Origin aln-4

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  “It’s okay,” I kept telling her. “Let it out. Just let it out.” And I felt stupid for saying that. The words were so lacking.

  Her tears streamed down my chest; each one cut like a knife. Helpless, I picked her up and brought her to the bed. I gathered her close, yanking up the blanket that seemed too coarse for her skin and wrapping it around her.

  She burrowed into me, her fingers clutching the strands of hair at the nape of my neck. The tears…they kept coming, and my heart was shattering at the raw sound of each of her breaths. Never in my life had I felt more useless. I wanted to fix this, to make her better, but I didn’t know how.

  She had been so strong through all of this, and if I had thought for one instant that she hadn’t been deeply affected, then I was an idiot. I had known. I’d just hoped—no, I’d prayed—that the scars and wounds would just be physical. Because I could fix them—I could heal them. I couldn’t fix what bled and festered underneath, but I would try. I would do anything to take this pain away from her.

  I don’t know how much time passed before she settled down, until the tears seemed to dry up and her ragged breathing evened out, and she’d exhausted herself into sleep. Minutes? Hours? I didn’t know.

  I got her under the covers, and I stretched out beside her, tucking her warm body close. She didn’t stir once through the whole thing. With her cheek against my chest, I kept running my hands through her hair, hoping that the motion could reach her in her sleep and would soothe some of her troubles. I knew she liked it when I played with her hair. It seemed like such an insignificant thing, but it was all I had at that moment.

  At some point, I drifted off to sleep. I hadn’t wanted to, but the last six or so hours had taken their toll. I had to have slept for a couple of hours, because when I opened my eyes, daylight streamed in through the gap in the curtains, but it only felt like minutes.

  And Kat wasn’t beside me.

  I blinked quickly, rising up on my elbows. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed in the shirt and pants I’d found last night. Her hair fell down the middle of her back; the waves shifted as she turned toward me, bringing a leg up on the bed.

  “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

  “No.” I cleared my throat, glancing around the room, slightly disoriented. “How long have you been awake?”

  She shrugged. “Not too long. It’s a little past ten in the morning.”

  “Wow. That late?” I rubbed my brow with the heel of my hand as I sat up.

  She looked away, studying the strap on her flip-flops. Her cheeks were red. “Sorry about last night. I didn’t mean to cry all over you.”

  “Hey.” I scooted over, sliding an arm around her waist, and tugged her closer. “I needed the second shower. It was better than the first.”

  She laughed hoarsely. “That was a huge mood killer, right?”

  “Nothing kills my mood when it comes to you, Kitten.” I brushed her hair back, tucking it behind her ear. “How are you feeling now?”

  “Better,” she said, lifting her gaze. Her eyes were red and swollen. “I think…I think I needed to do that.”

  “Want to talk about it?”

  She wetted her lips nervously as she fidgeted with the ends of her hair. I was happy to see the opal bracelet still on her slim wrist. “I… A lot happened.”

  I held my breath, not daring to move, because I knew it took a lot for her to get the words out sometimes. She internalized a ton of crap, kept it in. Finally, she gave a wobbly little smile.

  “I was so scared,” she whispered, and my chest spasmed. “When I saw the headlights? I thought it was them, and I just freaked out, you know? I’ve been in that place for four months. I know that’s nothing compared to Dawson and Beth, but…I don’t know how they did it.”

  I exhaled slowly. I didn’t know how they did it, either, how Dawson and Beth weren’t more messed up than they already were. I kept my mouth shut as I ran my hand up her back and then down, up again.

  Her gaze focused on the bathroom door, and she was quiet for what felt like forever. Then, very slowly, the words tumbled out of her. The onyx sprays. The thorough exams. The stress tests with the hybrids and how she’d refused to participate, and what that had meant for her until they had paired her up with Blake. How he’d goaded her into fighting him and tapping into the Source. The guilt that she carried for his death was evident in her voice. She told me everything, and through it all, I had to check myself about a million times. Rage like I’d never known coated my insides.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m rambling. It’s just that…I needed to get it out.”

  “Don’t apologize, Kat.” I wanted to punch a hole in the wall. Instead I slid over so I was sitting beside her, thigh to thigh. “You know what happened with Blake isn’t your fault, right?”

  She twisted a section of hair around two fingers. “I killed him, Daemon.”

  “But you were defending yourself.”

  “No.” She let go of the hair and looked at me. Her eyes were glassy. “I wasn’t defending myself, not really. He goaded me, and I lost control.”

  “Kat, you have to look at the entire situation. You were getting beat up…” Saying that out loud made me want to go back to the compound and burn it down. “You were going through a lot of stress. And Blake…whatever his reasons were for doing what he did, he repeatedly put you and so many other people in danger.”

  “You think he had it coming?”

  A real sadistic part of me wanted to say yes, because yeah, some days I thought that. “I don’t know, but what I do know is that he went into the room to goad you into fighting him. You did. I know you didn’t want to kill him or anyone else, but it happened. You’re not a bad person. You’re not a monster.”

  Her brows pinched, and she opened her mouth.

  “And no, you’re not like Blake. So don’t even go there. You could never be like him. You’re good inside, Kitten. You bring out the best in people—even me.” I nudged her with my arm, and she cracked a grin. “That alone should earn you the Nobel Peace Prize.”

  She laughed softly, and then she rose onto her knees. Wrapping her arms around my shoulders, she leaned down and placed the softest kiss, the kind I’d treasure forever, against my lips.

  “What was that for?” I circled my arms around her waist.

  “A thank-you,” she said, resting her forehead against mine. “Most guys would’ve probably left in the middle of the night and run far away from the hysterics.”

  “I’m not most guys.” I tugged her over so she was sitting in my lap. “Haven’t you figured that out yet?”

  She dropped her hands to my shoulders. “I’m a little slow sometimes.”

  I laughed, and she responded with a smile. “Good thing I don’t like you for your brains.”

  Her mouth dropped open, and she smacked me on the arm. “That’s so ignorant.”

  “What?” I wiggled my brows suggestively. “I’m just being honest.”

  “Shut up.” She brushed her lips against mine.

  I nipped at her lower lip, and a rosy flush appeared on her cheeks. “Hmm, you know how I like it when you get all mouthy with me.”

  “You’re mental.”

  My hands flattened against the small of her back, and I pulled her close. “I have something really corny to say. Get ready for it.”

  She traced the line of my jaw. “I’m ready.”

  “I’m mental for you.”

  She busted into laughter. “Oh my God, that is corny.”

  “Told you.” I caught her chin and brought her lips to mine. “I love the sound of your laugh. Is that too corny?”

  “No.” She kissed me. “Not at all.”

  “Good.” I slid my hands up her waist, the tips of my fingers stopping below her chest. “Because I’ve got—” A sensation crawled through my veins, spreading all over my body.

  Kat stilled, sucking in a sharp breath. “What is it?”

  I grippe
d her hips and deposited her on the bed beside me. Swiping the gun off the table, I handed it to her, and she took it with wide eyes. “There’s a Luxen here.”

  Chapter 21

  Katy

  I stood quickly, palming the gun. “Are you sure?” I winced. “Okay. That was a stupid question.”

  “I don’t—”

  A knock rattled the motel door, jarring me to the point that I almost dropped the pistol. Daemon shot me a concerned look, and I flushed. I really needed to pull it together. Taking a deep breath, I nodded.

  He prowled to the door silently, with the grace of a lethal predator, and there I was, stumbling around like a colt. Inching closer, I told myself I was ready to use this gun. Using the Source, which was just as dangerous, would be too risky. Shooting a gun would draw attention, but hopefully only the local kind.

  Daemon leaned in, peering out the peephole. “What the hell?”

  “What?” My heart skipped a beat.

  He looked over his shoulder at me. “It’s Paris—the Luxen who was with Luc.”

  It took me a moment to remember who he was—the really pretty blond Luxen who had been with Luc at his club. “He’s a friendly?”

  “We’ll see.” Daemon squared his shoulders and cracked the door open. I couldn’t see anything beyond his bare back, which, if I had to be stuck staring at something, at least it was that. “Surprised to see you all the way out here,” he said.

  “Should you be?” came the response.

  “You tell me. Why are you here? And why shouldn’t I blast you into next week?”

  My palm was sweaty around the gun. Daemon really wouldn’t blast Paris. Wait. Yes he would, risky or not.

  “Because that would draw way too much attention,” Paris replied in his smooth voice. “And besides, I’m not alone.”

  Daemon must have seen someone else, because his shoulders relaxed a fraction of an inch, and he stepped aside. “Well, come in.”

  Paris stepped through the door, his strides long and sure. He took one look at me holding the gun. “Nice shirt.”

  I glanced down, forgetting I was wearing the extraterrestrial highway shirt. “Thanks.”

  Then Archer popped in, looking fresh and clean. Not at all like someone who’d spent the night running around the desert. Suspicion bloomed like a noxious weed. He looked at Daemon. “Were we interrupting?”

  Daemon’s eyes narrowed as he closed the door. “What’s going on?”

  Archer reached into his jeans and pulled out a glass case. He handed it over to Daemon. “Here is the LH-11. I thought I’d let you do the honors.” He looked at me. “Are you going to shoot me, Katy?”

  “Maybe,” I mumbled, but I lowered the gun and sat on the edge of the bed. “Where have you been?”

  Archer frowned as Paris milled about, casting a distasteful sneer at the room. “Well, I did have a busy night keeping half the military off your tracks. Then when I was heading back to meet you, I ran into our friend here.”

  “I wouldn’t consider him a friend,” Daemon said as he came to stand beside where I sat.

  Paris placed a hand against his chest. “You wound me.”

  Daemon rolled his eyes, and then in a lower voice, he said. “You can put the gun down, Kitten.”

  “Oh.” I flushed. Stretching over, I placed it on the table. Then I addressed Archer. “We owe you a thank-you for…for everything.” I waited for Daemon to chime in. When he didn’t, I kicked his leg.

  “Thank you,” Daemon muttered.

  Archer’s mouth curved in amusement, and I think it was the first time I saw him really smile. I was blown away by how young it made him look. “You have no idea how gleeful that makes me feel to hear you say that, Daemon.”

  “I can imagine.”

  “Seriously,” I cut in. “We do thank you. We would’ve never made it here if it wasn’t for you.”

  He nodded. “It wasn’t just for you two.”

  “Explain?” Daemon said.

  Paris huffed as he hopped up on the desk. Thank God the thing didn’t give out on him and wrinkle his pressed pants. “Do you guys really think that Archer enjoyed being Daedalus’s perfect little example of how an origin should be?”

  “I guess not.” Daemon sat beside me. “And I guess Luc didn’t, either.”

  Paris raised a slender shoulder. “And I guess you didn’t enjoy being their perfect, little mutant-maker?”

  “Oh, yeah, and Nancy was totally loving you.” Archer folded his arms. “You were her all-star Luxen. How many humans did you mutate in the short period of time there? More than any other Luxen has.”

  Daemon stiffened. “That really has nothing to do with this. Why are you helping us, and why are you with Paris?”

  “And where is Luc?” I piped in, figuring he couldn’t be too far.

  Paris smiled. “He’s around.”

  “We don’t have a lot of time for questions, but I can give you the short and dirty version,” Archer said. “I owed Luc a favor, and Paris is right. You were right, Katy. Being in Daedalus means not having a life. They controlled every aspect. It doesn’t matter how I came into creation.” He spread his arms out, palms up. “What matters, always matters, is living.”

  “Why now?” Daemon asked, a hard edge of distrust to his tone.

  “And that’s the question of the year, huh?” Paris chimed in, grinning like he ingested some happy pills or something. “Why would Archer pick right now to risk everything—his life, what little life he had?”

  Archer sent the other Luxen a dark look. “Thanks, Paris, for adding that. Escaping Daedalus is not easy. Besides Luc and a handful of others, no one has ever succeeded. Yeah, I could’ve run a hundred times over, but they would’ve found me. I also needed a diversion.”

  It hit me then. “You used us as a diversion.”

  He nodded. “Nancy and Sergeant Dasher are going to be more concerned about finding Daemon and you. I’m not going to be at the top of their priority list.”

  Some of the tension eked out of Daemon’s frame. “Nancy had said that there were other origins out in the world pretending to be normal humans.”

  “There are some,” Archer confirmed. “I doubt they’ll be a problem right now. They have high-profile lives, so they won’t come within ten miles of any of us.”

  There was still something I didn’t understand. “Why didn’t Luc just have you get him the LH-11? He could’ve hidden you.”

  Paris laughed softly. “Do you think there’s a method to Luc’s madness?”

  “I hoped there would be,” Daemon muttered, running a hand through his hair.

  “Actually, there is a method. Besides the fact that I could play spy to keep Luc…and a few others up to date on what Daedalus was doing, I knew that they changed the LH-11 strain, and that’s what Luc wanted, the new version—Prometheus. I was never around the new drug. No one was. Not until they brought you in,” Archer said to Daemon. “It was sort of the perfect storm for everyone. But I don’t know why Luc wants the drug.”

  “And I wouldn’t ask him,” Paris said ominously.

  I shivered at his tone, but then I thought of what Archer had told me. “What about the Luxen—the ones Sergeant Dasher claimed wanted to take over? Was that true?”

  Archer slid a look at Daemon. “It’s true, and your boy toy over here seems to know one of them.”

  Daemon’s eyes narrowed. “Stay out of my head.”

  I turned to him. “What is he talking about?”

  “It’s just something Ethan White said. Remember him?” he asked, and I nodded. I’d met the Elder Luxen briefly. “When I left the colony to come looking for you, he said something about Earth not belonging to the humans forever, but I really didn’t give it much thought, because come on… I’m sure there are Luxen out there who want to be in control, but it would never happen.”

  Archer didn’t look convinced, and neither was I, but then the origin cocked his head to the side. “Speaking of the devil…”

&
nbsp; A moment later, the hotel door opened. Daemon shot to his feet, eyes turning all white as I started for the gun, my heart leaping into my throat.

  Luc strolled in, holding a plastic bag and a pink box. His hair was pulled back into a short ponytail, a big grin plastered across that angelic face. “Hey, guys!” he said cheerfully. “I brought doughnuts.”

  I blinked slowly as I settled back down. “Good God, you almost gave me a heart attack.”

  “I’m pretty sure I locked that door,” Daemon growled.

  Luc set the box of doughnuts down, and I eyed them like they held the answer to life. “And I’m pretty sure I let myself in. Hey, Katy!”

  I jumped at my name. “Hey, Luc…”

  “Look at what I got.” He dug into his bag and pulled out an extraterrestrial highway shirt. “We can be soul twins now.”

  “That’s…um, really nice.”

  Paris’s lip curled. “Are you actually going to wear that shirt?”

  “Yeah, I am. Every day of my life. I think it’s ironic.” Luc’s amethyst gaze circled the room, landing back on me. “Now, I think you two have something for me?”

  Daemon let out a low breath and picked up the glass case. He tossed it over to Luc, who snatched it out of the air. “There you go.”

  The kid popped open the small and narrow case, exhaling slowly. He closed it reverently and slid it into the back pocket of his jeans. “Thank you.”

  I had a feeling that, like Daemon, he didn’t say thank you a lot. “So…what do we do from here?” I asked.

  “Well…” Luc drawled out the word. “Shit’s about to get real. Daedalus will spare no expense or life to get their grubby little hands on you, Daemon. They are going to tear this town apart. They already are. And they will use every means possible to drag you back in.”

  Daemon stiffened. “They’re going to go after my family, aren’t they?”

  “Most likely,” he replied. “Actually, you can count on that. Anyway!” Luc spun on Archer so fast that the older origin took a step back. “I got us some new wheels.”