Blake glared at me, and I knew she’d come through that door. I took a deep breath and I choked on a dry, hoarse sob. “I don’t want to go with you! I don’t want to even hang out with you, Dee. Go and leave me the hell alone.”
“Damn,” whispered Blake.
“Katy…?” Dee said, voice rough. “What’s going on? This…this doesn’t sound like you.”
I pressed my forehead against the door. Tears rolled down my cheeks. “It is me. It’s why I haven’t been hanging out with you. Okay? I don’t want to be friends with you anymore. So please leave me alone. Go bother someone else. I don’t have time for this.”
The only sound was her heels rapping off the porch. Blake moved to the window, watching them climb into Adam’s SUV. When he heard the sound of tires peeling, he marched over and gripped my arm. He pulled me back into the living room, forcing me to sit on the couch.
“She’ll get over it,” he said, pulling his cell out of his pocket.
“No,” I whispered, watching him type away on his phone. “She won’t.”
Since Blake was distracted by his phone, I saw my only chance. As I tapped into the Source, there wasn’t a single part of me that doubted my next actions, not even for a second. Rage clouded my sense of moral code. Everything was twisted now. There was no right, no wrong.
A fierce wind howled throughout the house. Pictures from the hallway shook and fell to the floor, shattering. The cupboards rattled, doors swung open, and books toppled over.
Blake whirled on me, lowering the phone, eyes filled with awe. “You really are sort of amazing.”
Strands of hair whipped around me, my fingers ached with energy that crackled all through me. I felt the tips of my feet leave the floor.
He snapped the phone shut and threw out his hand. The wind I was stirring kicked back on me, sending me into the wall. Stunned, I fought the force holding me back, but like with Beth, I couldn’t break it.
“You haven’t been fully trained.” Blake advanced on me, smiling wryly. “There’s a lot of potential, don’t get me wrong, but you can’t fight me.”
“Screw you,” I spat.
“I would’ve been game for that.” He brought his hand back toward him, and it was like an invisible string had been attached to me. Against my will, my body went right to him, and I was suspended there, kicking and thrashing at nothing but air. “Tire yourself out. It doesn’t matter.”
“I’m going to kill you,” I promised, welcoming the rising tide of fury building in me.
“You don’t have it in you.” He paused, cocking his head to the side. “Not yet, at least.”
His phone dinged, and he flipped it open, smiling. “Uncle Brian’s on his way. It’s almost over.”
I screamed, feeling the energy pulse around me. My vision clouded once again, and I felt each one of my cells warming. Anger fueled the alien part of me, giving it strength. I zeroed in on Blake.
He backed up, brows raised. “Give it your best shot. I’ll just throw it back on you.”
A window shattered upstairs, the sound explosive and jarring. I lifted my head as Blake spun around. Two streaks of light shot down the stairs, breaking apart and heading straight for Blake. One smaller and less powerful form drew up short.
The light flickered out, and Dee took shape, her mouth hanging open as she stared at me. “You’re…you’re glowing.”
The other light crashed into Blake, sending him several feet back. I turned, feeling myself lower to the floor. Blake roared as he pushed the light off him, and he, too, started to glow, much like Bethany had. An intense blue light surrounded him as he reared back and released a pulse of light.
Dee shot forward, flickering out as she grabbed for Adam. The pulse hit them and they froze. Both took on their human forms for a brief second. An iridescent stream of light leaked from Dee’s nose and spilled from her mouth.
I staggered forward, screaming her name. Blake grabbed me from behind, thrusting me down onto the floor.
She was the first to collapse. Blinking in and out, she crumpled, eyes closed. I struggled under Blake, managing to rise up on my elbows. I screamed again, but it didn’t even sound like me.
Adam…Adam was much worse. A river of light came from his mouth, his eyes, and his ears. His human body shuddered. Liquid radiance dripped onto the floor. He was swathed in light, but it flickered erratically. He took a step forward, raising his hand.
“No!” I screamed.
Blake reared off me, hitting Adam with another blast.
Adam went down.
Pushing on the back of my head, he forced my face into the wooden floor, pressing his knee into the center of my back. “Dammit,” he said hoarsely. “Dammit!”
I couldn’t breathe.
“I didn’t… I didn’t want that to happen,” he said, bending over me. His head pressed into my shoulder and his body shuddered. “Oh God, I didn’t want to hurt anyone.” He trembled, lifting his head. He croaked out a broken laugh. “Well, at least I know it wasn’t either of them who healed you. I’m pretty sure they’re both dead.”
Chapter 31
The last time I’d cried this hard was when the hospice worker forced me away from my dad’s bed during his final moments. They weren’t pretty as he struggled to take his last breath.
“She’s not dead,” Blake said, sounding relieved. “She’s still alive.”
Blood and tears mixed on my face. Sobs clogged my throat, rendering me speechless. Dee was alive. Barely. Her light continued to flicker softly, but Adam… Oh, God. Adam’s light had dulled, no stronger than a weak and faded lightbulb. I could see the shape of his hands and legs. His face wasn’t shapeless, and neither was the rest of his body. It was like a pale, translucent shell of a human. A network of silvery veins existed under the semi-transparent shell. It reminded me of a jellyfish.
Adam was dead.
Quiet sobs raked my throat until it was so hoarse and raw I could hardly breathe. This was my fault. I’d trusted Blake when Daemon practically begged me not to. I’d befriended Dee, and she’d known something was wrong because she knew me. I hadn’t killed Adam, but I’d led him right into this. He’d died trying to protect me.
“Shh,” Blake crooned, lifting me off the floor, turning me over. “You’ve got to calm down.” He wiped a hand along my cheek. “You’re going to make yourself sick.”
“Don’t touch me,” I croaked, scrambling away from him. “Don’t…come. Near. Me.”
He crouched, watching as I crawled to Dee’s side. I wanted to help her, but I didn’t know how. My gaze flickered over to Adam, and I choked on my breath. Not knowing what else to do, I blocked Adam from her view. It was all I could do.
No more than five minutes later, a car door shut outside. Blake stood fluidly, stalking toward me. He placed his hand on my shoulder, and then his phone beeped. I shuddered, knowing what waited beyond the door.
But what I wasn’t expecting was the flare of heat that radiated off my obsidian. I lifted my head. “Arum…”
His fingers dug in. “Just sit still.”
Oh, God… I glanced down at Dee. She was vulnerable, easy pickings. My front door opened. Heavy feet filled the hallway, and the obsidian scalded my skin. I reached up, hands trembling, and dug the rock out.
Vaughn was the first to enter. His eyebrows rose as his gaze landed beside me. “Blake, what happened here?”
I felt Blake stiffen, but I kept my eyes on the two Arum behind Brian. One was Residon and the other male looked a lot like him. Their greedy eyes were bare and went straight to Dee. I turned, feeling the hair on the back of my neck raise.
“They surprised me. I had to fight back or they would’ve taken me out. I didn’t have a choice.” Blake cleared his throat, sounding confused when he spoke again. “Where’s Nancy?”
“This has nothing to do with Nancy.” Vaughn rubbed a long finger over his brow. “And you say that a lot, Blake. There are always choices. However, you’re not really good at making them.” He turned to the Arum. “Take the dead one. See if you can get anything off him.”
“The dead one?” Residon scuffed. “We want the one who is still alive.”
“No.” My voice came out harsh and ragged. “No! They can’t have either of them. They can’t touch them.”
Residon laughed.
Vaughn knelt down in front of me, and as close as we were, I could see the resemblance now. “This can go one of two ways. You come with us of your own free will or I will hand over both of them to these guys. Do you understand?”
My eyes darted to the Arum. “I want them gone first.”
“You’re negotiating?” Vaughn laughed as he glanced up at his nephew. “See, that’s what you do when you’re presented with the unexpected.”
Blake looked away, jaw clenching. “What do you mean this isn’t about Nancy?”
“Just what it sounds like.”
A shudder racked Blake’s taut body. “If we don’t turn her over, they’ll kill—”
“Do I look like I care? Really?” Vaughn laughed, standing as he turned his attention to me. He pushed back his jacket, flashing his gun. “Residon, take the dead one. Dispose of him.”
Take his body, so Ash and Andrew would face what Dee and Daemon had? No body. No closure. My brain clicked off. What rose in me, replacing the sorrow and helplessness, was primal and ancient. Not just alien in origin, but a combination of both foreign and organic. I sucked in air, but there was something…more. Particles all around us—tiny atoms, but powerful, too small to see with the naked eye—lit up as they danced in the air and then froze. Like a thousand twinkling stars, they gleamed a dazzling white.
I sucked in and they came toward me, rushing, falling like shooting stars. They built and swirled, surrounding my body and those on the floor. I stood as they pieced together, settling on my skin, soaking through until they bonded with my cells. My entire body warmed, mixing with the roaring tide of emotions gathering in me.
I was no longer just Katy. Something—someone else—moved inside me. Another part of me that had been split months ago, on Halloween, had returned.
The Arum sensed it first. They shifted into their true forms, tall, imposing shadows thick and muddled like midnight oil. They would die.
“Don’t kill her,” Vaughn yelled, pulling out his gun, leveling it at me. “Now, little girl, you don’t want to do anything rash. Think this through.”
He would die, too.
Backing up, Blake glanced between his uncle and me. “Christ…”
In the back of my mind, I knew there was something else fueling this power—someone else from the outside. It was like the night in the clearing. What was in me was fully joining with my other half. I lifted into the air, no longer seeing them in color, but only in white, tinged with red.
“Shit,” Vaughn muttered. His finger twitched. “Don’t make me do this, Katy. You’re worth a lot of money.”