“Special snowflake syndrome strikes again,” Daemon muttered.
Luc snorted as Paris hit breakneck speed on the narrow road, Archer close behind us. “Did Daedalus ever show you their neatest weapon?”
“They showed us a lot of things,” I said, lurching sideways as Paris hit a curve.
“How about that special gun of theirs?” Luc put a foot up on the dashboard, and I hoped the airbag didn’t deploy anytime soon. “The one that can take out a Luxen with one shot—the PEP? Pure Energy Projectile.”
“What?” My stomach dipped as I glanced back and forth between Luc and Daemon. “What kind of weapon is that?”
“It’s some kind of energy pulse that disrupts light waves—high tech. Kind of like onyx, but much worse.” Daemon’s brows lowered. “I didn’t see it, but Nancy told me about it.”
“It’s an electromagnetic weapon,” Luc explained. “And it’s very dangerous to anything around it. If they break it out, they aren’t messing around. The damn thing will disrupt signals and can even hurt humans since the brains, lungs, and heart are all controlled by low-voltage electricity. The Pulse Energy Projectile isn’t fatal for humans in a low frequency, but it is catastrophic to our kind at any frequency.”
Ice drenched me. “One shot?”
“One shot,” Luc repeated gravely. “You two probably have nothing to worry about, since they want you alive, but you need to realize that if they bring out the big guns, people are going to die.”
I froze, unable to drag in a breath. More people would die. “We can’t let that happen.” I twisted toward Daemon, going as far as the seat belt let me. “We can’t let people die because—”
“I know.” Daemon’s jaw set with determination. “We can’t go back, either. We just have to get out of here before we need to worry about anything like that.”
My heart pounded in my chest as I glanced at Luc. He didn’t look so convinced. I knew Daemon was trying to reassure me. I appreciated that, but guilt piled on top of the terror. If anyone died…
“Don’t,” Daemon said quietly. “I know what you’re thinking. Don’t.”
“How can I not think about that?”
Daemon didn’t have an answer. The creeping terror was like an endless hole, growing in size as we neared the teeming city at dusk. The red and blue neon lights of the billboards and flashing lights were harsh instead of welcoming.
Traffic had ground to a halt south of the Boulevard, an endless stream of vehicles that was more parking lot than road.
“Well, shoot.” Paris smacked his hands on the steering wheel. “This is inconvenient.”
“Inconvenient? Understatement of the year.” Daemon gripped the back of his seat. “We need to get out of traffic. We’re sitting ducks here.”
Paris snorted. “Unless you have a hovercraft in your back pocket, I don’t see how I’m supposed to get us out of here. There are side roads we can take, but they’re farther down this road.”
With shaky fingers, I unbuckled the seat belt and scooted forward until my knees pressed against the center console. A quick glance back confirmed that Archer was there. “Why isn’t the traffic moving at all? Look.” I pointed. The line of cars heading out of the city stretched all the way from the Caesar’s Palace sign and down. “It’s completely stopped.”
“There’s no need to panic yet,” Paris said. A cheerful smile crossed his face. “It’s probably just an accident or a naked person running through traffic. It happens. We’re in Vegas, after all.”
Someone outside laid on a horn. “Or the more likely scenario is that they have the traffic blocked at the interstate exit. I’m just saying,” I said.
“I think he’s trying to look on the bright and stupid side of things, Kitten. Who are we to bring a dose of reality into the mix?”
Running my sweaty palms over my thighs, I started to respond when a hushed sound caught my attention. Leaning back, I peered out the passenger window. “Oh, crap.”
A black helicopter flew over the city, incredibly low. It looked like the whirling blades would clip a building at any second. It could be any helicopter, but I had a sinking feeling that it was Daedalus.
“I’m going to check this out,” Luc said, reaching for the door. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
Luc was out of the Hummer and slinking around cars before any of us could respond. Irritation flashed across Daemon’s face. “Do you think that was smart?”
Paris laughed. “No. But Luc does what Luc wants. He’ll be back. He’s good like that.”
A soft knock on the back window caused me to jump out of my skin. It was only Dawson.
Daemon rolled the window down. “We got problems.”
“Figured. Traffic not moving at all? Not good.” Dawson leaned in. As always, seeing them together was a little disconcerting at first. “Luc up there?”
“Yeah,” I said, pressing my hands between my knees.
Someone behind Dawson, in the other lane, whistled. He ignored it.
Luc returned. As he climbed into the Hummer, he tugged his loose hair into a stubby ponytail. “Guys, I have bad news and I have good news. What do you want first?”
Daemon’s knuckles turned white from where he was gripping the seat. I knew he was about two seconds from smacking one of the guys up front. “I don’t know. How about you start with the good?”
“Well, there is a barricade up the road about a mile in. That gives us some time to think of something.”
My words came out hoarse. “That’s the good news? What in the hell is the bad news?”
Luc grimaced. “The bad news is they got, like, a SWAT team moving up the line of cars, checking each one, so the time to make a decision is sort of limited.”
I stared at him.
Daemon made a masterpiece out of F bombs. He pushed back from the seat, rocking the car. A muscle flexed in his jaw. “This is not how we’re going to go down.”
“I would like to think it’s not,” Luc replied. He looked out the front window, shaking his head slowly. “But even I’m thinking the best case is to ditch the cars and run.”
“Run where?” Dawson asked, eyes narrowing. “There’s nothing but desert on either side of Vegas, and Beth—” He pushed off the car, thrusting his fingers through his hair. “Beth can’t run for miles. We need another plan.”
“You got one?” Paris quipped. “Because we’re all ears.”
“I can’t.” Dawson dropped his hand to the window. “If you guys want to run, I understand, but Beth and I will have to hole up somewhere here. You leave—”
“We’re not splitting up,” Daemon cut in, his voice sharp with anger. “Not again. We all stay together, no matter what. I have to think of something. There has to be something…” He trailed off.
My heart skipped. “What?”
Daemon blinked slowly, and then he laughed. I frowned. “I have an idea,” he said.
“Waiting.” Luc snapped his fingers.
Daemon’s eyes narrowed on the kid. “You snap your fingers at me and I’ll—”
“Daemon!” I shouted. “Focus. What’s your idea?”
He turned to me. “It’s risky, and it’s completely insane.”
“Okay.” I pulled my hands free. “Sounds like something you’d come up with.”
Daemon smirked, and then his gaze focused on Luc. “It’s something you said before. About their strength being in the fact that no one knows about them—no one knows about us. We change that, we get the upper hand. They’re going to be too busy doing damage control to look for us.”
My brain hardly digested that. “Are you suggesting that we expose ourselves?”
“Yes. We go out there, and we make the hugest scene possible. Get the humans wound up. Create a big enough scene to cause a diversion.”
“Like at Area 51? Except this time…” This would be epic and completely uncontrollable.
Dawson smacked his hands down on the side of the Hummer, earning an outraged look from Luc. “Then let’s do it.”
“Wait,” Paris said.
Ignoring him, Daemon reached for the door handle. There was a series of clicks, and Daemon got nowhere. He turned a stunned look on Paris. “Did you just hit the childproof locks on me?”
“I did.” Paris threw his hands up. “You need to think about this first.”
“We don’t need to think about anything,” Dawson said. “It’s a good enough plan. We cause enough chaos, we should be able to slip out.”
Luc leaned over his seat, on his knees. His amethyst eyes fixed on the brothers. “Once we do this, there’s no going back. Daedalus will be even more pissed and gunning for us.”
“But it will give us time to get away,” Daemon argued. His pupils were starting to glow. “Or do you have a problem with cutting them off at the knees?”
“A problem?” Luc laughed. “I think it’s brilliant. Honestly, I’d love to see the looks on their faces when there are Luxen walking around on the evening news.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Dawson demanded, giving a quick glance to the line of cars ahead. There wasn’t any movement yet.
Luc smacked the back of the seat. “You all just need to be sure about what you’re planning to unleash. It’s not just Daedalus, but the entire Luxen community that is going to be upset. Me? I’m all about causing a rebellion—and this will be a rebellion.”
“There are others,” Paris added quickly. “They will use this for their own benefit, Daemon. They will take advantage of the chaos.”
I swallowed hard, thinking of that nasty percentage of Luxen Dasher had mentioned. “We’re stuck between a mountain and a volcano about to explode.”
Daemon’s eyes met mine. I already knew what he’d decided. When it came down to his family and the rest of the world, he would choose his family. He put his hand on the handle. “Open the door.”
“You sure?” Luc said solemnly.
“Just make sure there aren’t any humans hurt,” I said.
A wide, wild smile broke out across Luc’s face. “Well then, it’s time to introduce the world to a little bit of extraterrestrial awesomeness.”
Chapter 28
Daemon
This had to be one of the craziest stunts I’d ever pulled. Not only was I throwing everything in the face of Daedalus and the DOD, I was breaking every rule the Luxen lived by. This decision didn’t affect just me, it affected everyone. Something this massive should make me hesitate at least a little bit. Make me rethink things, come up with another route.
But there wasn’t time. Matthew…Matthew had betrayed us, and now we were here on the verge of being caught.
Like I said before, I’d burn down the world to keep Kat safe. The same went for my family. This would just be a different kind of fire.
