And I knew what needed to be done.
Archer let loose another blast as I tapped into the Source. It flowed down my arm, cascading over the top of the Luxen’s head as he lifted it, eyes glowing like white orbs.
The next second, I was flung backward like a car had smacked into me. The air cracked with static as I hit the hard floor on my back, momentarily stunned while I stared up at the broken, swaying tray of fluorescent light.
Holy ouch.
Groaning, I rolled onto my side and blinked tightly. The Luxen was also on its back, several yards away. Struggling to my feet, I saw Archer flinging a Luxen into the freezer section. He spun toward me, saw me standing, and nodded.
There was a path cleared, down by the spilled cartons of ice cream. Not a very clear path. Luxen were sprawled on the floor, flickering in and out, down for a moment but not out for the count.
An explosion from somewhere in the grocery store rocked the tall shelves. The freezer doors imploded as Archer and I ran down the aisle, glass shattering inches behind us. Skidding across the slippery floor by the bakery, we reached the front. Around us, humans scurried toward the broken windows, bloodied and shell-shocked.
My heart dropped into my stomach as the parking lot and the buildings beyond came into view. Smoke poured into the air, shooting up in great plumes above orangey-red flames. An electric pole was down on a row of cars with crumbled roofs. Sirens screamed in the distance. A car zoomed across the parking lot, slamming into another vehicle. Metal crunched and gave way.
“It’s like an apocalypse,” Archer murmured.
I swallowed hard. “All we’re missing are the zombies.”
He looked down at me, brows rising, and he opened his mouth, but the snack aisle threw up all over the place.
Chips and pretzels flew into the air, along with cheese puffs and foil wrappings. They rained down, pinging on the floor. There was a hole in the middle of the snack aisle now.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said, and this time I didn’t argue.
I was saving all my words for a different battle, because I knew when we got back to the cabin, if we could, Archer was going to push for us to bounce on out of Idaho. I got that it wasn’t safe here anymore, and if he wanted to leave, so be it. Considering Beth’s condition, it would be smart to get her far away from all of this, but there was no way I was leaving here without Daemon.
Screw that.
We darted down a demolished checkout lane. Archer was in front of me when I ground to a halt, every muscle in my body locking up as a series of tight tingles traveled over the base of my neck.
My knees went weak as the air leaked out of my lungs. The tingling was there, warm and familiar, a feeling that had been absent for two days. In my chest, my heart kicked into hyperdrive, sending the blood roaring through my veins.
Daemon.
I stumbled around slowly, like I was moving in quicksand, scanning the destroyed aisles. Light peeked and pulsed through the destruction of the market. Time seemed to slow down, the air thickening until I couldn’t drag in enough breath. Dizzy, and too hopeful with the rising tide of tangled emotions, I moved back toward the lights.
“Katy!” Archer’s voice traveled from the broken doors. “What are you doing?”
My pace picked up as I neared the collapsed display of candy bars. Snack bags crunched under my feet. My mouth dried and my eyes blurred. The aches and burning pain radiating from my shoulder faded into the background.
Wind picked up, whipping the long, loose strands of hair around my face, and I wasn’t sure where that was coming from, but I pushed forward, nearing the edge of the destroyed snack aisle.
I stepped to the side, just a foot or two, and looked up the aisle to the end. My heart stopped. My entire world came to a startling pause.
“Dammit!” shouted Archer, his voice closer. “No!”
But it was too late.
I saw him.
And he saw me.
He stood at the end of the aisle in his true form, shining as bright as a diamond. He didn’t look any different than the rest of the Luxen, but every ounce of my being knew it was him. The very cells that made me who I was snapped alive and cried out for him. He still was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Tall and shining like a thousand suns, edges shimmering a faint red.
I took a step forward at the same moment he did, and I reached out to him the way we could, because when he had healed me all that time ago, he’d connected us together. Forever.
Daemon? I called out to him through the connection.
He disappeared from in front of me, moving too fast for even me to track.
“Kat!” Archer yelled. At the same time, I swore I heard my name echoing in my head in a deeper, smoother voice that caused my belly to flip and the strings attached to my heart to pull taut.
Warmth traveled across my back and I turned, coming face-to-face with dazzling emerald-colored eyes; skin that seemed to always be tan, no matter the time of year; broad, sweeping cheekbones; and unruly black hair that brushed equally dark eyebrows.
Full lips tipped up at the corners tightly.
It wasn’t Daemon.
A good head and a half taller, Dawson locked his eyes with mine. I thought I saw a flicker of remorse, but that could’ve simply been wishful thinking. Light rushed from behind his pupils, turning the entire orb of his eyes white. Static traveled across his cheeks, forming tiny fingers of electricity.
There was a flash of intense light, a shocking wave of heat that seemed to lift me off my feet, and then there was nothing.