The Origin smirked. “Oh, trust me, I know exactly what happens when Luc is angry.”

Air lodged in my throat. I stared at Emery, really looked at her. Her eyes weren’t . . . they weren’t a muted green anymore. They were the color of the brightest moss, and her pupils—her pupils were all white. My mouth dropped open.

Emery wasn’t human.

She’d been wearing contacts the day at breakfast. Heidi’s girlfriend was a Luxen!

“You have no idea who is really around you, do you? I guess you’ll figure it out in due time.” The Origin drew my attention back to him. “But in the meantime, I have a question I want you to ask Luc. Would you do that for me? Please?”

He gripped my arm before I even saw him move. I gasped as he yanked me forward and my bag slipped off my shoulder and hit the ground. His grip tightened, causing me to cry out. “Ask him if he’ll play with me?”

“What?” I whispered.

It happened so fast.

There was a crack from inside. Red-hot pain, the kind I’d never experienced before, shot up my arm, stealing the next breath I took. I couldn’t even scream as my legs gave out.

The Origin let go, and my knees slammed into the asphalt. Doubling over, I pressed my arm to my stomach. Someone cursed, but I could barely hear them over the pounding of my blood.

He broke my arm.

Holy shit, he broke my arm.

The stranger stepped around me as I tried to breathe through the throbbing pain, casually walking off like he hadn’t just snapped my bone with a twist of his hand.

Emery was there in a second, kneeling in front of me as she gripped my shoulders. “Are you okay?”

“No,” I said with a gasp, rocking backward as another wave of sharp, burning pain shot through me. “He broke my arm. Like, for real.”

“Dammit.” Emery looked over her shoulder at Connor as she wrapped her arm around my waist. “I’ve never done the healing thing before, and you’re wearing a Disabler. Call Luc.”

“Luc?” I said, and gasped again, my head not working right. “I need a hospital. Doctors. Pain meds—strong pain meds.”

“We have something far better than that.” Emery hauled me to my feet with striking ease. “Come on.”

My gaze darted around the parking lot. I saw Connor was on the phone, his mouth moving fast.

Heidi was suddenly there, her face pale. “What happened?”

“I thought I told you to stay back.” Emery walked me out between the trucks. “But of course you didn’t listen.”

“You should’ve known better than that.” Heidi grew closer. “Holy crap, what happened to your arm?”

“Some guy broke it,” I gritted out. “And I need a hospital.”

“Some guy?” Heidi repeated.

“I don’t know who it was, but that’s not important right now,” Emery said. “Grab her bag. We’ve got to go.”

“To the hospital?” I suggested, wheezing through the pain. In the back of my mind, I remembered the whole Luxen and Origin healing thing. Hell, Luc had healed those marks on my stomach, but my arm was broken. I wanted a doctor. I wanted pain meds. Lots of them.

Connor turned, sliding his phone into his pocket. “He said he’ll meet you.”

“Thank you.” Emery ushered me past a group of people. They were starting to pay attention. “Heidi.”

She came running to our side, carrying my bag. The world spun a little. A car door opened in front of me. It wasn’t my car, but I was suddenly in the backseat and Heidi was crawling in beside me. Another door slammed shut.

“Let me see your arm.” Heidi scooted close as the engine turned on. Emery—Emery the Luxen was driving.

I stared at her face, taking short, quick breaths. “How bad is it? I can’t look.”

“Um.” She glanced at the front seat. “I don’t see a bone, but it’s swollen and really red.”

“Okay,” I whispered. “Not seeing . . . a bone is a good thing, but I don’t know if I can feel my fingers.”

“It’ll be okay.” Tears gleamed in her eyes. “I promise.”

Needing to believe her, I nodded as Emery peeled out of the parking lot and gunned the engine. I swallowed hard and tried to focus on anything other than the breath-stealing pain. “It was him—he killed them. Colleen. Amanda.”

Heidi blinked and then pushed her hair back from her face. “Oh God.”

“He didn’t say who he was?” Emery demanded from the front seat.

“No. But he knew Luc. He knew me. He . . . he was at the club when it was raided. I . . .” The pain was getting worse. I felt like vomiting, and there was a good chance I might. Squeezing my eyes shut, I pressed down against the seat, onto my side, legs curling and uncurling, but it did nothing to help with the deep, inescapable pain.

“Evie?” Heidi placed her hand on my leg.

Sweat dampened my brow. “I think I’m going to be sick. Oh God, th-this really hurts.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” Heidi’s trembling fingers pushed my hair back from my face, tucking the hair behind my ear. “We’re going to get it fixed. I swear.”

“There he is.” Relief was evident in Emery’s voice. “Finally.”

I kept my eyes shut as I felt the car pull over. A car door flew open, and the sounds of traffic poured in, along with the scent of exhaust and . . . and pine. Evergreen. I pried open my eyes and turned my head.

Luc replaced Heidi. He cursed.

I panted through the pain. His hair was a mess of waves and curls, like he’d been in a windmill.

“H-how did you get here?”

“Ran.” Concern filled his face, darkening his eyes. The front passenger door opened and then Heidi’s face appeared between the two front seats. “Get us to the club,” he ordered. “Now.”

“I need a hospital.”

Luc leaned over me, and those churning violet eyes became the only thing I saw. “You need me.”

“Wha—”

“I’m going to touch your arm.” And then he did just that, curling one hand around my elbow. “And this is going to hurt, but only for a second.”

Panic dug in. My wild gaze swung around the car, glancing off Heidi’s stricken face to Luc’s. His jaw was hard, and extreme concentration was etched into his features. “Wait. Please. I know you can heal, but I want—”

The pupils of his eyes flared white. “I’m sorry.”

Luc folded his hand over the center of where the worst of the pain was coming from, my forearm, and my arm caught fire. My back bowed as my head kicked back. A scream ripped through me as the ceiling of the car warped, fading out and then rapidly coming back into stark clarity. My legs straightened, and I didn’t know how I didn’t kick Luc through the door, but he was still there, holding onto my arm.

“Stop!” Heidi cried out. “You said he could help her. He’s hurting—”

“He’s making her better,” Emery said. “I promise, Heidi. Just give him a second.”

This wasn’t helping. At all. It was nothing like the brief warming I’d felt before.

The pain pulsed and flared through my entire body, obliterating all thought until there was no pain and nothing . . . nothing but swamping heat.

21

Warmth flowed, seeping into bone and tissue. I was floating, like I was in the warm ocean waters of the south. I thought of the beach, but I . . . I couldn’t remember when I’d actually gone to the beach.

Memories still came together, of the bright sun and pale, gritty sand, of sitting with my toes just touching the frothy waters. There was laughter, and I knew I wasn’t alone. I was safe, always safe—those images broke apart before I could hold on to them.

I knew I’d never been to the beach. Neither of my parents had been the vacationing kind. There hadn’t been time after the invasion, and before . . .

Why couldn’t I remember before?

You know why, whispered a voice. Before never existed.

I was floating again, and thinking became overrated. There was this voice, this deep melodic voice whispering in my ear, telling me to give in, and that voice was warm and safe. So, I gave in to the warmth settling over me. I let it lull me deeper, guiding me back into the abyss, where I stayed and stayed. Maybe it was minutes, maybe it was hours, but I finally, finally opened my eyes.