The Burning Shadow

by Armentrout, Jennifer L.

  “Like a zombie?” Kent quipped from where he stood with his box of doughnuts.

  A brief grin appeared on Dawson’s face. “Yeah, like a zombie.”

  “He had eyes like Evie’s. Black with white pupils.”

  “Did he look like an Arum?” I asked. “Like he was made of smoke or anything?”

  Dawson’s gaze found mine. “He looked like an Arum, but he wasn’t one.”

  I sucked in an unsteady breath as I looked at Luc.

  “Well, this just gets more and more interesting.” Kent, still standing by the door, opened the box and pulled out a doughnut. “Just so everyone knows, your eyes are really starting to freak me out, Evie Beanie.”

  “Sorry?” I said. “I honestly have no control over it. I have no idea why they’re like this.”

  Kent bit into the doughnut.

  “The last time your eyes turned this way was after April used the sound wave thing,” Grayson spoke up, and it was the first time I realized he was even in the house. He was standing in the kitchen, and I had no idea how long he’d been there. “That wasn’t the only thing that happened.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I also turned into the Terminator.”

  “Are you the Terminator now?” Kent took another bite of his doughnut.

  “I … I don’t feel any different,” I said, turning to Luc as anxiety blossomed. “I mean, I feel normal except for the eyes.”

  “Is your head hurting?” he asked. “Anything like that?”

  I shook my head. “I was just really dizzy, but I feel normal now.”

  Luc leaned down, brushing his lips over my forehead as his gaze met Grayson’s. “I want you out there. Make sure no one is near—”

  There was a cracking noise as if a pebble had hit one of the windows, and the half-eaten doughnut slipped from Kent’s fingers.

  A shiver coursed down my spine as a horrifyingly familiar scene played out before me. Red, bright red sprayed into the air as Kent’s entire body jerked backward. The twins and Archer spun around, the latter wiping a hand over his face. Red was there, too, on his cheeks and now on his hand, and Kent’s blue hair turned dark, and half his head was gone, completely—

  Oh God.

  Oh my God …

  Kent was dead before he hit the floor.

  36

  I thought I was screaming, but it wasn’t me. It was Zoe. She burst past me with blinding speed, reaching Kent’s side as Grayson shot out of the kitchen, but it was too late.

  “What the hell?” Daemon shouted a second before shifting into his true form. A second later, Dawson joined him. They were twin brilliant lights shaped like humans.

  I started toward Kent in a daze, but Luc caught me with an arm around my waist. He lifted me right off my feet and spun around. The room blurred as the entire front window exploded.

  Men propelled through, boots first, and they landed with thick rifles aimed. The door flew off its hinges, falling into the wall. The back door followed, slamming against the stove. Men in straight-up tactical gear poured into the house along with the rain, guns drawn.

  Not normal guns.

  Terror seized my breath as I gripped Luc’s arm, recognizing the EMP-modified weapons.

  The men quickly spread out, aiming their guns on every living creature in the room. They could easily kill with just one twitch of the trigger. My wild gaze darted around the room as Luc held me close to his chest. Archer had his hands fisted at his sides. The twins were shifting back into their human forms; each of them had a gun leveled on them. Both Zoe and Grayson were rising, fury etched into their features.

  All the men, well over a dozen, wore the same kind of ski masks the men who’d entered my home had. They were the same group that had tracked us down to the house in Columbia. They’d found us here.

  One of the men spoke. “All we want is the girl.”

  Luc’s breath danced along my cheek. “At the risk of sounding cliché, over my dead body.”

  “That can easily be arranged.”

  I tensed.

  Luc’s chest rumbled against my back as he laughed. “Yeah, that’s not going to be easy.”

  “Well, we can make it easy, or we can make it hard.” The man speaking tilted his head to the side. “We prefer the easy way. Give us the girl, or we will start taking each of these people down, one by one.”

  The air crackled around Daemon.

  “And maybe you’ll take out a few of us in the process,” the man added, voice eerily calm. “But we’ll definitely take out a few of you. Willing to risk that?”

  I knew Luc’s answer to that. Yes, he would risk that.

  My heart pounded fast as I stared at the gun pointed at Zoe. She was fast, unbelievably so, but would she be fast enough? Or would she be like Kent? Gone before she even hit the floor? The same for Grayson—even though I was confident he still loathed me, I didn’t want to see him die. And what about the others? I didn’t know them all that well, but I liked them when they didn’t seem afraid of me, and I wanted them to make it home to their families, to their expecting wives.

  I shuddered as the back of my throat burned. And Luc? I loved him—I was in love with him, I couldn’t deal with him dying.

  I couldn’t deal with any more people dying because of me.

  And some of them or all of them were about to die because of me. These weapons would kill them all. A startling realization floated to the surface. There was only one way out of this for me.

  “Let us have the girl and all of you will walk out of here,” the man said again. “Alive and whole.”

  Daemon’s fingers twitched at his side. “Now I am super curious why you all would want a human girl but would let us live.”

  I was pretty confident at this point Daemon knew I wasn’t an ordinary human, but he was playing dumb.

  The man who was speaking didn’t take his eyes off of Luc and me. “We have no problems with the Luxen or the Origins.”

  My breath caught as Zoe’s eyes widened.

  “Well, obviously you don’t work for the government, then,” Daemon replied, his tone casual.

  Energy ramped up inside of Luc. I could feel it humming through him. His body vibrated with power. He shifted slightly, and I recognized my chance when I had it. He loosened his arm to move me so that I was behind him. I had seconds to make up my mind, but I didn’t need them.

  I thought of Kent lying on the floor.

  I thought of Mom.

  I thought of Chas and Clyde and God knows how many others who’d died because of me. And I thought about how Luc had saved my life, probably more times than I ever could realize, and it was now time for me to save his.

  I wrenched free, only catching a glimpse of the shock rippling across Luc’s face.

  “Okay!” I shouted, raising my hands. “You guys have me. I’m right here. You don’t need to hurt anyone.”

  Horror filled Zoe’s eyes. “Evie.”

  “It’s okay.” I stepped forward, toward the man who’d spoken. “It’s going to be okay.”

  I knew it wouldn’t be.

  I knew it wouldn’t be okay when one of the men gripped my arm and yanked me forward. Things weren’t going to be all right as I was propelled forward toward the open door. And I knew there was a good chance they would still try to kill everyone in that room, but I had to do something. I couldn’t stand on the sidelines any longer.

  My ears buzzed as I put one foot in front of the other. A numbness settled over me as I stepped out on the porch.

  Luc didn’t say a word, but I could still feel the immense power building behind me, stretching the seams of the house.

  Three more men waited there. One stepped forward, taking ahold of my other arm in a tight, biting grip. I wanted to say something snarky as I was dragged off the porch. I wanted to prove that I was brave and I wasn’t scared, but I was trembling so badly I couldn’t form words.

  Rain drenched my hair, tugging the strands free as I walked on weak legs. This was really happening, a
nd I knew what was coming. They weren’t taking me outside to have a chat with me. They weren’t leading me across the driveway, pushing me through the thick line of trees to take me to a picnic.

  “Stop,” a man barked.

  Soaked and shivering, I obeyed, staring straight ahead. Under the heavy trees, the rain didn’t fall as heavily, but the tree trunks blurred in front of me. I’m going to die. I couldn’t get enough air in. I was going to die before I even got to live my life, before I even knew what my life really was—who I really was.

  “On your knees,” the man ordered.

  My body reacted on instinct, starting to follow the command, but I stopped myself. “No,” I whispered.

  “What did you say?”

  “I’m not going to make this easy for you,” I said, my breath catching and releasing. I started to face him, because I’d be damned if I let them shoot me in the back of the head. “I’m—”

  Pain burst across my jaw, stunning me. Swaying, I almost went down as I lifted my hand to my throbbing jaw. I tasted blood in my mouth.

  A hand slammed into my back, shoving me forward. “Don’t let her turn around. She can’t see it coming, or it won’t work.”

  Another hand landed on my shoulder, forcing me down on my knees. Eyes wide, I fell forward, my fingers digging into the wet, loose soil. I opened my mouth. Blood dripped out, smacking off my hand.

  It was red. Plain, normal blood.

  A flare of dull pain lanced across the back of my skull as I saw myself again, standing in a white room, surrounded by men.

  Show them before they hurt you, the man’s voice whispered in my ear, and they had hurt me, over and over. I had the bruises to prove that, the aches that went beyond bone deep. Show them what you’re capable of. Prove to me you’re worth this gift of life. Show them! the voice screamed in my memories.

  It was like a switch being flipped somewhere deep inside my subconscious.

  Fear turned to rage, and it was red hot and powerful as it surged through me and then outward, a shock wave that rippled out.

  “Shit,” someone said. “Put her down. Put her down now—”

  I lifted my head to the man who stood in front of me, rifle in hand. I felt the ground under my hands sink and give way. The ground rumbled as I pictured the man before me being swallowed up by earth and rain. I wanted him gone.

  Rich, dark soil rippled out from my fingertips like a thousand snakes. It reached his booted feet in seconds, forming clumpy, thick vines. He shouted, jerking the barrel of the rifle up as he was yanked backward. The gun fired, shooting into the sky as the ground collapsed underneath him, sucking him up.

  And then he was gone.

  I rose, whipping around to the masked man behind me. I lifted my hand. “Fly.”

  A rush of burning wind lifted him up and up, above the trees and higher still, until he was lost in the thick clouds. I lowered my hand. The man followed, slamming into the wet soil with a fleshy smack.

  I turned toward a man backing up as he lowered his rifle, and I raised my hand.

  “No,” he said, holding up his hand. “No—”

  I curled my fingers into my palm.

  His head jerked to the right, and his shoulders caved. His chest crunched, and his legs folded as his arms broke and twisted. He was nothing more than a crumpled mess.

  A gun fired, and I whirled. The bullet didn’t strike me. Brilliant white light lit up the clearing. A cry of pain split the air. A rush of wind hit the clearing, and the man across from me fell forward, collapsing onto the ground. The gun was still clutched in his hand.

  The man’s body smoked, and that hadn’t been me.

  My head cocked to the side as I waited.

  Another shot rang out, a flash of blue, and the ground trembled. I saw the guns fly upward, ripped out of the men’s hands. They disappeared into the trees.

  He strode forward as if he hadn’t a care in the world. “I am really annoyed that I had to come out here in the rain”—he glanced in my direction, and he had the strangest purple eyes—“after you.”

  I frowned. “I don’t need you.”

  Movement snagged my attention. I threw my arm out, and the men to my left spun into the air, into the branches. They came back down to the earth at the speed of light.

  Someone charged the purple-eyed boy, and he tilted his head to the side. “Really?”

  The man didn’t slow down, and Purple Eyes stepped into the attack, catching him by the throat. There was a sickening crack just as another rushed his way.

  Laughing, he spun to the left and kicked, sweeping the legs out from underneath the man. Catching him by the front of his shirt, Purple Eyes slammed him into the ground. White light pulsed from his hand.

  I stopped, watching Purple Eyes. The man he held to the ground threw his head back, screaming as the glow washed over him. Within seconds, the glen filled with the scent of scorched flesh and earth.

  Purple Eyes was strong.

  Dangerous.

  Powerful.

  A threat.

  But I was more.

  I lifted both arms, and the trembling in the ground turned to a roar. All around, the trees thrashed and twisted as a great wind picked up, blowing my hair back. Broken tree limbs rose from the ground. One cut through the clearing, piercing the man closest to me straight in the chest. Another two went down that way, impaled deep into the ground.

  Energy charged the air. The smell of burned ozone increased. I rose off the ground, and the trees continued to shake and the ground rolled under me, buckling as lightning struck close—too close.

  The trees ripped from the ground, exposing long, gnarled roots. A cloud of rich, wet earth sprayed.

  “Holy shit,” someone whispered.

  I clapped my hands together.

  The trees flew across the clearing, and Purple Eyes ducked, hitting the ground as fleshy grunts sounded, followed by shocked screams that ended abruptly. There was a loud crash.

  And then silence.

  My arms lowered to my sides as I spread my fingers out, bringing myself to the ground.

  A twig snapped, and I focused on Purple Eyes. He prowled toward me, and I lifted my hand.

  He stopped, eyes widening slightly as his wet hair curled back from his forehead. “Peaches…”

  I stared at him.

  Slowly, he lifted his hands as if in surrender. “Evie, it’s okay…”

  Names.

  Names flickered through my thoughts. Nadia. Evie. Peaches. They held meaning, carried weight, but he was powerful. He could hurt me, and I could not allow that. Not again. Never again.

  “It’s me.” His voice was gentle. “Evie, it’s me.”

  “You doing some landscaping?” I heard someone ask, and I turned to the sound of the voice.

  It was a dark-haired man with emerald-green eyes. Behind him, I saw an identical replica of him, and there were two blondes, and a girl with deep brown skin. There were masked men still alive, survivors, staggering to their feet. They turned, darting off between the trees.

  One of the dark-haired men and the tall blonde took off, disappearing after them. The masked men could run, but a … Luxen would always, always be faster. They were Luxen. The two who ran after those men. I knew what they were, and they were also threats.

  “That wasn’t me,” the one who’d come to fight beside me said. Purple Eyes. “That was her.”

  The dark-haired Luxen swore under his breath, and I felt the power rippling inside me again as I moved my head from side to side. A white glow began to form around him, a showcase of his strength.

  A challenge.

  A threat.

  “Daemon,” Purple Eyes said. “I’m going to need you to do what I say and run.”

  “What?” the Luxen called Daemon said.

  “Now,” the other ordered. “Dammit, run, now.”

  Too late.

  I lifted my hand and summoned the rage inside me, letting it whip out and find its target.

  3
7

  A bolt of inky black tinged in whitish-red light erupted from my palm, striking the one called Daemon in the shoulder. He flew backward. There was a shout of pain as Daemon rolled into the tree, flickering in and out of his true form as I turned my hand palm up, curling my fingers inward. Daemon lifted off the ground, twisting and struggling as I drew him toward me. He wasn’t dead. Yet. That would change—

  “Stop!” Purple Eyes shouted. “Stop it now, Evie!”

  Evie.

  Purple Eyes was now standing in front of the Luxen, his wet hair blowing back from his stark face, his shirt tearing around his shoulders.

  Everything in me focused on him. I tilted my head to the side as I curled my hand into a fist, picturing his body caving and cracking, giving way to me.

  But that didn’t happen.

  He took a step toward me, lips peeled back in a snarl. “Evie, it’s me. Luc. I need you to stop this. Now.”

  I squeezed my hand tighter.

  He made it another step, a hole appearing in his jeans, along his knee. He shuddered as his chin lifted. “It’s me. I’m here. Evie, I need you to come back to me.”

  I didn’t understand how he was still standing. I didn’t understand why he was here, why his voice was drowning out the other, who demanded that I prove I was the strongest, that I was the best.

  The front of his shirt ripped. Pinpricks of reddish-blue blood appeared on his cheeks as his pupils gleamed all white.

  Tension poured into my muscles as something or someone began screaming in the back of my head. The shirt tore across his chest as he skidded back a foot. He was caving. I could see it in the way his shoulders bent and in the whites of his eyes and the tautness of his mouth. He was power personified.

  But I was virtually a god.

  Purple Eyes went down on one knee. “Don’t do this,” he gasped, head twisting to the side. Muscles along his neck strained. “Don’t do this.”

  I smiled.

  He slammed a hand into the ground, barely holding himself up as veins filled with white under his skin. His left hand followed, punching into the loose soil. His back bowed.

  “Nadia.” His voice cracked.

  I jolted, my entire being recoiled. My concentration weakened. The power flickered and retracted in waves.