Oh shit. My stomach took a drop off the deep end. “The truth about what?”
Nancy’s lips pursed.
Archer stood, folding his arms like he was about to be the muscle in the room, and I really didn’t like where any of this was heading. “What the hell? Just spit it out.” My patience was reed thin.
Nancy took a deep breath and then squared her shoulders. “As you know, Daedalus worked on many serums before we had any amount of success, and in some cases . . .” She paused, looking pointedly at Luc, who smiled brightly. “The successes proved to be failures in the end. There was the Daedalus serum, which was given to Beth and Blake and so on.”
Kat drew in a sharp breath at the name of the bastard I hoped was rotting in a special corner of hell. I hated the mere mention of him in her presence. Kat had taken him out, in defense, but I knew that what she’d had to do still got to her.
“Then, of course, there was the Prometheus serum,” she said, her eyes lighting up like a kid catching the Easter Bunny hiding eggs. “The serum that was given to the men you mutated.”
“You mean the men you forced to be mutated?” I challenged.
“The volunteers you mutated were given the Prometheus serum, just like the hybrids that the most recent batch of Origins were created from,” she explained, surprising me.
“Wait,” Kat chimed in. “You were just testing out that serum when we were there.”
Luc shook his head. “What she means is that humans who were accidentally mutated on and off throughout the years were given the Prometheus serum in test batches. Not ones like Daemon mutated, but people like you and Beth and anyone else out there who was healed by a Luxen.”
Confusion poured into me. “So you were testing the Prometheus serum for the first time on forced mutations?”
“Like I said, they volunteered,” she corrected.
I was about to volunteer my foot upside someone’s head. “Okay. This is great info, but basically useless to me.”
A smirk graced Nancy’s lips for the first time since our lovely reunion. “The Prometheus serum is different from the Daedalus serum. It ensures that the mutated human, that the hybrid, is not connected to the Luxen.”
My head cocked to the side. “Okay?”
“When you healed Kat, and Dr. Michaels alerted us when she fell ill, we didn’t use the Daedalus serum.”
Kat stiffened. “What? He said—”
“Do you think he really knew what we were handing him?” Her dark gaze fixed on Kat. “He believed what we told him and that was it. He was given the Prometheus serum, which is what was given to you.” Her attention flicked back to me. “It was the same thing given to those you also mutated, Daemon.”
“No.” I leaned forward. “That doesn’t make any sense. When Kat was shot—”
“You got sick. Thought you were dying? Oh, save us from the dramatics.” Her eyes rolled. “It’s because you truly bonded with her on an emotional level. You love her.” She spat out the L word like it was an STD. “Yeah, we’ve figured that out. The whole true want and need crap.”
“Well, yay for you, but I was dying.”
She shook her head. “You were weakened and you were ill, but if she had died, you would’ve survived. You would’ve gotten better. Life would’ve gone on. You just didn’t get to that point because obviously someone else healed her.”
Kat gasped.
I stood. The floor under my feet seemed to shift. I locked my knees together. I was rocked through and through, almost unable to believe her.
Nancy took a deep breath. “Your lives aren’t joined like you think they are. If one of you dies, the other will feel it—feel everything, down to the last breath, the last heartbeat—but the other one will take another breath and their heart will beat again.”
11
{ Katy }
After that little bomb was dropped on us, no one really had anything else to say. We’d reached our limit when it came to lies and chatting it out with everyone.
My brain was on overload, running circles around what Nancy had just told us, what Dee was doing, where my mom and friends were, if Luc really had control over Nancy, and what the future held for all of us.
I was done.
Daemon was done.
Archer made a pit stop on the way to showing us our room. Rapping his knuckles on the door once, he eased it open without waiting for an answer. Luckily none of us was scarred for life.
Dawson was standing at the foot of the bed, near where Beth sat. We were probably interrupting something, but the smile that transformed Beth’s face as Archer stepped aside and we walked in caused me to trip over my feet.
Daemon glanced back at me, brows arched, but I was focused on Beth. She . . . she looked normal sitting on the bed, cross-legged, hands resting in her lap. Weariness still marked her pretty face. Her skin was too pale and the shadows under her eyes stark, but her gaze was clear and focused.
“I’m so happy to see you guys,” she said, placing one hand on her lower belly. “I was so worried.”
“We’re doing well,” Daemon responded, glancing at his brother. Although we were standing in front of his brother and Beth, who appeared unharmed, tension radiated off of Daemon. “And everything is fine with you all?”
His brother nodded as he sat beside her. “Yeah. Beth’s been to the doctor on base already.” He curved a hand around her knee. “They seemed to have experience with this. Kind of weird, but I guess it’s a good thing.”
Daemon shot a look in Archer’s direction, and then his gaze settled on Beth. “The doctor treated you right?”
“She—Doctor Ramsey—was really kind and said that . . . well, the pregnancy is progressing as it should. She said that I needed to rest and I have to start taking vitamins.” Pausing, she gestured at a dresser. On it were three large bottles that were like the ones Archer and I had tried to obtain for her. She followed my gaze. “Thank you for going out that day. You risked a lot. Again.”
I blinked, not realizing at first that she was talking to me. I shrugged. “No biggie. I wish we could’ve gotten them for you then.”
“It was a big deal,” Dawson corrected. “You and Archer could’ve . . .” He trailed off as his brother stiffened. “Yeah, you know what could’ve happened.”
“But nothing bad happened, did it?” Archer leaned against the door, folding his arms. “It worked out in the end.”
“We’re all here.” Beth’s brows pinched as she ducked her chin. “Well, almost all of us. Not Dee. I’m . . . I’m sorry.” She peeked up at Daemon, who was now staring at the wall behind the bed.
“We’re going to get her back,” I said, and dammit, we had to. We just needed to figure out how.
“So . . .” Archer cleared his throat. “Do you guys know if it’s a boy or a girl?”
The change of subject couldn’t come at a better time, and I swore Dawson’s cheeks colored a little. “We don’t know,” he said, turning to Beth. “The doc said something about an ultrasound?”
“This week,” she replied, resting her cheek on his shoulder. “They want to do an ultrasound. It might be too early to tell.”
A small smile appeared on Archer’s face. “If it’s a boy, you should name him Archer.”
I giggled.
Daemon faced the Origin. “They should name him Daemon.”
“Daemon 2.0? I don’t know if the world can handle that.” Dawson laughed under his breath, shaking his head. “Honestly, I don’t think that’s something we’ve really thought about at this point.”
“No,” she agreed. “But I guess we need to.”
Their eyes met then, and it was like they forgot that anyone else was in the room. It was just them. I understood the kind of connection they had. I had it with Daemon, but I wondered if we looked as love-struck as they did.
“You do,” Archer commented softly.
Ah, well, that was kind of embarrassing.
“Yes, it is,” he added.
I sh
ot him a look over my shoulder as Daemon growled, “Get out of her head.”
Archer grinned. “Sorry. Can’t help it.”
Rolling my eyes, I didn’t intervene as the two of them started bickering, and then it was time to give Beth and Dawson some privacy. After leaving their room, we were given a room that reminded me too much of the ones back in Area 51. So much so, I couldn’t repress the shudder that worked its way down my spine.
“There’s basically a town on this base,” Archer said from the doorway. “Houses, a school, shops, and even a medical facility. There’s a mess hall one level up. I grabbed you some sweats earlier and stashed them in the dresser.”
Daemon nodded as he scanned the room, his gaze dipping over the wall-mounted TV, the door that led to a bathroom, and the single dresser and metal desk.
“Is it really safe here?” I asked, trying to comb my fingers through the mess that was my hair.
“As safe as any place is right now. Definitely the best place for Beth, all things considered.”
Yeah, having a medical facility nearby was good for her.
Daemon folded his arms. “Will Luc really kill those kids?”
“Luc is capable of anything.”
Sitting on the edge of the bed, I stretched out my aching leg. I couldn’t picture Luc doing that. Not because I didn’t think he would, but because I just didn’t want to believe he’d do such a thing.
“And he’d really hand those kids over to her in the end?” he asked.
Archer lifted one shoulder. “Like I said, Luc is capable of anything, especially when it comes to getting what he wants. Lucky for all of us, he wants us alive.” He pushed off the doorframe. “There’s a lot more to discuss. So I’ll be back later.”
As he started to leave, something struck me, seizing me up. “Wait. Did you bring any of our stuff with you?”
He nodded. “I brought everything that appeared important, including those papers.”
Those papers. I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. The papers were our marriage certificate and fake IDs. Although the marriage wasn’t technically real, it was legit to Daemon and me.
“Thank you,” I said.
He nodded. With that, Archer stepped out and closed the door behind him. I strained to hear a lock turning, but when that didn’t happen, my shoulders sagged with relief.
Daemon turned to me. “You thought we’d be locked in here, didn’t you?”
My gaze traveled over his striking face, lingering on the faint shadows forming under his eyes. “I really don’t know what to think. I trust Archer and Luc, but I’ve trusted a lot of people and that turned out bad. I hope that doesn’t make me crazy.”
“I think trusting anyone makes us all a little crazy.”
I watched him move around the room, stopping in front of the dresser and inspecting what was inside, then moving to the desk. He raised a hand and rubbed his fingers through the mess of dark brown waves. Each step was filled with strain.
Knowing that his thoughts must be with his sister, I felt an ache in my chest for him. I knew how it felt to lose someone who was actually still around. Not an hour went by that I didn’t think of my mom. “We’ll get Dee back. I don’t know how yet, but we will.”
He slowly lowered his hand, but his shoulders tensed as he turned to me. “If we really are safe here, you’d leave this to go into a nest of vipers to get my sister out?”
“Do you really have to ask that question? You know I would.”
Daemon walked to where I sat. “I wouldn’t want you to put yourself in danger.”
“I’m sure as hell not staying behind if you run off to go find her.”
One side of his lips kicked up, and it was amazing how a simple half smile could twist my insides. “I didn’t think you would, and I wouldn’t leave you here. Where I go, you go, and vice versa. You’re not getting rid of me for any length of time that easily.”
“Glad we actually agree on that.” Not too long ago, Daemon would’ve tried to shelter me, but I think he’d learned that didn’t work out very well.
This was the first time in days that we were together and could speak openly with each other, and as I watched him, I knew there was something beyond his sister on his mind. With as many things as we had to stress over, it would be like looking for an apple in a pile of apples.
“What?” I asked.
Our gazes collided and held, and I drew in an unsteady breath. Those emerald eyes, which were such a bright, unreal green, never failed to catch my attention. Daemon was beautiful in a way that didn’t seem possible, but that beauty ran deep, beyond the skin that really wasn’t his true form, and into the very core of his being. When I first met him, I hadn’t believed that. Now I knew better.
His thick lashes lowered. “Just thinking about what Nancy said about the serum—about us.”
“About us not being connected like we thought we were?”
“Yeah.”
“This is good, though.” I smiled when he looked up. I didn’t know what to think, other than that our lives really not being joined together had to be good news and that it didn’t change anything between us. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’m ticked that Nancy lied to us, that she tested something so volatile on me, but it’s . . . it’s okay. I know I can kick some butt and tap into the Source, but you are stronger than me. I’m the weaker—”
“You’re not weak, Kitten. You’ve never been weak, before or after the mutation.”
“Thanks for that, but you know what I mean. Let’s be realistic. I’m a liability to an extent when it comes to fighting. I can only go for so long before I tucker out. You really don’t.”
“I get it.” He thrust his hands through his hair again, frowning.
I searched his face. “Then, what?”
“It’s just that . . .” Daemon knelt down in front of me, his brows knitting together. He reached out and draped his hands over my knees. “It’s just that since the moment I realized what healing you meant, or what I thought it meant, I never thought I’d face a day without you. That I’d never have to worry about going on if you weren’t there. And I’m not trying to make this into some kind of Romeo and Juliet bullshit, but now I know there’s a chance of that and it . . . it fucking terrifies me, Kat. It really does.”
I blinked back a sudden rush of tears as I cupped his cheeks. The slight stubble tickled my thumbs. “The idea of you not being there terrifies me, too.”
He leaned in and pressed his forehead against mine. “I know it’s good news, and I know it’s stupid. I should be more scared of dying in general than not, but—”
“I know.” I closed my eyes and pressed my lips against his. “Let’s just not die on each other, okay?”
Daemon’s chuckle teased my lips. “I like that plan.”
“You won’t let anything happen to me,” I told him, resting my hands on his shoulders as I drew back. “And I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“That’s my Kitten,” he murmured as he looked me over. “Speaking of not letting anything happen, how are you feeling?”
“Tired. Some sugar would be nice.” For some reason, eating sugar helped after using the Source. It always reminded me of Harry Potter.
“I’ll make sure Archer grabs some of that when he comes back.” He stood and then climbed on the bed so he was sitting behind me. “But for now . . .”
He grabbed my hips and tugged me back against his chest.
“What are you doing?” When his right hand slid onto my upper thigh, my breath caught. “Oh.”
His deep laugh rumbled through me. “Believe it or not, I’m not thinking inappropriate thoughts.”
I turned my head to look back at him, eyebrow raised.
The wicked half grin turned my heart to mush. “Okay. Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the time I am thinking something that would turn the tips of your ears pink.”
“And you’re not now?”
His lips pursed. “Yeah, all right
. A hundred percent of the time, but I actually do have totally appropriate reasons for touching you.”
Opposition Page 14