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“Daemon—”
“Dammit, Dee, text me her number now!” I shouted, my heart pounding as I hung up. Why would Kat do this? It was suicide. Why? A second passed and then Dee’s text came through. Hitting the numbers, I waited as the phone rang.
“Hello?” Kat’s voice was another hit to the chest.
I lost it.
“Are you out of your freaking mind?” I yelled into the phone, swerving around a slow-moving sedan. “This has to be the stupidest thing—”
“Shut up, Daemon!” she screeched. “It’s done. Okay? Is Dee okay?”
Is Dee okay? Did she not realize what she had just done?
Kat was insane!
“Yes, Dee’s okay. But you’re not! We’ve lost him, and since Dee said you’re glowing like a goddamn full moon right now, I’m betting he’s after you.”
There was a pause. “Well, that was the plan.”
“I swear on every star in the sky, I’m going to strangle you when I get my hands on you.” I was literally going to do it. “Where are you?”
“I’m almost to the field,” she said. “I don’t see him.”
“Of course you don’t see him.” Good God… “He’s made of shadows—of night , Kat. You won’t see him until he wants you to. I can’t believe you did this.”
“Don’t you start with me!” she yelled back. “You said I was a weakness. And I was a liability back there with Dee. What if he came there? You said yourself he’d use me against her. This was the best I could do! So stop being such a damn jerk!”
No.
Oh no.
For a moment, I didn’t even see the road in front of me. The horror nearly consumed me. “I didn’t mean for you to do this , Kat. Never something like this .”
Her deep breath was audible. “You didn’t make me do this.”
I pressed my lips together. “Yeah, I did.”
“Daemon—”
“I’m sorry. I don’t want you hurt, Kat. I can’t— I can’t live with that.” Once those words were out, there was no taking them back. They were the truth. “Stay on the phone. I’m going to find a place to ditch the car and I’ll meet you. It won’t take more than a few minutes to get there. Don’t get out of the car or anything.”
“Okay,” she said and then, “maybe this wasn’t the strongest idea.”
I barked out a short, harsh laugh as I spied the last of the headlights disappearing in the rearview mirror. I pulled over. “No shit.”
“So, um, the not living with your—” She broke off suddenly as I killed the engine and threw open the car door. “Daemon?”
“What?”
“I think—” A scream cut her off.
My skin chilled. “Kat?”
Nothing.
“Katy!”
No answer.
Oh no. No. No.
Tossing the phone into the SUV, I slammed the door shut and then took off for the wooded line, switching into my true form and picking up speed. I ran faster than I ever had before, my form barely touching the ground. Scenarios swirled in my head. Kat beaten. Broken. Dead. I couldn’t get the thoughts out of my head.
Only minutes had passed, maybe two by the time I reached the clearing, but it was more than enough time for Baruck to have seriously injured Kat or worse. I flew past the burned-out remains of the bonfire, nothing more than charred logs and scattered ash. Through the trees, I spied a bright white light rise too far in the air to be Kat unless…
I dug in, clearing the first stand of trees, and then I saw him—I saw Kat . The Arum held her up in the air with a hand around her throat, and his other was inside her chest. He was feeding on her. Rage tasted like metal in the back of my throat. I shifted into my human form as fury erupted out of me in a roar.
The Arum’s shadowy head turned over his shoulder just as I slammed into him, breaking his hold on Kat. She fell to the ground in a messy heap and she didn’t get up. I landed in front of her in a crouch, the Arum several feet away.
I rose as the Arum did, both of us eye to eye.
“You’ve come to die with her? Perfect,” Baruck said in his human form, rapidly moving from left to right. “That makes this so much easier, because I think I might have broken her. She tasted good, too. Different somehow,” he taunted. “Not like a Luxen, but still worth it in the end.”
Launching myself at Baruck, I threw him several feet away with one powerful blast of the Source from an outstretched arm. “I’m going to kill you.”
Baruck rolled onto his back, choking with laughter. “You think you can take me, Luxen? I have devoured those stronger than you.”
I hit him with another blast of light, drowning out the rest of what Baruck was saying. The ground trembled with the impact of all that focused energy. The hit had knocked Baruck down, but I knew he wouldn’t stay there. Shifting into my Luxen form, I rushed him. We collided like thunder and hit the ground rolling, brawling like two humans, but our blows would’ve killed a human with one shot.
Pinning Baruck down, I slammed my fist into his throat, but at the last minute, he shifted and pulled his legs back, kicking me off to the side. I landed and rolled, popping to my feet just as I saw Dee race past the Arum, heading for Kat. There was no time to even process my sister’s presence.
Bright, orangey balls of fire formed on the tips of my hands. They shot out past Baruck, fizzling out before they slammed into trees, turning the world amber and gold. Heat blew back, tossing crackling embers into the sky.