Obsession

by Jennifer Armentrout

  Hunter squeezed my knee. “You’re nervous.”

  “I can’t help it.”

  “Then maybe we shouldn’t be doing this.”

  I shot him a look. “Too late now. We’re almost there, and who could we seriously trust to do this?”

  “We need to be quick about this.” He coasted into the right lane. “Implants are everywhere, and with a huge community of Luxen nearby, I won’t be able to sense them until they are right on top of us.”

  My heart turned over. “I know.”

  Silence descended as the post office came into view, and I couldn’t help but ask myself if I was doing the smart thing. I wasn’t, but sometimes the smart thing wasn’t the same thing as the right thing.

  Hunter parked the Porsche behind the post office, near a large delivery truck and loading dock. He looked over at me. “Let’s do this.”

  Wishing I could sound and look half as ass-kick as he did, I fished the little key off the ring stashed in my purse and then opened the door. No more than a heartbeat later, he was beside me, taking my hand in his.

  I expected a SWAT team consisting of DOD officers, Arum, and Luxen to descend on us as we hurried around the side of the building and through the automatic doors, but no one was around. The lobby and rows of post office boxes were empty.

  “What number is hers?” he asked.

  I glanced down at the key just to confirm what I already knew. “Eight-hundred and fifty-two.”

  Hunter craned his neck and sighed, spying the rows in the back. I could tell he didn’t like this, but I headed forward, determined to get into that damn box. Hopefully this wasn’t for nothing and someone had canceled her box and all the mail had been removed.

  With little difficulty, I found her PO box and after wiggling the key a couple of times, the metal door swung open. Envelopes of all colors and sizes, magazines, and junk mail spilled forth and onto the floor.

  “Holy shit,” Hunter said.

  I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “Mel…well, she rarely checked her PO box and, when she did, she left stuff in it, and I’m sure a lot of this came after she…she died.”

  “She didn’t die.” Hunter knelt down and began sorting through the mail on the floor. “She was murdered. There is a difference.”

  He was right. There was a huge difference between the two. Throat thick, I reached inside the box and pulled out what was left. A lot was postmarked after she was murdered.

  Tossing the junk back into the box, I tried my best not to get affected by seeing Mel’s name on every letter, or the overdue bills that was so her, or the half dozen animal cruelty organizations she belonged to.

  It was almost too much going through these things.

  Hunter stood and wrapped his hand around my arm, drawing my attention. Blinking back tears, I looked up and cleared my throat. “What?”

  “Would you like me to go through them? Or we can take all of this out of here.”

  The offer meant a lot to me, it really did, but I shook my head. “No. I can go through these, and I don’t want to take it with me.”

  He looked like he wanted to say more, but went back to thumbing through his pile. I stopped on an Adam and Eve catalog and then my breath caught. “Hunter, what is it?”

  His head had jerked up, eyes narrowing, and then he turned, scanning the bits of the lobby we could see. “I sense another Arum. Close.”

  Unease exploded in my stomach. “Would an Arum be working with the senator or any Luxen here?”

  “Not likely.” He placed the mail back in the box. “But one could be working with the DOD. I’m going to check out the front. Whoever it is, they’re outside. Stay here.”

  I nodded and Hunter started off, but then he spun around and clasped my cheeks. Tilting my head back, his eyes locked with mine. “I’ll be right back.”

  “I know.”

  A half smile appeared and then he was gone in a stir of icy wind. Letting out a shaky breath, I turned back to the mail and lifted the catalog, revealing a hand-scribbled note on notebook paper.

  “Oh my God,” I whispered, dropping the rest of the mail.

  This was it. The freaking letter Mel had written herself. It was her handwriting, starting off with describing the Vanderson brothers as light bulbs. This was so it. I almost couldn’t believe it.

  My hands shook as I scanned the letter quickly, and then I had to read it again because I couldn’t believe what I was reading or that Mel wouldn’t have remembered this when she spoke to me.

  Or maybe she had been too scared to even speak it out loud because I almost wanted to be able to unread what I had seen. Not knowing…dear God, not knowing was almost better. There wasn’t anything new about Pennsylvania, but what was in here…

  Project Eagle was in response to the government organization known as the Daedalus. What Mel had overheard really wouldn’t have made any sense to her, but it did to me knowing what I did.

  Project Eagle was world domination.

  It was a plan to contact the Luxen who hadn’t come to Earth yet—an honest to God invasion from within the Daedalus, using the origin. There was nothing explaining what the “origin” was, but those hundreds of thousands of Luxen Hunter had spoken about? Project Eagle was about bringing them here.

  I shook my head. “I don’t believe it.”

  “Neither do I,” said an unfamiliar voice. “But then again, seeing is believing.”

  My stomach dropped as I whipped around, holding the letter close to my chest. A man stood at the entrance of the row Mel’s post office box was in. He was tall, dark haired, and had extraordinarily bright blue eyes. The faint light outlining his body gave away what he was.

  A Luxen.

  Air punched out of my lungs and I took a step back, bumping into the metal boxes behind me.

  “Wondering how I’m here?” He spread his arms out to his sides. “We have eyes everywhere, sweetheart. That little podunk gas station in Kansas? Didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where you were heading.”

  That fucking cop! I knew it. I forced my tongue to work. If I could keep him talking, it would hopefully give Hunter enough time to get back, unless something happened—I cut myself off there before panic took root. I couldn’t afford to even think about that. “How did you find me here?”

  He tsked softly. “Did you think we didn’t know about that letter?”

  “What?” I gasped.

  The Luxen laughed jovially. “We checked everything of your friend’s and discovered the note. We kept it there, hoping that it would draw you back. The letter isn’t the lost link, sweetheart. It isn’t the last chain of evidence that we need to take care of. After all, we know she talked to you. About how much? Anyone’s guess. So you were the last link in this chain.”

  Oh.

  Oh crap.

  He stepped forward, tipping his chin down, and I pushed away from the boxes. “Now, don’t try to run. You’re not going to escape. And your Arum friend? He won’t be coming to your aid.”

  My chest seized.

  “You should never trust an Arum.” The Luxen’s smile was almost as blinding as the light radiating down his arm. “They only care about themselves.”

  Refusing to believe that Hunter would’ve betrayed me in such a way, I held my ground as I eyed the lobby behind him. “You’re lying.”

  The Luxen shook his head slowly, still smiling. “Silly human…”

  Around his arm, a light flared and pulsed brightly. In a split second, every instinct I owned roared to life. My legs moved before my brain caught up with them. I twisted at the waist and started to run. A scream built in my throat and my fingers tightened around Mel’s letter.

  Bright light burst through the entire room. White-hot pain exploded along my spine before I could take a step, frying every nerve ending. Pain stole my breath and tripped up my heartbeat. My legs folded under me like an accordion…and then there was nothing.

  …

  The moment I stepped out into the thick
night air, I realized it was a mistake—a stupid, motherfucking mistake. I turned to go back inside when a dark shadow pulled away from the side of the building, materializing as he grew closer.

  It was the Arum from the airport, the day I had received my orders to watch over Serena and retrieve her.

  “Interesting seeing you again,” I said, squaring my shoulders.

  He wore his sunglasses, at night, like a total tool. “Is it?”

  “I think so.” I took a step forward, and then felt it. Others. Luxen. My entire being focused not on what was in front of me, but on Serena. I’d left her unprotected in there. “Working with Luxen?”

  “I wouldn’t say I was working with them, more like freelancing.”

  My brother—Lore—freelanced like a mofo, and even he didn’t work with Luxen. “Yeah, whatever.”

  “It’s best to just walk away from this, brother.”

  I didn’t even bother responding to that. Reaching behind me, I gripped the handle of the obsidian blade and pulled it out of its protective sheath. The Arum caught sight of the glowing red blade and shifted. I wasn’t wasting time with this shithead, though.

  Moving lightning fast, I shot forward and slammed the obsidian blade deep into the Arum’s chest. He shuddered as I withdrew the blade, and then he rose up, blocking out the dim entrance lights before the mass splintered and broke apart.

  I made it to the door when a ball of fucking light slammed into my shoulder, knocking me sideways. I threw out my hand, catching myself on the brick wall. Holy shit, they were using the Source in the wide open? They weren’t fucking around.

  There wasn’t much time to think.

  A seven-foot glowworm barreled out from inside the post office and crashed into me. I skidded back several steps and then dug in, pushing the glowing bastard back. Glass shattered as he hit the door. He rebounded, shaking it off, and charged me. More prepared this time, I spun out to the side and then saw two more coming straight at me. I didn’t have time for this shit. If the Luxen had been inside, it meant they had gotten in from another entrance and they had been inside with Serena.

  My heart thundered in my chest.

  Cocking back my arm, I let the obsidian dagger fly. It hit the Luxen straight in the chest. Obsidian wasn’t deadly to Luxen, but a blade in the heart sure did the trick.

  Another slammed into me and we went into the air, spinning in and out of our true forms as we hit the roof of the post office and slid across it. The Luxen was on top and there was a flash of a red-hot blade swinging down.

  Blocking the downward attack, I rolled the Luxen onto his back and wrenched the obsidian from his hand. Without the leather handle, the blade burned, but I ignored it as I shoved it deep into the Luxen’s chest. Then I shifted and fed.

  Immediately I tapped into the Luxen’s last thoughts. He blocked most of them, but I saw through his eyes Serena’s wide eyes filled with fear, heard his taunts. Saw Serena on the floor, eyes closed and face contorted in pain. She had been handed off to someone, taken.

  I drained that fucker dry.

  Dropping his body, I sprang to my feet as the other Luxen rushed over the ledge. With the last feeding, this one, and the opal, these fuckers were absolutely no match for me. I caught him around the throat, slamming him into the roof with enough force that the cement cracked.

  I latched on to the Luxen as I shifted into my true form. Where isss ssshe?

  The Luxen slipped into his human form, eyes wide as his back bowed off the ground. “I-I don’t know.”

  Bullssshit. Tell me where they took her and I’ll let you live.

  When the Luxen didn’t answer, I reared back with my free arm and slammed my fist into his jaw, cracking his head back. I can drag thisss out for an eternity. Do you underssstand me? Tell me where ssshe isss and you will walk away from thisss.

  It took a few more minutes of convincing, and by then dark red blood that shone a shimmery blue spilled across the roof. The Luxen started singing like a canary.

  “They took her to the senator. He…he has her.”

  I withdrew my hand a fraction of an inch. You will take me to her.

  The Luxen shuddered and a gurgling sound rose in his throat. “It’ll be too…late. She’s already good as dead.”

  My heart stopped, literally fucking stopped at those words, and then I rose, bringing the Luxen with me as I shifted into my human form. “For your sake and everyone you ever cared about, you better hope that’s not the case.”

  Chapter 29

  I floated through the darkness, void of pain or any conscious thoughts until a sharp tingle invaded the blissful oblivion. It started in my toes and traveled up my legs and torso, spreading to my arms, and by then the tingle had turned into a deep throbbing.

  My awareness came back to me in pieces. My cheek was pressed against something cool and damp, as was my entire body. Cement? Made sense as it was hard and unyielding.

  Every part of my body ached as I forced my eyes open and took in the unfamiliar surroundings. A dim light flickered above, casting long shadows over the exposed wood in the walls. I was in a room, maybe a warehouse? I didn’t know for sure.

  But I wasn’t dead.

  And I knew that I would probably wish I were dead very soon, because that meant the Luxen had me. Panic unfurled in the pit of my stomach, suffocating like thick smog. My chest wheezed on the next choking breath I took. A cold sweat broke out across my forehead.

  All kinds of crazy stuff flooded my thoughts—torture, alien probes, death by panic attack. Christ, the possibilities were endless, and each one had my pulse pounding, but I couldn’t afford to lose it. I needed to get up, to get out of wherever I was before it was too late—and nothing was scarier than too late.

  Drawing in several deep breaths, I slid my hands along the floor and pushed with arms that shook so badly I wondered if there was permanent nerve damage.

  “You’re awake. Good. I don’t have all night.”

  My heart turned over heavily at the sound of the smooth, cultured voice. I’d heard it before, never in person, but on the TV and local news countless times.

  Senator Vanderson.

  There was a deep chuckle, as if he could hear my racing thoughts. I sat up, wincing at the sharp spike of pain radiating from my temples. “What did…?”

  “What did we do to you?” His voice sounded closer. “You were hit with the Source. Not enough to kill you, of course, but I imagine the feeling could only be compared to getting hit with an extremely high-powered Taser.”

  I lifted my head and my vision swam for a moment before clearing.

  Senator Vanderson stood only a few feet away, legs widespread and arms at his side. He wore a tailored, dark gray suit, and for some reason, I focused on the red hanky in his suit pocket before dragging my eyes upward.

  The senator was an extraordinarily handsome man. I’d always thought that had helped him in the polls. He looked like something straight out of the Yacht Club of the Month magazine, complete with light brown hair, grayed at the temples, and vibrant, clear blue eyes.

  Right now, he was smiling like he had in many interviews. Before, I hadn’t noticed how practiced the smile was or how cold it came across. I did now.

  I struggled to get the words out. “Where am I?”

  He knelt down, one lip curling in disgust as his knee brushed the dirtied floor. “Does it matter? Let me answer that for you. It doesn’t. No one will find you here. No one will come.”

  I thought of Hunter and his name burned through me. “Hunter will come for me.”

  Senator Vanderson tipped his head back and laughed. “Do you really think an Arum will risk his life for you? An Arum is only concerned with what benefits him, honey.”

  “He’s not like other Arum.”

  “An Arum is an Arum when it comes down to it,” the senator replied. “He would’ve had to go through my best men, and even if he put the effort into it, which is doubtful, he would’ve needed to make them talk and that won’
t have happened. He’s not coming.”

  “You’re wrong.” I slid my legs away from him. “You’re so wrong.”

  “You put so much faith in an Arum? Repulsive,” he sneered, his face suddenly inches from mine. “The Arum are nothing more than what a human would call a parasite. They are not worth the filthy floor you lie upon.”

  Anger rose so swiftly it nearly choked me. “Do you think you’re better than them?” I tossed back. “You’re not. You’re worse—”

  His hand shot out so fast I didn’t have a chance to stop the blow. Pain exploded along the side of my face as the crack of his hand against my cheek echoed through the warehouse. Eyes watering, I gasped at the metallic taste pooling inside my mouth.

  Senator Vanderson grasped my chin in a painful grip, forcing my head back to meet his brilliant stare. “Don’t you dare compare us to them. Ever. They are not even on the same scale as us, and neither are humans. We are not at the top of the food chain, Miss Cross. We own the food chain.” He let go and stood. Yanking the hanky out of his pocket, he wiped his hand off and then tossed the scrap of silk to the side. “See, that’s the problem with humans. Your kind has no common sense or ability to recognize your superiors. Your whole race consists of nothing but followers, and you always align yourselves with the weakest link. You’re more pathetic than the Arum at their lowest moment, when their entire race knelt before us and begged for their lives.”

  I pressed my palm against my aching jaw. The pain, anger, and fear were a bad combination, but mix that in with the bone-deep knowledge that I was going to die, it was all a dangerous grouping. My filters were absent from this party. “I’m pretty sure you’re also at the top of the arrogance chain, too.”

  The senator smirked. “We just know our place, Miss Cross. You may deem it arrogance, but in reality it is just superiority.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the slip of paper. My stomach sunk. “Your friend has proved to be a problem long after her untimely death.”