He shrugged. “But that’s neither here nor there, is it? This letter will go nowhere.
You’ll be dead soon and, well, use your imagination for the rest.”
This was it. I could feel it in every cell. Were they going to kill me quickly or drag it out? My muscles tensed.
Senator Vanderson held the letter up. There wasn’t so much a flicker of flame, but just a soft white glow over the tips of his two fingers. Heat warmed my face and the frail slip of paper wilted and then caved into itself, leaving nothing but ashes within seconds.
The letter was gone—the proof that the Luxen were conspiring against the government and mankind destroyed. The knowledge was in my head, but who’d believe me? And that was if I did make it out of here.
Which was highly unlikely.
And I knew Senator Vanderson was right—Hunter had been right. If I brought that info to the government, they’d kill me just to ensure I didn’t run my mouth to the press and incite panic.
I’d been stupid in thinking I could somehow bargain my life back, but I didn’t regret what led me here. I’d rather fail than to have sat back and done nothing to bring Mel’s murderers to justice, even as fruitless as it turned out to be.
The Luxen behind me pulled me back against his chest, and as my gaze darted around the room I saw there were more waiting in the shadows. Dozens of Luxen.
I tried to take a breath, but it got stuck. The calm acceptance I felt earlier had abandoned me. My eyes locked with the senator’s and I knew—oh God—I knew this wasn’t going to be quick. Fear emptied into me like an icy downpour.
The senator’s slow smile chilled me to the marrow.
My muscles tensed painfully and then my brain clicked off. I twisted to the side, desperately trying to break the Luxen’s hold. I felt his grip slip and I tore free.
A Luxen appeared in front of me, out of thin air it seemed. “Hi.”
I whirled around, crying out.
Another stood behind me, his eyes orbits of white light.
Darting to the side, my feet left the ground as an arm went around my waist.
Someone laughed, and then I hit the floor so fast and so hard that I slid on my side several feet. My body burned from the impact, and for a moment I was stunned into immobility. Air rushed around me and I was shoved onto my back. My head cracked on the floor. Starbursts exploded behind my eyes. The Luxen was on top of me, a knee on either side of my hips and his hand wrapped around my throat, each finger pressing in my skin with the slightest pressure.
Over his shoulder, Senator Vanderson stood there. “Who else knows about this letter or its contents, Miss Cross?”
Besides Hunter’s suspicions, there was no one else that I knew of, but obviously the senator feared I’d told more.
The senator dragged in a deep breath. “I’m getting very tired of this game, Miss Cross.”
I forced my throat to work around the punishing grip. “Go…go fuck yourself.”
Senator Vanderson’s eyes went from blue to white in a heartbeat. “That was really not a polite thing to say. And for that, I’m going to make sure you—” He cut himself off and his head tipped up toward the ceiling. “You have got to be kidding me.”
The Luxen above me had stilled, his head cocked to the side. His nostrils flared as if he scented something in the air. All around us, I heard the sharp intake of breaths and the flicker of bright, white light.
I didn’t feel anything, but I knew. In my very soul, I knew who was here. Forcing my gaze up, I met the senator’s brilliant stare. I smiled even though it made my lips ache. “Told you.”
Chapter 30 Less than half a football field away from one of the senator’s storage warehouses, the dull, translucent bodies of the Luxen guarding the building lay dead at my feet. It was like crushing fireflies between my fingers, without all the glowy mess.
But Mr. Talkative wasn’t among them. He brought me here. So I did let him go and he ran like he knew he should’ve.
Raw energy undulated through my veins, buzzing like a hit off the purest drug out there. Feeding from so many Luxen was dangerous to anyone who would cross my path. The power hummed under my skin, splintered my cells.
Luxen were like galactic Pringles in a fucked-up way. Once you popped one, you just couldn’t stop—like stop at all. No one would be safe around me when I was through.
Not even Serena.
But she was in there and they were doing God knows what to her. She was still alive —she had to be. I couldn’t allow myself to consider any other outcome.
I moved across the empty parking lot, sensing a cluster of Luxen on the first floor and the roof. Stopping along the side of the building, I focused on the roof. Becoming a part of the dark shadows, I rose up to the ledge and crouched.
Three Luxen stood in the center. Their heads whipped toward me like prairie dogs.
“Arum,” one of them called.
Clever. I slipped down from the ledge, feeling the borrowed energy reverberate through my form as I spread out. The night around us turned darker. I didn’t give them a chance to fight or run. I was on them in a second, slipping behind the first and slamming my hand through the Luxen’s chest. My other arm extended and I speared the second. I spun, tossing the first on the third. They went down like a pile of bricks.
I drained the second until he was nothing more than an alien prune.
Tasty.
The other two were getting up, both turning into walking light bulbs. My laugh carried like smoke. You ssshould’ve ssstayed down.
Focusing on the two Luxen, I drew them in like I was taking a big old breath of air.
They skidded over the roof, their glowing arms flailing like beacons. There was nothing to hold on to, nothing to stop them. Within a second, I slammed my hands through both of their chests.
It was over like red rover.
Leaving their bodies on the roof, I went to the door of the emergency exit. The steel door nearly came off its hinges as I tore it open. I flew down the stairwell, silent as I drew the shadows into me.
They waited on the bottom floor, at least a dozen of the fucking glowworms from outer space. I searched out Serena, not seeing her but knowing she was in the middle of them. I could feel her.
I also smelled blood—human blood. Serena’s blood.
Rage rose like a savage, black wave. It rolled across the warehouse floor, becoming a living, breathing entity clawing at release.
I took my human form as the air turned stagnant. “For daring to even touch a single hair on her head, you all will die.”
One of the Luxen rushed me and I caught the SOB around the neck. He went Lite-
Brite on me, but I twisted my wrist, snapping his neck cleanly and I kept twisting, until bone erupted through the skin.
Another one grew balls and shot forward and I spun to the side as I kicked out, aiming my big-ass boot into his glowing stomach. He doubled over as static crackled in the air. Dipping around, I shoved my hand through the light. The Luxen flickered into human form for only a second, but it was long enough. My hand was inside him and I wrapped my fingers around the slender length of bone. I yanked my arm back and the Luxen howled.
He fell into a boneless mess on the floor.
I tossed the spine aside and whirled around, slamming my fist into the jaw of another Luxen. His head snapped back and on the return, I grasped the sides of his face, and slammed my head into his, and then I twisted. The darkness inside of me howled at the sound of cracking bone.