A vision whisked me from the present, tossing me I wasn’t sure where, but it couldn’t possibly be good. My skin prickled with tiny bumps of alarm. I’d been walking side by side with Star and Dash, winding through an overgrown path of the Misty Grove when my vision suddenly went black for a few seconds. Then the darkness cleared, and I expected something to be different, to be transported somewhere new. Visions often took me to unanticipated locations.

I stood alone, surrounded by trees much like the ones we’d been traipsing through for the last few days. Ivy and moss dangled overhead from the branches, and as my eyes circled the woods, a dark shadow came up behind me, snapping a twig. Not alone after all.

Spinning around, my hair flared out in the air, and my first inkling was the Night’s Guard had found us, but the man who materialized didn’t wear the standard blue uniform. There was nothing familiar about his face; he was no one I’d ever seen or met before, and yet a horrible feeling sunk inside me. My gaze moved past him to a disturbing scene. I couldn’t believe what I saw, didn’t want to believe it.

My stomach pitched as I stared at Dash, a look of pure horror on his chiseled face. He was standing, bow drawn. I couldn’t see what lay beyond him, so I bolted forward, but the shadow man intercepted. He wasn’t quick enough.

My world shifted as I shook my head from side to side, my brain rejecting what I had seen. If this was Dash’s, Star’s, and my future, I had to find a way to prevent it from ever coming to pass.

“You have two choices, Slayer. Who will it be?” posed a voice of pure evil to Dash.

No! I screamed inside my head. As visions went, this one brought exceptional gloom and doom.

One of us would die? Star or me?

I was sucked back into the present, and my first thought was to warn Dash, but fate had other plans. I expected to be lying on the ground with Dash and Star hovering over me, asking me if I was okay. This tended to happen when I dropped dead into a vision. Nope. Not this time. I wasn’t on my back staring at the blue sky, but still on two feet. I didn’t know how long I’d blacked out for during the premonition. It could have only been seconds or minutes. Turned out, it was long enough for us to have been ambushed.

“Welcome back, Sweetcakes,” a strangled whisper came from behind me a moment before a hand covered my mouth.

I screamed, but the pressure of his grip intensified, and then his foot kicked the backs of my knees, forcing me to the ground. Something cool pressed on the side of my neck. I didn’t need to be a psychic to know it was a blade. The images from my vision flashed through my mind, all too fresh and real.

A whimper pierced through the roaring in my head, except it wasn’t mine. My eyes shifted to the right, the fear I felt inside me doubling. Star. She was on her knees about ten feet from me in the same position I was. Tears tracked down her pale cheeks, her eyes so big they could have popped out.

With horror, my eyes went to where I was certain I would find Dash, regardless that with every fiber of my being I wanted to be wrong.

I wasn’t.

Dash stood in front of Star and me, poised to murder, bow drawn back in his hand. Two rebels held Star and me hostage, and Dash had only one arrow. How could that possibly save us both? And that was what they were counting on. There was no denying Dash had superior killing skills, but I could tell by the fright in his expression even he wasn’t positive he could strike both rebels before they had a chance to slit one of our throats. If Dash had a plan, I would have loved to know what it was.

I didn’t know how he kept a steady hand on his bow. I was quaking inside. “Oh good, more visitors,” Dash said with boredom, but anyone who knew the Slayer could see it was an act. Dash wanted to go King Kong on the rebels who dared to threaten those in his protection. “I was getting bored out here, waiting for the Institute’s monkeys to finally catch up to me.”

My teeth ground together. Why did he always insist on baiting the enemy? If I weren’t being held at knifepoint, I would have kicked him.

Racked with fear, Star’s body shuddered.

“You have two choices, Slayer. Who will it be?” The rebel echoed the question from my vision.

I squeezed my eyes closed.

This darn gift sure had a way with timing. Couldn’t I have gotten a few more minutes warning that trouble was coming? I had been yanked straight from the vision and thrown right into the hornet’s nest. There were only two rebels that I could physically see, but how many more stood waiting? We’d dealt with numbers far greater, but not knowing what we were up against didn’t bode well for us, and to think I never got the chance to tell Dash we were in danger.

The muscle in Dash’s jaw ticked, the one that said he was going to do something foolish. His eyes volleyed from Star to me, the hand on his bow never wavering. He only had to move it a fraction of an inch to decide which one of us to save.

“You’ve gotten yourself into quite the predicament, wouldn’t you say, Slayer?” the rebel who chose me as his target taunted.

“I will kill you for this.” Dash growled his promise of retribution.

“Ah, but not before one of them gets their throat slit. Are you willing to take the chance? Either way, one will die. You can be sure of it. Your skill set might be impressive, but even you have your limitations. Care to test them?”

Star’s whimpers were starting to become a distraction none of us needed. If this jerk-face’s grubby hand wasn’t still covering my mouth, I would have told her to take a deep breath.

“And you’re willing to risk your own for what?” Dash demanded.

“For you. Or haven’t you figured out that your death is the ultimate prize here? We haven’t forgotten what you did. A debt must be paid.”

“Fine. Then take me. Let them both go, and you can have me. Life for a life, isn’t that what you want?”

Did he have to have enemies everywhere we went? I whipped my head up, breaking free from the rebel’s grasp. “Dash, don’t!” I wasn’t about to let him sacrifice himself. Hell-to-the-no, regardless that it was becoming clear he was the reason why some dude with dirty hands shoved his fingers into my hair.

The jerk behind me yanked on my hair, snapping my head back to expose my throat, and inched his blade closer to my skin.

I groaned.

“Nah,” my captor said with far too much enjoyment. “I want you to suffer first. Killing you would be too easy. I want you to feel the pain my brother and I have felt every day, to live knowing you couldn’t save one of them.”

“What makes you think I care about either?” It was a little too late to play that card, and we all knew it, but I gave him props for keeping the two idiots talking.

“I’ll admit, the plan was to kill this one here.” Twisting my head to the side, he slid the cool metal of his dagger across my cheek. Instinct made me want to yank away, but I forced myself to stay still. “Your eyes really are stunning,” he whispered into my ear. “I hope for your sake, Sweet Cheeks, he chooses the mouse and lets you live.”

“Bite me,” I hissed.

He threw his head back and laughed. “Don’t tempt me. I would like that.”

Dash looked directly at the rebel. “You touch her again, and this arrow will find your heart. That’s a fact.”

“Is that your answer then?”

Dash’s gaze clashed with mine, beseeching me.

I shook my head, silently begging him to trust me. The only people dying were the two dumbasses stupid enough to cross paths with the Slayer and me.

Panic eclipsed his eyes. “Star—”

“Dammit, Dash. Don’t be a fool. You must save Star. Do you hear—?” Thwack. That was the sound of me getting backhanded.

“Anyone tell you that you talk too much, Sweet Cheeks?” the rebel asked, once again claiming a firm grip on me. My gut reaction was to fry him from the inside out.

A low roar erupted from Dash. “Do you know who she is? She is the bloody daughter of a councilman.”

“Of course. That’s why we have this.” The bastard held up a needle. Crap. I was so getting drugged.

The one holding Star grinned. His arms were the size of pythons, thick and scary. “There is a bounty on both your heads.”

Dash’s fingers steadily held the arrow. “So what? You figured you’d kill two birds with one stone?”

“We’re opportunists. Either way, the Institute will get what it came for.” A pause lingered in the air. “Or you could do the stand-up thing and surrender.”

“Go screw yourself,” I growled.

The brothers laughed.

Dash’s gaze morphed into silver daggers. “What the lady said.”

“Have it your way. So, who will it be? Are you a blonde or a ginger kind of guy?” The slime-ball’s voice slithered like maggots over my skin, and when he ran his fingers through my hair, I wanted to vomit. “I’m looking forward to taking this one back to the Institute.”

The arrow in Dash’s bow flinched, my captor’s death shining in Dash’s eyes. Oh my God. He was going to kill the brother who held me hostage. I knew it. Dash knew it. Star knew it. And the rebel did too.

“Dash!” I screamed, snapping his focus back to me. “Trust me. You must choose Star.”

Reservation reflected in his expression, including flecks of unease. The Dash I knew never doubted himself or his gift. The fact that he was in this moment told me he was shaken. If all of us were going to get out of here alive, he had to snap out of it.

We needed the Slayer, not Dylan from a thousand years ago. He might have been hiding who he really was from Star, protecting her still, but that was all about to end.

“I-it doesn’t matter who I choose. They aren’t going to kill you, not when they will benefit from bringing you back.” He more or less rationalized the situation out loud—not the approach I would have taken, but I also wasn’t faced with watching two people I cared about held at knifepoint.

“Let’s not take the chance. Trust me and save Star,” I pleaded. “You’re the only person in the Heights who knows me.”

Finally, a glint of hope passed into his eyes. Time seemed to speed up at that point. I wasn’t even clear as to what transpired, but the instant he released his arrow, I summoned my power, letting it encompass me completely. Sparks flew off my skin, hissing and popping.

“What the—” The chump tried to slice me with his dagger but met an invisible wall: my shield, but I wasn’t done with him yet. I sent a charge of electricity in the air, hitting him the chest, not too close to the heart. The surge laid him flat out on his back, knocking the blade out of his hand.

Wielding two of my abilities was a surprise. I had hoped it would work, but I hadn’t known for sure, a gamble I’d been willing to take. “I’d start running if I were you, before he catches you.” I tried not to be utterly freaked out by the unusual sound of my voice. It had this omnipotent tone to it that had to come from the volume of electricity pumping through my body.

The asshat scrambled to his feet and took off running.

Star trembled from head to toe, blood staining the material of her pants. Not her blood, but Star didn’t seem too relieved by this. The dead body lying beside her with an arrow sticking out of his heart had her on the verge of passing out.

“Charlotte.” Dash was at my side. “Are you okay?”

I lifted my brow. “Are you going to let him get away?”

In long strides, he stalked to where the body had fallen, ripping the arrow from its chest and letting it soar through the woods straight into the back of the rebel who had shaved ten years off my life.

I had wanted to warn them, but it was finally over, and I exhaled, releasing the energy humming inside me.

Dash bent to help Star to her feet, but the look on her face gave him pause. “Are you hurt?” he asked softly.

Star shook her head, her hands quivering in her lap. “They’re dead?”

“Yes.” Dash didn’t bother to sugarcoat it.

I pushed to my feet, dusting off the dirt from my clothes, waiting to see if Star was going to have a meltdown. It sort of looked that way. I sympathized with her, knowing how scary my first hostage situation had been, but I’d trusted Dash. If she was going to survive the rest of the journey, she needed to form a backbone. And quickly.

Star’s eyes bounced from Dash to me, looking at us as if we were insane. “What is wrong with you two? We could have died. He was going to kill me!”

“How the hell did it happen anyway?” I asked, waiting for someone to answer me.

“You went all pink-eyes on us, that’s how,” Dash informed me. “I hope the vision was worth it.”

“Not really,” I mumbled. “It was a warning of the attack.”

“We’ve got to work on your timing.”

I rolled my eyes.

Dash moved a hand under Star’s elbow to help her stand up, but the second he touched her, she jerked away. “I can’t do this. You’re a killer.”

Uh-oh.

Dash flinched.

Where was this coming from? He’d saved her life. My heart went out to him. I had to refrain from grabbing Star by the ear and dragging her to the woods to give her a much needed scolding. “That’s not fair! Do you think I’m a killer?” I challenged her.

She nibbled on her lip.

“Yes, things are vastly different. Yes, none of us are who we used to be. But I think you owe it to Dash to get to know who he is today before you pass judgment on him. I trust him, Star. With my life. You would be dead if Dash and I didn’t trust each other.”

Her shoulders dropped, shame moving into her soft brown eyes. “You’re right. I’m sorry. That was out of line.”

Dash shrugged it off. “Don’t worry about it. You were scared, and what you said, it’s true. I have killed before and probably will do so in the future. You should know the truth.”

Bullshit.

Well, not the part about him killing, but he did what he had to survive, not because it was a game or fun.

“Maybe you should have left me at the Institute,” she whispered.

“I understand you’re upset, but if I’d left you there, you’d already be dead. Dash won’t let anything happen to you. And neither will I. But you’re right; it isn’t safe for you to be with us, not while the Institute is hunting us, which is why we’re taking you someplace safe.”

That got her full attention. “You’re leaving me?”

I nodded. “It’s the only way to keep you out of danger. You deserve a life, Star, and running from the Institute, sleeping in caves, and constantly fighting to stay alive, that isn’t your life.”

Her glossy brown eyes moved to the dead body before she stood up. “Maybe you’re right.”