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to be fooled.
    The man’s sword moved almost too fast to see, and everywhere it passed, monsters fell. Black blood splattered over his clear face shield, but it didn’t seem to slow him down. His powerful body moved with a mesmerizing grace and Ava had to jerk herself away from staring.
    The dry skittering of more monsters grew louder, coming from her left.
    They were going to see her and lock her up again. She couldn’t let that happen. She couldn’t have her baby in this place.
    Ava pressed herself into a shadowy crevice, hoping her protruding belly wouldn’t give her away. She held her breath, prayed her pounding heart would quiet itself, and squeezed her eyes shut.
    They came so close to her she could feel a breeze from their bodies as they passed. Not one of them slowed. They all headed straight for the fight.
    Ava didn’t stick around to see whether the man won. There was nothing she could do to help him, anyway. The best thing she could do was run and hope that she and her baby got out of this hellhole alive.
     
    Logan called Tynan as soon as he woke. “Where are you?” he asked.
    “Dabyr.”
    “We were supposed to meet.”
    “I know. I wasn’t able to get away.”
    “Why not?”
    “Grace. She took a turn for the worse.”
    A pang of grief burst inside Logan’s chest. He’d grown fond of the human. She was kind. Giving. A few days ago, she’d donned a magical device that transferred her health and vitality to a Theronai who had been paralyzed. The artifact worked, and Torr was now on his feet once again, but Grace’s sacrifice had been great. The Sanguinar had done what they could, but no one expected her to live.
    “How is Torr?” asked Logan.
    “Desolate. Angry. He makes demands on me that are not possible.”
    “How long does she have?”
    “Days at most. I told Torr I was leaving tonight, that I had work that must be done.”
    Logan doubted the man took that news well. “Are you safe?”
    “His people have contained him so he won’t hurt me when I go.”
    “When will you arrive?”
    “It will be a few hours. I’ll call you when I’m close. But I won’t be able to stay away long, so have the woman ready to go.”
    “Ready?”
    “Wring a promise from her to gain her cooperation. We’re running out of time. These matches are taking too much time.”
    “They take as long as they take.”
    “Briant did some calculations. If we don’t double our pace, sixty percent of our race will be dead within the next twenty years.”
    That news sent shock winging through Logan. He’d known things were grim, but he’d had no idea how bad they’d gotten. He’d thrived on a steady diet of hope and hard work, and it seemed cruel now that his efforts weren’t good enough.
    “Did you hear me, Logan?”
    His voice cracked with the defeat that crushed his chest. “I did.”
    “Work faster, brother. We need her on our side. Now.” Tynan hung up.
    Logan ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. All that work and it wasn’t even truly paying off.
    How many lives had he altered? How many people had he tricked or coerced into doing his bidding? He’d lied. He’d even gone as far as entering the minds of his subjects to convince them to help.
    They’d all done it willingly. Or so they thought.
    Sure, those people were happy, but it wasn’t because of their own choices. It was all Logan’s doing. Artificial.
    And the sad part was, he was prepared to do it again tonight. With the woman who had saved his life.
    She had saved him, and now he was going to turn her life upside down.
    The thought turned his stomach, but he knew better than to let his emotions sway him. Logically, it was the only course of action. If his race died, there would be no one to heal the Theronai or Slayers. They would fall to injury and poison. Their numbers would shrink until they, too, became extinct. Synestryn demons would overrun Earth. Countless people would die screaming in pain—food for the Synestryn. Better