“Promise?” I whispered.

“Promise.” He tipped up his chin and kissed the bridge of my nose. “And I’ve never broken a promise to you, have I?”

“No. You haven’t.”

22

{ Katy }

The ride to Petersburg was a lot more uneventful than the trip to Atlanta, with the exception of the bickering between Daemon and Archer and the state of some of the highways we traveled on.

I knew better than to look inside the cars this time, but Dee apparently didn’t. Every so often, I’d catch sight of her in the front seat, staring out the window at the destruction, and she’d make a soft sound, like a swallowed cry. Had she had a hand in this? Maybe not physically, but had anything she’d done had a domino effect that ended with many, many lives lost?

I felt for her, and I was happy when I saw Archer’s hand gravitate toward her whenever she appeared to get lost staring out that window. But the closer we got to West Virginia, the closer to home, I could no longer think about Dee.

My heart started pounding in my chest like it wanted to jump out and do a little dance the minute we entered Petersburg from the highway. Everything looked normal, like this little patch of the world, a few-stoplight town, had somehow been left out of the events the rest of the world faced. Except as we cruised through the main drag of downtown, no one was out on the streets. Not a single soul walked on the sidewalks. There were a few cars, but it felt like everyone was holed up inside their homes. And that wasn’t the only thing.

“God,” breathed Archer, his knuckles bleaching around the steering wheel as he quickly turned onto the nearest road that got us to where we needed to go. “They’re everywhere.”

I didn’t need an explanation. He was talking about the Luxen.

Daemon leaned between the two front seats and placed a hand on his sister’s shoulder. He didn’t speak out loud, but when I saw Dee turn toward him, her lips were pressed together tightly and her face was pale.

My stomach got in the game with my heart, tumbling as it raced.

Dee nodded and then said out loud, “I can hear him, but I’m fine. I’m with you guys.” She glanced at Archer in a way that almost made me swoon and forget what was going on. “I’m going to be okay.”

I just hoped that was the case. We were obviously deep in enemy territory, and it would be no amount of time before they knew we were here. They might already know we were here.

And backup in the form of the Arum and the military was still many hours away. This could all go very badly, and very quickly, because we were intentionally walking into a trap. Dee and Daemon were really going to have to be convincing when it came to playing along with the enemy to get close to Ethan.

So convincing I really hoped they didn’t switch sides.

Might be a needless fear, because I seriously believed what Daemon felt for me was strong enough to beat that, but the concern was still there. It was like a shadow in my blood, a constant thought in the back of my head, a tiny stone in my stomach that didn’t go away.

This could really blow up in our faces.

As we neared the turnoff I hadn’t seen in so long, I leaned forward and grasped the back of Dee’s seat. My breath caught in my throat as the Explorer eased up the driveway. The grass looked overgrown, crowding the road with tall reeds; it was clear no one was concerned with landscaping, but I figured that was okay, with the world facing an alien apocalypse and all. Any other option was unacceptable for me to consider. Mom had to be fine, had to be waiting for me.

She was home, because her Prius was parked in the driveway, in front of the porch where the wooden swing still swayed back and forth in the breeze.

Archer turned the key in the ignition, cutting the engine as I stared at the flower box surrounding the porch. It was more weeds than flowers, but that was okay, too, because Mom had a daughter missing and an alien apocalypse to deal with. Plus, she wasn’t really good with flowers and all that jazz.

My fingers were shaking as I unlatched my seat belt.

Mom had to be inside the house. Had she seen us pull up yet? Would the door open at any given moment and she’d be walking out? A prettier, classier, smarter, and nicer version of me—a version I hoped to be when I got older.

I could barely drag in enough air to get my lungs working. From our plans, I knew Daemon would be leading the show here, and the last thing any of us needed was for me to go running to my mom. But I wanted to see her. I needed to, because I missed her desperately and I had to make sure she was okay.

I was all she had left, and she needed to know that I was still here.

Daemon caught my arm, keeping me in the backseat while Dee and Archer hopped out and stared at her house with wary expressions.

“There are Luxen nearby,” he said, smoothing his thumb along the edge of my sleeve, across my wrist. “I don’t know if they’re in any of the houses.”

“Why would they be in our houses?” The moment the question left my mouth, I knew how stupid it sounded, because there could be any number of reasons why they’d be in my house or Daemon’s.

He smiled tightly, but the worry in his eyes caused the little knots in my stomach to expand. “I know you want to check on your mom. I get that, but I need you to not run off. We’re going to head over there, but if anything is off and I tell you to get out of there—”

“Why would things be off?”

Daemon cocked his head to the side. “Kat . . .”

“I know,” I whispered. Stupid just kept spewing out of my mouth.