Blake scooped Chris up, casting a look at Simon as he passed the prone body. He said nothing as I threaded my fingers through Kat’s. “Are you okay? You took a nasty hit.”

“I’m okay. You?”

I nodded, not letting myself think about the fact that I’d just broken Simon’s neck. Granted, he was trying to kill us, and he hadn’t understood the concept of no, but still, it was another life that was on my hands.

“Come on.” Matthew slipped into the elevator, his face pale. “We need to prepare for anything once these doors are open.”

I nodded. “How is everyone?”

“Not feeling very good,” Dawson answered, his free hand open and closing. “It’s the damn onyx. I don’t know how much is left in me.”

“What the hell was up with Simon?” I turned on Blake as the elevator pitched into motion. “He barely seemed affected by the onyx.”

Blake shook his head. “I don’t know, man. I don’t know.”

What in the hell was up with that? Was it because of the opal? Had to be. There was really no time to think about that. I could feel the dread pouring off Kat, and that was my number one concern. I needed her to keep it together.

“It’s going to be okay. We’re almost out of here. We got this.” I smiled, and that damn organ in my chest actually squeezed when I saw her lips curve in response. “I promise, Kitten.”

It was a promise I’d go down to keep.

“Time?” Blake asked.

Matthew glanced at his wrist. “Two minutes.”

Aw, man, this shit was making me anxious. Two minutes. The doors slid open with a pop, and thank God, the hallway was empty.

Blake was out first, carrying Chris. Then Matthew, quickly followed by Dawson and Beth. As planned, Kat and I were the last to leave. “Stay behind me,” I told her, keeping my hand wrapped firmly around hers.

She nodded as we raced forward, slowing only when Blake shifted the unconscious Luxen to his shoulder and banged in the code. The door opened, and the darkness from the night beyond seeped in.

Blake stepped out and then paused. He looked over his shoulder. Not at me. At Kat. My free hand formed a fist as I saw Kat reach with her other hand toward her neck. Awareness pricked at my skin, crawling up the back of my neck like an army of a thousand fire ants.

Then Blake smiled.

Shit.

He raised a hand, and a white rope dangled from his fingers. At the end was the piece of opal I’d given to Kat. “Sorry. It had to be this way.”

Rage exploded inside me like a bottle rocket.

“Son of a bitch!” I shouted as I dropped Kat’s hand and shot forward. That was it. I was going to kill him dead.

I’d made it halfway when I felt the shiver of coldness skating over my skin. I skidded to a halt, snapping in fury.

Arum.

The shadows around that asshole deepened and spread out, slipping into the entrance and stretching over the walls and ceiling like a damn fungus straight from hell. The shadows dropped as lights exploded in a shower of sparks.

Seven of the bastards formed and then stepped right past Blake and the Luxen he carried, walked right past him.

And then Blake was gone.

Fury burned inside me like a volcano erupting. This was not happening. This was not fucking happening.

I met the first Arum that charged forward. Shoving my hand into the Arum’s chest, I slammed it back into the wall just as Dawson pushed Bethany to the side and took down the other Arum.

Fights broke out all around. Matthew shanked an Arum with a piece of obsidian, and it went bye-bye in an explosion somewhere along the ceiling. Kat had tapped into the Source, laying out another Arum. The asshole didn’t stay down long, and there was no way she could keep tapping into the source.

Turning back to the Arum I was facing, I simply ended it—quickly. Brutally. I wheeled around, just in time to see the Arum touch her. If I thought I was pissed before, I’d been wrong, because I could taste it on my tongue.

“Daemon!” she shouted.

I spun around, catching an Arum creeping right up on me and got out of its way. I didn’t have time for this shit. I heard the shout of the Arum Kat had faced off with, and then it was up on the ceiling, doing its imploding thing. I grabbed the Arum in front of me, tossing it to the side.

We need to get out of here. Dawson sent the message to me, and I tossed a no shit look back in his direction.

I spun toward Matthew, who was picking himself up. Our gazes collided. Unease built in his eyes, and that bad taste spread in my mouth. Remember the plan. Get Kat out of here.

That message was sent directly at Matthew. He pushed forward, lips pressing into a firm, thin line as he nodded.

“Go! We need to go!” Dawson had a hold of Bethany and was practically carrying her out of here.

I turned, starting back to Kat, and I saw my mistake in painful detail. I’d told her to stay behind me like I was some kind of alien Hercules. She’d listened; for once in her life, she’d listened to me, and now there were too many feet between us. She was limping forward, her gaze on mine. Then she was down, catching herself with her hands as she hit the cement floor. Panic punched into my gut as she twisted onto her side.

Picking up speed, I was a body length from her when I heard it, when the hairs all over my body rose and the panic spread in me like a damn virus.

Light drenched the tunnel. Locks slammed into place in an endless stream of we-are-so-screwed.

“No,” Matthew cried, turning to where we’d come from. “No.”

Those words were on an endless replay as I saw the movement behind Kat. Blue light flashed from the ceiling to the floor, every ten feet, over and over. One of the shields cut an Arum, slicing right into it, and then it was gone in a poof of dirty dust.

Holy shit.

My heart leaped into my throat right along with my stomach as I lurched, reaching for Kat as she scrambled forward. The tips of my fingers were inches—fucking inches—from her, and then a blue stream of light smacked down right in front of my face.

Right in front of Kat.

“Shit,” I gasped out as she jerked back, her hair blowing off her face from the impact of the lasers.

No. No. No.

I shook my head as I stared at her form through blue light. No. Hell no. Absolutely no.

Our eyes locked and horror poured into me, invading every cell, and the bitter twang of fear coated the inside of my mouth. I staggered to the side, searching for a way around, but there was none. She was on the other side, and she wasn’t alone. There were Arum and there were soldiers piling into the hall behind her. She was trapped.

She was trapped with them.

I couldn’t breathe. “Kat…”

Sirens blasted.

No.

I shot forward, but I wasn’t fast enough. It was too late. Emergency doors started to slide down from the top and the bottom. Pure panic fueled my actions. I stopped thinking as more and more of Kat disappeared behind the doors. I reached for her, determined to make it through the lasers in one piece out of sheer will.

She threw out her hand, and I felt the Source punch through the shield, smacking into my chest and pushing me back—away from the lasers. I fought the concentrated blast until arms clamped down on my waist, holding me back, pulling me away from her.

I lost my mind.

Twisting around, I slammed my fist into Matthew’s jaw, but he held on, and after another punch, I gave up on him. Dragging him forward, I reached for Kat. I had to get to her, one way or another, I had to get to her.

Kat dropped to her knees, and I was a second behind her, hitting mine as Matthew managed to bring me down. Her lower lip trembled as her chest rose sharply. Something cracked in my chest, fissured down my core. Terror I’d never known before exploded.

“No! Please! No!” My voice broke. “Kat!”