There were at least seven or so standing, and as I darted toward Dawson and Kat, I knew the odds weren’t looking good. We were doing some damage, taking a few out here and there, but there were still many left. Too many.
During it all, Dee stood there. She didn’t get in on the fight, didn’t come to our aid or theirs. She stood by the side of the road, her hands balled into fists, watching the remaining Luxen surround us. I raised my hand as I reached out to her. She had to join us. There was no way. No matter how strong the pull, we were her real family.
But she didn’t move as the others drew closer.
Dee?
She looked at me and shook her head, taking a step away. I couldn’t believe it. Weight pressed down on my chest as I stared at her. She couldn’t be making this choice. There was no way.
The Luxen were closing in.
This is bad. Dawson’s voice floated through me. This is real bad.
It was, but we weren’t going down like this. I wrapped my hand around Kat’s and she squeezed back, causing light to pulse up my arm. I pulled her closer as Dawson moved to stand in front of her. Wasn’t that either of us thought she couldn’t handle her own. But ultimately, we were stronger than she was. We could take more hits, and there were definitely some major hits coming our—
What sounded like a hundred large-winged birds descended on the forest surrounding us. We turned, just like the other Luxen did, as six dark-colored helicopters crested the tall pines.
They tilted as they neared the road, doors open on all except one, which circled around, sliding the doors open.
I’d seen the movie Black Hawk Down a few times. I knew what I was watching.
Ropes flopped over the edge, spinning down to the road. Within seconds, soldiers appeared at the doors of the helicopters, dressed in all black, faces hidden behind protective headgear. Some went for the ropes, rapelling down. Others knelt at the edges of the helicopters, aiming weapons that reminded me of a small rocket launcher.
It was the same weapon strapped along the backs of the soldiers racing down the street—PEP weapons, pulse energy projectiles. Weapons deadly to Luxen, hybrids, and Origins.
Oh hell.
{ Katy }
Every part of my body ached. Things went from oh crap to FML in a matter of seconds. We were seriously screwed every which way from Sunday.
The brothers, slipping into their human forms, pushed me back against a wrecked cruiser as soldiers dropped to the street. We didn’t have a chance. Not with so many soldiers coming down like rain all around us.
Daemon’s hand tightened around mine as one of the Luxen reared, sending a bolt of the Source at the nearest helicopter. The energy hit just below the propellers. Sparks flew as the helicopter veered sharply, spinning out of control and into the pines. The impact shook the ground, and the wave of heat from the fireball forced me farther back against the cruiser.
A soldier went down on one knee, hoisting his weapon. There was a blue flare at the end of the muzzle, and then light shot out, much like the Source, but it was a brilliant sheen of blue. It smacked into the Luxen, lighting him up as if he had been struck by lightning. There was a vibrant pulse, a whitish-red, and then the Luxen fell backward. As the glow dimmed from the Luxen, it was obvious that there was no life left.
All hell broke loose.
Pulses of PEP streamed across the street, as did the light from the Source. Both sides were going down quickly, toppling like a row of dominoes.
“Jesus,” Daemon grunted as he pushed me to the side.
I hit Dawson’s chest as a stray beam of PEP rolled into the cruiser. He pushed me around the hood and kept pushing, but I dug in my heels, straining around the cruiser so I could see Daemon.
He was moving among the abandoned cars, blue and white light flashing across his form.
“Dee!” he shouted.
My eyes scanned for his sister, finding her farther up the road near a rapidly retreating Rolland. He was heading for her, narrowly dodging blasts of light. My heart jumped in my chest as a PEP explosion hit the ground only a few inches from his feet.
“Daemon!” I started toward him but was grabbed from behind.
“You’re going to get yourself killed!” Dawson yanked me against his hard chest, and as I struggled to get free, he lifted my feet clear off the ground.
I grasped his forearms, kicking out. “Let me go!”
Dawson kept pulling me down the side of the road as Daemon vaulted over a sedan, racing toward his sister. Dawson turned, and near the limo, the flashes of light were almost blinding.
“Good God,” Dawson muttered in my ear. “Look at them.”
For a moment, all we could do was stare. He lowered me to my feet, his grip loosening. We shared the same objective, maybe morbid, fascination.
One by one, the Luxen charged and were picked off by a blast of PEP from the soldiers who had formed an almost impenetrable line.
The Luxen were well aware of the weapon, but they didn’t seem to grasp the fundamental fact that all it took was one blast. But as far as I was concerned, they could keep running straight at the soldiers all they wanted. Have at it.
However, two soldiers streamed up the middle of the road, in between the cars, searching down the Luxen who seemed to have an ounce of common sense and were making a run for it.
One of the soldiers was heading straight for Daemon, who had caught up to Dee and had her by the shoulders, shaking her. Rolland was by the side of the road, too close to them. A cluster with nothing but bad things written all over it was about to go down.
All I could think about was getting to Daemon.
I slammed my foot into Dawson’s, startling him into letting go, and I broke free, racing up the side of the road, his curses following every one of my steps. Pain lanced my leg as I darted between a Hummer and a cruiser.
The soldier went down on one knee, leveling the gun.
Up ahead and in front of the soldier, Dee yanked herself free from her brother, her face contorted. “No!”
“Please—” He grabbed for her again.
“No. You don’t get it!” She shoved him, and he stumbled, more out of shock than from her strength. “For once, I don’t hurt. I don’t worry. I want this.”
Blue light pulsed at the end of the muzzle, but I couldn’t pull any more of the Source. I was drained, wiped out. I pushed with everything physically in me, more than willing to go hand to hand.
I was no more than three feet from the kneeling soldier when the other soldier abruptly stepped out in front of me. Skidding to a stop, I lost my balance and landed on my butt.
The end of a PEP weapon was planted in my face.
“Don’t move,” came a muffled voice from behind the helmet.
Blue light flared from the other weapon, and horror zinged through me as I cried out. Daemon whirled around, shielding his sister even as she pushed free from him once more. The PEP blast shot through the cars, forging the distance between the gun and where Daemon and Dee stood, striking its target in the chest.
Behind them, Rolland was knocked back, flipping in and out of his human form. His head kicked against the road as he bellowed. The glow surrounding him throbbed once, and then there was nothing.
The soldier hadn’t been aiming for Daemon—and Daemon stared, his eyes wide, chest rising and falling sharply.
Dee hesitated, and then she turned, shifting into light and disappearing among the thick pines. Blue light bounced off the tree trunks, following her retreat. Daemon started to twist around, to go after her, but stopped when he saw me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dawson being guided toward where I was still sitting.
“I told you to stay put,” he gritted out without taking his eyes off the soldier with the gun trained on me.
“Looks like that worked out well for you,” I shot back.
The other soldier now had Daemon rounded up, herding him back to where we were. When he reached us, he slowly bent down.
“Stand still,” the soldier barked.
Anger rolled off Daemon as he continued on, shooting the soldier a look that screamed to try to stop him. The finger on the trigger spasmed as Daemon wrapped his hands under my shoulders and hauled me up. He pulled me into the shelter of his arms, angling his body so that very little of me showed.
A muscle thrummed along Dawson’s jaw. “Well, crap.”
Chopper wings beat at the air, and within seconds, another Black Hawk crested the pines, easing down in the middle of the street a couple yards from us, kicking up wind and causing my hair to whip out from underneath Daemon’s arm as I pressed tighter against him.
Exhausted and beat up, drained like a twisted sponge, I knew we were done. The three of us. If they opened fire, it would be over. A sick feeling crawled up my throat. I wanted to close my eyes, but that seemed like a coward’s way out.
There was the sound of metal grinding, and then the door to the helicopter slid open, slowly revealing who was kneeling inside, staring at us. Waiting. Like always.
Nancy Husher.