Opposition

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  He looked real torn up about that. Pushing off the wall, he didn’t even bother to hide his grin. “We’ll be in contact.”

  Kat stood and I followed, more than ready to get the hell out of Dodge, but as we walked past Lotho, he suddenly stepped in front of Kat. I started to pull her back from him, but he was fast.

  “You have balls bigger than the males in this room,” Lotho said, his face inches from her. “I like you. And I’d keep you if it weren’t for the fact that you’re part Luxen. So that’s probably good news for you. Boo for me.”

  And then he kissed her. Full-on, mother-freaking kissed her.

  Before either of us could react and I could unleash my fury, Lotho shifted into something that was nothing more than smoke and shadow, and was gone.

  “I’m going to kill him,” I swore, feeling the Source crackling along my skin.

  Kat jerked out of my grip, her face pale and lips tinged in blue, like she’d been making out with a Popsicle, and she swung on Hunter and Archer. “I want to leave right now.”

  Hunter glanced at Archer. “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea, before this whole trip goes to waste.”

  An hour later, we were finally topside. It was dawn the following morning, and I was still so angry that the metallic bitter taste filled my mouth with every breath I took.

  “You guys are more than welcome to come back to Lore’s place if you want to chill out for a few hours before you hit the road again,” Hunter offered. “Get some rest. Grab something to eat. Whatever.”

  As Kat climbed into the backseat of the Explorer, I glanced at Archer. We really could use the time to rest before we got back on the road. Kat had barely spoken the whole time it took to get out of the damn maze of underground tunnels, and I knew she was exhausted. Probably disturbed, too.

  What do you think? I directed the question at Archer.

  He opened the driver’s door. I think we could use the R&R and I think Lore and Hunter are good, um, people, but heads up, Kat doesn’t want to go back to the base.

  My brows rose as I glanced into the interior of the backseat. She was fumbling with the seat belt. Smiling a little, I leaned in, brushed her fingers out of the way, and buckled her in. Do tell?

  She wants to go home. She wants to see her mom. It’s all she’s really been thinking about for the last hour or so.

  I sighed. I didn’t have the heart to even broach that subject with Kat. Visiting her mom would be risky—too risky.

  “Thanks for the offer,” Archer said, turning to the Arum. “We’ll take you up on it.”

  Hunter quickly gave him the directions before doing that shadow thing and taking the extraordinarily fast method of traveling. As Archer climbed into the driver’s seat and I got in the back instead of the front passenger seat, he pulled his phone out of the compartment in the center console and tapped the screen. He frowned.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “There’s a missed call from Luc. Let me check this out, but he’s probably just impatient, wanting to know how everything went with the Arum.” Getting situated in his seat, he retrieved the voicemail. The minute his gaze flickered up and met mine, I knew whatever he was listening to wasn’t good. When he lowered the phone, lines formed around his mouth. “Luc said . . . he said Nancy is missing.”

  “What?” Kat asked, her chin jerking up.

  “I don’t know. I need to call him,” Archer replied. A nugget of unease sprouted in my gut and grew as I listened to the one-sided conversation. While Archer quickly explained what had gone down with Lotho and that the Arum was on board, the worry over what the hell Nancy was up to didn’t lessen.

  Archer hung up, dropping the phone in his lap as he twisted around to face us. “All right, so it looks like Nancy has gone MIA. Sometime after we left was the last time anyone at the base had seen her. Luc and General Eaton have no idea where she is.”

  Kat glanced at me. “But what does that mean?”

  “I don’t know,” he admitted. “Luc seems to think she’s probably heading to wherever those kids are stashed and he’s got some people on the lookout for her, but with Nancy . . . man, you never know with her.”

  True. I didn’t know what to think about that. If everything worked out with the Arum and we successfully took down the Luxen invaders, yet Nancy disappeared off the face of the Earth, it wasn’t a good thing. No way was I living the rest of my life wondering where in the hell she was and if she was going to pop up again one day, when we least expected it.

  “It’s not the biggest of our problems right now.” Archer’s eyes met mine, and for a brief second, they flickered over to Kat. “Nowhere near it.”

  That was also true. “Luc will find her,” I said, and I had to trust in that. But as I got all up and close with Kat, maneuvering her surprisingly pliable body around so she was stretched out across the seat and her head was in my lap, I couldn’t stop thinking about Nancy Husher. Did she really go for those kids? Or was there something else? If I’d learned anything by being around her, it was that there was nothing the woman could do that would surprise me.

  I leaned down, brushing my lips across Kat’s cheek. “Get some rest, okay?”

  She smiled a little. “That sounds bossy.”

  “Okay.” I tried again as Archer fired up the Explorer. “Take a nap.”

  One brow rose. “That’s still bossy.”

  I chuckled and brushed the hair off her cheek, sweeping it behind her ear. “Go to sleep.”

  “You really suck at understanding what bossy means.” But she closed her eyes, and I’d swear by the time Archer figured out how to get out of the damn airport, she’d drifted off.

  Lore lived on the outskirts of Atlanta, and even with the low-level traffic in and around the city, it took a while to get there. I tipped my head back against the seat and closed my eyes as Archer kept it quiet and my hand got all playful in Kat’s hair.

  Nancy was out running around, doing God knows what, and Kat . . . she wanted to go home and see her mom.

  Hell.

  I got why she did, and the last thing I wanted to do was break her heart by telling her there was no way we could risk doing that right now. The smart thing for us to do would be to get our butts back to the base and let the Arum do their thing, especially since Nancy was MIA.

  That didn’t sit well, though, settling like expired milk in my gut. Heading back to the base took the control right out of my hands, and it also meant I was leaving Dee to . . . well, to whatever fate was heading her way, which very well could be in the form of a thousand hungry Arum.

  God, I didn’t know if I could do that.

  But how could I search her down? Doing so would mean heading straight into the heart of the danger zone, and that was more than just a risk. That was a straight-up death wish. And hell, how could I even suggest doing that when I didn’t want Kat going back to Petersburg?

  Hell in a handbasket.

  I stirred as the Explorer slowed, turning down a narrow entryway that was nearly invisible from the road. I took notice as we eased up a long driveway and a sprawling house came into view.

  Hunter’s Porsche was parked out in front of the garage. There was a huge front porch covered with potted plants and hanging flowers.

  Huh.

  The house was a monstrosity in terms of size but surprisingly welcoming. I had been expecting something cold, rundown—in other words, a shitty place. This was far from that.

  Kat sat up, pushing her hair back as Archer killed the engine. Her mouth dropped when she peered out the window. Obviously she hadn’t been expecting something as nice as this, either.

  I dropped my arm over her shoulders as we climbed the porch stairs. The whole place smelled like one giant flower. Color me shocked some more.

  The door opened before we reached it, revealing Lore. He squinted, and I realized it was from the faint rays of sun streaking across the porch. “Come on in.”

  There was hesitation, as I was about to e
xperience another first to add to going deep into the Arum’s lair, teaming up with them, and now staying at an Arum’s house that looked like it belonged on the front of Better Homes and Gardens.

  I’d given up trying to figure anything out at this point.

  Archer stepped in first, and then I ushered Kat inside. Lore closed the door behind us and padded down the foyer in his bare feet, into a living room with the blinds drawn.

  Serena was standing in the middle of the room, staring at a piece of paper. “Is this all we need to get?”

  Lore scanned the paper and nodded. “Looks good to me.”

  “We’ll run out to get some food,” Serena announced, smiling. “Lore is in the mood to cook, and trust me, you want to eat what he makes.”

  I arched a brow. “He . . . cooks?”

  He strolled past us, tossing the keys to Hunter, who had appeared out of freaking nowhere, it seemed. “I also bake. I’m like a culinary master chef—you know, when I’m not out there killing innocent Luxen babies.”

  I had no idea what to say in response to all that sarcasm.

  Serena inched closer, and I was aware of Hunter also drifting toward us, as if he didn’t trust us near his woman. The role reversal was . . . odd. “There’re two bathrooms on the second level that no one uses. I laid out some shampoo, soap, and fresh towels in them.”

  “Thank you,” Kat said, smiling. She glanced at Lore and then Hunter. “Thank you for letting us come here, and for everything else.”

  Lore shrugged.

  Hunter shrugged.

  Everyone was shrugging.

  Serena smiled brightly. “It’s okay. I’m just glad we could help in some way. And it’s about time all of us started working together.”

  Hunter stared at the ceiling.

  Lore started messing with a giant potted palm tree–looking thing.

  “Well, all righty then.” Serena clapped her hands as the silence grew to an awkward level. “We’ll head out.”

  “It should take us no longer than an hour,” Lore said, and for some reason that came across as a warning. Like what would we do? Run around and rearrange the numerous plants and flowers he seemed to have growing out of the walls?

  They skipped on out the doors, leaving the three of us in the house. Archer was the first to say what we probably all were thinking.

  “I can’t believe they left us here,” he said, brows raised.

  I grinned. “I feel like we should start rearranging rooms or something.” I cast a long look over the skillfully decorated living room and adjoining den. “I think Lore would really appreciate that.”

  “Don’t,” Kat said, narrowing her eyes at me. “I know Arum and Luxen are BEFs, but seriously, they are being super cool by letting us stay here.”

  “BEFs?” I frowned.

  “Best Enemies Forever,” she replied, shrugging one shoulder. “Anyway, let’s all play nice with one another. It would be a good change of pace.”

  “Yeah, especially if one of them doesn’t end up kissing you,” Archer said.

  Pulling her hair back from her face in a low ponytail, she swung an arch look at him as heat blew off me. “Did you really need to remind me of that?”

  He flashed a quick grin, and I wanted to punch off his face. The reminder got me all primed to do violence, and the damn Origin appeared completely shameless.

  “I’m going to go get our bags,” he offered.

  I glared at him. “Yeah, you do that.”

  As he turned and left the room, Kat walked over to me. Without saying a word, she placed her hands on my chest, stretched up, and kissed me softly. That flipped my raging aggression into something a lot more fun.

  I swept an arm around her, fitting our bodies as close as we could get while standing. My other hand delved deep in her hair, and I took the kiss to a whole different level. The taste of her never failed to blow my mind, and so did the soft sound she made as I nipped at her lower lip.

  Archer cleared his throat. “Seriously guys?”

  Slowly, I lifted my mouth from Kat’s and narrowed my eyes as she pressed her face against my chest. “Can’t you go somewhere?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. What about you all? How about one of those bedrooms upstairs that have doors and stuff? Hey! That would be a good—”

  I felt it the same moment Archer had. My senses sharpened as awareness settled over me like a too-warm cloak. I eased Kat back, swearing under my breath.

  “What?” she demanded.

  Archer turned toward the doorway he’d just come through, dropping our bags. “There are Luxen here.”

  “No,” she said, dragging in a deep breath. “Do you think they’ll be friendly, not wanting to—?”

  The large picture window in the living room exploded. Pieces of plastic and glass turned into nasty little projectiles. Kat ducked down, throwing her arms up to shield her face as I stepped forward, summoning the Source and using it to push back the explosion of sharp and painful things.

  They fell to the floor inches from where the three of us stood.

  “I think that’s your answer, Kitten.”

  She rose, hands balling into fists. “Dammit. All I want to do is shower and take a nap and eat some bacon!”

  Archer slid a look at her. “Well, I think that will—”

  A Luxen came through the window, a blur of bright light, and I shot forward, colliding with it as I shifted. We hit some antique-looking chair. The legs gave under our sudden weight. We tore right through the back. Stuffing flew into the air. The palm tree ended up as a drive-by casualty.

  Landing hard on the floor, I reared back and slammed my hand down on the Luxen’s chest, letting go of the Source and sending a steady shot right into the heart of the bastard, frying him from the inside out.

  The light dulled as I pushed myself up, whirling around. How many?

  I don’t know. Kat was heading for the archway that led to the foyer.

  Switching back into my human form, I joined her and Archer at the archway a second before the front door literally blew off its hinges and winged across the entryway, embedding deep into the opposite wall.

  I knew before I even looked.

  I felt it in my bones; in every cell that was me, I knew before I looked.

  My sister stood in the doorway in her human form, and as her gaze swept over us, she smiled in a way that was so wrong for her.

  “Gotcha,” she said.

  { Katy }

  Dee looked like a goddess of vengeance straight out of one of the books I’d read and cherished. She stood with her slender legs wide and shoulders back. With the sun behind her, forming a halo over her body, and her eyes glowing white, she looked fierce and really scary.

  Fine. I might have read too many books, because this was real and she looked like she wanted to kill us. Like kill us dead.

  Archer started forward. “Dee—”

  She raised her hand, and he should’ve been able to move in time, but he was like Daemon, rooted to the spot he stood in. A bolt of the Source caught Archer in the shoulder, spinning him back.

  Oh, she was so not messing around.

  Dee turned to where we stood and then casually, like nothing was up, stepped into the house. Behind her, I saw more Luxen.

  This was about to get bad.

  “Shacking up with Arum?” Dee tsked as she spared a quick glance at Archer while he picked himself up. “How far you’ve fallen, brother.”

  Daemon stepped forward. “Dee—”

  She lunged at him, flying the several feet between them as my heart lodged in my throat. All Daemon did was grip her by the shoulders. He made no move to do anything else, and she took complete advantage of that.