One of the soldiers was heading straight for Daemon, who had caught up to Dee and had her by the shoulders, shaking her. Rolland was by the side of the road, too close to them. A cluster with nothing but bad things written all over it was about to go down.

All I could think about was getting to Daemon.

I slammed my foot into Dawson’s, startling him into letting go, and I broke free, racing up the side of the road, his curses following every one of my steps. Pain lanced my leg as I darted between a Hummer and a cruiser.

The soldier went down on one knee, leveling the gun.

Up ahead and in front of the soldier, Dee yanked herself free from her brother, her face contorted. “No!”

“Please—” He grabbed for her again.

“No. You don’t get it!” She shoved him, and he stumbled, more out of shock than from her strength. “For once, I don’t hurt. I don’t worry. I want this.”

Blue light pulsed at the end of the muzzle, but I couldn’t pull any more of the Source. I was drained, wiped out. I pushed with everything physically in me, more than willing to go hand to hand.

I was no more than three feet from the kneeling soldier when the other soldier abruptly stepped out in front of me. Skidding to a stop, I lost my balance and landed on my butt.

The end of a PEP weapon was planted in my face.

“Don’t move,” came a muffled voice from behind the helmet.

Blue light flared from the other weapon, and horror zinged through me as I cried out. Daemon whirled around, shielding his sister even as she pushed free from him once more. The PEP blast shot through the cars, forging the distance between the gun and where Daemon and Dee stood, striking its target in the chest.

Behind them, Rolland was knocked back, flipping in and out of his human form. His head kicked against the road as he bellowed. The glow surrounding him throbbed once, and then there was nothing.

The soldier hadn’t been aiming for Daemon—and Daemon stared, his eyes wide, chest rising and falling sharply.

Dee hesitated, and then she turned, shifting into light and disappearing among the thick pines. Blue light bounced off the tree trunks, following her retreat. Daemon started to twist around, to go after her, but stopped when he saw me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dawson being guided toward where I was still sitting.

“I told you to stay put,” he gritted out without taking his eyes off the soldier with the gun trained on me.

“Looks like that worked out well for you,” I shot back.

The other soldier now had Daemon rounded up, herding him back to where we were. When he reached us, he slowly bent down.

“Stand still,” the soldier barked.

Anger rolled off Daemon as he continued on, shooting the soldier a look that screamed to try to stop him. The finger on the trigger spasmed as Daemon wrapped his hands under my shoulders and hauled me up. He pulled me into the shelter of his arms, angling his body so that very little of me showed.

A muscle thrummed along Dawson’s jaw. “Well, crap.”

Chopper wings beat at the air, and within seconds, another Black Hawk crested the pines, easing down in the middle of the street a couple yards from us, kicking up wind and causing my hair to whip out from underneath Daemon’s arm as I pressed tighter against him.

Exhausted and beat up, drained like a twisted sponge, I knew we were done. The three of us. If they opened fire, it would be over. A sick feeling crawled up my throat. I wanted to close my eyes, but that seemed like a coward’s way out.

There was the sound of metal grinding, and then the door to the helicopter slid open, slowly revealing who was kneeling inside, staring at us. Waiting. Like always.

Nancy Husher.

10

{ Daemon }

There were moments in my life when I seriously couldn’t believe things could get any more f**ked up than they already were, especially with Dee running off to join the damn Luxen circus.

But each time, I was proven, yet again, how wrong that thought was.

Nancy stared down at us with dark eyes, her face devoid of any emotion, a total blank slate.

Dawson swore and started to shift, but Nancy spoke before he could do something that would end with a lot of explosions and general mayhem.

“If you want to live,” she said, voice clipped, “you’ll get in this damn helicopter. Now.”

We really didn’t have much of a choice. Either we put up a fight and got taken down with one of their weapons, or we got in the helicopter. Then what? We were out of the frying pan and smack-dab in the middle of the fire. But one option most likely involved dying now, while the other was probably dying later. Later gave us some time to figure a way out of this latest mess.

I shot Dawson a look that said, Simmer it down, and for a moment, I thought he was going to say to hell with it, but his shoulders squared, and then he hoisted himself up into the helicopter.

Turning to Kat, I met her eyes, and the wariness in her gray gaze, the exhaustion and pain, were tinged with fear. It cut me deep seeing that and knowing there wasn’t anything I could do at this moment to change it.

I bent my head and brushed my lips across hers. “It’ll be fine.”

Kat nodded.

“How cute,” Nancy said.

My lip curled as I turned my gaze to her. “Remember how it ended last time you thought you had us under control?”

A flicker of anger crawled across her otherwise stoic face. “Trust me. It’s not something I’ve forgotten.”

“Good,” I growled, hoisting Kat to where Dawson waited just inside. He pulled her toward him as I leaped in, crowding Nancy. The woman backed up, dropping down onto a bench as she met my stare. “But this time will end differently.”