The Burning Shadow

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  No.

  I shook my head as I stared at what had been my mom, in her true form. I knew what that meant. I already knew, because her chest wasn’t moving, and she wasn’t breathing, and I couldn’t take back anything I said to her. I couldn’t change any of it.

  I curled my fingers into my palms, digging my nails in as I briefly squeezed my eyes shut. My mouth ripped open, but I didn’t make a sound. I couldn’t. Rage and terror choked me. I screamed—screamed from deep inside, jangling my skull and jarring my insides.

  The floor rattled underneath me. The bed shook beside me. The dresser trembled, and the entire house shook—

  “Back door open. Left rear window open.”

  I sucked in a sharp gasp.

  That was the house alarm. My gaze flew from my mother’s translucent face to the open bedroom door. Icy fingers of fear dragged down my spine. That wasn’t Luc. He came to the window. Granted, someone just shot through said window, but if Luc were here, he wouldn’t trigger an alarm.

  “System disarmed. Ready to arm.”

  Air punched out of my lungs. The house alarm had just been turned off. No one besides Mom and I had the code …

  Someone was in the house. Instinct screamed at me to get up and get moving.

  Body shaking, I rose and backed away from Mom. Her body blurred as my vision swam. I couldn’t even think about what her body looked like right now, what that could mean. What do I do? What do I do? Turning around, I saw the bag and wad of cash.

  Get out of the house and call Luc. Hiding was stupid. I’d seen Taken enough times to know that never ended well. Fighting back wasn’t an option unless I miraculously turned into the Terminator again, and I didn’t feel like a badass at the moment.

  Moving as if I were caught in a dream, I grabbed the envelope and shoved it into my bag, wincing when I left bloody fingerprints behind.

  I wiped my palms along my hips and then darted back to the bed, grabbing my cell phone. I started to turn, but then stopped, snatching up Diesel. I spun, having no idea where my charger was. Maybe in my book bag? There was no time. I ran back to the bag as I dialed Luc’s number. It rang … and rang, and that was bad, because Luc always answered on the first or second ring.

  What if they’d come for him, too?

  Pressure clamped down on my chest as I hung up the phone and dropped it in my bag. I couldn’t think of that right now. I couldn’t think of … of Mom. Grabbing the strap, I draped it over my shoulder.

  Inhaling deeply, I crept toward the open door. I didn’t look back. I couldn’t look back. I had to focus. That’s what Luc would tell me. To focus. But it was hard, because as I stepped out onto the hardwood, every step I took sounded like a herd of cows stomping their feet. Tremors racked every limb of my body. I inched out into the hall, keeping close to the wall.

  The foyer light was off, but there was a soft glow coming from the sitting room. I didn’t hear anything, but I knew someone had to be in the house. The only way out was going downstairs.

  I didn’t want to look.

  I didn’t want to move.

  But I had to.

  Peeling away from the wall, I held my breath as I made my way to the railing. Sweat dampened my forehead as I looked down. At first, I didn’t see anything.

  Then I saw a rifle.

  Like the assault rifle the ART officers carried. Whoever was carrying the rifle was dressed all in black. His face was covered. Not by one of those SWAT-like helmets but by a black ski mask I imagined murderers wore.

  Murdery Dude wasn’t alone.

  Another man or woman was behind him, and then I saw another. I stopped counting as I saw four, because they were heading for the stairs.

  Shit.

  I stumbled back from the railing and pressed against the wall. If I was going to turn into a badass assassin, now was the time. Now was—

  I opened my mouth but couldn’t get in enough air. Panic clawed its way through me. They were here for me. My chest compressed. Don’t think about this. Not right now. My wild gaze swung around the hallway, landing on my mom’s bedroom door. I started to move, because all I could do at this point was hide.

  The doorknob on my mom’s bedroom door turned.

  My heart stopped.

  Oh no.

  I could hear boots on the steps. The edges of my vision darkened as the bedroom door opened soundlessly. Muscles locked up as I prepared to be riddled with bullets.

  Terror consumed me like a rising tide. Without warning, the ligaments and muscles in my knees just stopped working. My body slid down the wall. They were coming from both sides. I was screwed every which way from Sunday, and whatever was inside me earlier when I’d faced April wasn’t there anymore. I was going to die.

  I was going to die before I even had a chance to tell Luc—

  A form stepped out from Mom’s bedroom, long legs quickly eating up the distance between us. I shrank back, trying to make myself invisible, but it was no use.

  Death strode forward, and my eyes adjusted to the darkness, picking out features—familiar features. Full lips quirked in a smirk. On his gray shirt was one of those red-and-white stick-on name tags that said HI MY NAME IS and written in black marker in the white space was TERMINATOR.

  Terminator?

  He extended his hand toward me when he was a few feet from me. “Come with me if you want to live.”

  I opened my mouth, and a harsh, low laugh barked out of me as I dragged my gaze up to his. The pressure clamped down harder on my chest.

  Luc stood before me.

  His gaze moved from his hand to my face. “You’re supposed to take my hand, and I’m supposed to pull you to your feet.”

  I stared up at him, breathing heavily.

  “Then I save you like a total badass.” He cocked his head to the side. “This is not panning out like I’d anticipated.” Closing his hand, he lowered his arm. “And this is getting kind of awkward.”

  “What?” I breathed. That was the only word I could get out.

  His gaze flickered to the stairwell. “Terminator 2. Peaches, if you haven’t seen the movie, we’re going to have problems.” Those deep violet eyes shot back to me. “Please tell me you’re an Arnold fan? If not, I might cry.”

  My blood-covered fingers dug into the strap of my bag. “Are you seriously asking me—”

  He moved unbelievably fast.

  Luc grasped my arm. One second I was half crouched against the wall, and the next I was stumbling backward. I bumped into the wall as he walked to the center of the hallway, just as a ski mask–covered face cleared the top of the steps.

  “Are you an Arnold fan?” Luc asked again, this time addressing the guy.

  The commando-looking dude swung the rifle toward Luc. A red dot skated off the wall, landing on the center of Luc’s chest. My breath caught as I pushed off the wall. Not again—

  “I’m going to take that as a no.” Luc shot to the side, grabbing me as the man fired. The bullet slammed into the wall.

  Luc was a blur as he let go of my arm and darted forward, whipping the rifle out of the guy’s hand. “Already been shot this week. Not looking for a repeat.”

  A heartbeat later, the commando went flying over the railing. His shout of surprise ended in a grunt and fleshy thud.

  Two seconds.

  That was maybe how many seconds passed.

  Holy crap.

  Backing up, I spun around, prepared to run, but I stumbled as I saw Zoe—

  Downstairs, the front door blew open and ripped right off the hinges, crashing into one of the men in the foyer. He was pinned to the floor like a squashed bug. Standing in the doorway was Grayson, who looked normal for all of about five seconds, but then he lit up from the inside. A network of bright white veins appeared under his skin. Static filled the air.

  “Evie…” Zoe didn’t look at me as she strode forward. “You need to run.”

  I ran.

  I went straight for my mom’s bedroom, the heavy bag thumping off
my thigh. Someone shouted out in pain behind me, but I didn’t look as I barreled into the bedroom, catching the door and slamming it shut.

  Tripping over my own feet, I turned as I shoved my hair back from my face. Mom’s room was dark—too dark. I smacked along the wall, hitting the switch. Light flooded the room. The curtain in front of the window swayed in the breeze.

  I knew I wasn’t thinking straight. Later, I would hate that I ran, but at the moment, nothing was making sense in my head. Nothing—

  “Oh God,” I whispered, swallowing hard as I scanned Mom’s room. Her sneakers were tucked under the bench at the foot of the bed. Next to them were her fuzzy kitten slippers that were just so ridiculous. She’d bought them for herself on her last birthday.

  My throat constricted as tears filled my eyes. Oh God, she was lying on my bedroom floor dead, and I couldn’t do this. The bitter bite of loss was all consuming, sucking out energy and—

  Cutting those thoughts off, I told myself I needed to get it together. I had to, because there were only two roads in front of me. Survive or give up, and I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want to hide. I wanted to fight.

  That’s what you are trained for …

  The voice doubled me over as dull pain flared behind my eyes. It was him, the male.

  The bedroom door swung open, and Luc’s intense gaze swept over my face and then down, lingering on my arms and hands. “Are you hurt?”

  “No.” My hands were shaking. “The blood isn’t … it isn’t mine.”

  “Then who—?” Understanding flared in his face, and he cursed swiftly. “Evie…”

  The way he said my name, full of sorrow, nearly broke me, because it was heavy and genuine, and he knew.

  “She said … she said they were coming for me.”

  A thump hit the wall outside of the bedroom as he stared at me.

  “How did you know to come? I called you, but you didn’t answer.”

  Luc moved before I could track him. It felt like a heartbeat had passed, and then he was right in front of me, clasping my cheeks. “We don’t have time for any of that right now.”

  He was right.

  I slipped free, putting distance between us. “But—”

  “Sylvia called me about an hour ago, but I was … occupied. I came as soon as I got the message, apparently with either the best or the worst timing, depending on who you ask.”

  That was literally the last thing I expected him to say.

  “Now, I need you to be brave, Evie, like I know you can be, because we need to get the hell out of here. We’re almost out of time.”

  Body trembling, I nodded. “I’m ready.”

  Something loud crashed outside the bedroom, and I jumped, half expecting someone or something to break down the door.

  Luc pivoted, stalking toward the window. With a wave of his hand, the curtains flew across the room. “This is our only way out.”

  “The window? How am I supposed to get out of the house through that window?”

  He looked over his shoulder. “You jump.”

  My mouth dropped open. “I know I went badass on April, but I don’t think I can jump out of this window.”

  He twisted at the waist and extended his hand to me. “I’ll make sure you land safely.”

  My gaze flicked from his face to his hand. I knew he’d make sure I didn’t break my neck, but jumping out of a window … “What about Zoe?”

  “She’ll be fine,” he said. “Give me your bag.”

  Lifting it off my shoulder, I handed it over. Luc took it. “What do you have in this? A baby?”

  “I don’t know. Mom—” My breath caught. “She packed it.”

  He didn’t respond to that and dropped the bag out the window. I didn’t even hear it hit the patio below—the hard, cement patio a neck-breaking distance below. He was crouched in the windowsill in less than a nanosecond, perched there like he had all the room in the world. “Hop up.”

  My gaze bounced from him to the window and then to his hand. In a daze, I placed my hand in his.

  Because I trusted him.

  Irrevocably.

  Luc’s fingers were warm as they wrapped around mine. I got one leg up as I gripped the window frame. I peered down into the darkness, feeling like I couldn’t catch my breath.

  Luc shifted, circling an arm around my waist. His lips brushed the curve of my cheek. “You’re going to be okay.”

  Then he moved.

  There was no time to react. He pushed out from the window. A second later, we were in the air. There wasn’t even a moment to scream. The night reached up and swallowed us whole, dragging us down so fast the wind caught my hair, plastering it to my face.

  The impact was jarring.

  Landing on his feet, Luc took the brunt of the fall—a fall that would’ve snapped the legs of a human in half. He didn’t even stumble. Straightening, he still had ahold of my hand as he picked up my bag. “We’ve got to go.”

  Luc started running, and I went with him, not given a real chance to think about the fact I’d just jumped out of a two-story window and survived. Dogs barked as we crossed several more yards. I was panting as he cut down the side of one of the houses several down from mine, racing toward the street. Sweat poured, and my heart felt like it was going to claw its way out of my chest.

  A dark SUV waited on the curb. Luc let go of my hand and opened the back door, and I didn’t hesitate. Scrambling into the back seat, I was relieved to be greeted with Kent’s blue mohawk.

  But something was wrong.

  Under the glow of the dome light, I could see that his lip was busted. There was a dark, ugly bruise on his face, above his left cheekbone.

  I gripped the back of his seat as Luc tossed my bag in beside me. “Are you okay?”

  “Seen better days, honeybuns.”

  Luc was next to me, slamming the door shut. “Go.”

  I twisted toward him. “What about Zoe? Grayson?”

  “They know where to meet us.” He immediately found the seat belt, dragging it across me and hooking it. “We’re not having a repeat of last time.”

  Kent tore away from the curb, gunning it as I looked behind us, half expecting to see cars giving chase. The street was empty and dark.

  “What happened?” I turned to Luc, thinking of Kent’s face, the call that sent him to the club. Knots crowded my stomach. “Something happened. What?”

  Luc leaned back, exhaling heavily in the silence. There were no arguments. No music blaring. This was bad. “It wasn’t just Officer Bromberg who came. It was him and a damn near army of ART officers.”

  My hands slipped off the back of Kent’s seat.

  “The executive order,” he continued, staring out the window. “They didn’t just raid Foretoken, they razed it. Took everyone before I even got there, and those that didn’t go willingly…”

  No.

  “Who?” I whispered.

  “Chas.” Luc’s voice was flat. “Clyde. They’re … gone. Dead.”

  No.

  “Kent got out. So did Grayson.”

  But—there was always a but.

  “They took Emery and Heidi,” he said, voice razor sharp while I felt my insides start to cave. “That’s why I was occupied. Not at the club but at a holding area. I got them out. It was rather … explosive, and I’m sure it will be headline news in the morning.”

  Relief swept through me, but it didn’t last long. Headlines tomorrow? Clyde? Chas? I didn’t know them well, at least not as Evie, but their loss …

  And Mom’s …

  I sucked in a shaky breath. “Where are they? Emery and Heidi.”

  “Somewhere safe for the time being. We can’t worry about them right now.” Luc looked over at me, and I wasn’t sure how I was not supposed to worry about them—about Zoe. Even Grayson. “They knew. They made sure I was occupied, and then they made their move for you. This was a setup, Evie.”

  28

  They failed.

  This was a set
up, a massive one, targeting Luc’s place and mine, but they failed to capture or kill me.

  I tried to sort through it all. “The club? You said it was razed?”

  “Nothing but smoke and embers now,” Kent answered from the front. “But that was Luc.”

  Luc wasn’t looking at me anymore. He was focused on the darkness outside the window. “Once I got there, saw what was going down, and I made sure no one was left, I got a little angry. Needed to get rid of it, though. We were careful, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t evidence.”

  Like April’s body?

  I reached over, placing my hand on his arm. “I’m … I’m sorry about Chas and Clyde. About everything.”

  He moved his arm to his leg, and my fingers curled around empty air. “It wasn’t until I got to the facility they were holding Emery and Heidi in that I knew what was going down at your place.”

  “How?” I pulled my hand back, holding it to my chest.

  “Radio transmissions.” Kent’s laugh was without humor. “Stupid commandos. We overheard them talking. Heard your address.”

  “And then I saw Sylvia’s message,” Luc added. “She said that I needed to come and get you out. That they were coming for you.”

  I jerked. “Just get me and not her?”

  Luc’s silence was answer enough, and I wondered if she’d even planned to leave that house. If she knew …

  Pulling myself away from those thoughts, I rubbed my hands on my legs. “It was the Daedalus?”

  “Yes,” Luc growled, and white light flickered over his knuckles. “It was the Daedalus.”

  * * *

  The drive was a blur of shadowy trees and then homes. All I knew was that when the SUV pulled into a narrow alley behind a row of dark homes, we were outside of Columbia.

  I followed Luc out of the back seat, gasping and stumbling back into the side of the SUV when Grayson suddenly appeared beside Luc—alone.

  I tasted fear on my tongue. “Where’s Zoe?”

  “She’s okay,” he answered, and I wanted to hear more than that. I needed to see it.

  Luc placed a hand on my shoulder, guiding me away from the SUV a few seconds before Kent drove off. “Where is he going?” I asked.