Opposition

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  Pregnancy was weird.

  Kat sneaked a slice of bacon off my place.

  She had no reason to eat that much other than loving food . . . and bacon. She grinned at me as she snapped it in two, dropping half of it back on my plate.

  “I really think you need to stay here,” I said, turning my attention back to my brother as I picked up the slice of my measly share of bacon.

  Dawson frowned as he toyed with the bottle of chocolate milk. I knew what he was thinking. I could read him like an open book with big words and pictures.

  “Look, you need to be here.” My gaze flickered over to Beth, who had a huge forkful of eggs. “This is where you need to be. It’s too dangerous out there for you or for Beth.”

  Beth glanced up. “Isn’t it dangerous for you and Kat?”

  “It is.” Kat glanced at me, chewing on her lower lip. We hadn’t told Dawson or Beth yet what Nancy told us about not being connected in the way they were. Kat took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and then Archer seemed to pop out of thin air.

  He dropped down on the other side of Kat. “These two,” he said, gesturing at us with a flick of his hand, “aren’t connected—not like you and Beth.”

  Dawson frowned as he glanced between Kat and me. “What do you mean? He healed her. She’s a hybrid—just like Beth.”

  “Yes, but apparently Daedalus gave Beth one serum and tested out the new one, the Prometheus serum, on Kat,” Archer explained. “Which means they aren’t connected like you and Beth.”

  As expected, Dawson argued that was impossible, but after I explained what Nancy had told us, my brother sat back, absolutely stunned.

  “So, you see? You have too much to risk,” I told him. “You have Beth and you have this baby to worry about.”

  Dawson cursed under his breath as he leaned back, rubbing his hands along the back of his neck. “You guys are really going to go after the Arum?”

  “Yep.” Sounded crazy, but it was better than doing nothing.

  He shook his head. “Never thought the day would come that we’d go to the Arum for help.”

  I snickered. “No doubt.”

  “Luc is going to stay behind,” Kat said, pushing what was left of her eggs around her plate. “To make sure Nancy behaves herself. We’ll be leaving in a few hours. Then once we get the . . . when we get the Arum to help, we’ll notify General Eaton. I guess at that point we’ll start to head back here.”

  “But you have to leave so soon?” Beth shot a nervous glance at Dawson.

  “We don’t have a lot of time to get this done,” I said. “But you two will be safe here.”

  “I’m not worried about us,” Dawson said, and I wanted to smack him upside the head because he needed to be worried about them. “Letting you guys go off, meeting up with some damn Arum, and trying to convince them to help us out? That’s crazy dangerous.”

  It was.

  There was no denying that, and I’d never been a liar before, so I wasn’t going to start now.

  Archer leaned forward, resting his weight on his arms. His eyes met my brother’s. “I understand you and I don’t really know each other, and you have no reason to believe anything I say, but I promise you I will make sure Daemon and Katy come back with Dee. You can take that to the bank.”

  Sitting back, I stared at the Origin.

  I’d never admit it, not in a million freaking years, but Archer . . . yeah, sometimes he was pretty cool in my book, and I did like the way he sounded. Hell-bent on fulfilling that promise and bringing back not only us, but Dee. He just didn’t need to know I felt that way.

  We finished up breakfast like it was any normal day, trying to forget that no matter what promises Luc and Archer made, it could be the very last time we saw each other. Kat and I packed up the changes of clothes Archer had found for us.

  My heart kicked around my chest as I watched her shove the final sweater into a duffel bag we’d found in the closet. Once we left, things were going to happen fast, and I had no idea what we’d face on the road or when we met up with Hunter.

  This literally could be the last time Kat and I were alone.

  I wasn’t being a pessimist. The truth was we’d be stuck with Archer. The three of us were glued together for the foreseeable future, and if things went south, well, this would truly be the last time we had a handful of minutes together.

  Kat zipped up the bag and turned around. Her hair was down, and I always liked it that way. There was a slight pink flush to her cheeks and her dove-gray eyes seemed to take up her whole face.

  Her lips tipped up at the corners, and it said something powerful that she could still smile, like, really smile, when all this crap was going down around us. “What?” she asked.

  “Nothing.” I took a step forward and then another, until I was standing right in front of her and she had to tip her head back.

  I slowly moved my gaze over her face as I cupped her cheeks, memorizing the high sweep of her cheekbones, the heavier fringe of the lashes at the outer corners of her eyes, down to the slight upturn in her nose and the fuller bottom lip.

  Damn, I didn’t want to waste these minutes. I wanted to spend them worshipping her. Most of all, I wished our paths had been different. Not that we wouldn’t be together or some crap like that, but for the first time, I wished I were human and that my kind was hers and there was no invading race of aliens. That we’d graduated high school like normal teenagers, gone away to college together, and, instead of packing up to go knee-deep into the lair of sociopaths, we were planning a weekend at a beach or whatever the hell normal humans did when their planet wasn’t at war. But spending time wishing for things that could never happen really was for losers. And I was wasting very limited time.

  I lowered my mouth to hers, kissing her softly at first, and when her hands landed on my shoulders, slipping back around my neck, I deepened the kiss. God, I could live on the taste of her.

  Taking my time—time we really didn’t have—I traced the pattern of her lips, committing the feel of them to memory. A tiny, breathy moan came from Kat as she leaned into me, her fingers finding their way through the hair at my nape. Need slammed into me, invading every cell.

  My hands slid down her sides, lingering around her waist for a moment, and then I smoothed my palm over her hips that rounded out sweetly. I wanted to be closer, all up in her. I was a needy bastard like that, but she liked it.

  “Two minutes?” she asked.

  I grinned against her mouth, and then forged a path of kisses to her ear. “Mmm, I like the way you think.”

  “I’m not surprised.”

  “You know me well.”

  Kat drew back, slipping out of my grasp. Meeting my eyes and wearing a mischievous grin, she reached down and pulled her sweater off over her head.

  Hells yeah.

  Then all rational thought fled when the pants came next, along with everything else she’d been wearing. The prettiest pink swept over her body, but she didn’t duck her chin or hide from me.

  Man, Kat fascinated me, every aspect of her. She was beautiful, but it went so beyond that. She was so incredibly strong, and she bore the scars of her strength like a prizefighter. She was smart and stubborn, but most of all, she was kind, and she’d given me the ultimate gift when she loved me in return.

  That was the most important thing I’d always take from this.

  Love was a gift.

  Joining her in the buff, I wrapped my arms around her. I didn’t need to tell her that I loved her. The words were meaningless because they were spoken so much. Actions were always louder, always more potent.

  I showed her.

  On my knees, and then on the narrow bed, with her breasts flush against my chest, and then I moved lower again. I wanted to do more, a whole lot more, but I hadn’t had the forethought to bring any protection from the mayor’s mansion with me, and the last thing either of us needed to worry about was a little Kat or Daemon on the way.

  But like before, there w
ere other . . . things we could do. And we did them until my senses were completely short-circuited, and I fell for her over and over again. We were greedy, pushing it until we were almost foolish in the way we felt for each other, pulling back at the last moment, and then falling over the edge together with our hands on each other and our mouths fused together.

  It was perfect.

  She was perfect.

  And I was the luckiest guy.

  When we finally left to meet up with Archer, Dawson was waiting at the exit doors, one arm over Beth’s shoulders. I really didn’t know what to say to him. Good-bye was wrong, too unforgiving. So I stopped and just stared at the two, hoping that even if we failed in the worst kind of way, my brother and his girl would go on. They’d be safe. They’d be okay.

  Kat approached them first. She gave Dawson a hug and then Beth. The girl said something to her and Kat smiled in return.

  I had to take a deep breath when I walked over to Dawson and clapped my hand down on his shoulder. “You’re going to be okay here.”

  He leaned in until his forehead pressed against mine. “So are you.”

  “You know it.”

  Dawson grinned, and then he hugged me. We both knew the risks and how this could all play out. But we didn’t voice it to each other as we said good-bye. Walking away from Dawson, leaving him in the same building with the woman who’d messed up his life so badly, went against everything I knew.

  But I had to do it.

  I had to let Dawson take care of himself, Beth, and his child. That was his job now.

  My skin itched with the need to go back when I walked out those damn doors, but I ignored it and focused ahead. General Eaton was waiting for us beside a black Explorer, the kind of car Daedalus used to roll around in.

  I sort of wanted to blow that bitch up, but that wouldn’t go over well. Impulse control. I was proud of myself.

  “We’ll be waiting to hear from you,” he said, meeting our gazes. “I don’t think I need to remind you guys of how important this is and what is riding on you, but if you manage to pull this off, you’ll spend the rest of your lives not worrying about any of us. I will make sure that no matter what precautions are taken in the future, you will have immunity to all laws and sanctions. You’ll be free from all of this.”

  It took me a moment to process what he was saying as I met Kat’s surprised stare. Once my brain kicked back into gear, I knew what she was thinking. “Not just for us.”

  The general eyed me.

  “I want my family and friends to fall under that,” I told him, glancing at Archer. I didn’t know what he had planned when this was all said and done, but I didn’t care. “And I also want Kat’s family—her mom—safe from ever having to deal with any of this crap because of what we are.”

  Kat’s lips trembled as she pressed them together. A fine mist covered her eyes.

  “You get what I’m saying?” I asked.

  “I do.” He gave me a curt nod. “I can do that for you.”

  “I’ll hold you to that.”

  There was another quick nod, and then there was no more time to hang out. I walked around the general and opened the passenger door for Kat. Whether or not Archer liked it, he was gonna be a backseat rider.

  “What did Beth say to you?” I asked as I gripped the car door.

  Kat smiled slightly as her gaze met mine. “She said the same thing I want to say to you.”

  “That I’m awesome?”

  She laughed, and that sound brought a smile to my face. “No. She said thank you.”

  15

  { Katy }

  “Did you know . . .” started Archer, and I closed my eyes, biting back a sigh. Here they go. Ten hours into the drive, my butt was starting to hurt and they bickered like an old married couple. “That typically there’s a speed limit on these roads?” he finished.

  “Yep,” came Daemon’s reply.

  “I’m just curious.” Archer was currently sitting behind us, but he might as well be in our laps. He’d positioned himself so he was right between our seats, his arms hanging off the back of them. “Because I’m pretty sure that sign over there reads fifty-five. Not eighty-five.”

  “You can read?” Daemon looked into the rearview mirror. “Holy shit. I’m so surprised.”

  Archer sighed. “Well, that was clever.” There was a pause. “I just don’t want to end up crashing into a fiery ball.”

  “You’re an Origin. You’ll be fine.”

  “I don’t want to be a skid-mark Origin or a crispy Origin.”

  “Mmm,” Daemon murmured. “Crispy Origin reminds me of fried chicken. I could go for some of that right now.”

  “KFC?” Archer asked, and I was surprised that he even knew what KFC chicken tasted like. “Or Popeye’s?”

  Huh. He also knew Popeye’s.

  Daemon’s lip curled. “No. I’m talking homemade fried chicken. Dipped in egg and flour, fried up in a skillet. Dee can fry some bomb chicken.”

  “I’ve never had homemade fried chicken before.”

  His eyes rolled. “God, you’re such a freak.”

  “I wonder if I can get Dee to make me some,” Archer replied casually, ignoring Daemon. “You know, when she’s not on Team Kill Everyone.”

  “She won’t make you any chicken,” Daemon retorted.

  “Oh, she’ll make me fried chicken.” Archer laughed deeply. “She’ll make me all the chicken I want.”

  A low sound of warning rumbled from Daemon, and I couldn’t believe they were now arguing over the hypothetical situation of Dee making fried chicken or not. But I shouldn’t be surprised. An hour or so ago, they were in a heated discussion over whether or not Shane would’ve been a better father than Rick on The Walking Dead. Somehow that had digressed into Daemon arguing that the governor, sociopathic tendencies aside, was a better father figure. The fact that Archer had never eaten at Olive Garden but knew about The Walking Dead absolutely befuddled me.

  Archer sighed like a petulant teenager stuck in a car for too long. There was a beat of silence. “Are we there yet?”

  Daemon groaned. “I’m going to sew your damn lips together.”

  I covered my smile with my hand as I stared out the window. That smile faded, though, as I took in the scenery. I had no idea what state we were in. Everything from about a hundred miles outside of Billings had all looked the same.

  Wastelands.

  Absolute destruction.

  For the last two hours, we hadn’t seen another car on the major highway. Not a single moving car. There were a lot along the road. Some were abandoned with their backseats piled with personal items, as if the owners pulled over on the side of the road, got out, and left everything behind for the great unknown.

  The others . . . the others were scary.

  Burned-out shells of cars. A sad and twisted graveyard of wrecked and charred metal. I’d never seen anything like this. Read about it in books, seen it in movies, but viewing mile after mile of it in real life was something else.

  “What do you think happened to them?” I asked when there was a lull in the arguing.

  Archer pushed back from the seats, bending over so he could see out his own window. “Looks like some of them met up with unfriendly aliens. Others ran.”

  We passed an SUV with its back open. Clothing was strewn about it. A small brown teddy bear lay forgotten on the road behind it. I thought about that little girl in the grocery store, and I wanted to ask if they thought those who’d run for it made it to safety, but I didn’t, because I was sure I already knew the answer.

  Humans couldn’t outrun Luxen.

  “While you guys were doing things I don’t want to know about in your room, some things were happening out here.”

  Daemon didn’t look fazed by that statement, but my face turned into a ripe tomato. “Do tell.”

  “You know how they were saying there were cities completely