“We need to calm the poor little humans, get them to think that their leaders are protecting them, but you and me, well, we know that’s not really going to happen.” He smiled that charming smile of his. “But we also need to give a message to any other Luxen out there who may be thinking that our cause is not something they wish to support.”

My pulse in my throat felt like a hummingbird trying to peck its way out. “And that’s what we are? A message.”

“Smart girl,” he replied as the limo hung a sharp right.

“She wants to know how,” Sadi interjected, and I shot her a dark look. She patted my cheek. “Should we tell her?”

He shrugged.

“You see, there will be Luxen who will be watching, and even through the TV and all the channels it’s broadcast on, they will know what we are,” she explained. “We will toss the brothers right under that bus you were worried about earlier. We’ll expose them as Luxen.”

Holy crap.

“Takes care of two things.” Rolland leaned forward again. “When the humans see beyond a doubt that the Luxen look just like them and that there are humans working alongside some of them, it will cause panic.”

Making it easier for them to take control.

“Exactly,” Sadi murmured, tracing my lower lip with her finger.

“And it also sends a clear message to the Luxen that we will not tolerate any who may have the smallest inkling to stand against us.” The smile slipped from Rolland’s face as his pupils turned to light. “Like I said, serves two interests.”

Good God. The panic they would incite would be astronomical. Even if only a small percentage of the world saw the video at first, it would go viral. If there were Luxen out there like Daemon and Dawson, they’d get the message.

There had to be something I could do.

“There is nothing you can do,” Sadi said, reading my thoughts.

But there was.

She tipped her head back and started laughing, and I started picturing people twerking—everyone in the limo. Quiet Luxen Dude. Rolland. Sadi. All of them bent over, butts in the air, looking like damn fools.

Sadi drew back, frowning. “What are—?”

Twisting in the seat, I acted without much thought behind it, letting instinct take over. The risk was great, but I couldn’t let them reach their destination.

Sadi shouted something as I summoned the Source, pulled from deep within me. Quiet Luxen Dude slammed his hand around my throat as energy rolled down my arm, spinning rapidly as I let the bolt loose.

Air was cut off, and I couldn’t breathe, but the bolt of energy had struck true, slamming into the back of the driver’s head.

The limo swerved sharply to the right and kept going, speeding up when the driver slumped over the wheel. The car went up on two wheels, and as the grip around my throat tightened, the limo went airborne.

9

{ Daemon }

I didn’t like this setup at all. Having Kat in a different car was bad enough, but leaving her with Sadi and Rolland made me want to put my fist through the back of someone’s head.

Dee was sitting in the front, next to one of the newcomers, dressed like a mini-Sadi, wearing a pantsuit. God, that made my skin crawl right off my bones. There were at least a hundred things I didn’t like about that, and all of them made me want to punch myself in the face.

I was in a punching mood.

That was so messed up after the bliss I’d experienced this morning with Kat. The time spent with her, in her, now seemed like forever ago. There was an odd, desperate edge to my thoughts that I couldn’t shake. Like the feel of her lips, and how it almost seemed like it was something in the past.

My brother cast me a long look before shifting his gaze back to the window. He was tense, practically as tight as a bow.

The mayor lived out in the boondocks, and we were still at least five miles or so from the city. I wanted to tell the guy behind the wheel to hurry the hell up.

Suddenly, the cruiser in front of us slammed on its brakes, and I was jerked forward when the Hummer followed suit. Grasping the back of the seat in front of me, I swore under my breath.

“What’s going on?” Dee asked, frowning. “We shouldn’t be stopping.”

Up ahead, a black sedan veered to the left without any warning, and I saw something that caused my heart to freaking stop on a damn dime. Horror balled in the pit of my stomach.

The limo Kat traveled in swerved into the right lane, and then went up on one side. It clipped a motorcycle cop, and as it spun out, right into the path of another, the rider shifted forms a second too late and smacked against the sedan’s windshield. The limo was airborne, coasting several feet before coming down on its roof. Metal crunched.

“Stop the car!” Dawson shouted.

I was already reaching for the door while the Hummer fishtailed to a stop. Throwing open the door, I didn’t stop to think what it looked like to the dozen or so Luxen spilling out of their respective vehicles. I didn’t care.

Pushing past one in a uniform, I raced toward the wrecked limo. The only way I knew Kat was still alive was the fact that I was breathing, but that didn’t mean jack. She could be injured, and the knowledge she could be seriously hurt was enough to nearly take my knees out from underneath me.

Dawson and Dee were right behind me as I rounded the mangled, flickering body of the Luxen who had been on the motorcycle.

A bright white light flared inside the limo.

I skidded to a halt.

The back door blew out from the limo, winging across the road at such a force that it ripped right through a Luxen in a police uniform. Like, one Luxen suddenly became two not-so-put-together Luxen.