddenly been cranked on high, a blast of iciness slammed into me. My gut clenched. Several feet ahead, a black shadow formed in the center of the road.
“Shit!” I slammed on the brakes.
Kat jerked in her seat, her hands landing on the dashboard as the SUV skidded to a halt. A second later, the car turned off, engine, lights—everything.
Well, hell…
The shadow contorted, taking shape. Within a heartbeat, a man stood where the shadow had been. Dressed in dark jeans and a leather jacket, I thought it looked pretty damn stupid wearing sunglasses at night. This one was identical to the one I killed the night at the library.
And he brought his brothers.
A shadow slipped from the side of the road, and then another. Two more joined the one in the center of the road. Three of them.
“Daemon,” Kat whispered. “Who are they?”
My vision tinted with a fierce white light. “Arum.”
Chapter 20
Normally I would’ve welcomed this throw-down, especially after dealing with Simon. I had some pent-up aggression I really wanted to beat out of something, but not with Kat nearby. I didn’t want her exposed to these creatures. They could kill her with a snap of their wrists.
Kat needed to get out of here.
That was the priority.
Keeping my eyes on the Arum, I reached down and yanked up my pants leg. My fingers brushed the leather binding around one end of the obsidian blade and I pulled it free.
“This is obsidian—volcanic glass.” I placed it in her shaking hands, wrapping her fingers around the fashioned handle. “The edge is wicked sharp and will cut through anything. It’s the only thing on this planet, besides us, that can kill the Arum. This is their kryptonite.”
Kat stared at me, shaking her head silently.
“Come on, pretty boy!” yelled the Arum in the front, his voice sharp as razors and guttural. “Come out and play!”
Such clichéd assholes.
Ignoring them, I cradled her cheeks, forcing her terrified gaze to mine. “Listen to me, Kat. When I tell you to run, you run and you don’t look
back no matter what. If any of them—any—chase you, all you have to do is stab them anywhere with the obsidian.”
“Daemon—”
“No. You run when I tell you to run, Kat. Say you understand.”
Her chest rose and fell heavily. “Please don’t do this! Run with me—”
“I can’t. Dee is at that party.” I held her gaze. “Run when I tell you.”
Kat’s lips trembled, and I let my gaze soak in her features for one more second, committing the height of her cheekbones to memory, along with the bow shape of her lips and those endless gray eyes. Then I let go and opened up the car door. I rounded the grille on the SUV, smiling at the three Arum. “Wow. You guys are uglier as humans than in your true form. Didn’t think that was possible. You look like you’ve been living under a rock. See the sun much?”
The one in the center bared his teeth like a wild animal. “You have your arrogance now, like all Luxen. But where will your arrogance be when we absorb your powers?”
“In the same place as my foot.” My hands balled into fists.
The middle Arum tilted his head in confusion.
It was never fun when I had to explain what I meant. “You know, as in up your ass.” I smiled and the two Arum hissed. “Wait. You guys look familiar. Yeah, I know. I’ve killed one of your brothers. Sorry about that. What was his name? You guys all look alike to me.”
Their forms started flickering in and out, turning from human to shade and back again. My goal was to get them really pissed and a hundred percent focused on me so that Kat could slip away. It appeared to be working.
“I’ll rip your essence from your body,” the Arum growled, “and you will beg for mercy.”
“Like your brethren did?” I retorted. “Because he begged—he cried like a wounded animal before I ended his existence.”
And that was it. The Arum bellowed in unison, the sound of howling winds and death. I threw up my hands, summoning the Source. It rose inside me, powerful and all-consuming, and then spread outside of me, tapping into the tiny particles of energy that existed inside everything on this planet. The very air around me heated, causing a series of loud cracks.
God, it felt real good to let loose.
An earthy scent filled the air as the nearby trees lifted. Dirt clung to their thick roots. I flicked a finger. The closest tree, a large elm, slammed into the back of an Arum, knocking him several yards down the road. Trees flew into the road, one by one, but the other two Arum were just a little bit smarter than the one peeling himself off the cracked asphalt.
I pulled on the Source again. Chunks of asphalt cracked and gave way along the shoulder of the road. Pieces of it lifted in the air, spinning as it turned a bright orange, heated like lava. I winged those suckers at the Arum as the two blinked in and out, avoiding the branches from the trees. One of the Arum threw his hand back.
Then they were done playing. So was I.
As the smell of burned tar filled the air, I shifted into my true form. One of them rushed me as I slammed my hands together. The Source rippled out, hitting the nearest Arum. The blast spun him up in the air, a direct and lethal hit, momentarily knocking him into his human form. Dark sunglasses shattered. Pieces floated in the air, suspended. Another clap followed, and the Arum exploded in an array of dazzling lights that fell like a thousand twinkling stars.
I threw out my arm again, and the other Arum flew back several feet, spinning and tumbling through the air, but he landed in a crouch.
It was time for Kat to go.
Run. I spoke to her in my true form. Run now, Kat. Don’t look back. Run!
All I heard was the car door open and then everything was lost in the sound of the Arum howling. The other one was back and the remaining one was circling me. I darted to the right as one of them released a dark essence, a ball of shadow-filled energy that would be fatal if it hit me. I spun out as it shot over my shoulder. Like a thick glob of oil, when it smacked into one of the fallen trees, the energy ripped it in two.
Damn.
Pulling the Source, I formed a ball of iridescent light in the palm of my hand and then hurled the plasma ball right back at them.
The Arum weren’t as fast as me, but they were avoiding the balls, and I knew, in my bones I knew what they were doing—wearing me down, tiring me out, like we were boxing. We all were moving, darting back and forth. My hold on my true form flickered.
The Arum seized that one moment of weakness.
One rushed me from the front and, as I braced myself for a full-body attack, the other sped up. I twisted, trying to keep it in sight. A second where I took my eyes off one, and I made a huge mistake. Twisting at the waist, I threw out another blast of energy, but it fizzled out before reaching the Arum, skidding across the road in a shower of sparks.
Shadowy arms went around my neck from behind, immediately chilling. Ice drenched me as I reached up, allowing fingers to form. I wrapped them around the arm choking me, but he brought me down to one knee.
“Ready to beg?” the Arum in front of me taunted, taking human form. “Please do. It would mean a lot to hear the word ‘please’ leaking from your lips as I take everything from you.”
Light crackled all around me as I lifted my head. Still in my true form, I called on the Source one last time.
“Silence to the end, eh? So be it.” The Arum stepped forward, lifting his head. “Baruck, it is time.”
Baruck forced me to stand. “Do it now, Sarefeth!”
There was no way I was going down like this. No way in hell. Dee was at that party with Adam. They’d find her. And Kat was out there, somewhere and too close. Hell no. This wasn’t happening. This wasn’t going to happen to my sister. This wasn’t going to happen to Kat. Energy built and expanded just as the one in front of me—Sarefeth—shifted into his true form, nothing more than smoke. I drew on the power as he slammed his hand against my chest, into my chest. My back bowed as I ground down. Pain exploded in every cell, startling me. Never had I felt anything like that. It seized every part of me, forcing a scream out of me as I briefly shifted into my human form.
Without any warning, the Arum in front of me, the one named Sarefeth, jerked his hand free from me and spun away. Pain still rippled throughout me, causing me to shift back and forth between forms, but I…I had to be hallucinating, because I saw her.
Kat was standing a few feet behind Sarefeth, like some kind of warrior princess, hair wild and red dress torn, the obsidian blade glowing red in her hand. Then Sarefeth exploded, breaking into pieces and floating up to the sky.
Baruck released me as I shifted back into my true form. I tried to push past the pain of the feeding as Baruck started toward Kat, but the Arum changed course, shifting into nothing more than a shadow, pulling the darkness into him, fleeing toward the other side of the road like a coiled snake and disappearing into the night.
Then Kat was at my side, on her knees. “Daemon—Daemon, please say something.”
My light flared, throwing off heat that had to be too intense for Kat. I slowly became aware of my hands pressing into the cracked and burned pavement. I thought I heard Kat cry, and that—that forced me to pull it together. I shifted into my human form and reached out, grabbing her arm as she started to scuttle away.
“Daemon, oh God, are you okay?” She was back at my side, her palm pressed to my cheek. The feeling of her hand… God. “Please tell me you’re okay? Please!”
Slowly, I lifted my head and placed my other hand over hers, the one against my cheek. “Remind me to never piss you off again. Christ, are you secretly a ninja?”
Kat laughed and sobbed in the same breath, and then she threw herself at me. I caught her and barely stopped myself from tumbling over backward. My hand delved deep into the mass of hair that had fallen free, and I held her just as tightly as she clung to me. She pressed herself to me like she was trying to become one with me, and even though my skin felt raw, the pain was nothing compared to the feeling of her right in that moment.
I pressed my forehead against her shoulder. “You didn’t listen to me.”
“I never listen to you.” She squeezed me hard before pulling back. Her gaze roamed over my face. “Are you hurt? Is there anything I can do?”
“You’ve already done enough, Kitten.” Gathering my strength, I pushed to my feet, bringing her along with me. I took in the destruction around us. “We need to get out of here before anyone comes.”
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