Vaughn remained by the door, his eyes sharp. It was Lane who sat in the recliner and clasped his hands together. “I need to ask you a few questions about Dawson.”
His mouth went dry. “Why?”
“Was he with a human girl by the name of Elizabeth Williams — also known as Bethany or Liz?”
The knots had turned into acid. Had the DOD found out about Dawson and Bethany? The DOD knew that the Luxen and humans had…relationships, even though it was a little bit on the forbidden side of things — for obvious reasons.
“Why are you asking?” Daemon sat straighter, figuring two officers were about to disappear if they’d discovered Dawson had exposed what they were.
Lane glanced at Vaughn, then took a deep breath. “Was he with her last night?”
“Yes,” Dee answered. “They’re friends. Why are you asking?”
“There…there appears to have been an incident last night in Moorefield.” There was a pause and all sorts of horrible things rushed through Daemon. “We don’t know what happened, but I am sorry, he was gone. Both of them were.”
Daemon opened his mouth to speak but lost his voice. Gone? As in, they weren’t where the DOD thought they were, because he surely couldn’t mean gone as in gone. He started to stand but couldn’t will his legs to work.
His sister drew in a shaky breath. “He’s coming back, right? With Bethany?”
Daemon bit down on his molars. Gonewas a term humans loved to use when they couldn’t wrap their tongue around the word dead. As if saying gonesomehow lessened the blow.
Vaughn’s expression remained impassive. “Both of them were dead. I’m sorry.”
Daemon couldn’t maintain the useless task of breathing. He locked up, every muscle, every cell. A roaring sound, like a low growl, filled his ears. His vision dimmed.
“No,” Dee said, whipping toward him. Hands flew to her hair, tugging erratically. “No. Dawson’s not dead! We’d know. He’s not dead, Daemon! He’s not!”
Lane stood, visibly awkward, and cleared his throat. “I’m sorry.”
There was a pressure building in his chest. “I want to see my brother.”
“I’m sorry, but—”
“Take me to my brother’s body now!” His voice shook the windows and the humans, but he didn’t care. “So help me, if you don’t…”
Vaughn stepped forward. “Your brother’s body and the human’s have been disposed of.”
“Disposed…”He couldn’t even finish the sentence. Nausea rose sharply. Disposed of…like nothing more than trash that needed to be taken out. “Get out…”
“Daemon,” Lane said. “We are truly—”
“Get. Out!” he screamed.
The officers couldn’t have left quicker.
The wooden floor quaked beneath his feet, rolling until a keening howl accompanied the movement. The house shook on its foundation. Windows rattled. Pictures slipped from the wall, shattering against the shaking floor. Furniture toppled over and elsewhere in the house, more things fell. He didn’t care. He would destroy everything. He had nothing left without his brother… Dee.Oh, God. Dee.
Daemon started toward his sister, but found his legs just wouldn’t keep going. He stopped, bending at the waist as a wave of pain that felt so real slammed into his gut. Not his brother. He couldn’t really comprehend what just happened. You don’t wake up and everything is normal only to have your entire life destroyed in seconds.
“Please, no,” Dee whispered. “No, no, no.”
He knew he needed to pull it together for his sister, but a cyclone was building inside him. All he could think about was the day in the kitchen. Him hugging Dawson — that couldn’t have been the last time he would hug him. No — no way.
Daemon racked his brain. When was the last time he’d seen Dawson? Yesterday? He was eating a bowl of cereal. Froot Loops. Laughing. Happy.
Last timetook on a whole new meaning.
Lifting his gaze, he saw Dee was blurred. Either she was losing hold on herself or he was. Had he ever cried before? He couldn’t remember.
She seemed to wobble, and he shot toward her, catching her before she fell, but then they both hit the floor, holding each other. Daemon turned his head to the ceiling, letting out an unearthly roar that surely broke the sound barrier, shaking the house again. Windows rattled and then blew out this time. The tinkling sound of glass falling cut through the wake like distant applause.
And then there were Dee’s sobs. Heart-rending sobs racked her slender body and shook him. The sound broke his heart. She kept flipping in and out of her natural form, falling apart in his arms.
Dawson wasn’tcoming back. His brother wasn’tgoing to walk through that door ever again. There’d be no more Ghost Investigatormarathons. No more teasing fights with Dee over who ate the last of the ice cream. And there weren’tgoing to be any more arguments over the human girl.
The human girl…
Dawson had lit her up like a beacon — that had led the Arum straight to Dawson. That was the only explanation. The Rocks still protected them in Moorefield. The Arum had to have seen Bethany…
Never in his life had he hated humans more than he hated them right then.
Sorrow and rage rippled through him as his light burned reddish-white. Dee’s tears poured through the bond, her whispered denials kept coming, and God, he would’ve given his own life at that moment to take away her pain and loss.
And to change some of the last things he’d said to his brother. You’re going to get that girl killed.Why hadn’t he said he loved him? No. Instead he’d said that. Misery cleaved his soul, sinking in deep like a hot, serrated knife.
His head fell to his sister’s shoulder, and he squeezed his eyes shut. Tears still seeped through, scalding hot against his now-glowing cheeks. Light flickered all around the living room, casting strange shadows of the two forms huddled on the floor together.
Dawson was dead because of him — because he hadn’t warned his brother enough, hadn’t stopped the relationship before it got out of hand. He was dead because of a human girl. And it was Daemon’s fault. He hadn’t done enough to stop him.
He held his sister tighter — the last of his family — and swore never again. Never again would he let a human put his family in harm’s way. Never again.
Daemon wouldn’t lose his sister, no matter whathe had to do to keep her safe.
Acknowledgments
First off, I want to thank the wonderful team at Entangled Teen. Special thanks to Liz Pelletier and her mad editing skills. Thank you to Kevan Lyon for always being a fantastic agent. A huge thanks to my crit/beta partners: Lesa, Julie, Carissa, and Cindy. You guys are the fantastic four of awesomeness. I couldn’t do any of this without my family and friends for being supportive.
Also, a big thanks to Pepe and Sztella for being insanely hot and making the cover art for the series rock.
About the Author
Jennifer L. Armentrout lives in West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. Well, mostly. When she’s not hard at work writing, she spends her time reading, working out, watching zombie movies, and pretending to write. She shares her home with her husband, his K-9 partner named Diesel, and her hyper Jack Russell Loki. Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent her time writing short stories… therefore explaining her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes Adult and Young Adult Urban Fantasy and Romance.