I could feel them , tainting the air and the ground, cloaking the narrow street in unnatural, thick shadows. My brain clicked off and I picked up speed, becoming a blur as I cleared the side of the library. I spotted Kat’s car. A light was on inside, but I didn’t see her.
The presence of an Arum grew stronger.
Shooting across the road, I came up on her car and I felt it—the oily thickness in the air nearly choking me. Then I saw it in its human form, but the edges of it were shaded out, transparent like dark smoke. I didn’t see Kat, but it had something— someone —on the ground, and I knew without seeing her that it was Kat.
And it could already be too late.
This…this was my fault.
The rage and dread whirled through me like a hurricane, and I had no idea how I managed to stay in my human form as I grabbed the Arum by its shoulder. My hand sunk a few inches into it, and then I had ahold of its bone and muscle. I yanked back hard, lifting the Arum into the air and tossing it several feet to the side. I caught a brief glimpse of Kat, and my fury tasted like death in the back of my throat.
The thing twisted in midair, turning to nothing more than shadows before consolidating rapidly into a human mass as it landed on its feet. I shot toward it, catching the bastard in the stomach with my shoulder. It cried out and then pushed back, shoving its hand toward my chest. A curse exploded out of me as I staggered back a step. The arm turned transparent, and I knew what it was going to try to do. Feed.
Yeah, not going to happen.
I spun out of the way, avoiding its grip. Moving as fast as a cobra striking, I grabbed ahold of the Arum and tossed him over my shoulder. He landed near Kat, stunned for a moment.
A soft whimper rattled me. Kat was hurt.
Before I could process this new fear, the Arum popped to its feet. The combination of blond hair and pale skin washed the thing out, and as it charged me, dark shadows blossomed under the thin layer of skin. I caught the Arum by the throat, lifting him into the air.
A series of coughs came from the direction of Kat, and I cursed as I power-bombed the asshole into the road. Asphalt cracked. Tiny rocks that were knocked loose flew into the air.
Hatred bled into the pale blue gaze that met mine, so much cold hatred. We rolled farther away, into the shadows. He landed a punch. I landed more. Taking out the Arum in public like this was risky, but I needed to end this and I needed…I needed to check on her.
Lifting my arm, I brought my hand down onto the Arum’s chest as I summoned the Source. Energy, pure and raw and as powerful as a solar flare, burned down my arm. An intense whitish-red light erupted from my hand, flowing into the Arum.
Time froze for a moment as the light washed over the creature, seeping into its chest cavity, beyond its skin, and invading every cell. Bright white light washed over its eyes, chasing after the shadows lurking under its skin.
I rocked off the Arum, just in the nick of time, too. The pale skin disappeared, replaced by a smooth onyx shell. The creature stilled for a moment, its mouth hanging open in a silent scream, and then it exploded into a million wispy fragments that floated up, disappearing into the sky.
The charge backed up into the environment around us. Streetlamps exploded, casting the entire street into darkness. Breathing heavily, I took a step back and looked over to Kat. She was lying on her stomach awkwardly, nearly facedown in the road. Something about that ripped through me.
I crossed the distance between us in a heartbeat, kneeling beside her as I reached out, placing my hand on her shoulder. A soft moan radiated from her, and that tearing feeling deep inside me increased.
“It’s okay. He’s gone. Are you okay?” Damn. That was a stupid question. She started to lift her head, and I saw the angry red mark on her cheek, like a bright strawberry. Her left eye was swelling. Anger punched through me. She was hurt and in pain, that much was obvious, and her breathing didn’t sound right. There was a concerning wheezing quality to it. I wasn’t a doctor, but it didn’t sound good.
“Everything is okay,” I told her, and that was a lie, because as I spoke those three words, I did something so incredibly reckless I might as well have thrown myself in front of a speeding truck.
She was hurt, and instinctively, I knew I could fix some of it, even all of it. I’d never done it before. It was so forbidden, so taboo for our kind it was barely spoken of. One of our most remarkable attributes, the one thing that the Arum could not assimilate after feeding, was our regenerative ability. We healed rapidly from almost all injuries…and we could heal others.
I reached out to the Source, pulled it down inside myself, and then I pushed it into Kat, guiding the light to her chest and her raspy lungs. If anyone walked by right now, they’d see our bodies lit up like a lightbulb, and I counted myself ten kinds of foolish, but I didn’t stop. Her eyes were closed, but as the energy began to crackle along her skin, her lashes fluttered as if to open, and I ran my hand gently across her eyes and down her cheek, and she relaxed.
Her breathing evened out a little as she slowly turned her head toward me. “Thank you for…” She trailed off.
“Kat,” I called to her, concerned. “Are you still with me?”
“You,” she whispered.
“Yes, it’s me.” I moved my hand to her wrist. She jerked her arm back, and I reached for her again. Since I was in for a penny, I might as well go for the whole screwed-up pound. “I can help you.”
“No!” she cried out.
I considered ignoring that as I glanced down at her wrist. She was still hurt, but the worst of her injuries, whatever had been affecting her breathing, had healed. I released the Source and stood, exhaling roughly. A thousand thoughts spun through me, all circling back to what in the hell had I done? “Whatever. I’ll call the police.”