ball of bright red flames formed and shot out toward the Arum, but Daemon missed. The ball of fire skidded across the road, fizzing out harmlessly.
One of the Arum flickered out completely, while the other kept throwing oily bombs at Daemon over and over, never slowing down. Daemon flickered in and out, reappearing a few feet away from each projectile. He was moving so fast, the entire scene started to look like I was watching it unfold under strobe lights.
Daemon was focused on the one Arum lobbing oil bombs and he didn’t see the other reappear behind him. The shadowy arms wrapped around what appeared to be Daemon’s head, bringing him down to his knees on the side of the road. I cried out, but the sound was lost in the Arum’s laugh.
“Ready to beg?” the Arum in front of him 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.”
Daemon didn’t respond, but his light was crackling and intense.
“Silence to the end, eh? So be it.” The Arum stepped forward, lifting his head. “Baruck, it is time.”
Baruck forced Daemon to stand. “Do it now, Sarefeth!”
A part of my brain clicked off. I was moving without thinking, running toward the very thing Daemon had ordered me to run away from. The obsidian grew warm in my hand as I rushed up the gully, burning like coals. A heel on my shoe snapped off when it became tangled in the downed branches, but I kept going.
I wasn’t brave. I was desperate.
Sarefeth turned into a shadow, thrusting an arm forward, into the center of Daemon’s chest. Daemon’s scream tore through me, heightening the fear, flipping it into anger and desperation. Daemon’s light flared, blinding and concentrated. The ground shook with a giant tremor.
Only a few feet behind Sarafeth now, I threw my arm back, obsidian in hand, and jumped forward and brought it down with every ounce of strength I had. I expected to meet resistance, flesh and bone, but the obsidian cut through the shadow, like Sarefeth was made of nothing more than smoke and air, and I stumbled to my knees.
Sarefeth jerked back, pulling his arm free of Daemon’s light. He spun around, his shadowy arms reaching for me. I scrabbled backward, falling down. The obsidian glowed in my hand, humming with energy.
And then Sarefeth stopped. Pieces of him broke free from his form, clumps of darkness drifting into the sky, obscuring the stars until all of him was there one minute and floating away the next.
Baruck released Daemon, taking a step back. For a moment he was in human form, dark jeans and a jacket, his expression horrified, gaze locked on the glowing obsidian in my grip. His eyes met mine for only a second. Vengeance had been promised in that minute stare. And then he was a shadow, pulling the darkness into him, fleeing toward the other side of the road like a coiled snake and disappearing into the night.
I scuttled over branches and cracked pavement in a mad dash to reach Daemon’s side. He was still nothing more than light, and I had no idea where to touch him or how badly he was hurt.
“Daemon,” I whispered, dropping to my bleeding knees in front of him. My lips, hands — everything — trembled. “Daemon, please say something.”
His light flared, throwing off a wave of heat, but he made no sound or movement, not even a whisper of words in my thoughts. What if someone came by? How in the world could I explain
My cell phone! I could call Dee. She’d know what to do. She had to. I started to stand when I felt a hand on my arm.
I whipped around and there was Daemon, in human form, kneeling on the ground, his head bowed but grip strong. “Daemon, oh God, are you okay?” I knelt, placing my hand on his warm cheek. “Please tell me you’re okay? Please!” He slowly lifted his head, placing his other hand on mine. “Remind me,” he paused, drawing in a stuttered gasp, “to never piss you off again. Christ, are you secretly a ninja?”
I laughed and sobbed in the same breath. Then I threw my arms around him, almost knocking him flat on his back. I buried my face in his neck, inhaling his earthy scent. He didn’t have a choice but to hug me back. His arms swept around me, a hand delving deep into the curls that had fallen loose.
“You didn’t listen to me,” he murmured against my shoulder.
“I never listen to you.” I squeezed him hard. Swallowing, I pulled back a little, searching his weary but beautiful face. “Are you hurt? Is there anything I can do?”
“You’ve already done enough, Kitten.” He stood, bringing me along with him. Drawing in a breath, he looked around. “We need to get out before anyone comes.”
I wasn’t sure how that would help. It looked like a tornado had come through here, but then Daemon backed off and waved his hand. All down the road, trees were lifted off the road and rolled to the sides, clearing the path. The action barely fazed him.
“Come on,” Daemon said.
On the way back to the car, I remembered I still had the obsidian in my fist. The car started as soon as Daemon turned the key, much to our mutual relief.
“Are you okay? Hurt in any way?” he asked.
“I’m okay.” I was shaking. “It’s just…a lot, you know?”
He gave a short laugh, but then he hit the steering wheel with his fist. “I should’ve known there would be more coming. They travel in fours. Dammit!”
I held his obsidian closer, staring straight ahead. The adrenaline was fading and I was trying to process everything that had happened tonight. “There were only three of them.”
“Yeah, ’cuz I killed the first one.” He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “And I’m sure they were pissed about that.”
We’d killed two more, so I figured that meant the one remaining would be really pissed. Angry aliens. A small, hysterical laugh bubbled up, and I clamped my mouth shut.
He called his sister then, ordering Dee to get the Thompsons and to stay with Mr. Garrison until it was daylight. Whereas the Arum were stronger at night, using the darkness to move undetected and feeding on the shadows, the Luxen were opposite, stronger during the day. Daemon gave them bare details of what had happened, and I heard him tell Dee I was okay.
“Kat, are you okay? Seriously?” he asked after he hung up, concerned.
I nodded. I was alive.
…
Daemon wanted me to stay the night at his place. His reasoning was the bare truth. There was another one out there, and until they knew where the Arum was, it was safer being with him. For the second time that night, I didn’t argue. I didn’t kid myself his invitation was out of concern for me. It was more from necessity.
After I called my mom and told her I was staying the night with Dee, which she protested but eventually relented to, Daemon took me up to the guest room I’d woken up in the morning after finding out about them. It seemed like a lifetime ago.
Daemon had been quiet since we arrived at his house, his thoughts a million miles away. He left me in the guest room with a pair of worn flannel pajama bottoms and a shirt that looked like it belonged to Dee. In the guest bathroom, I quickly stripped off the ruined dress, rolling it up and tossing it into their wastebasket. I never wanted to see it again.
The hot water couldn’t soothe the ache in me. I’d never felt the way I did now. Every muscle screamed, and my mind was weary with exhaustion. I stepped out of the shower, my legs shaking, and even in the heat of the steamy bathroom I felt cold.
I slowly wiped the steam off the mirror, shocked by the reflection that peered back at me. My eyes were wide. My cheeks were ghastly pale and drawn tight over my cheekbones. I looked more like an alien than my friends did.
I laughed and then immediately cringed. It sounded choked and ugly, shocking in the quiet room.
Baruck would come back. Wasn’t that why Daemon had been quiet? Knowing that the Arum would seek revenge against his family, there was nothing he could do. Or I could even hope to do.
“Are you okay in there?” Daemon called through the closed door.
“Yeah.” I quickly ran my fingers through my damp hair, pushing thick sections off my face. “Yeah,” I whispered again. I changed into the clothes he’d brought me, and they felt warm, smelling faintly of laundry
