The Brightest Night

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  I could definitely see.

  There were several stations set up across the field where the plain marking yards had long since faded, some of the stations led by a Luxen or hybrid, others by humans.

  Several dozen humans were in the midst of either laying the smacketh downeth or being on the receiving end of one. One group near the rusted goalpost appeared to be straight up tackling one another on bright red mats.

  Something about that tugged at the fringes of my subconscious. “Are they learning…?” There was a word for it, and it wasn’t tackling. Not how they were being instructed to use their legs or how to drag their opponent down by the arm. The word suddenly popped into my brain. “Takedowns! Are they learning takedowns?”

  “Gold star for you,” Luc murmured from behind us.

  I shot him a look over my shoulder, and my stomach took that moment to grumble loudly.

  He raised his brows.

  Cekiah nodded. “In any fight, the odds are better if you get your opponent on the ground. They are also being taught how to take a fall in a way to avoid as much injury as possible, but to also be able to get to their feet quickly.”

  At other stations, they were learning punches and kicks and more complicated techniques that resembled something you’d see in mixed martial arts. There were faint popping sounds as we walked along, nearing the soccer field. The moment I got a clear eyeful of that, my mouth dropped open.

  “Holy crapola,” I whispered.

  “Impressive, isn’t it?” Cekiah smiled. “This was Eaton’s baby in the beginning, and it took us nearly a year to put together.”

  “It looks like a marine-level obstacle course.” I blinked, beyond impressed, because that’s what it did look like, and it was in use at the moment.

  “That’s basically what it is,” she confirmed.

  Two women kicked off, jumping easily over the first hurdle, which appeared to have been constructed out of telephone poles, and then they vaulted over one that was several feet off the ground. They reached a high bar that was at least eight feet off the ground. Both women jumped, executing a pull-up where they got one arm and one leg over the bar, and then they dropped to the ground below. Cheers erupted from those on the sidelines as they vaulted over the next hurdle and then reached a log. Stepping onto that, they jumped up to grasp what looked to be a very large and long monkey bar. They swung their way across, dropping to a set of sawed tree trunks that they ran across.

  They weren’t done.

  Hitting a six-foot wall, they climbed their way up and then went over the top. Once over the other side and on the ground, they raced over several different logs set at varying heights. They reached another high bar, but this time there were two of them. My jaw was on the ground as the jumped, their hands smacking down on the first bar. They swung their bodies, gaining enough momentum to then lift their legs and bodies over the bar about a foot higher while never letting go of the lower bar.

  The women dropped to the ground and then met the final obstacle, the rope climb. Up they went, using their upper- and lower-body strength to make the climb. They reached the top and then came back down the same way they’d gone up, neck and neck.

  Shouts and claps sounded as they hit the ground at the same time. Both women popped up, hugging each another.

  “I’m exhausted watching this,” I whispered, shaking my head. Like I needed to sit down after viewing that.

  “This course builds endurance and stamina.” Cekiah started walking again, just as a man and a woman kicked off at the beginning. “And according to Eaton, a sense of support and confidence among each other.”

  “I would never stop gloating if I completed that,” I admitted.

  “But you don’t have to complete that,” Cekiah said, and then nodded in the direction of the baseball field that resided at the bottom of a small slope. “And neither do they.”

  My breath caught as static charged the atmosphere. Down below, several Luxen were summoning the Source. The white light circled their palms. My heart rate kicked up as the Source hummed to life in my chest. The jolt of antsy energy coursed through my veins, but it was faint. The emptiness in my stomach seemed to spread to my chest as movement at the other end of the field caught my attention.

  Three Luxen stood down there, holding balloons. Letting them go, they then used the Source to move the balloons in erratic bursts of activity.

  On command, one by one, the Luxen and hybrids stepped forward. Tapping into the Source, they took out one balloon after another. The pure, deadly energy didn’t pop the balloons. It swallowed them whole, disintegrating the balloons without a sound.

  “Moving targets,” I gasped. “They’re practicing hitting moving targets with the Source.”

  “Their targets won’t remain still, now will they?” Cekiah asked as the breeze caught the edges of her thin blouse, lifting the ruffled hem. “You are more than welcome to make use of the Yard, but I would ask that you do so under Luc’s supervision.” She paused. “Or one of those who spoke up for you during the meeting.”

  “That’s doable,” Luc agreed while I tried to imagine Hunter assisting me with any level of training.

  I nodded when Cekiah glanced in my direction. I may not be kicked out of the zone, but that didn’t mean Cekiah or the others were ready to allow me to have free rein. I couldn’t blame them for that.

  She drifted over to where a male hybrid was climbing the hill, his gaze darting back and forth between us and Cekiah. Watching the Luxen and hybrids down below, the cold knowledge that they were indeed preparing for war didn’t just sink in. It dive-bombed me.

  Kat’s speech wasn’t for dramatics. It was a reality, and it wasn’t like I didn’t know that when I heard it, but seeing it was a whole different ballpark.

  Looking out over the field, I suddenly thought of Nate. This might explain why Nate was so afraid. Any of this would give one a healthy amount of fear, especially if he didn’t know why this was occurring. Hell, I knew why this was happening, and it was still a little frightening to see.

  “You okay?” Luc asked, voice low as he approached me.

  “Yeah.” I exhaled roughly. “No?” I looked over my shoulder just as another round of balloons evaporated. As far as I knew, only some Luxen could do that with the Source. Most would leave a wounded, smoking body behind. Either way, hitting a human with the Source would be nothing like taking out a balloon. “I don’t remember much of the invasion. Before I learned the truth, I thought I must’ve buried the memories of what happened. Like it was so frightening and traumatizing that was the only way I could cope. Now I know why. I was Nadia when all that happened. Maybe if I remembered, all of this wouldn’t be so unsettling.

  “But it is,” I admitted, facing Luc. “But I think if I wasn’t disturbed then, there’d be a problem, you know? I mean, you’re probably not disturbed by any of this because you’ve been around it your whole life.”

  “Sometimes, the reality of everything sneaks up on me.” He took my hand, threading his fingers through mine. In the sunlight, his eyes were polished amethysts. “Usually when life feels like what I imagine normalcy is, the things I’ve seen catch me off guard.” His head turned to the field below. “I may be able to take a life when necessary, and I may not even regret doing so, but I don’t forget a single life.”

  Pressure clamped down on my chest as I squeezed his hand.

  Luc squinted as he returned the gesture. “And before this is over, a lot of lives are going to be taken. On both sides.” He looked over at me. “Are you ready for that, Evie? There are going to be more Sarahs. Enemies who became that way against their will. And there are going to be others who believe they’re on the right side of history.”

  My stomach hollowed. “I have to be ready. I want to stop the Daedalus. I can’t do that if I don’t get my hands dirty.”

  “You’re not going to get your hands dirty.” He angled his body toward me, his eyes meeting mine. “You’re going to get them bloody.”

/>   “I know.” Another sharp dipping motion lit up my stomach, replacing the grumbling hunger.

  His gaze searched mine as he lifted his other hand, placing the tips of his fingers to my cheek. “Soft heart,” he murmured. “I don’t want to see it hardened or destroyed.”

  “I don’t, either.” I curled my hand around his wrist. “But if I did nothing, that would do worse things to my heart, Luc, and we don’t have any other choices here. We have to fight back.”

  “We have choices, Peaches. We always do.” He stepped in closer. “We could disappear. I have other places, tucked away all over the world—places that would take the Daedalus decades to discover. We don’t have to do anything.”

  It took me a moment to really hear what he was saying, because I sort of got stuck on the whole he-had-places-all-over-the-world part. “For real?”

  “Real.”

  “Where?”

  One side of his lips kicked up. “I have a small villa in Greece.”

  I blinked. “A small villa?”

  He nodded. “Paris bought it a year or two before the invasion. You picked the location.”

  “I…” It wasn’t exactly a surprise to hear that I would’ve picked Greece. As Evie, who I was now, I’d always wanted to visit there. “And you have other places?”

  “I have a flat south of London and an apartment in Edinburgh,” he told me, and all I could do was stare. “There’s also the house in Puna’auia.”

  “I don’t even know where that it is.”

  “I can show you exactly where it is. Just say the word and we can disappear.” His head tilted. “We’d even take your friends if they wanted to go.”

  There was an allure to what he offered, a seductive, powerful one. There’d be no bloody hands to worry about, no Jason Dasher or Daedalus, at least for decades, and decades was an eternity. We could disappear with the people we cared about.

  But the world wouldn’t disappear with us. Neither would this virus or the Daedalus. They’d keep looking for us, and even if they didn’t find us, they’d find others. The world would keep tiptoeing down a path that would change everything forever.

  I lowered my gaze. “All of this … it’s bigger than we are, Luc. If we disappeared and did nothing to stop this, I don’t know if I could live with myself.” Slowly, I looked up at him. “Is that what you want?”

  “I’m incredibly selfish when it comes to you. You should know the answer to that.”

  “You’re selfish, but you’re not apathetic,” I told him. “If you were, you’d forget those deaths you mentioned.”

  The hue of his eyes churned as his lashes lowered, and I spoke to him in the way only he could hear. It would eat away at both of us.

  A long moment passed, and then his voice whispered in my thoughts. It would.

  “You can show me all these places afterward,” I said.

  “I can do that.”

  “Promise?”

  “Promise.”

  * * *

  After gorging myself on cheese and some kind of cured meat that reminded me of jerky, I was still hungry as we left to meet up with Hunter.

  “Maybe it’s a tapeworm,” Luc suggested as we walked the two blocks over to where Hunter and Serena had set up house.

  Curling a lip, I looked over at him. “Really? That’s the best you can come up with?”

  He chuckled as he bumped his shoulder into mine. “I mean, if one has been in you long enough, you’d be eating constantly.”

  “I don’t think that’s how it works.” I moved out of the way before he could bump my arm again.

  “Well, there’s this rare disease that—”

  “You know, forget I even mentioned it.” I hopped up on the sidewalk. “It’s not as bad as it was before I took a mental vacay, so it’s probably just my body trying to get used to the lack of sugar.”

  “How much sugar were you eating?”

  “Not that much.”

  “How many grams?”

  “How in the world would I know how many grams of sugar—”

  Luc caught the bottom of my foot with his, causing me to stumble.

  “Dammit!” Laughing, I swung on him, but Luc had moved wickedly fast, halfway down the block by the time I spun around. “That’s cheating.”

  “More like that’s you needing to work on your reflexes.”

  I flipped him off. Smirking, he came to stand by a yard shaded by large trees with burnt red leaves.

  “You may be the most powerful Origin in the whole wide world—”

  “Universe,” he corrected.

  I ignored that. “But sometimes you have the mentality of a twelve-year-old boy.”

  “A twelve-year-old boy who is also the most powerful Origin in the whole wide world.”

  Stopping several feet away, I stared at him.

  He dipped his chin, grinning. “But you still love me.”

  A grin tugged at my lips. “I do.” Then I sprang forward, willing myself to move fast, and I did. I knew I’d surprised him when I clasped his cheeks and he jerked back a fraction of an inch. Stretching up, I kissed him—really kissed him. Luc reached for me, but I darted away. He pouted as he let his arms drop at his sides. “Made you jump.”

  “You did.” Eyes glittering, he watched me as I all but flounced past him. “Do you even know where you’re going?”

  “Nope.” I kept walking. “I figured I’ll know where I am when my extra-special alien senses tell me so.”

  Luc caught up with me as we walked down the block, the street lined with large trees. We’d crossed the street when I felt what reminded me of a breath of cold air along my back. Halting, I turned to my right. The yard was overgrown, but the sidewalk leading up to the curtained front porch was cleared.

  “Give me one second.” When Luc nodded, I walked a couple of houses down and came back when the feeling faded. I looked across the street and shook my head. “It’s this house.”

  “Two gold stars for you in one day.” He turned to walk up the sidewalk.

  Trailing behind him, I waited as he stepped up on the porch. I kicked out, catching the bottom of his foot. He stumbled, catching himself as he spun around, brows raised.

  “Three gold stars,” I replied.

  His smile started off slowly and then grew into the kind that caused my breath to hitch and my heart to melt. “Do you know what happens when you get three gold stars in one day?”

  “What?” I went up the steps, stopping at the one below him.

  Luc bent so that his mouth brushed mine as he spoke. “There’s a reward involved.”

  My eyes fluttered shut. “Does it involve chocolate?”

  “Something better.” He dragged his lips over mine.

  “Mmm.” The fluttering in my chest moved lower. “Chocolate-covered popcorn?”

  “Even better than that.” Nipping at my lower lip, he caught my gasp with a kiss. We were so caught up in each other, neither of us were aware of exactly when the door opened behind us.

  “I feel like there are better porches to do that on,” came Hunter’s voice. “Namely, any of them that aren’t mine.”

  Eyes popping open, I saw Luc grin right before he gave me one more quick kiss and pivoted to face the Arum. “I’d apologize, but that would insinuate that I cared.”

  Hunter snorted as he glanced at me. “I don’t know how you put up with him.”

  “If she knew you any better, she’d be asking Serena the same.”

  A semblance of a smile appeared as he showed us in. “True story.”

  Following Luc and Hunter inside, the first impression that I got of the small house was that it was very monochromatic. White, bare walls. Black couches and chairs sat beside black end tables and a black coffee table. Curtains and carpet white, there was literally no color in the house with the exception of the small, wooden figurines that were sprinkled through the living area. A wolf was perched on the end table beside a black lantern. A large bear stood on its hind legs between two white
pillar candles that had burned halfway down. There was a horse mid-gallop on the other end table, and several small dogs lined up on what had once been a TV stand. Each of the figurines was detailed in a way I imagined took hours of making the smallest nicks and cuts in the wood.

  Do you think he looked for the house that was already decorated in black and white? I asked, wondering how we ended up with angel-palooza.

  Probably. He needed a place as deep and dark as his troubled thoughts. Arum are goth like that.

  I snorted.

  Hunter’s eyes narrowed. “You two having a private conversation over there? Sort of rude to do that in someone else’s house.”

  Suddenly finding the carved bear absolutely fascinating, I hoped he couldn’t tell my cheeks were getting hot.

  “We would never do such a thing. Where is Serena?” Luc swiftly changed the subject as he sat on the couch, patting the spot next to him. I took it as Hunter took the chair kitty-corner to it.

  “She’s visiting with Kat.” He kicked a booted foot up on the coffee table. “Getting in some baby time.”

  “Why am I not surprised you’re sitting that visit out?”

  His shoulders shook with a silent laugh as he dropped his arm over his bent knee. “Few things in life scare me. Babies are one of them.”

  Huh. Hunter and I had something in common.

  “So, you all wanted to talk?” The ultra-pale gaze flicked to me. “I’m really hoping you’re not here for another apology.”

  I snorted. “No.”

  “And I also hope you’re not here to thank me again. I don’t think I can live through that again.”

  Pressing my lips together until I puffed up my cheeks as my eyes widened, I replied, “I may have been a bit enthusiastic in my response.”

  “I thought you were going to hug me.”

  “That you did not have to worry about. I don’t make a habit of hugging people who wanted to kill me the day before.”

  A hint of white teeth flashed when he smiled. “Wise choice. So, why are you two here?”

  Luc was silent as I scooted to the edge of the couch. “Before I ask you anything, I wanted to say I’m sorry about your brother.”