We couldn’t put Kat through this, however it would turn out. I was ready to get in the Explorer and get her the hell away from here. Screw not only the plan but everything with it. We’d done our part. The Arum were coming, and all we had succeeded in doing now—all I had done—was exposing Kat to one of the worst pains there was, that of losing a loved one, of seeing it firsthand.

As Dee slowly backed away, I slid my hands to Kat’s arms. “We have to go,” I told her as I gradually stood, pulling her up.

Her legs didn’t seem to be working once I got her standing, and her face was red from crying, lips trembling as she lifted her head. Those beautiful eyes were glassed over.

“Leaving?” Her voice cracked.

I started to nod, but Kat jerked free suddenly. She wheeled around, and when I grabbed for her, she turned and socked me right in the stomach. I barely felt it. “Kat . . .”

“No,” she said, striking out again. Her hand connected with my arm. “No!” She swung again, her palm glancing off my cheek.

Eyes wide, Dee started toward her, but I held up my hand, warding her off. She shook her head as another one of Kat’s mostly ineffective punches connected with another part of my body.

“It’s all right,” I told them. “I’ll meet you outside.”

Dee’s brows pinched. “But—”

“Go!”

Dee hesitated, but Archer stepped forward and took her hand. They started for the door as I focused on Kat. I wasn’t even sure she saw me. The pupils of her eyes glowed white. She moved to hit me again and I let her have it.

“Do what you need to do,” I said, meaning it.

Kat’s fists pounded my chest, first with some oomph behind them, but I stood there, and I let her work it out until her punches slowed and her shoulders shook. There was no amount of pain she could inflict on me that would equal what she was feeling.

“Oh God,” she whispered, dropping her forehead to my chest. “Oh God, she’s dead, she’s really dead.” Her arms fell to her sides. “They did . . . this to her. Why?”

I circled my arms around her. “I don’t know, baby, but I’m sorry—I’m so sorry.”

She shuddered as she stood there, and I hated that I couldn’t give her time to adjust, to mourn. “We’ve got to—”

The shiver of awareness skated over my skin, and there it was, the ever-present hum increasing in my skull. Shit. I whipped around, shielding Kat’s body with mine as the front door slammed again.

Heavy footsteps made their way through the hall, into the dining room. I tensed, knowing it wasn’t Dee or Archer. The plan of going home and them coming to us had worked too well.

Ethan Smith walked into the kitchen.

23

{ Daemon }

The bastard strolled on in like he owned the place, completely at ease and with absolutely no fear. His damn black trousers and white shirt even looked pressed.

Shoved in the back of my jeans, the rigged gun burned my skin, but before I could go for it, he spoke.

“Don’t even think about doing anything. I know neither you nor your sister is falling into line. I knew you’d be tough, but your sister surprised me. The game’s over.” He barely passed us a glance as he walked over to the table, straightened a chair, and sat down. “Your sister and the one with her will be slaughtered before you can blink an eye if you displease me. Keep that in mind.”

A deep growl rolled up my throat.

He glanced at the dead Luxen and then his violet eyes slid back to us. He tsked under his breath. “Daemon Black, I had so much hope for you.”

It took everything not to blast his ass into outer space. “Funny. You sound so much like someone I know already. Disappointed her, too.”

One dark eyebrow rose. “Hmm. Let me guess. Nancy Husher?”

I ground down on my molars. “You are on speaking terms with her?”

Ethan idly brushed the backs of his fingers along his pants, and then he hooked one knee over the other. “Not quite, Daemon. Please.” He extended a hand, and two of the chairs flipped upright. “Have a seat.”

“No thank you,” I said as Kat shifted closer to me. I had no idea what kind of frame of mind she was in right now.

Ethan smiled tightly. “I really wasn’t giving either of you an option. Sit or I’ll send the message to the others outside to kill your sister. Slowly.”

Anger was like a bitter acid in my blood as I stared down the Elder or whatever the hell he really was to our kind.

It was Kat who spoke, her voice surprisingly level considering what she’d just been through. “We’ll sit.”

Looking over at her, I saw that her face was pale and eyes slightly swollen, but her gray gaze was sharp. I took her hand.

Ethan chortled as he watched us. “Tell me, Daemon, what made you fall in love with a human?”

How in the hell was I supposed to answer that? I sat in the chair nearest to Ethan, which forced Kat farther away. “Why do you even want to know?”

“I’m curious.” He cocked his head to the side. “Answer me.”

My teeth were going to crack. “What’s there about her not to love?”

“Well, she’s a human.” His gaze flickered over her, his upper lip curling. “She’s mutated, but ultimately, she’s a human underneath it all.”

“So?” challenged Kat.

He ignored her. “She’s human, Daemon.”