I shouldn’t have been surprised to see my father, and yet I was. Closing my eyes for a brief moment, I tried to collect myself and prevent my mouth from saying something I’d regret. I took a deep breath. “If you’re here to order me back to the Institute, it’s a waste of your resources. I’m not going back there.”

“Charlotte,” he said.

I actually recoiled at the sound of my name.

Squinting, he began an apology I didn’t want to hear. “I’m sorry. I had to find you, but I don’t want you to get hurt. Please don’t make this difficult.”

“Difficult?” I squeaked. “You’re the one who put a price on my head. You’re the one who has me surrounded. You’re the one who is making this difficult.”

He kept his eyes on me. “I can’t lose you again. I’ve worked too long and too hard to protect you.”

“You aren’t the only one capable of protecting me,” I retorted.

My father’s bright green eyes slid toward Dash, and a vast amount of loathing and distrust centered on the guy beside me. It was so potent, I swore it slapped me in the face like a sheet of ice. “The Slayer may be capable of striking down any target he desires, but we’re family. And no matter what kind of feelings you have for him, he is dangerous. He might not mean to hurt you, but he could.”

“You’ve hurt me. How is that any different?”

Dash widened his stance, crossing his arms over his chest. “This feels like déjà vu. Haven’t we been here before?”

“Dash Darhk.” My father tsked. “I knew that if I found you, I would find my daughter. Can’t say that I’m thrilled to see you together.”

“Trust me, I’m equally thrilled to see you, Dr. Winston.” Dash’s fingers flexed. “You here to lock me up again?”

“I’ve come to learn that no cell will hold you. Part of your gift, possibly?” My father raised a brow, pondering the thought.

“Then why all the hoopla? You must know that I’m not going back to the Institute. I won’t be a part of your plan, and as you can see, neither will your daughter.”

“You might change your mind after you hear what I have to say.”

“No!” I stepped in. “There is nothing you can tell us that would justify what you’re doing to people. You’re murdering them, and for what? The sake of science? That’s crap.”

My father’s brows knitted together. “You wouldn’t understand. I know you think that what we’re doing is heartless and cruel, but a few sacrifices to save the lives of thousands, isn’t that worth it?”

I was going to be sick. What I had seen in the vision, what the mutated cells had done to Star, was something I could never erase from my memory. “Maybe if you had given them a choice,” I hurled at him. “I saw what you were doing, injecting the DNA of the Gifted into those who are normal. You’re mutating them instead of preserving their lives.”

“I don’t deny it,” he said, no regret or guilt in his voice.

A cold sensation moved through my veins, and I rubbed my hands over my arms, feeling neither victorious nor defeated, just numb. “Are you insane?”

“The world has evolved, and we must evolve with it. There are so many things we have yet to understand about living in this world. Take the mist for instance. Over the last two years we’ve had a team measuring its boundaries, and for years, it has been receding, up until a few months ago. And it is putting us all at risk. We have to do something.”

“So your solution is to build an army of Gifted? How does that even make sense? We aren’t completely immune to it.”

“But if we found someone who was, imagine what their DNA could do. It would allow us to survive.”

That was one way of looking at it.

“If you were smart, you would listen to him,” Ember interjected.

“I have been listening! And I still don’t see how this is best for me or for the Heights.”

Ember walked toward me, and she pursed her lips as she noticed Dash joining our hands.

You’re not going to separate us this time.

“My big sister thinks she is in love. People do stupid things when they make decisions with their heart instead of their head.”

Dash’s hand tightened in mine. “I guess I’m included as one of those stupid decisions?”

“That’s what we’re all thinking, so what’s the point of pretending otherwise?” Ember sneered.

“I’d forgotten what a bitch you can be,” Dash scoffed.

Ember’s fingers flexed. “Name calling. Oh yeah, you were always good at that.”

“Enough!” I roared.

Ember was sporting a major rage face, and I expected at any second for her to come barreling at us swathed in flames, but her gaze shifted over my shoulder. Whatever caught her attention, it wasn’t good. Her eyes widened.

Curious, I turned around as Dash kept his focus zeroed in on my father. It must have been a full moon, because the night seemed brighter and eerier than normal. There were no stars in the sky, and just over a small hill, I could see the mist dancing.

But that wasn’t all I could see.

The green glowing light was back, sending a ribbon of unease and fear into my gut. “Do you see that?” I asked.

Dash and I stood almost back-to-back now, and he tilted his head just slightly over his shoulder. “See what, Freckles?”

My heart raced as I took a step forward, squinting my eyes. “In the mist.” Through the darkness, it moved, weaving around the trees and leaving behind a trail of neon green light. I stepped closer, Dash walking beside me.

“What are you doing?” he hissed.

“There is something out there,” I muttered.

“And you just decided it would be a good idea to go inspect it now? You do remember that the Night’s Guards still outnumber us?”

The guards no longer seemed important. I needed to know what was out there.

Ryker popped up on the other side of me so I was sandwiched between him and Dash as I continued to stride toward the mist. The guards let us pass, too stunned by the shape that materialized through the green-tinted haze.

“Charlotte, what do you see?” my father called.

I angled my head to the side and reached out with my hand into the mist. “I’m not sure. It looks human, but also doesn’t.” It wasn’t the best description, but I couldn’t find the right words to portray what I saw.

“Don’t touch it!” Ember warned me.

Dash stiffened beside me, fully turning around. “What the—?”

My sentiments exactly.

“It won’t cross the boundary,” my father informed us, sounding confident that we were safe.

“How can you be sure?” I asked, taking a step back.

Tension sizzled from Dash. Evidently I wasn’t the only one who distrusted my father’s knowledge about the glowing being.

I stood poised on the threshold of the boundary, waiting to see what would happen next. I was afraid I already knew.

The sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach told me to run, that the glowing being was more dangerous than the Institute.

It sucked to be right sometimes.

The glowing being stopped at the line right before the air cleared, hovering at the threshold. Its soulless eyes collided with mine, and I swore it whispered my name. And then the glowing being lunged directly at me.

I screamed.

Dash tackled me to the ground before it had a chance to get me, whatever it was … human? Maybe at one time, but not anymore.

“Forsaken,” my father hissed, pointing to the creature.

Pop. Whiz. Pop. An array of weapons went off, sending arrows and daggers flying, but it did little to stop the thing from advancing. A strong scent of rotten meat and death overtook the space, making me gag. It was putrid.

I could make out a feminine quality to the being, whereas before I couldn’t quite tell. Her skin glistened under the moonlight, utterly hypnotic, her eyes appearing black in the dark. Her straggly blonde hair flew wild and in disarray, but there was no mistaking her intent as she hissed, extending her hand to reveal a row of razor sharp nails.

Dash leapt off the ground, slamming into the creature with its glowing jade skin. The two collided, a mixture of light and dark rolling on the ground.

“Dash!” I screamed.

A hand landed on my shoulder just as I was about to pick myself up out of the dirt I had to help Dash. He needed me. I spun my head toward the culprit who had intervened.

It was Ryker. “If you go charging out there now, you’ll only distract Dash. Is that what you want? Whatever that thing is, it’s nothing like what we’ve ever fought.”

My heart stumbled as I stared at Dash. “So you expect me to sit here and do nothing?”

“If anyone can kill that, it’s Dash. I’ve never seen him fail.”

Dash grabbed the glowing female by the throat and slammed her up against a tree. There was something eerily beautiful about her and the glow of her perfectly smooth skin. And then a slow, unnerving smile twisted her lips as she bared sharp teeth.

Goose bumps ran down my arms, making the hairs stand straight up.

Dash didn’t speak as he unleashed the blade sheathed on his belt and rammed it into the side of the Forsaken’s neck. A sharp, shrilling scream pierced my ears before the alien-like creature’s black eyes went blank. Her body crumbled to the ground, soaking it with a neon green substance similar to blood.

Disgusting.

Dash whipped around, glaring at Dr. Winston. “What the hell is a Forsaken?” he demanded.