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Oh, my god! This is like a cult. Okay, now the “temple” made sense. I, for one, was not going to drink the Kool-Aid, even if it did smell very, very nice, and I was parched.
“I assure you, the tea is fine,” Da’an said, as if reading my thoughts.
“You can understand my trust level is not very high,” I retorted.
Lomax flinched, his head rearing back, his eyes widening.
“Are you all right?” I grabbed his arm.
“He’s fine, aren’t you?” Da’an said.
Lomax’s face went blank, and he nodded. He took another sip of tea.
Seeher shifted on her cushion, settling in with complete relaxation and the smuggest smile I’d ever seen. That grin. Lomax’s odd behavior. With horror, I realized Da’an was brainwashing him right before my very eyes.
“Stop it! Stop it!” I went to fling my tea at Da’an, but the cup fell from my hand and shattered on the floor, spraying me with hot liquid. I tried to stand up, but I couldn’t move my legs.
Seeher’s grin transformed into a rictus of triumph.
Lomax turned away from me, and I could no longer see his face.
Da’an cupped his hands around his tea and sipped as if nothing unusual were happening.
I had to stop this. “Ghadt! Ghadt!” I shouted. Lomax didn’t even twitch. I’m losing him! Tears of despair sprang to my eyes. “Stop, please. Don’t do this,” I begged, my gaze jogging between Da’an and Seeher. “Lomax, it’s me! Kat. Katherine Anne.” I sobbed.
“Your words can’t reach him anymore.” Seeher took a sip of tea. “He’s all mine now.” She tilted her head and looked at Da’an with a question in her eyes.
He nodded. “It is done.”
The world blurred into a bleak, gray fog of misery. Grief wracked my entire body. I lost him. He’s gone.
Seeher rose from the cushion in a fluid, confident motion. Slipping the blaster from her holster, she rounded the table and handed the weapon to Lomax. She stepped back, her face stuck in that terrifying, horrible grin.
Sensation returning to my legs. I stumbled to my feet.
Seeher flicked an antenna-eye in my direction. “The human is a threat. Threats must be eliminated. Kill her.”
Lomax pivoted.
Devoid of emotion, his eyes were dead. His essence had been erased.
She did it. With Da’an’s help, she’d turned him into a heartless, soulless GJW insurgent. My knees shook, and my blood ran cold. I stretched out my hands. “Please…don’t…”
Raising the blaster, he pointed it at my chest. “Threats must be eliminated.”
He spun around and shot Seeher.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lomax
Seeher fell to the floor dead.
Behind me, I heard a thud. I whirled around to find Kat in a crumpled heap. I shoved the weapon into my holster and rushed to her. “Kat! Katherine Anne, it’s me. The real me.” I cradled her in my arms. Her face had drained of all color.
“I don’t understand.” She hugged my neck and wept. “It’s really you?”
“The real me. For good. Forever.”
