Oblivion

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  gas. “Get there now.”

  “On it.”

  Hanging up on Adam, I immediately dialed Dee. She answered on the third ring, exasperation dripping from her tone. “This better be good, Daemon, because—”

  “Baruck has been spotted. He’s heading toward the colony.”

  “What do you mean?” she said.

  My hand tightened on the phone. “He’s going toward the colony and he’s going to pass right by our house. We’re on our way. Is Kat still with you?”

  “Katy is with me, but her trace is barely noticeable!”

  I hit the gas pedal to the floor. “It still can be seen. Just stay inside, Dee. Keep her there.”

  “Okay,” she whispered. “Be careful. I love you.”

  Fury roared through me. The son of a bitch probably had no idea how close he was actually getting to the colony or to where Dee and Kat were. With the beta quartz so close by, it would throw him off, but it was too close for comfort. I needed to ditch the wheels, but I was too close to town and too many cars were around to do it without drawing attention. Andrew and Adam were fast. They’d get there before—

  My cell went off again, this time from Dee. A knot formed in my gut as I answered it. “What?”

  “It’s Katy,” she said, voice shaking. “She made me trace her—”

  “What?” I hit the brakes, nearly causing the van behind us to rear end. “She did what?”

  “She made me trace her and then she left, trying to draw the Arum away from here. She’s going where the field party was. Daemon, she’s glowing.”

  My heart lodged in my throat. Fury and horror slammed into me like a punch to the chest. I wanted to reach through the phone and strangle my sister. How could she let Kat do this? But there wasn’t time to yell at her. That would definitely come later. My head started working quickly. “Get in touch with Adam and Andrew, but text me her number now.”

  “Daemon—”

  “Dammit, Dee, text me her number now!” I shouted, my heart pounding as I hung up. Why would Kat do this? It was suicide. Why? A second passed and then Dee’s text came through. Hitting the numbers, I waited as the phone rang.

  “Hello?” Kat’s voice was another hit to the chest.

  I lost it.

  “Are you out of your freaking mind?” I yelled into the phone, swerving around a slow-moving sedan. “This has to be the stupidest thing—”

  “Shut up, Daemon!” she screeched. “It’s done. Okay? Is Dee okay?”

  Is Dee okay? Did she not realize what she had just done?

  Kat was insane!

  “Yes, Dee’s okay. But you’re not! We’ve lost him, and since Dee said you’re glowing like a goddamn full moon right now, I’m betting he’s after you.”

  There was a pause. “Well, that was the plan.”

  “I swear on every star in the sky, I’m going to strangle you when I get my hands on you.” I was literally going to do it. “Where are you?”

  “I’m almost to the field,” she said. “I don’t see him.”

  “Of course you don’t see him.” Good God… “He’s made of shadows—of night, Kat. You won’t see him until he wants you to. I can’t believe you did this.”

  “Don’t you start with me!” she yelled back. “You said I was a weakness. And I was a liability back there with Dee. What if he came there? You said yourself he’d use me against her. This was the best I could do! So stop being such a damn jerk!”

  No.

  Oh no.

  For a moment, I didn’t even see the road in front of me. The horror nearly consumed me. “I didn’t mean for you to do this, Kat. Never something like this.”

  Her deep breath was audible. “You didn’t make me do this.”

  I pressed my lips together. “Yeah, I did.”

  “Daemon—”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t want you hurt, Kat. I can’t—I can’t live with that.” Once those words were out, there was no taking them back. They were the truth. “Stay on the phone. I’m going to find a place to ditch the car and I’ll meet you. It won’t take more than a few minutes to get there. Don’t get out of the car or anything.”

  “Okay,” she said and then, “maybe this wasn’t the strongest idea.”

  I barked out a short, harsh laugh as I spied the last of the headlights disappearing in the rearview mirror. I pulled over. “No shit.”

  “So, um, the not living with your—” She broke off suddenly as I killed the engine and threw open the car door. “Daemon?”

  “What?”

  “I think—” A scream cut her off.

  My skin chilled. “Kat?”

  Nothing.

  “Katy!”

  No answer.

  Oh no. No. No.

  Tossing the phone into the SUV, I slammed the door shut and then took off for the wooded line, switching into my true form and picking up speed. I ran faster than I ever had before, my form barely touching the ground. Scenarios swirled in my head. Kat beaten. Broken. Dead. I couldn’t get the thoughts out of my head.

  Only minutes had passed, maybe two by the time I reached the clearing, but it was more than enough time for Baruck to have seriously injured Kat or worse. I flew past the burned-out remains of the bonfire, nothing more than charred logs and scattered ash. Through the trees, I spied a bright white light rise too far in the air to be Kat unless…

  I dug in, clearing the first stand of trees, and then I saw him—I saw Kat. The Arum held her up in the air with a hand around her throat, and his other was inside her chest. He was feeding on her. Rage tasted like metal in the back of my throat. I shifted into my human form as fury erupted out of me in a roar.

  The Arum’s shadowy head turned over his shoulder just as I slammed into him, breaking his hold on Kat. She fell to the ground in a messy heap and she didn’t get up. I landed in front of her in a crouch, the Arum several feet away.

  I rose as the Arum did, both of us eye to eye.

  “You’ve come to die with her? Perfect,” Baruck said in his human form, rapidly moving from left to right. “That makes this so much easier, because I think I might have broken her. She tasted good, too. Different somehow,” he taunted. “Not like a Luxen, but still worth it in the end.”

  Launching myself at Baruck, I threw him several feet away with one powerful blast of the Source from an outstretched arm. “I’m going to kill you.”

  Baruck rolled onto his back, choking with laughter. “You think you can take me, Luxen? I have devoured those stronger than you.”

  I hit him with another blast of light, drowning out the rest of what Baruck was saying. The ground trembled with the impact of all that focused energy. The hit had knocked Baruck down, but I knew he wouldn’t stay there. Shifting into my Luxen form, I rushed him. We collided like thunder and hit the ground rolling, brawling like two humans, but our blows would’ve killed a human with one shot.

  Pinning Baruck down, I slammed my fist into his throat, but at the last minute, he shifted and pulled his legs back, kicking me off to the side. I landed and rolled, popping to my feet just as I saw Dee race past the Arum, heading for Kat. There was no time to even process my sister’s presence.

  Bright, orangey balls of fire formed on the tips of my hands. They shot out past Baruck, fizzling out before they slammed into trees, turning the world amber and gold. Heat blew back, tossing crackling embers into the sky.

  One slammed into the Arum’s shoulder, spinning him around. He ducked the other, and it hit the tree behind him, burning a hole deep into the truck. Over the chaos, I heard Dee begging, “Katy, talk to me. Please talk to me!” Then she screamed my name. “Daemon!”

  My heart stopped.

  I turned just as Baruck did. Dee had Kat in her arms. The Arum released his own essence. A dark bolt slammed into Dee, knocking her back from Kat, who slumped to the ground. I shouted as Dee sprang to her feet. Her eyes burned an intense white and then she flew forward, aiming straight for Baruck.

  Spinning back, I relea
sed another blast and then another, but Baruck dodged my attack and went straight for Dee. I raced forward, but it was too late. He caught Dee, and for a heart-stopping moment, darkness swallowed her. She hit the ground, her body twitching.

  I charged Baruck, tackling him. Branches shook, scattering leaves to the grass. I rolled atop Baruck, summoning the Source as I lifted my hand just as I saw Dee push to her feet. The moment of distraction was all it took.

  Everything happened so fast.

  Dee flickered in and out, blood trickling from her nose as she squared her shoulders and started toward us. Under me, Baruck lifted his arm and released another blast, shooting it straight at Dee.

  Kat crashed into her at the second the blast hit them, knocking her aside a second before darkness surrounded them, and there was a scream. I couldn’t tell if it belonged to my sister or Kat.

  Everything was falling apart.

  Both of them crashed to the ground. Kat was on her back and the front of her shirt was washed with a dark substance. A metallic scent filled the air. Blood. Dee was beside her, on her side, her limp arm fallen across Kat’s. Dee slipped into her true form.

  Never take your eye off your enemy.

  The blast caught me in the back, sending me through the air, ass over teacup. Pain made it difficult to hold form, and I felt myself slipping back and forth. My thoughts were consumed with my sister…and Kat.

  Kat stood no chance against Baruck.

  I smacked into the ground, stunned as I heard the Arum’s voice in my head. Three for one ssspecial.

  Trying to maintain one form, I twisted and my gaze cleared. Kat—I was next to Kat, so close I could touch her. She was alive. Her chest rose and fell in shallow breaths. She was staring at me, her lips moving, but there were no words. I tried to sit up, but aftershocks forced me down. My muscles spasmed. It was like being hit by a supercharged Taser.

  It’sss over. All of you will die. Baruck advanced.

  I turned toward Kat, saw the tears blurring her eyes. This wasn’t right. She didn’t deserve any of this, and I’d brought it all to her—everything.

  Our eyes locked. I wanted to tell her I was sorry. I was sorry she moved here and met us. Not in the way she’d think—that it was her fault, but that she had no idea what she was stepping into. I wanted to turn back time, stop her from going to the library and erase the spaghetti incident, because without that, we would’ve never talked in the woods that night and she would’ve never walked out in front of that truck. So many mistakes.

  Kat would be safe right now, watching stupid Halloween movies, maybe even in the arms of some guy who would never hurt her or put her in harm’s way. She would be safe. Out of my reach, but safe nonetheless.

  Most of all, I wanted to go back and change the way I’d acted toward her. Because now, as she shuddered on the damp ground, as death loomed over us all, I was willing to acknowledge the one thing I’d been hiding from. The one thing that had truly terrified me.

  I never wanted to push her away.

  As selfish as it was, I was glad she had moved here. It was too late for us, but I cared for her…more than I should, but I did. It was too late.

  Too late to tell her how I felt, to touch her, to just hold her, to make up for every terrible thing I’d done and said. It was too late for me.

  But she was going to walk out of here. She was going to live if it was the last thing I did.

  Letting my human form go, I was at my most vulnerable, but I was going to need everything. I extended an arm toward her and she reached out, her fingers disappearing in my light.

  I focused everything into that touch, sending a jolt of energy into her body, knowing that whatever was in us would do its thing, healing her from the inside out. It would give her a chance to get away. Hopefully Baruck would be more focused on me.

  A sob rocked her body, and I squeezed her hand. Then I saw her eyes flare with realization. She knew what I was doing, what it meant.

  “No.” Her voice was a hoarse, tired whisper.

  She tried to pull away, but I held on, ignoring the desperate panic in her eyes. I squeezed her hand. I wasn’t letting go. Not now.

  Not ever.

  Suddenly she sat up and grabbed my sister’s arm while she still held my hand. A pulse of light went through me, shining so bright that Baruck seemed to disappear. It arced high in the air, crackling and spitting. It went down into Dee. Her light connected with mine.

  Baruck’s shadow halted.

  The arc of light streamed above and shot down, right into the center of Kat’s chest. A second later she was above us, slipping free from my grasp, and she was above me, hovering, her hair flying out around her. Power built among the three of us, kicking the regenerative abilities into high gear. As it sparked, Dee and I slipped back into our human forms.

  Dazed, I pushed to my knees, reaching for Kat. What was she doing…?

  I could feel her pulling the particles out of the air, holding them close to her. It wasn’t possible, but power coiled inside her, a tremor of the very same power shuddering deep inside me. This…this wasn’t possible.

  Screaming, she let it go.

  Climbing to my feet, I stared in awe as it smacked into Baruck’s chest. The air pulled tight and snapped. Intense light flared, and I threw my arm up, shielding my eyes. When it receded, Baruck was gone and Kat…

  Oh, God.

  “Kat?”

  She was on her back and her chest…it barely moved. The scent of death was in the air. I shot to her side, dropping to my knees. She let out a rattling breath and raw panic exploded in my gut.

  All of this… We came this far—I saved her and she took everything I’d given her, and instead of getting the hell out of there, she used it to save us.

  She scarified herself for us.

  I didn’t deserve that. No way did I deserve this from her.

  I pulled her into my arms, and she felt as light as a breath, as if a part of her that made her whole was already gone. “Kat, say something insulting. Come on.”

  Dee stirred and rose to her feet, panic filling her voice. I didn’t take my eyes off Kat. Moving my fingers along her face, wiping away the traces of blood…but there was so much. Under her nose, the corners of her lips, her ears…and even pooling under her eyes.

  This wasn’t right.

  I knew what I had to do. “Dee, go back to the house now.”

  “I don’t want to leave,” Dee protested, wrapping her arms around her waist as she stumbled closer. “She’s bleeding! We have to get her to a hospital.”

  Kat’s eyes fixed on me, but she didn’t move. Horror climbed through my chest, digging in with claws.

  “Go back to the house now!” I yelled, and then forced myself to take it down a notch. Dee couldn’t know what I was about to do again. “Please. Leave us. Go. She’s okay. She…she just needs a minute.”

  I turned my back on Dee, pushing the tangled waves of hair out of Kat’s face. When I was sure Dee was gone, I let out a ragged breath. “Kat, you’re not going to die. Don’t move or do anything. Just relax and trust me. Don’t fight what’s about to happen.”

  There was no sign she’d heard me, but I wasn’t giving up. No way. Lowering my head, I pressed my forehead against hers. My body faded out, and I slipped into my true form. Heat coursed from me into her.

  Hold on. Don’t let go. I knew she was beyond hearing me, but I kept talking as I cradled her head. Just hold on.

  Focusing on her, I felt myself slip inside her. Then I could see it all: bones knitting, cuts healing closed, torn muscles repairing, and blood flowing through her veins fast, but flowing without obstruction. She had been a mess, and it killed me to know what kind of pain she had endured.

  I felt something click inside me. For a moment, I felt a strange feeling—a fluttering in my chest, next to my own heart, like our hearts were one, beating in sync, but then…then something else was happening. There was a tearing inside me, a rendering of