Origin aln-4

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  I struggled to process all of this. Strangely, common sense kept spewing out denials, when in reality I knew anything was possible. I was an alien/human hybrid, after all. “Why are these origins different?”

  “They were given Prometheus to help accelerate their learning and abilities.” Archer snorted. “Like they needed it. But unlike poor Largent, it worked with them.”

  Largent’s mangled body flashed before me, and I winced. “What is the Prometheus serum?”

  He looked at me skeptically. “You know what Prometheus was in Greek mythology. I can’t believe you haven’t figured it out yet.”

  Gee, way to make me feel stupid.

  He laughed.

  I glared at him. “You’re reading my thoughts, aren’t you?”

  “Sorry.” He didn’t look sorry at all. “You said it yourself. Prometheus was credited with creating mankind. Think about it. What is Daedalus doing?”

  “Trying to create the perfect species, but that really doesn’t tell me anything.”

  He shook his head as he reached over and tapped a finger along the fleshy part of my elbow. “When you first mutated, you were given a serum. It was the first serum that Daedalus created, but they want something better, something faster. Prometheus is what’s being tested now, and not just on humans healed by Luxen.”

  “I…” I didn’t get it at first, and then I thought about those bags in the room where the sick patients were receiving Daedalus’s own breed of medication. “They’re giving it to humans who are sick, aren’t they?”

  He nodded.

  “Then that means Prometheus is LH-11?” When he nodded again, I forced myself not to go any further with the realization, lest Archer was being nosy. “Why are you telling me this?”

  He pivoted slightly and restarted the elevator. Casting me a long look, he simply said, “We have a mutual friend, Katy.”

  Chapter 17

  Katy

  I could barely contain myself waiting for a few moments alone with Daemon. We hadn’t been abusing the bathroom privileges, knowing that’s what they wanted us to do. It took forever before I felt the familiar tingle along my neck. Holding off a couple of minutes, I then bum-rushed the bathroom and knocked softly on the door to his cell.

  He was there within a second. “Miss me?”

  “Do your Lite-Brite thing.” I moved from one foot to the other. “Come on.”

  He looked at me strangely, but a second later he was a glowing comet. What’s up?

  In a rush, I told him everything about the creepy kid in the hallway, what Archer had said about them, what Prometheus really was, and what Archer had said about us sharing a mutual friend. I don’t trust any of this, but either Archer hasn’t told anyone what he’s picked up from you or me or he has, and for some reason we haven’t been called out on it.

  Daemon’s light pulsed. Jesus, this just keeps getting more and more bizarre.

  You’re telling me. I leaned against the sink. If they decide to shoot someone up with it again… I shuddered. Maybe they’ll just wait until the mutation takes hold this time.

  That, or I have a feeling they’re going to have a really hefty cleanup bill.

  Ew. That was really…

  One light-encased arm stretched out. Warm fingers brushed my cheek. I’m sorry you had to see that.

  I’m sorry you had to be a part of that. I took a deep breath. But you know what happened to Largent isn’t on your conscience, right?

  Yes. I know. Trust me, Kitten, I’m not going to take on any unnecessary guilt. His sigh shuttled through me. So, about Archer…

  We talked a couple more minutes about Archer. Both of us agreed that there was a good chance he was Luc’s inside guy, but it didn’t make sense. Archer obviously had access to the LH-11 and could’ve gotten it for Luc. We couldn’t trust him—we weren’t going to make the mistake of trusting anyone again.

  But I did have an idea. One that Daemon was also interested in. Once we got our hands on the LH-11, we had only one chance to escape. And if the origins really were like raptors, then they could become the perfect distraction, allowing us a small shot to bust out of there.

  No matter what we did, it would be risky, with about a 99 percent fail rate. But both Daemon and I felt more confident relying on each other than just Luc—and possibly Archer. We’d been burned way too many times before.

  Daemon took his human form and kissed me quickly before we went back into our rooms. This was always the hardest—forcing ourselves to go to our own beds—but the last thing we needed was to risk getting caught up in the moment…in each other. Because that always seemed to happen when we were together. And we also didn’t fully trust that they’d allow us to come and go from each other’s rooms—everything felt like a test.

  I headed back to my bed. Sitting down, I pulled my knees up to my chest and rested my chin on them. Those quiet moments of doing nothing were the worst. In no time, things I didn’t want to think about crept in and pushed away the stuff I needed to focus on.

  I really wanted Daemon to see that I was holding it together, that none of this was messing with my head. I didn’t want him to worry about me.

  Closing my eyes, I shifted until my forehead was against my knees. I told myself the cheesiest thing possible: there was a light at the end of this dark tunnel. I followed that up with the ever faithful: every dark cloud had a silver lining.

  I wondered how long I could keep telling myself that.

  …

  Daemon

  The wondrous team behind Daedalus actually waited until the mutation took hold this time around. It was another recruit who apparently had been all kinds of gung ho. This one stabbed himself in the chest, right below the heart instead of the gut. Still messy. Kat had been there to witness it again. I had healed the idiot. Overall it was a relative success, except I couldn’t get near the LH-11. A damn shame, because there had been serum left over in the syringe.

  Kat and I weren’t relying on Luc, but if we could get the LH-11, and if it turned out that someone, whether it was Archer or not, could help us get out, I was going to take it. Kat’s plan of letting the kids loose was the best we had, but the technicalities of how we could do that remained to be seen. Not to mention we had no idea what we’d actually be unleashing. As much as I hated to admit it, there were innocent people in these buildings.

  In the three days while we waited for the second guinea pig to show signs of mutation, I was asked to heal three more soldiers and one who had to be a civilian—a female who looked too nervous to have signed up for this without coercion. She didn’t stab herself but was injected with a lethal dose of something.

  And I hadn’t been able to heal her, like, at all. I didn’t know what it was, and it had been terrible. She’d started foaming at the mouth, convulsing, and I tried, but there had been nothing I could do. I couldn’t see the injury in my head, and it just didn’t work.

  The woman had died right there, under Kat’s horrified gaze.

  Nancy hadn’t been happy when they carted off the woman’s motionless body. Her mood was compounded on the fourth day, when Prometheus, otherwise known as LH-11, was given to the second soldier I had healed. Later that day, he ended up face-planting a wall. I didn’t know what it was with them and running into walls, but that was number two.

  On the fifth day, the third subject was given LH-11. He lasted an additional twenty-four hours before bleeding out through every orifice, including the belly button. Or that was what I was told.

  The deaths, well, they did stack up, one after another. Kind of hard not to take them personally. Did I blame myself? Hell to the no. Did it piss me off and make me want to douse the entire compound in gasoline and start throwing matches? Hell yes.

  They kept me away from Kat most of the days, only allowing us to be in the same room when I did the healing thing, and we had a few minutes here and there in our bathroom of secrets. It wasn’t enough. Kat looked as exhausted as I felt, which I’d thought would’ve given
my hormones a rest, but oh no. Every time I heard the shower click on, I had to call upon every ounce of self-control. The bathrooms didn’t have cameras, and I could be quiet, which was perfect for a little freaky deaky, but there was no way in hell I was risking the chance of baby Daemons in this hellhole.

  Was I totally against the idea of having kids with Kat one day? Other than breaking out in hives at the thought of that, the idea wasn’t too horrible. Of course, I wanted the white picket fence bullshit…if it occurred a good ten years from now, and the kids didn’t have weird bowl haircuts and couldn’t Jedi mind-screw people.

  I didn’t think that was asking too much.

  On the sixth day, when the third soldier was given LH-11, he made it through the rest of the day and well into the seventh day. He immediately began showing signs of a successful mutation. He passed the stress test with flying colors.

  Nancy was so thrilled, I thought she was going to kiss me—and I thought I was actually going to have to hit a chick.

  “You deserve a reward,” she said, and I thought I deserved to put my foot up her ass. “You may spend the night with Kat. No one will stop you from doing so.”

  I said nothing. While I wasn’t going to turn that down, it was rather creepy hearing Nancy tell me I could spend the night with Kat while they watched us on video. I thought of those kids on the lower floors. Yeah, not going to happen.

  Kat had been up to something, inching closer to the tray. She had stopped when Nancy made her announcement. Her nose wrinkled, and I was a bit insulted, although she was probably thinking the same thing I was.

  They brought in another subject, this one another soldier, but I was distracted by whatever Kat was doing. She was way too close to the trays, practically standing in front of them.

  A stabbing motion later, and I had blood on my hands and a very happy Nancy bouncing around the room.

  Dr. Roth had placed the spent needle next to the unused ones. I saw Kat make grabby fingers, but something occurred to me.

  “Does this mean I’m joined to them?” I asked, wiping my hands on a towel that had been all but thrown at me. “The ones who don’t face-plant a wall? If I die, they die?”

  Nancy laughed.

  My brows rose. “I don’t see how that’s a funny question.”

  “It’s a very good, self-serving question.” She clasped her hands together, dark eyes glimmering. “No. The Prometheus serum that is given to the mutated subject breaks the bond.”

  That was a relief. I didn’t like the idea of several Achilles’ heels running around. “How is that possible?”

  A guard opened the door as Nancy crossed the room. “We’ve had many years to narrow down the interworking of the mutation and the consequences, Daemon. Just as we know that there needs to be a true want behind the mutation.” She turned to me, head tilted to the side. “Yes. We’ve known that. It’s not a magical or spiritual thing, but a mixture of ability, strength, and determination.”

  Well, shit…

  “Your brother was almost there.” Nancy’s voice lowered, and my body tensed. “It wasn’t lack of determination or ability. And trust me, he was motivated. We made sure of that. But he simply was not strong enough.”

  I locked my jaw down. Anger slithered through my veins like venom.

  “We don’t need him. Bethany, on the other hand, well, that’s yet to be seen. But you?” She placed a hand on my chest. “You’re a keeper, Daemon.”

  Chapter 18

  Katy

  You’re a keeper, Daemon.

  Oh my God, I almost stabbed the needle through Nancy’s eye. Good thing I didn’t, because that would defeat the whole purpose of what I’d done.

  Crossing my arms, I folded my hands around the syringe and kept it hidden under my arm. I dutifully followed Daemon and Archer out, half expecting someone to tackle me from behind.

  No one did.

  In the excitement of a potentially successful mutation, no one was paying attention to me. No one besides Daemon ever did during these things, except Archer, and if he was peeping into my thoughts, he sure as hell hadn’t said anything.

  I hadn’t really thought any of this through when I grabbed the serum, but as I held it in my hand, I knew that if I did get caught, I was probably going to regret it. So would Daemon. If Archer was peeking in my thoughts right now, and he wasn’t working with Luc, we were so screwed.

  We went to the elevator, Nancy and the newly mutated hybrid heading in the other direction. We were alone—just the three of us—as the elevator doors slid shut. I almost couldn’t believe our luck. My heart was pounding with excitement and fear, like a drummer doing a solo.

  Nudging Daemon in the arm, I got his attention. He glanced at me, and I looked down at my hand, carefully opening my fingers. Just the tip of the top of the syringe was visible. His eyes flicked up and widened, meeting mine.

  In that instant, both of us knew what this meant. With the LH-11 in hand, we had no time. Someone would eventually realize it was missing, or they might’ve even caught me on the security tapes. Either way, it was do or die time.

  The elevator doors slid shut, and Archer turned to us. Daemon shifted forward, but Archer’s hand shot out. My breath caught in my throat as his hand hit the control panel. The elevator didn’t move.

  Archer’s gaze dropped to my hand, and his head tilted to the side. “You have the LH-11? Jesus. You two are… I didn’t think you’d do it. Luc said you would.” His eyes flicked to Daemon. “But I really didn’t think either of you would pull it off.”

  My heart was pounding so fast my fingers tingled around the needle. “What are you going to do about it?”

  “I know what you’re thinking.” Archer’s attention was on Daemon. “Why didn’t I get the serum for Luc? That’s not what I was here for, and we don’t have time to explain it. They’re going to know it’s missing very soon.” There was a quick pause, and he was back to me. “And the plan in your head is crazy.”

  I had been thinking about the origins, but now I was thinking about Rainbow Brite doing the Electric Slide. Anything to keep Archer out of my head.

  He made a face. “Seriously, guys?” he said, taking off his beret. He shoved it in his back pocket. “What exactly do you two hope to accomplish? Your plan has a hundred percent fail rate.”

  “You’re a smart-ass,” Daemon said, shoulders stiffening. “And I don’t like you.”

  “And I don’t care.” Archer turned to me. “Give me the LH-11.”

  My fingers tightened around it. “Hell no.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Okay. I know what you guys are about to do. Even though I warned you not to do it, you’re planning on letting the freak show out, and then what? Making a run for it? Besides the fact you don’t know how to get to that building, you’re going to need your hands, and you don’t want to stick yourself with that needle. Trust me.”

  Indecision flooded me. “You don’t understand. Every time we’ve trusted someone, we’ve been burned. Handing this over…”

  “Luc’s never betrayed you, has he?” When I shook my head, Archer grimaced. “And I would never betray Luc. Even I’m a bit scared of that little shit.”

  I glanced at Daemon. “What do you think?”

  There was a moment of silence, and then he said, “If you screw us over, I will not think twice about killing you in front of God and everyone. You got that?”

  “But we need to get the LH-11 out of the compound,” I said.

  “I’m going with you guys, like it or not.” Archer winked. “I hear the Olive Garden is a good restaurant to try out.”

  I remembered our conversation about him having a normal life, and for some reason that made what I was about to do a little easier. I didn’t understand why he was helping us or Luc, or why he hadn’t gotten this before, but like he said, we were already in too deep. Swallowing hard, I handed over the syringe and felt like I was handing over my life, which in a way I was. He took it, grabbed his beret, and wrapped it around the
syringe, then shoved the bundle in his front cargo pocket.

  “Let’s get this show on the road,” Daemon said, eyeing Archer as he reached down and squeezed my hand briefly.

  “You’re wearing a piece of opal?” Archer asked.

  “Yes.” He flashed a daring grin. “Nancy’s crush on me is useful, huh?” He waved his wrist around, and the red inside the opal seemed to flicker. “Time to be awesome.”

  “Turn into Nancy.” Archer hit the floor button. “Quickly.”

  Daemon’s form flickered and morphed, shortening several inches. His waves straightened into thin, dark hair pulled into a ponytail. His features blurred completely. Boobs appeared. That’s about when I knew where he was going with this. A drab woman’s pantsuit later, Nancy Husher stood beside me.

  But it wasn’t Nancy.

  “That’s so freaky,” I murmured, eyeing him/her/whatever for a telltale sign that it was really Daemon.

  She smirked.

  Yep. It was still Daemon.

  “Do you think this is going to work?” I asked him.

  “I’m going to say the glass is half full on that.”

  I tucked loose strands of hair behind my ear. “That’s reassuring.”

  “We’re going to let the kids loose, and then we’re going to get back on this elevator and head to ground level.” He eyed Archer with every ounce of authority Nancy carried. “I’m going to give her the opal when we get outside.” He glanced at me. “Don’t argue with me about that. You’re going to need it because we are going to run, and we’ll run faster than we’ve ever run before. Can you do that?”

  This plan did not sound good to me. There was nothing but a desert wasteland outside, probably for a hundred miles, but I nodded. “Well, we know they won’t kill you. You’re too awesome.”

  “You betcha. Ready?”

  I wanted to say no, but I said yes, and then Archer hit the button for the ninth floor. As the elevator jerked into movement, my heart pounded.