There was a rumbling of laughter all around us that echoed off the walls and caused my heart to pump too fast.

“Yes.” Daemon tipped his chin up as his smiled. “Help. It’s a pretty easy word. I could give you the definition if you like.”

Whelp, there went the sarcasm-free Daemon.

The glass shattered in Lotho’s hand.

Daemon frowned as shards of glass tinkled to the floor. “And that is why we can’t have nice things.”

I choked on my snicker, because I was pretty sure if I did laugh, the Arum might decide to snack on us.

There was a long stretch of silence, and I could feel the Arum rising from their seats behind us and pressing in close. Chills radiated down my spine and that suffocating feeling was back, weighing on my chest.

Sin crossed into my line of vision and stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “What do you want done with them?” The eagerness in his voice as he glanced over at us creeped me out.

Lotho smirked. “Kill them all and let their God sort them out.”

17

{ Daemon }

Well, shit balls for dinner on Sunday.

That was the worst-case-scenario response.

I moved forward, positioning Kat between Archer and me. If I had to light this room up to get her out of here, so be it. And then what? This mission would be an absolute failure, the government would start e-bombing the crap out of cities, the world would decline into a place I sure as hell didn’t want to be in, and worse yet, I would lose my sister. Forever.

Perhaps I should’ve just kept my mouth shut?

Lotho stood to his full height, which had to be damn near seven feet tall, and he eyeballed me like he wanted to chew me up and spit me back out. “Did you actually expect a different response from me?” He tipped his head back and laughed. Several of the Arum snickered around us. “That any of us would help a Luxen? Or a hybrid or whatever the hell that thing is?” He gestured at Archer. “You’re either incredibly arrogant or seriously stupid.”

Irritation pricked at the back of my neck, causing my skin to hum with electricity. I knew I needed to keep it cool, at least until they made a real move against us. As much as it sucked, we needed them.

“What?” Lotho came down a step, and I stiffened. “You don’t have something smartass you want to add?”

My eyes narrowed. “Give me a second. I’ll come up with something.”

Hunter groaned.

Small hands pushed into my back in warning. “I didn’t expect any of you to hold our hands and sing ‘Kumbaya,’” I said, and Lotho arched a brow. “I didn’t expect any of you to actually welcome us here, but I did expect you all not to be a bunch of idiots.”

“Oh God,” Kat murmured behind me as she dug her nails into my back.

“That’s not going to win you any friends.” Hunter looked at me as if I were a few brain cells short of a complete set.

His brother, Pinky or Binky—I had no clue because I’d forgotten both of their names—appeared as if he was ready to go find himself a bib.

I took a deep breath. “You guys do realize what’s going to happen once the Luxen take over Earth, right?”

Lotho’s expression said he couldn’t give two craps. “Do you think we care about humans? They are . . . useless to us.”

I seriously began to question his intelligence. “Once they take over and subjugate every human here, they’re going to come after you guys. They may not be worried about you now, but they will. And the last time I checked, the Luxen owned the Arum.”

Lotho snorted. “They did not own us.”

“Is that so?” Archer chimed in. “Because you’re here on Earth, underground, living in subway tunnels. Just thought I’d point that out.”

“He kind of has a point there,” I added, smirking. “By then, they’ll have learned how to fight your kind,” I continued, hoping at least one of the Arum down here could make sense of logic. “Right now, they have no clue. It will be like a damn buffet for you. But later? After they’ve dealt with an Arum here and there? History is going to repeat itself.”

“History will not ever repeat itself,” sneered a female Arum. “They will never have control of us again.”

“Keep telling yourself that while you hide down here,” I retorted.

Pinky—I think it was Pinky—started to shift. “We are not hiding.”

“Totally looks like you guys are hiding.” Kat peeked around my shoulder, and Lotho’s gaze slammed into her in a way that made me want to pull out his larynx and shove it down his mouth. “I mean, from an outside observer, I’d say you guys were hiding.”

Hunter squeezed his eyes shut like he suddenly had a headache.

A heavy footfall later, Lotho was within ass-kicking range. He wasn’t looking at me. My hands curled into fists.

Cool it, Archer warned me.

“You’re not just a casual observer,” Lotho said to Kat, voice as thick as the shadows gathering around him. “You’re a whore of the Luxen who hides behind them.”

I stiffened. “What—”

“Hold up. Excuse me.” Kat darted out from behind me and raised one hand. “First off, the last time I checked, I’m not a whore for anyone. Secondly, I didn’t cower behind him. Unlike some people.”

Lotho cocked his head to the side.

“And thirdly? Not one of you in this room—not a single one of you—caused the destruction of your planets, right? Is anyone in here old enough that they had a hand in that war between your two kinds?” When no one answered, she shook her head. “You guys are ridiculous! All of you.”