Opposition

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  to kill him. But you’re right. We need them.” Those three words sounded painful for him to say. “All I can promise is that I will try.”

  I closed my eyes, resting my forehead against his. What we were about to do—because it wasn’t just going to be about what I was feeling or thinking, but both of us—wasn’t going to be easy. Out of everything that we’d been through, I knew it was the hardest, and possibly the truest, test either of us had ever faced.

  Nerves were going to get the best of me. Between the upcoming feeding—God, I didn’t want to even think about it—and the way Daemon prowled the length of a large chamber we’d been led to after we’d agreed to Lotho’s condition, I felt like I was seconds from freaking out.

  But Daemon had one of his own conditions—he demanded to be with us. Lotho had smiled a bit too widely and too brightly at that. Instead of refusing him, he practically rolled out the red carpet.

  Archer was outside, still in the main chamber, and while I knew he could handle himself, a lot of the Arum had been checking him out like he was an appetizer.

  Daemon stopped in the middle of the room, glaring furiously straight ahead. Heart sinking, I followed his gaze to the massive bed covered with what looked like pelts of animal fur.

  “His bedroom,” he said, shoulders rising. “The son of a bitch just had to do this in his bedroom.”

  Yep. He had to.

  I was beginning to think this whole thing was just to mess with our heads. There were plenty of places Lotho could do his thing. I shuddered, now unsure if I was going to be able to go through with it.

  But I had to.

  We both had to go through with it.

  Bile was sitting at the base of my throat, ready to come up at any given second. Shaking my arms out, I closed my eyes and tried to release some of the tension building in my muscles.

  I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.

  “What are you doing?”

  I stopped what had become an impromptu dance. “Sorry. Nervous.”

  “Don’t apologize.” He arched a brow. “It was interesting. Kind of reminded me of a flailing Muppet Baby.”

  A wry laugh escaped me. “Really?”

  Daemon nodded. “Yep.” He glanced at the bed again and swore. “Kat, this . . . this is screwed up.” My throat tightened as I whispered, “I know.”

  His brilliant emerald gaze centered on me. “Did you ever think this is where you’d end up when you knocked on my door asking for directions?”

  I shook my head as I walked over to where he stood. “No. Not even in a million years. I couldn’t imagine any of this when I knocked on your door.” I paused and forced a smile as I gazed up at him. “All I was really thinking about that day was your abs.”

  Daemon barked out a laugh.

  “And that you were a flaming asshole,” I added.

  A cynical smile formed on his lips. “Sometimes I wonder if you ever regret it.”

  “Regret what?” My worried smile faded from my lips.

  “This—all of this,” he said, voice low. “Us.”

  “What?” I pressed my open hands against his chest. “No. Not once.”

  “Really?” Derision dripped from his voice. “I’m pretty sure there had to be moments where you’ve regretted stepping foot in West Virginia.”

  “There have been times that have sucked—sucked donkey balls—and I never want to relive them, but I don’t regret us.” My fingers curled around his shirt. “I couldn’t, because I love you. I really love you, and love . . . it comes with the bad and the good. Right? I mean, I know my mom never wanted to experience everything that she went through with Dad and then losing him, but she doesn’t regret loving him. Not even with all that pain and heartbreak, and I can’t—”

  Daemon kissed me, capturing my words with the soft and tender pressure of his lips. “I know there were many times when I didn’t deserve you, especially with the way I treated you in the beginning, but I plan on using every second to make up for that.”

  “You already have.” I kissed him back. “Many times.”

  As we drew apart, the heavy door to the chamber swung open, clanging off the blocks of the wall. I turned in Daemon’s arms and got an unwelcome eyeful.

  Lotho strode in, the leather pants hanging low—way low—on his narrow hips. There was a whole lot of pale skin on display. Stomach. Chest. But that wasn’t the only thing. As he strode past us, I saw what Hunter and Lore had been talking about before we came down here.

  Opal.

  The gemstones glistened from where they were embedded in his back, following the straight line of his spine. Seeing them seriously sewn into his skin . . . that was crazy.

  I squeezed my eyes shut. “Oh jeez.”

  “Did your shirt fall off?” Daemon asked, his arms tightening around me.

  Lotho laughed. “No.”

  “So why do you need your shirt off to feed?” Even though Daemon sounded perfectly calm, I knew he was seconds from turning into the alien Terminator on bath salts.

  “Feeding can get messy,” he replied nonchalantly. “Don’t want to ruin my favorite shirt.”

  Heat blew off from Daemon like nuclear fallout. Wrenching my eyes open, I watched Lotho make his way across the room and then throw himself onto the bed. He lay down in the middle, on his side.

  Lotho winked as he patted the spot before him. “Let’s do this.”

  My feet were attached to the floor. “I . . .”

  Daemon’s arms were like steel bands around mine. “No. Not like this.”

  “But I want it like this,” Lotho purred as he rested his head on his closed fist. “After all, it will be really comfy.”

  I was going to puke.

  “You’re taking this too far,” Daemon warned.

  “I haven’t even begun to take it too far.” Lotho’s pale eyes flashed. “It’s not about me, now, is it? It’s about how far you’re willing to go to get my help.”

  A low, inhuman sound rumbled from deep within Daemon as I tried to drag in air, but the oxygen didn’t make it past my throat.

  “Need I remind you of the fact that I don’t need shit from any of you?” he said with a slight, almost playful smile. “I’m not the one asking for a favor. You don’t want to do this my way, fine. But there’s no other way. So you can get the fu—”

  “No.” The word burst from me. “We can do this.”

  “We cannot,” Daemon said.

  Lotho arched his brows. “I’m confused.”

  I turned in his arms until I faced Daemon. “You promised to try.”

  “I did.” He was staring over me, pupils white once more. “I tried. He’s being a—”

  “Nothing has even happened,” I cut in, trying to reason with him. “So we haven’t tried. Not yet.” I really wished Lotho wasn’t lying on the bed behind us, smirking, because that was so not helping anything.

  “Please.” I clasped Daemon’s cheeks, forcing him to look at me. My words carried the weight of everything riding on this. “We have to do this.”

  Daemon closed his eyes, and several long moments passed before he spoke in a voice that ripped up my insides. He only said one word. “Go.”

  I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding and then took another I didn’t need. I tried to step back, but his grip was fierce. I gently grasped his arms, and it took everything in me to force him to let go.

  He did, and by the way the heat flared off him, it looked like it killed him. And hell, it tore me up. Eyes burning with tears I couldn’t let fall, I turned around and stepped toward Lotho.

  I had to do this.

  There would be pain—lots of it. There would be revulsion—a ton of that. As I forced my feet toward the edge of the bed, a bright white light reflected off the walls. Daemon had shifted into his true form.

  Kitten . . .

  Sucking in a shaky breath, I sat on the bed, my hands trembling so badly I couldn’t feel the tips of my fingers. This was wrong, so wrong.
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  Lotho reached out, and I had to force myself to sit still as he placed his hand on my cheek. His fingers were so bitterly cold, and I flinched as he sat up, pressing his other hand into the bed next to my hip. He leaned in, and his hand slipped down my throat, sending waves of revulsion and fear rippling through me. Lotho wasn’t even watching me. His gaze was fixed on where Daemon stood, his lips spread into a taunting grin.

  I’m sorry. Those two words blazed through my consciousness. I can’t allow this.

  My body locked up as I prepared for a whole lot of bad to go down, and then it did. Daemon was a blur of light as he lunged toward us.

  Everything happened so fast.

  I was pulled off the bed, thrown away from the bone-chilling cold, and Daemon was leaning over Lotho. Horror set in as I realized it was Lotho holding him there without even touching him. Wind roared from behind me, blowing my hair across my face. It was like the Arum was a vacuum, sucking everything toward him.

  Suddenly, Daemon was tossed back against the wall, and he was held there, several feet off the floor, as Lotho stood at the foot of the bed.

  I couldn’t let this happen to Daemon, but we couldn’t walk out of here without Lotho’s help.

  “Stop!” I shouted, rushing forward without really thinking that one through.

  “Please! Just do it now.”

  Lotho glanced at me, a quizzical expression on his face, and then a toothy grin appeared. I squared my shoulders.

  But he didn’t. Lotho . . . he flopped onto his back and let out a loud cackle of laughter as he pulled his knees up and planted his booted feet on the bed. The force pinning Daemon against the wall eased off and he landed on the floor.

  Uh.

  I twisted around to where Daemon stood in his true form a mere foot or two from the bed. Was he seeing this, too?

  Lotho continued to laugh, deep belly laughs that echoed off the cement walls. Backing away from the bed, I walked to Daemon as he shifted into his human form once more. I didn’t get it. Nope. Did not compute.

  Finally, after what felt like an eternity of him laughing himself to death, Lotho quieted down and sat up in one fluid motion. “Ah God, you guys are great.” He smacked his hands down on his thick thighs. “Man, really.”

  “Yeah.” Daemon drew out the word. “I’m not following this. At all.”

  A wide smile broke across Lotho’s face and he almost looked . . . normal. Still a wee bit scary, but kind of normal. “You two were really going to go through with this, weren’t you?”

  I blinked.

  “Holy shit, you really were going to let me go all yum-yum on you.” He popped onto his feet, raising his arms above his head, stretching. His back bowed as he sneered. “Do you really think I’d feed off a hybrid? Sure, you guys might be snack-a-licious, but I only eat Grade-A Luxen. And a certain type. Unwilling usually does it for me.”

  I blinked again.

  “What the fuck?” Daemon exploded like cannon.

  Lotho threw his head back and laughed again, and we waited . . . again. “I seriously just wanted to see how far you guys were willing to go.”

  I blinked at him a third time. “Wait a minute. You never planned on feeding off me?”

  “Don’t take this the wrong way, hon. You’re cute, but you’re not my type.”

  Should I feel offended? “And if we didn’t agree, you would’ve still let us leave without helping us.”

  “Yeah.” He shrugged as he walked over to a high table and grabbed a bottle of Jack off it. Taking a swig, he faced us.

  Oh my God, we’d just been dragged through an emotional wringer, and for what? Just so he could mess with our heads? Suddenly exhausted, all I wanted to do was shove my head under one of those animal pelts.

  “I want to punch you,” Daemon said. “In the face. And in other places.”

  Lotho shrugged again. “Most people do. Good news is that I know you two really are willing to do anything. I can respect that. So, you have your Arum army.”

  I really didn’t know what to say. Shoulders slumped, I felt so many emotions all at once that I had moved beyond words.

  Lotho swiped two glasses off the table, filled them, and then handed them over. I took one in a virtual state of shock.

  “Let’s toast,” he said, eyes as cold as a January morning. “To a very unlikely, and very temporary, partnership.”

  19

  { Daemon }

  It was taking everything in my power not to introduce my boot to Lotho’s face. The Arum was crazy. Absolutely off his rocker and should be locked in a padded room. Better yet, he should be locked in a room full of metal spikes and then bounced around.

  I wanted to punch him.

  But I also wasn’t stupid. Hunter and his brother hadn’t been joking when they said Lotho was powerful. The little bit he’d displayed in that room told me he was capable of much more, and if we seriously had to get down to business, it would be ugly and really messy.

  We were now seated in a small room that looked like someone had dug it out of rock and earth. The scent was musty and the torches shoved into the wall didn’t cast much light.

  I had Kat where I wanted her, in my lap with my fingers working the tense muscles in her shoulders and neck. She’d been quiet since we left Lotho’s room, and I could tell she just wanted to get the hell out of here.

  So did I.

  “It’ll take me a day or so to get them all rounded up.” Lotho had progressed to vodka, and since we’d moved to this room, which had been maybe thirty minutes ago, he’d downed half the bottle. I was curious to see if Arum could get alcohol poisoning. “Some of my boys are out scouting.”

  Hunter stood near the door, leaning against the wall. He looked completely at ease, but the sharpness in his eyes said he was ready to spring into action. “How much time are they giving you guys?”

  We’d explained the government plans to get overexcited with e-bombs. “We have time,” Archer answered from where he was perched on a stool beside us. “About four or so days, but the sooner we can move against them, the better.”

  “Yeah . . .” Lotho took another healthy swig. “Worried about them getting trigger-happy, eh?”

  Archer nodded as he eyed the Arum leader.

  “Like I said, I need just a day or two. Tell your human masters we’ll be there.”

  Human masters? I rolled my eyes as I dropped my arms to circle Kat’s waist.

  Lotho frowned as he glanced down at his now-empty bottle of vodka. “Where are we going again?”

  Kat sighed.

  “Right now, they want you at Mount Weather in Virginia,” Archer explained. Again. “If that changes—”

  “You’ll call.” Lotho tapped the back pocket of his leather pants. Asshole still hadn’t found his shirt. “Got it.” He paused as he tossed the bottle to the floor somewhere to his left. Glass shattered. He smiled. “You have my word that we will be there. That is something I don’t mess around with.”

  My gaze flickered to Hunter, and he nodded.

  “It’s not like my kind or I will miss an opportunity to serve a little payback and get fed at the same time.” Lotho gestured at the closed door. “It’s been real nice chatting with you guys and we’ll be seeing each other again, but y’all got to go. None of you is welcome here, including you,” he said to Hunter.