Obsidian

me. Every action was in contradiction of another action. I could feel his eyes on me, and it was hard to ignore that. Just as hard as it was to ignore whatever it was between us.

“Shit!” Daemon exploded, slamming on the brakes.

My eyes snapped open, shocked to find a man in the middle of the road. The SUV skidded to a halt, throwing me forward and then the seatbelt painfully biting into my shoulder and yanking me back. Then the car simply turned off, engine, lights — everything.

Daemon spoke in a language that was soft and musical. I’d heard it before, when the Arum had attacked at the library.

I recognized the man in front of our car. He wore the same dark jeans, sunglasses, and leather jacket I’d seen the day outside the dress shop. And then another man appeared, nearly identical to him. I couldn’t even see where he came from. He was like a shadow, slipping out from the trees. Then a third appeared, joining the other to stand behind the first guy. They didn’t move.

“Daemon,” I whispered, my heart leaping into my throat. “Who are they?”

A fierce light, blinding white, lit up in his eyes. “Arum.”

Chapter 24

Fear rose so quickly it left me dizzy, almost numb. And how could I be so numb when surely I should be feeling a dozen emotions?

Daemon reached down and yanked up his pants leg. There was a ripping sound, like Velcro. He held something long, dark, and shiny. Only when he shoved it into my shaky hands did I realized it was some kind of black glass shaped into a dagger, sharpened to a fine point on one end and a leather binding on the other.

“This is obsidian — volcanic glass. The edge is wicked sharp and will cut through anything,” he explained quickly. “It’s the only thing on this planet, besides us, that can kill the Arum. This is their kryptonite.” I stared at him as my fingers wrapped around the leather sheath.

“Come on, pretty boy!” yelled the Arum in the front, his voice sharp as razors and guttural. He had a thick, foreign-sounding accent. “Come out and play!”

Daemon ignored them and grabbed my cheeks, his hands steady and strong. “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.”

There were three of them and only one of Daemon. The odds weren’t good. “Please don’t do this! Run with me—”

“I can’t. Dee is at that party.” His eyes met mine for a second. “Run when I tell you.”

And then he turned, letting out a resigned sigh, and opened the car door. Daemon’s shoulders squared, and his swagger was full of confidence. That cocky smile, the one I’d wanted to smack off his face many times, appeared on his lips.

“Wow,” Daemon said. “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 front, presumably their leader, snarled. “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,” Daemon replied, hands balling into fists.

The leader looked confused.

“You know, as in up your ass.” Daemon 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. I reached for the door handle, clenching the dagger in my hand. Blood pumped through my body so fast, everything slowed down.

“I’ll rip your essence from your body,” the Arum growled, “and you will beg for mercy.”

“Like your brethren did?” responded Daemon, voice low and cold. “Because he begged — he cried like a little girl before I ended his existence.”

And that was it. The Arum bellowed in unison; the sound of howling winds and death. My breath caught in my throat.

Daemon threw up his hands and a great roar started under the car, shaking the road, and the trees thrashed outside. A loud crack sounded, like a blast of thunder, quickly followed by several more in succession. The earth seemed to shake and rumble.

I turned to the window and gasped. Trees were being ripped from out of the ground, their thick and gnarled roots dripping clumps of moist dirt. An earthy scent filled the air.

Oh my God, Daemon was uprooting trees.

One smacked right into the back of an Arum, taking him several feet down the road. Trees toppled over. Some landed in the road, cutting off the potential for any innocent driver to happen upon the scene. Branches broke off, flying through the air like daggers. The other two Arum avoided them, blinking in and out as they advanced on Daemon, the branches shooting through their shade form without resistance.

The ground under the SUV trembled. All along the side of the road, chunks of the shoulder broke free from the road. Huge sections of asphalt spun into the air, turning bright orange as though heated from within, and zinged straight at the Arum.

Good God, I was so going to reconsider pissing Daemon off next time.

The Arum dodged the asphalt and trees, throwing back what looked like globs of oil. Where the murky stuff landed, the road smoked. Burnt tar filled the air.

Then Daemon was nothing but blinding white light, a being that was not human, but otherworldly, beautiful and frightening in the same breath. The glow heightened around his outstretched limbs, forming a crackling ball of energy that snapped. Light dripped onto the road. Power lines overhead snapped and then exploded. The Arum blinked out, but their shadows couldn’t hide from Daemon’s light. I could see them moving toward him still. One darted out to the side, rushing him.

Daemon brought his hands together and the blast that followed shook the car. Light erupted from him, zinging straight into the one nearest, sending the Arum spinning up into the air, where for a moment he was in a 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.

Daemon threw out his arm, and the other Arum flew back several feet, spinning and tumbling through the air, but he landed in a crouch.

Run. The voice came in my head. Run now, Kat. Don’t look b ack. Run!

I threw the car door open and stumbled out. Falling to my knees, I scrambled down the ditch, wincing at the sound of the Arums’ howls. I made it to the first tree that was still standing and stopped. Instinct told me to keep running, to do as Daemon instructed, but I couldn’t leave him there. I couldn’t run away.

With my heart leaping into my throat, I turned around. The two remaining Arum were circling him, fading out to nothing more than shadows and then reforming back into the tall, imposing figures.

Thick globs of midnight oil shot past Daemon, narrowly missing the halo of light surrounding him. One of the dark streams smacked into a tree on the other side of the road, splitting it in two.

Daemon retaliated by throwing balls of light at them, wicked fast and deadly. They whizzed through the air, forming walls of flames that fizzled out when they didn’t hit one of the Arum. The Arum were not as fast as Daemon, but they managed to avoid each of his missiles. After about thirty were lobbed, I could tell Daemon’s light form was slowing down, the time between bombs stretching longer and longer. I remembered what he’d said after he’d stopped the truck. Using his powers wore him out. He couldn’t keep this up.

Terror trickled through me as I saw them close in on Daemon, their darkness nearly enveloping his light. A