My gaze dipped.
In his white-knuckled grip was a smartphone. Everything—he had captured
This wasn’t how I’d wanted my mom to discover that I was alive. Maybe not alive
But it was really too late.
I started toward the guy to get the phone, but he snapped out of it and took off. I could’ve run after him, but there were bigger problems to deal with.
The stench of smoke and death was everywhere. I staggered back to where I knew I had seen everyone last, using the red tourist bus as a destination, aching on a cellular level as I took in the damage. The guns—those PEP weapons—weren’t harmless if they didn’t hit a Luxen or hybrid. Lampposts were broken in two or melted, about to collapse. Pockets of fire lit up the entire Strip.
There were bodies littering the road.
I shuffled around them, grimacing at the melted and burned clothes, the ragged holes and scorched skin. It seemed unnecessary that there’d be so many innocent deaths. The Luxen were glowing like walking lightbulbs, and even we hybrids were pretty obvious. It was like the military didn’t care how many were taken out in friendly fire. Were they insane?
And I knew how the government would spin this—that it was our fault, that the Luxen were to blame, even though they had made the first strike, taking innocent lives.
Looking at all the bodies turned my stomach, but I kept picking my way through them until I felt the warmth skittering over the nape of my neck. Lifting my head, I saw Daemon in his human form fighting hand to hand with a soldier. My heart leaped when the soldier got a right hook in, but Daemon rebounded, taking him out with one punch.
He looked over, his gaze locking onto mine. His hair was damp, clinging to his forehead and temples. His eyes glowed like diamonds. Relief shot across his face, and he shook his head, the emotion in his eyes unbearable.
There was a flare of red farther down the Strip, reminding me of how incredibly dangerous the streets still were. I took another step forward, seeing Ash and Beth rounding an overturned Humvee. I was happy to see them still standing, even though tears were flowing freely from Ash’s eyes. Her brother…
I sucked in a breath. So much—
“Kat!” roared Daemon.
Strong arms circled me from behind. The instinct to fight and struggle kicked in, but I was pulled back an instant before a red pulse shot past right where I’d been standing. The PEP zoomed by, heading straight for Beth. I heard Dawson’s enraged shout, and time slowed down until it was a near crawl. The arms around me loosened enough. Archer’s voice was yelling in my ear. Daemon was running, leaping cars.
Ash spun toward Beth, moving incredibly fast, as fast as a bullet. Her arms went around the girl and she twisted, shoving Beth out of the way.
The shot hit Ash in the back.
Light exploded up her spine, following the network of veins. Her head snapped back and her knees folded under her. She fell forward, lacking the grace that always seemed natural to her.
She didn’t move.
I broke free from Archer’s hold, reaching her side the moment Daemon did. He grasped her shoulders, turning her over. Shimmery blue liquid spilled out of her mouth as her head flopped back over Daemon’s arm.
Somewhere, a man’s scream was cut short by a sickening crunch.
“Ash,” Daemon said, giving her a little shake.
Her eyes were fixed on the endless sky above. Part of me already knew it, but my brain refused to accept it. Ash and I would never be friends. We probably would never be upgraded to frenemy status, either, but she was incredibly strong, stubborn, and I honestly thought she’d be like a cockroach, outliving nuclear fallout.
But that beautiful human form—those painfully stunning features—faded in the soft glow that quickly dulled. There was nothing of Ash in Daemon’s arms, just a shell of translucent skin and narrow veins.
“No,” I whispered, staring at Daemon.
His body shuddered.
“Dammit,” Dawson said. His arms were around a softly crying Beth. “She…”
Beth gulped. “She saved my life.”
Standing beside Dawson, Dee pressed her hands to her mouth. She said nothing, but it was all etched upon her face.
“Guys, we really need to…” Luc appeared behind Daemon, pausing with a severe frown. “Damn.”
I lifted my head, having no idea what to say. And it would be pointless if I had. A car or something exploded somewhere.
“I’ve got a big SUV about a block down the road—all of us will fit in it,” Luc started. “We’ve got to go while the road is clear. They’ll send more soldiers, and I won’t be able to take them out again. Neither will all of you. We’re running out of steam.”
“We can’t leave them here,” Daemon argued fiercely.
Archer chimed in. “We don’t have a choice. We stay here a second longer and we join them—Kat joins them.”
A muscle flexed in Daemon’s jaw, and my heart ached for him. They’d grown up with the Thompsons, and I knew a part of Daemon did love Ash. Not the same way he loved me, but no less important.
“I don’t want to leave Paris here,” Luc said, catching Daemon’s eyes. “He doesn’t deserve to be left behind, but we have
Something must’ve connected in Daemon’s head, because he laid Ash down gently and stood. I followed his lead. “Where’s the car?” he asked, his voice hard.
Luc gestured down the road.
I reached out to Daemon, and he took my hand. There had been ten of us however many minutes ago. Now only seven raced across the dark road strewn with burned-out cars, bodies, and debris. I kept my legs moving, refusing to allow myself to really think about things.
Luc had found a Dodge Journey and a truck, but we only needed one of them now. That realization sent a pang of grief through me. Archer got in the driver’s seat of the Journey and Luc in the front.
“Hurry,” Luc urged. “There’s still some traffic up ahead, but it’s moving, and the blockade is gone. People are fleeing the city. We should get lost among them.”
Dawson helped Beth into one side while Daemon and I went to the other. We climbed into the very back, and Dee joined Dawson and Beth in the middle row. The doors weren’t even shut before Archer peeled off.
Numbness settled into my body as I twisted in the seat, staring out the back window as we raced around cars and narrowly avoided panicked people in the streets. We were leaving the city behind—leaving Paris, Andrew, and Ash behind.
I kept staring out the back window, watching Vegas burn.
Chapter 30
The ride was silent and tense. Besides the fact that all of us were looking over our shoulders, expecting the entire military to be on our tails, none of us knew what to say or if anything could be said.
Turning in Daemon’s arms, I pressed my face into his chest and inhaled the rich, woodsy scent. The scent of death and destruction hadn’t lingered on him, and I was grateful. If I closed my eyes and held my breath until I lost a few brain cells, I could almost imagine that we were just taking a ride in the desert.
He hadn’t bothered with the buckling stuff. At some point, he had pulled me away from the back window
