I was thinking about the fact that I wanted to kiss her.

And I shouldn’t want that. I couldn’t want that.

Halfway to the house, I decided I needed to hear her voice, to know that she was okay over there. “Kat?” She didn’t respond. Her eyes remained closed, and I figured she was ignoring me. For some reason, I sensed that—

Then I felt it.

As if the air conditioner had suddenly been cranked on high, a blast of iciness slammed into me. My gut clenched. Several feet ahead, a black shadow formed in the center of the road.

“Shit!” I slammed on the brakes.

Kat jerked in her seat, her hands landing on the dashboard as the SUV skidded to a halt. A second later, the car turned off, engine, lights—everything.

Well, hell…

The shadow contorted, taking shape. Within a heartbeat, a man stood where the shadow had been. Dressed in dark jeans and a leather jacket, I thought it looked pretty damn stupid wearing sunglasses at night. This one was identical to the one I killed the night at the library.

And he brought his brothers.

A shadow slipped from the side of the road, and then another. Two more joined the one in the center of the road. Three of them.

“Daemon,” Kat whispered. “Who are they?”

My vision tinted with a fierce white light. “Arum.”

Chapter 20

Normally I would’ve welcomed this throw-down, especially after dealing with Simon. I had some pent-up aggression I really wanted to beat out of something, but not with Kat nearby. I didn’t want her exposed to these creatures. They could kill her with a snap of their wrists.

Kat needed to get out of here.

That was the priority.

Keeping my eyes on the Arum, I reached down and yanked up my pants leg. My fingers brushed the leather binding around one end of the obsidian blade and I pulled it free.

“This is obsidian—volcanic glass.” I placed it in her shaking hands, wrapping her fingers around the fashioned handle. “The edge is wicked sharp and will cut through anything. It’s the only thing on this planet, besides us, that can kill the Arum. This is their kryptonite.”

Kat stared at me, shaking her head silently.

“Come on, pretty boy!” yelled the Arum in the front, his voice sharp as razors and guttural. “Come out and play!”

Such clichéd assholes.

Ignoring them, I cradled her cheeks, forcing her terrified gaze to mine. “Listen to me, Kat. When I tell you to run, you run and you don’t look back no matter what. If any of them—any—chase you, all you have to do is stab them anywhere with the obsidian.”

“Daemon—”

“No. You run when I tell you to run, Kat. Say you understand.”

Her chest rose and fell heavily. “Please don’t do this! Run with me—”

“I can’t. Dee is at that party.” I held her gaze. “Run when I tell you.”

Kat’s lips trembled, and I let my gaze soak in her features for one more second, committing the height of her cheekbones to memory, along with the bow shape of her lips and those endless gray eyes. Then I let go and opened up the car door. I rounded the grille on the SUV, smiling at the three Arum. “Wow. You guys are uglier as humans than in your true form. Didn’t think that was possible. You look like you’ve been living under a rock. See the sun much?”

The one in the center bared his teeth like a wild animal. “You have your arrogance now, like all Luxen. But where will your arrogance be when we absorb your powers?”

“In the same place as my foot.” My hands balled into fists.

The middle Arum tilted his head in confusion.

It was never fun when I had to explain what I meant. “You know, as in up your ass.” I smiled and the two Arum hissed. “Wait. You guys look familiar. Yeah, I know. I’ve killed one of your brothers. Sorry about that. What was his name? You guys all look alike to me.”

Their forms started flickering in and out, turning from human to shade and back again. My goal was to get them really pissed and a hundred percent focused on me so that Kat could slip away. It appeared to be working.

“I’ll rip your essence from your body,” the Arum growled, “and you will beg for mercy.”

“Like your brethren did?” I retorted. “Because he begged—he cried like a wounded animal before I ended his existence.”

And that was it. The Arum bellowed in unison, the sound of howling winds and death. I threw up my hands, summoning the Source. It rose inside me, powerful and all-consuming, and then spread outside of me, tapping into the tiny particles of energy that existed inside everything on this planet. The very air around me heated, causing a series of loud cracks.

God, it felt real good to let loose.

An earthy scent filled the air as the nearby trees lifted. Dirt clung to their thick roots. I flicked a finger. The closest tree, a large elm, slammed into the back of an Arum, knocking him several yards down the road. Trees flew into the road, one by one, but the other two Arum were just a little bit smarter than the one peeling himself off the cracked asphalt.

I pulled on the Source again. Chunks of asphalt cracked and gave way along the shoulder of the road. Pieces of it lifted in the air, spinning as it turned a bright orange, heated like lava. I winged those suckers at the Arum as the two blinked in and out, avoiding the branches from the trees. One of the Arum threw his hand back.

Then they were done playing. So was I.

As the smell of burned tar filled the air, I shifted into my true form. One of them rushed me as I slammed my hands together. The Source rippled out, hitting the nearest Arum. The blast spun him up in the air, a direct and lethal hit, momentarily knocking him into his human form. Dark sunglasses shattered. Pieces floated in the air, suspended. Another clap followed, and the Arum exploded in an array of dazzling lights that fell like a thousand twinkling stars.

I threw out my arm again, and the other Arum flew back several feet, spinning and tumbling through the air, but he landed in a crouch.

It was time for Kat to go.

Run. I spoke to her in my true form. Run now, Kat. Don’t look back. Run!

All I heard was the car door open and then everything was lost in the sound of the Arum howling. The other one was back and the remaining one was circling me. I darted to the right as one of them released a dark essence, a ball of shadow-filled energy that would be fatal if it hit me. I spun out as it shot over my shoulder. Like a thick glob of oil, when it smacked into one of the fallen trees, the energy ripped it in two.

Damn.

Pulling the Source, I formed a ball of iridescent light in the palm of my hand and then hurled the plasma ball right back at them.

The Arum weren’t as fast as me, but they were avoiding the balls, and I knew, in my bones I knew what they were doing—wearing me down, tiring me out, like we were boxing. We all were moving, darting back and forth. My hold on my true form flickered.

The Arum seized that one moment of weakness.

One rushed me from the front and, as I braced myself for a full-body attack, the other sped up. I twisted, trying to keep it in sight. A second where I took my eyes off one, and I made a huge mistake. Twisting at the waist, I threw out another blast of energy, but it fizzled out before reaching the Arum, skidding across the road in a shower of sparks.

Shadowy arms went around my neck from behind, immediately chilling. Ice drenched me as I reached up, allowing fingers to form. I wrapped them around the arm choking me, but he brought me down to one knee.