The large picture window in the living room exploded. Pieces of plastic and glass turned into nasty little projectiles. Kat ducked down, throwing her arms up to shield her face as I stepped forward, summoning the Source and using it to push back the explosion of sharp and painful things.
They fell to the floor inches from where the three of us stood.
“I think that’s your answer, Kitten.”
She rose, hands balling into fists. “Dammit. All I want to do is shower and take a nap and eat some bacon!”
Archer slid a look at her. “Well, I think that will—”
A Luxen came through the window, a blur of bright light, and I shot forward, colliding with it as I shifted. We hit some antique-looking chair. The legs gave under our sudden weight. We tore right through the back. Stuffing flew into the air. The palm tree ended up as a drive-by casualty.
Landing hard on the floor, I reared back and slammed my hand down on the Luxen’s chest, letting go of the Source and sending a steady shot right into the heart of the bastard, frying him from the inside out.
The light dulled as I pushed myself up, whirling around. How many?
I don’t know. Kat was heading for the archway that led to the foyer.
Switching back into my human form, I joined her and Archer at the archway a second before the front door literally blew off its hinges and winged across the entryway, embedding deep into the opposite wall.
I knew before I even looked.
I felt it in my bones; in every cell that was me, I knew before I looked.
My sister stood in the doorway in her human form, and as her gaze swept over us, she smiled in a way that was so wrong for her.
“Gotcha,” she said.
{ Katy }
Dee looked like a goddess of vengeance straight out of one of the books I’d read and cherished. She stood with her slender legs wide and shoulders back. With the sun behind her, forming a halo over her body, and her eyes glowing white, she looked fierce and really scary.
Fine. I might have read too many books, because this was real and she looked like she wanted to kill us. Like kill us dead.
Archer started forward. “Dee—”
She raised her hand, and he should’ve been able to move in time, but he was like Daemon, rooted to the spot he stood in. A bolt of the Source caught Archer in the shoulder, spinning him back.
Oh, she was so not messing around.
Dee turned to where we stood and then casually, like nothing was up, stepped into the house. Behind her, I saw more Luxen.
This was about to get bad.
“Shacking up with Arum?” Dee tsked as she spared a quick glance at Archer while he picked himself up. “How far you’ve fallen, brother.”
Daemon stepped forward. “Dee—”
She lunged at him, flying the several feet between them as my heart lodged in my throat. All Daemon did was grip her by the shoulders. He made no move to do anything else, and she took complete advantage of that.
Dee shoved her hand at his chest. He only moved at the last second to avoid a direct hit to the heart, but he took an up-close-and-personal blast anyway. I cried out as he went down, his sister right on top of him.
I knew in that instant that she would either really hurt him or kill him unless he treated her like the Luxen he’d just taken out.
Archer had the other Luxen engaged as I shot forward, making up my mind.
Daemon might hate me if I ended up having to kill his sister, but I’d rather he despise me than hate himself for hurting her worse.
I grabbed handfuls of her long hair and yanked her off Daemon. She hit the floor, arms and legs sprawled like a crab. She looked up, eyes glowing like diamonds.
“You don’t want to do this,” I said. “You—”
Dee popped up. Like didn’t even bend her knees, just shot right up and was in my face. “Oh, you have no idea how badly I want to do this.”
Then she drew her arm back and cold-cocked me right in the face.
The impact knocked me away, and I landed on my butt as pain lanced through my jaw and down my neck. Blinking fresh tears out of my eyes, I stared up at her.
“That felt so good,” she said, cocking her head to the side. “I think I need to do it again.”
Oh, it was on like Donkey Kong.
I lumbered to my feet, nowhere near as gracefully as Dee. Behind her, a Luxen zipped into the room just as Daemon rose. They two of them collided at the same moment I slammed my fist into Dee’s jaw.
Her head snapped back, black tresses flying out around her in a way that made her hair look like Medusa’s snakes. Dull pain flared along my knuckles, but there was no time to really pay attention to that.
Dee launched herself at me, grabbing my ponytail and jerking on my neck. A fiery sensation coursed down my spine, and I reached up, digging my fingers into her arms. She didn’t let go, and there was a good chance she was going to rip my head off.
Time to get dirty.
Twisting in her grasp, I gripped her arms as I brought my knee up, shoving it right in her lady parts.
Dee shouted hoarsely and let go, bending over as I straightened. I clutched her hair and brought my knee up once more, connecting with her face. She went down on one knee as I stumbled back, breathing heavily.
“Please,” I gasped out. “This isn’t you, Dee. Whatever this is, it isn’t you—”
She was up and her hand was bonding with my cheek in an epic smack, spinning me around in a little circle. Holy crap, that stung.
Dee slammed her hands into my back, knocking me onto my knees as she wrapped a slender arm around my neck and squeezed.
I gasped, fighting for air.
The little training Daedalus had taught me kicked in, and I grabbed her hand and then threw my weight forward. She went right over my shoulder, landing hard on her back.