“End this.” I was so beginning to see where this was heading. “You found a way to communicate with the Luxen who hadn’t been here.”

“We’d been working on a way, and let’s just say we opened the doors for them. It was perfect timing.” He spread his hands wide. “And here we are. Most of the Luxen, both here and those who’ve arrived recently, answer to me.” His smile went up a notch. “I can be very convincing.”

Kat stared at him. A second ticked by. “You hate humans.”

“Loathe them,” he confirmed. “They disgust me. They are weak and fragile. They are fickle and dangerous. They deserve everything that is coming to them. The Luxen want to rule them, and they will. They already are, and that’s fine by me. I don’t care what they do, as long as humans suffer and experience everything that I have.”

“All of this . . . all of this is because of what happened to you?” she asked, shaking her head slowly. Disbelief colored her tone. I didn’t blame her. I was also shocked.

Taking over the world was at least something to aspire to. This? This was just nasty hatred and revenge and . . . yeah, crazy. How he managed to get so many Luxen behind him was beyond my understanding. How could they not have seen through what he was? Though hell, I had never seen him for what he was.

“You’re doing this just because of what was done to you,” Kat repeated.

“And what they did to others of my kind.” His eyes flashed again. “And what they would’ve continued to do, even after dismantling Daedalus and their projects.”

“But there are people who would’ve never done anything like that. Who would’ve welcomed the Luxen,” she argued. “You can’t judge an entire race of beings on what a small percentage of people have done.”

“Already have,” he replied.

Jesus. There were no words for this.

“That’s insane!” Kat’s cheeks flushed with anger, and damn, she was right. “That’s worse than how the Luxen feel about the Arum and vice versa. That’s absolutely—”

Ethan moved faster than even I could track for a moment. One second he was sitting, and the next second he was right beside Kat, his fingers curled around her throat.

I shot up from my chair, knocking it over. My form began to shift. Let her go.

His grip tightened on her neck. “Take one step toward me. Shift or summon the Source, and I will snap her neck. Let’s see if you can heal her from that.”

My heart—dammit—my heart stopped in my chest as I stared at them. He had me by the throat because he had my whole world in his hands. I forced the shift to back off and said one word I thought I’d never utter to the bastard.

“Please.” I swallowed hard, but the words came out easier than I could’ve ever imagined. “Please don’t hurt her.”

Ethan sneered into her face. “You beg for a human who wouldn’t do the same for you?”

“I’d do anything for her.”

“And I would do . . . the same for him,” Kat gasped out, her hands curling inward in her lap. “And I would . . . never be as batshit crazy as you.”

“Kat,” I warned.

Ethan’s fingers tightened, and she jerked. “Excuse me?”

“You are worse . . . than the Luxen. You’ve judged billions of people for something they didn’t do.” Her voice cracked. “You hurt my mother. She never did anything to you, and you probably don’t even know her name.”

“That bitch?” Ethan spat back. “She isn’t even worth knowing her name.”

Several things happened at once. Blue light flared from the outside, a halo that lit up all the windows and danced over the walls. The sound of giant wings beat at the roof. There were shouts from almost every direction.

Ethan lifted his head, brows furrowing in a look of confusion.

Kat kicked her chair back, swinging one leg up. Her foot connected with Ethan’s midsection. She wrenched back and he stumbled against the table. I shot toward her, grasping her by the shoulders before she could fall. I hauled her up and away from Ethan as I shifted.

The windows facing the front yard, over the sink, exploded. I spun Kat behind me, blocking her from the shards of flying glass.

Men in black with face shields landed in the kitchen like something straight out of an action flick, their boots crunching on the broken glass. Well, I assumed the military had arrived or a SWAT team had just busted up in the wrong house. The massive weapons they hoisted—PEP guns—told me my first assumption was correct.

I backed Kat up, not wanting her to get caught in the whole lot of bad that was about to go down, but I wasn’t the only one worried about getting out of the middle of this.

Ethan spun, and the bastard ran.

{ Katy }

Too much emotion was swirling inside me. I was like a tornado, about to wipe out everything in my path. My senses were on overload and I was overwhelmed by everything that had happened—was happening.

Men had just rapelled into the house, through the win-dows.

Mom was dead.

The whole world had been upheaved on its axle. All because of revenge. That was all. Nothing important. Just crazy revenge, and it had changed the entire world—my world. There was no point behind this. No real reason.

When Ethan turned to run, I didn’t stop to think about it. I didn’t hesitate as I reached behind me, yanked on the butt of the Glock—the modified gun. It happened so quickly. I took aim as the men shouted at Ethan.