“I get that, but this was out of the blue,” Kat argued.
Luc leaned back in his chair, kicking his legs onto the desk. He crossed them at the ankles. “I don’t know what to tell you about that. She may’ve known about the Luxen, got hurt, and some poor sap tried and failed to heal her. Or the Man pulled her off the street like they do at times. And unless you know some darn good torture techniques and are willing to employ them on an officer of Daedalus, I don’t see how you’ll ever know.”
“I refuse to accept that,” she whispered.
He shrugged. “What happened to her?”
Kat’s hands balled into fists. “She’s no longer…”
“Ah,” Luc murmured. “She did the whole spontaneous combustion thing? Sick. Sorry about that. A twisted history lesson for you—you know all those unexplained cases of spontaneous combustion throughout history?”
I grimaced. “I’m afraid to ask.”
“Funny how there’s not many cases known, but they do happen out in the noob world.” He spread his arms wide. “Hybrids—my theory at least, and it makes sense if you think about. Most hybrids do the self-destruction thing in the facilities, but a few do outside. That’s why the occurrence is rare to humans.”
“My friend was wearing a bracelet—”
“Tiffany’s?” he asked and smirked.
“No.” She smiled tightly. “It was just like the one you’re wearing.”
Surprise crawled over his face, and it was the first time I’d seen the little punk caught off guard by anything. “Not good.”
“Why is that not good?” I demanded.
Luc glanced up at the ceiling and then shrugged. “Oh, what the hell. You’ll owe me, hope you realize. But what you see here?” Luc tapped his finger off the stone in the cuff around his wrist. “It’s a black opal—so rare that only a few mines can even unearth these babies. And it’s only these kinds.”
“The ones that look like they have fire in them?” Kat stretched to get a better look. “Where are they mined?”
“Australia, usually. There’s something in the composition of a black opal that’s like a power booster. You know, like Mario gets when he hits a mushroom. Imagine that sound. That’s what a black opal does.”
Now this was interesting, Mario sounds aside. “What kind of composition?”
Luc unhooked the bracelet and held it up in the dim light. “Opals have this remarkable ability to refract and reflect specific wavelengths of light.”
Holy shit.
“No way,” I breathed.
“Yes.” Luc smiled at the stone. “I don’t know who discovered it. Someone in Daedalus I’m sure. Once they figured out what it could do, they kept it away from the Luxen and ones like us.”
“Why?” Kat glanced between us, her brow furrowing. “What? I don’t have a degree in alien mineralogy. Geez.”
I patted her thigh. “It’s okay. Refracting and reflecting wavelengths of lights affects us, like the obsidian affects Arum and onyx affects us.”
“Okay,” she said slowly.
Luc tilted his chin up. “Refracting light changes the direction and speed. Our friendly neighborhood aliens are made of light—well, made of more than that, but let me explain it this way: Let’s say their DNA is light. And let’s say that once a human is mutated, their DNA is now encased in wavelengths of light.”
She nodded. “And onyx disrupts those wave lengths of light, right? Kind of makes them bounce around and go crazy.”
“Opal’s ability to refract allows a Luxen or a hybrid to be more powerful—it enhances our ability to refract light,” Luc explained.
“And the reflection part—wow.” I grinned. Kat still looked unimpressed. I nudged her with my elbow. “We flicker or fade sometimes because we move fast. And sometimes you see us just fade in and out—it’s just reflection. Something all of us have to work at to control when we’re younger.”
“And it’s hard when you’re excited or upset?” Kat asked.
I nodded. “Among other things, but to control reflection?” I looked at Luc. “Are you saying you can do what I think you can?”
Laughing, Luc hooked the bracelet around his wrist and sat back, dropping his legs on the desk again. “Hybrids are good. We can move faster than humans, but with the obesity rates nowadays, turtles can move faster than most humans. Sometimes we’re even stronger than the average Luxen when it comes to the Source—it’s the mixture of human and alien DNA that can create something powerful, but that’s not standard.” He smiled, clearly enjoying himself. “But give a Luxen one of these, and they can completely reflect light.”
Kat’s lips parted. “You mean…like invisible?”
“So cool,” I said, wanting one of those stones like yesterday. “We can change the way we look, but become invisible? Yeah, that’s new.”
“Can we be invisible?”
“No. Our human DNA gets in the way of that, but it makes us just as powerful as the strongest Luxen and then some.” Luc shifted in his seat. “So you can imagine that they wouldn’t want any of us having these…especially one that hasn’t been proven to be stable, unless…”
Kat shuddered. “Unless what?”
The smile slipped from his face. “Unless they didn’t care what kind of damage the hybrid caused. Maybe your friend was a test run for a bigger incident.”
“What?” I tensed. “You think they did this on person? Hooked up an unstable hybrid and sent her out into the wild to see what happens?”
“Paris thinks I’m a conspiracy theorist with a hint of schizophrenic paranoia.” He shrugged. “But you can’t tell me that Daedalus doesn’t have a master plan up their sleeves. I wouldn’t put a single thing past them.”
“But why would she come after me? Blake says they don’t know the mutation held. So it wasn’t like they’d send her after me.” Kat paused. “And, well, that’s if Blake’s telling the truth.”
“I’m sure he is about the mutation,” Luc responded. “If he wasn’t, you wouldn’t be sitting here. See, I’m not sure even Daedalus knows everything that this stone is capable of and how it affects us. I’m still learning.”
“And what have you learned?” I asked.
“For starters, before I got my grubby paws on one of these, I couldn’t pick out another hybrid if one did a jig in front of me. I knew the moment you and Blake arrived in Martinsburg, Katy. It was weird, like a breath washing over my entire body. Your friend probably sensed you. That’s the least terrible probability.”
I blew out a long breath, concerned with what he was saying. Carissa’s going after Kat could’ve been a pure accident. Then I thought of something else. “Do you know if it can enhance the Arum’s abilities?”
Luc’s gaze sharpened. “I imagine it could if they’re bloated on a Luxen’s powers.”
Kat started to sit back, but then jerked forward. “Do you think the opal can, like, counteract the onyx?”
“It’s possible, but I don’t know.” Luc’s lips twisted in a wry grin. “Haven’t played with any onyx recently.”
“Where can we get some of the opal?”
Luc laughed. “Unless you have about thirty thousand dollars lying around and someone who mines opals or want to ask Daedalus for some, you’re out of luck. And I’m not giving you mine.”
Kat’s shoulders slumped. Damn. Having at least one piece of opal would come in handy.
“Anyway, it’s about time for you guys to hit the road.” He tipped his head back, closing his eyes. “I’m assuming I won’t hear from you two again until you’re ready to go to Mount Weather?”
“Is there anything else you can tell me?” I asked as Kat and I stood.
“Sure, I have something else.” Luc lowered his head and looked up at us. “You really shouldn’t trust a soul in this game. Not when everyone has something to gain or lose.”
Chapter 19
Petersburg changed in small, infinite ways over the following weeks. It wasn’t just the steady rise of tempe
ratures, heralding that winter was now a not-too-distant memory. Or the restlessness that always surrounded the thaw-out accompanying the warmer months.
The small, mostly unknown town in a state that a god-awful number of people still referred to as “western” Virginia was yet again the center of another missing persons case.
Candlelight vigils were held for Carissa on a weekly basis, and her parents appeared on the nightly news, pleading for any information regarding the disappearance of their daughter. A somberness settled over the school, and I knew there was more than just sadness driving the whispers whenever I saw groups of students huddled together, watching Dawson or one of us. Suspicion was buried very deeply, because out of the people to disappear, Dawson had been the only one to ever return.
And Dawson’s return had signaled the disappearance of others.
Carissa’s disappearance triggered a morbid curiosity in the broader world. News crews showed up, wanting to talk to anyone who knew Carissa or had a theory on why so many teens—Bethany, Carissa, Simon, and even Adam to name a few—disappeared in this sleepy little town.
Bet the DOD and Daedalus just loved that.
And then, around three weeks after Carissa disappeared, Dr. William Michaels became news. His sister reported him missing, and from what Kat could gather, he’d also stopped contacting her mother. Investigators had informed Ms. Swartz that there had been no conference—no shit—and no one else had heard from Will since he’d left Petersburg.
More whispers.
Some suspected that Will had something to do with Carissa and Simon. They all disappeared one after the other, and no one could fathom how a well-known, respected doctor could just vanish. Some believed that Will had to have something to do with their disappearances, maybe even others.
Part of me wondered if the DOD was behind the sudden slanting of the news. Made sense. We knew that Will had betrayed them, and he now made the perfect scapegoat.
But the inevitable happened.
As the grass started to turn green and the wind whipping through the budding trees warmed, people…people moved on. It wasn’t that they forgot Carissa or Simon or anyone else. It was just what happened. Life happened. By mid-April, it stopped becoming nightly news, and then weekly. Whispers at school were still there, but less frequent.
Kat had asked me one evening, after working with the onyx, if that was what would happen to her if we didn’t come back from Mount Weather. She wanted to know if I thought people would just forget and get over it.
Hearing her ask that kind of question was like having my heart shoved into a blender. No one should ever wonder if they would be forgotten one day. I came up with some kind of pseudo-intellectual response that sounded legit, but her question had kept me up most of that night.
Would Kat be forgotten one day?
Would I?
I knew that one day, no matter what, we’d become one of those statistics. It wasn’t something Kat and I talked about, but I think she knew, too. If we succeeded in freeing Bethany, there would be consequences. Staying here wouldn’t work. We’d have to leave, possibly even go into hiding. I had money saved up to make that transition work for at least a period of time, but that didn’t make it easy to think about or accept.
I’d changed Kat’s entire life.
And sometimes I could admit how ridiculously selfish I was, because there were moments, many of them, where I knew I wouldn’t change a thing. Made me a shitty person, totally got that, but I tried the whole stay-away-to-protect-her business. Didn’t work.
The only way for us to be in charge of our future, to willingly disappear one day, was to prepare ourselves for our next Mount Weather raid.
We focused on training with the onyx every day that we could. Repeatedly exposing ourselves to the damn stones drained all of us of energy. After every session, Kat and I crashed, and I think we spent more time dozing than we did anything else.
Progress was slowly, painfully being made. Each of us was able to increase our resistance, and by the beginning of May, all of us could withstand the onyx for about fifty seconds before ending up flailing on the ground.
Ash and Dee had started joining us just to watch us basically mutilate ourselves, and today had been the first time Ash tried out some onyx, much to Kat’s amusement. I’d tried to deter Ash, but she didn’t listen. She’d lasted a whole second before shrieking and dropping the stone.
Ash couldn’t understand, after experiencing the pain firsthand, how anything or anyone would be worth subjecting themselves to this, and she was obnoxiously vocal about this, upsetting Dawson. He’d stormed off from the lake and I had followed, talking him down. Dawson had gotten a lot better at handling the rawness of his emotions, but there were still moments when I feared that he was going to run out of the fragile patience and go after Bethany on his own.
Once I was sure Dawson was as settled as he could be, I headed back to the lake. Halfway, I ran into Blake.
He kept a decent distance from me. “How is he?”
Ignoring him, I kept walking. Dawson’s current state was none of his business.
Blake sighed. “Kat is still down by the lake. I didn’t want to leave her—”
Stopping, I wheeled around so fast he looked like he got whiplash from it. He must’ve seen something in my stare, because he quickly backed off with his hands in the air.
“I just didn’t want her to be out here by herself.”
My hands curled into fists. The fact that he acted as if he were Kat’s protector was revolting, but truth was, it had been smart of him to hang around. Being alone, out in the open, wasn’t wise. I watched Blake disappear among the trees before I resumed my trek. I broke free of the last couple of trees and stopped walking. Probably stopped breathing, too.
Everyone had left except Kat. Near the edge of the lake, she lay in the sun, her head resting on the springy grass. Eyes closed and dark hair spread out around her, she was just…just lovely. Walking toward her, I realized she was asleep.
I couldn’t let myself think about the fact that Blake had been creeping nearby while she slept, even if it were necessary. If I did, it would ruin this moment, and dear God, Kat and I had seriously been lacking one-on-one time that didn’t involve us passing out due to exhaustion.
A tired smile tugged at my lips as I stretched out on my side beside her. Propping my head up on my hand, I watched her for a few moments. I thought about what I’d ordered for her over the weekend. It should be here by tonight, and I chuckled as I pictured her expression when she saw it.
If I were a good guy, I’d let her sleep, but I was unable to help myself. I brushed my lips over hers.
Her lashes fluttered and then swept up, revealing soft, unfocused gray eyes. “Hey,” she murmured.
“Hey there, sleeping beauty…”
Kat smiled. “Did you kiss me awake?”
“I did.” I placed my hand on her stomach. “Told you, my lips have mystical powers.”
She laughed. “How long have you been here?”
“Not long.” My eyes searched hers. “I found Blake skulking around the woods. He didn’t want to leave while you were out here.”
Kat rolled her eyes.
“As much as it bothers me, I’m glad he didn’t.” It actually pained me to admit that, like cutting off my own nose or some crap.
“Wow. Pigs are flying.” When I narrowed my eyes, she used her fingers to brush the hair that had fallen over my forehead back. My eyes drifted shut. It was incredibly soothing whenever Kat fooled around with my hair. “How’s Dawson?” she asked.
“Calmed down. How’s Kitten?”
“Sleepy.”
“And?” I smiled.
Kat dragged her fingers along the side of my cheek and then over my jaw. I turned into the caress, kissing the palm of her hand as I unbuttoned the cardigan she was wearing. “Happy you’re here.”
Thrilled to hear that, I spread my hand over the thin tank top she’d worn under the sweater. “And?”
“And glad I didn’t get eaten by a bear or coyote.”
Not expecting that, I arched a brow. “What?”
She grinned. “Apparently, they’re a problem around here.”
I shook my head. “Back to talking about me.”
Kat wasn’t in a talking mood, more of a showing mood, which I was so freaking down for. Her fingers trailed over my bottom lip, and then her hand dropped to my chest. She caught the front of my
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