Forsaken—the word that would change my life for a second time. Forsaken. It played through my head over and over again as I stood in the moonlight. If I hadn’t seen it with a dozen other people as witnesses, I would have thought I was going crazy. I told myself not to panic. Not yet.

There might be a logical explanation for what had just happened.

Or not.

Dash was determined to find out. He waited impatiently for my father to explain himself, and judging by the pulsing vein in Dash’s jaw, my father was running out of time.

“They’re the sole reason we’ve been trying to duplicate your cells,” he finally said.

“That doesn’t answer my question. What are they?” Dash demanded.

My father stared into the mist as if expecting another one of those things to come bursting out of the fog and attack him. “They were once humans.”

I gasped, and I wasn’t alone.

All around me, the mouths of the Night’s Guards who knew nothing of the Forsaken dropped open. Only a few weren’t shocked by this news. Ember was one of them.

No surprise.

My little sis seemed to be included in the Institute’s inner circle of trust and secrets.

“The mist has morphed them into something else entirely, something not human. For over a hundred years they’ve lived and breathed the toxicity of the air beyond the Heights.”

“You knew about them!” Dash railed. “And not once did you share the information that there was danger out there possibly deadlier than the mist. You’ve put us all at risk.”

“I’m trying to protect this land! If everyone knew that the Forsaken existed, it would cause chaos,” my father reasoned.

One thing was certain, I was never going anywhere without a weapon again.

“How long have you known? Why did you think it wouldn’t cross the boundary? Who else knows about them?” Dash rattled off questions like gunfire.

“Now you know why it is so important we study your DNA. We need to learn how to kill them and protect ourselves.”

“I don’t know anything. We’ve already established your word means nothing.”

“Let me make something clear. Neither one of you are to tell a single soul what you saw here.”

“Why would we agree to that?” Dash challenged him.

“Because I know you care about the Heights and the people in it. That’s why the Night’s Guard was established: to keep it safe. Until the time is right and we’ve learned more about what we’re dealing with, spreading the word will only create panic. Scared people get hurt.”

I feared my father was right, and I could see Dash did as well.

Could this be real—toxic beings? Nuclear zombies? No freaking way.

I didn’t think the world was ready for this. I wasn’t, that was for sure.

Dash palmed his blade, his expression unsettled. “How is it that we haven’t seen the Forsaken before?” The Heights was filled with people, and yet only a select group knew about the Forsaken’s existence.

“My best guess is they are dependent on the environment of the mist to survive. They particularly dislike the sun and stick to the shadows.”

“Are they evil?” I asked, my brain immediately recalling every vampire and zombie movie I’d ever seen.

“I don’t think that thing wanted to be your BFF. It looked like it was going to eat your face off,” Ember said dryly.

I shot her the stink eye.

“They’ve been here longer than we have, and like us, they want to protect what is theirs. Our being here threatens them. I don’t know that they are evil, but they are dangerous.”

Every time we got an answer, a new question popped up. Dash shook his head. “If they’ve been living in that kind of environment for a hundred years, they must have some wicked abilities. I don’t even want to think about it.”

“Which is why it is important that we can defend ourselves if the time ever came,” my father replied.

“You think they might invade?” Dash asked.

My father’s gaze flicked to the otherworldly body of the Forsaken. “I hadn’t, until today. Now I’m not certain of anything… except that you and Charlotte might be the key to our salvation.”

Dash’s jaw popped. “I find it hard to believe our DNA is going to save the world.”

“Possibly, but Charlotte might have the answer we’ve been searching for.”

All eyes turned to me, and I got a sick feeling in my stomach.

Dash immediately planted himself in front of me. “I don’t care what you think you’ve uncovered. The answer is no! I won’t allow you to use her, exploit her abilities. What you’re suggesting is preposterous. It could kill her. Are you willing to risk your own daughter?”

Silence.

“Well, I’m not,” Dash ground out, his muscles locking up.

“She wouldn’t be in danger. She would have a team of the best guards with her around the clock and that would include you. No one can protect my daughter better than you, Dash. We both know it, no matter how much I might not like it.”

Dash snorted. “You know nothing. I wasn’t talking about those kinds of dangers. Believe it or not, your daughter is capable of handling the hazards of the Heights, but her abilities have limitations. What you are asking of her is too much.”

This had to end, the back and forth. Neither of them could make the decision for me. In the end, it rested on my shoulders. Something they both needed a reminder of. “What are you talking about? What else could I possibly do?”

My father was all too happy to oblige me with an answer. He risked moving nearer. “See, I have a theory, and I’m willing to put it to the test.”

The guards closed in around us, and I got an inkling that crap was about to hit the fan. “What kind of test?”

“I won’t let you touch her,” Dash growled.

“Oh, Charlotte won’t be the guinea pig, but for your sake, Slayer, you better hope I am right in my theory or this might be the last moon you see for a while.”

His gaze narrowed. “Enough of the gam—”

I didn’t see the guard until he was suddenly behind Dash, a needle in his hand. I opened my mouth to scream Dash’s name, but it was too late. The syringe pierced his neck, and a clear liquid flowed from the tube into Dash.

He reacted immediately, grabbing the guard’s arm and flipping him onto his back. Dash quickly plunged his dagger into the guard’s chest, and then his eyes sought mine. “Freckles, are you okay?”

He’d just been injected with God knew what, and he was worried about me. “I’m not the one you should be concerned about.”

“She’s right, you know,” my father added.

Dash stumbled, dropping to his knees, and shot my father a glare of pure hatred. “What did you do to me?”

My father loomed over us, a shadow masking the side of his face. “It should be a familiar feeling, seeing as you’ve had it before.”

“Ceraspan. You injected him with the same stuff that made us sleep for a hundred years,” I seethed, anger lacing my words. “Why would you do that?”

“Because I believe you can save him,” he stated.

“Are you freaking kidding me? You had to do this now? It couldn’t have waited?”

“Yes, well, the Forsaken was an unforeseen surprise, but the Heights is notorious for being unpredictable.”

“As are you, I am learning,” I snapped. “What happens if I can’t wake him up?”

Dash’s eyes started to flutter, and it was only a matter of seconds before he closed his eyes and wouldn’t open them for another hundred years. “Charlotte,” Dash whispered my name. He tried to reach for his bow, his movements sloppy and jerky. And then it was lights out.

Seeing Dash lifeless on the ground brought on an intense round of déjà vu I never wanted to feel again. He had only days ago been so close to the brink of death, and here he was again, unconscious, his life dependent on me.

I didn’t want to admit it, but we were both screwed. Spinning around, my fists clenched at my sides, a dangerous cocktail of emotions brewed within me. “Okay, so what the hell do I do? How do I wake him? That’s what you expect me to do, isn’t it?”

I had started putting together the pieces, but it was hard to process all of this when my mind was reeling from everything that had happened in the last hour: the Night’s Guard overpowering us, seeing the Forsaken, fighting for our lives. Somehow my father had gotten it stuck in his thick skull that I had the power to wake people from the Slumber.

Maybe he was right, but it just seemed insensitive to put me through this right now. For his sake, he better be right or I was going to go postal up in here.

“Can we just get this over with?” Ember grumbled.

“Do you do anything other than complain?” Ryker shot back at her.

I ignored all the noise around me, drowning out their voices and dropping to my knees beside Dash. I didn’t know what I was doing, and it made me anxious. Taking a deep breath, I placed my hands on either side of his face, his skin still warm. I forced my mind to concentrate on making him wake up, regardless that it was difficult to see him lying on the ground, defenseless and vulnerable.

I don’t know how much time went by. Seconds? Minutes? But one thing I was certain of: nothing happened. He didn’t wake up, and my head throbbed from focusing so intently.

That was it.

With my head hung low, I slowly got to my feet and spread my fingers out—one by one, energy crackling between them.

I wanted to hurt someone—a dangerous feeling for someone with ungodly power, and I knew exactly who to direct my rage toward. “You son of a bitch.” Venom dripped from my voice, and suddenly, I wasn’t myself. Angry lightning cracked in spears across the sky, shooting down to the ground, shaking it under my feet.

“Charlotte, I didn’t have a choice. You understand that.” My father trying to reason with me was a joke.

I lifted my head, electricity raging all around me as my eyes burned with hurt, anger, and hate. “I’m going to destroy you,” I said in a dark voice I didn’t recognize as my own. A powerful tone punctuated the words. And I meant every one of them. They would pay.

“Charlotte,” Ryker said calmly, trying to gain my attention, but I only had eyes for one person.

My father shook his head. “It’s possible I was wrong, but Dash will wake. I gave him a low dose of Ceraspan. He will only be asleep for a few weeks.”

“A few weeks?” I echoed. Wrong answer. And what would I do while Dash slept for weeks? Return to the Institute?

Oh, that was rich and exactly what my father wanted.

I’d fallen for his trap. I should have known this was always about the Institute getting their hands on Dash and me. It was all they really cared about.

Two guards came into my peripheral vision. “Stay away from him, or so help me God, I will strike you down.”

They both stopped dead in their tracks.

Scowling, my father put on his stern expression. “We can’t stay out here, Charlotte. We must go. No one will hurt him.”

Didn’t he see that he already had? “What makes you think I’d go anywhere with you?” The sight of him churned my stomach.

“This is for your own good, Charlotte. Dash’s too. Together we can save the Heights.”

“You might think so, and although you might make a valid argument, everything you’ve said got vetoed the moment you decided to use Dash and me. We’re not your puppets.”

“We can figure this all out when we get back to Diamond Towers. Your mother might have something that could speed up the sleeping process.”

I chewed on my bottom lip. What choice did I have? I could agree to go voluntarily, or the Night’s Guards would take us by force. Either option ended with Dash and me back at the Institute. My only consolation was that we would be together… if my father kept his word. And that was a big if. “I agree we need to do something to protect us from the Forsaken, but if we come with you, it is on our terms. No locked doors. No dungeons. And no experimenting without consent. And you won’t separate us.”

He opened his mouth and closed it. I could see by the crinkles at the corner of his mouth that he wasn’t happy with the terms, but in the end, he relented. “I give you my word.”

“No offense, but your word doesn’t mean shit to me.”

My father arched a brow at my language. “Then what do you suggest?”

“A leap of faith,” Ryker had the nerve to suggest.

I snorted. Taking a deep breath, I glanced down at Dash, unable to believe what I was about to do. Life sure knew how to throw a curveball. With lightning striking in my eyes, I raised my head and glowered at my father. “Fine, but if you harm him in any way, I will bring down the Institute around you and everyone in it.”

My father nodded.

Leaning down, I pressed my lips to Dash’s. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry. I don’t see any another way, but I swear I will protect you as you have always protected me.”

“I hope you do a better job,” said a voice I hadn’t been prepared to hear for weeks.

I rocked back, staring down into a handsomely sculpted face. “Dash?”

His eyes fluttered open, an impish grin tugging at his lips. “Were you expecting someone else?”

I threw my arms around his neck. “You’re awake.”

“Thanks to you, Freckles.”

“Don’t thank me yet. I kind of agreed we’d go to the Institute,” I whispered and helped him sit up.

His brows pinched together. “We’ll worry about that later.” Weariness lined his expression, and I remembered what it had been like the last time I’d been drugged—by my father, nonetheless.

Talk about ironic.

Together we rose to our feet, facing my father. “I knew you could do it,” he said. “Those eyes of yours are incredible.”

“I never should have had to do it.” A familiar feeling settled over me, and I cursed these powers the Institute was so interested in. My hand grabbed onto Dash’s forearm as I steadied myself. He might have said my name; I couldn’t be sure. All the sounds around me were washed out as if I was drowning. But I wasn’t sinking underwater. I was on the verge of drowning in darkness.

Then there was nothing, but it was okay. Dash would protect me. He would keep me safe. And most importantly, he was awake.