The Burning Shadow

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  I shuddered at the memory. “He said I wasn’t … normal. And you know, that isn’t the first time. Lore, the other Arum, said the same thing.”

  His eyes narrowed. “What?”

  I realized I hadn’t told Luc what Lore had said when he saw me outside the club. “Lore asked me what I was. Like he could sense something … off about me. I’d thought it was the Andromeda serum, but now…”

  “He wouldn’t be able to sense the serum.” Laziness vanished from his features as he stared down at me. “And you shouldn’t have heard him speak.”

  I digested that. “You know, he sounded like Sarah, and remember when I heard her speak? She said something was done to her, and no one else heard that. Maybe because it was in my head, just like the Arum was. I know it sounds insane, but—”

  “It doesn’t.” He tilted his head down, brushing his lips over my forehead. “I just don’t know what it means yet. Everything that I consider is impossible.” The muscles along his arm tensed. “Or doesn’t make sense.”

  I watched the shadows flicker across his face. “You don’t like not knowing, do you?”

  He snorted. “Is it that obvious?”

  “Totally.”

  A brief smile appeared. “I’m not used to not knowing, Peaches. It’s not a superpower, you know? How I know things. I can read thoughts, so very little is hidden to me.”

  Seemed like a superpower to me.

  “When I met with Jason and Sylvia, I pried into their thoughts. It wasn’t easy,” he said after a moment. “Both had shields up. They knew I could read their thoughts, so they were careful.”

  “What do you mean by shields?”

  “Many who worked in the Daedalus, especially those who were involved in the development of Origins, learned how to block their thoughts. Mainly by deflection, thinking about random things, but others could make it seem like their heads were just … empty. Jason and Sylvia were good at that, but no one is perfect. Not even them. I looked around in their heads, and I didn’t find anything that made me think…”

  Made him think that they were going to turn me into an experiment.

  I didn’t have to read his mind to know where his thoughts had gone. I rolled onto my side, facing him, and then I snuggled close, forcing his chin up as I tucked my cheek to his chest and wiggled an arm under the blanket, around his waist. He gathered me even closer, tangling his legs with mine.

  “Luc?” I whispered after a few moments.

  “Peaches?”

  “Thank you.”

  “What are you thanking me for?”

  “Being here.” I kissed the warm skin of his chest. “Thank you for being here.”

  * * *

  The sun had just crested when Luc rose from the bed, stirring me awake. I blinked open sleep-heavy eyes. “You leaving?”

  “Grayson needs to see me,” he murmured and then kissed the corners of my lips as he slipped over me. “Everything is fine, though. Go back to sleep.”

  I started to rise, but his hand on my cheek stopped me. “It’s early,” he said, violet eyes meeting and holding mine. “You need to rest.”

  It was almost like his words held some kind of compulsion, because I settled back down, and I was asleep before he even left the room. When I opened my eyes again, the room was filled with bright, warm light, and the bed was empty. It took me a couple of moments to remember that Grayson had somehow summoned Luc. Had he knocked on the door and I’d just been so out of it that I hadn’t woken up until Luc rose? I doubted Luc had allowed Grayson into the room.

  My thoughts drifted over the night before, and I was snagged somewhere between euphoria and grief, feeling whole and yet empty. It was an odd place to be, having the heart-racing joy of realizing what I felt for Luc, admitting that and seeing how it had affected him, and also trying to process the loss of my mother, of life as I knew it.

  But I could deal with this. I knew I could, as Evie and as Nadia.

  When I rose, my muscles were less cramped and sore, and I figured that had to do with finally getting some rest. Maybe a little too much. It was almost eleven in the morning.

  I hurried through getting ready, taking a quick shower and then changing into a pair of jeans and a loose pink-and-white-striped shirt I didn’t remember even having in my closet.

  Turning toward the door, I took a step and then stumbled as the floor swayed under me and the walls wobbled. The house was moving—no, not the house. It was me.

  Air wheezed in and out of me as I doubled over. A powerful surge of dizziness swept over me as I clasped my knees and squeezed my eyes shut.

  White light exploded behind my eyes. There was no pain, just static until an image of me standing above a body formed. A body of a boy no older than I was. Black ink leaked out of his ears and his nose while I stood there … waiting for further instruction.

  “Flawless,” he said. “I’m so proud of you. That was utterly flawless, Nadia.”

  I was sucked back as the image faded and the house stopped moving. The churning dizziness dissolved. Slowly, I opened my eyes, and when I didn’t feel like I was going to hurl, I straightened.

  What the hell was that?

  A memory? If so, of what? Because it sure looked like, sounded like I’d … I’d killed someone.

  Had been rewarded for it.

  And had been called Nadia.

  Wiping my sweaty palms on my hips, I took a step toward the door and then another. I knew that the voice in my head hadn’t been Luc’s. It had been the one I kept hearing in those brief, random memories, and no one called me Nadia except Luc.

  I needed to tell him this immediately, because it had to mean something.

  Making my way out of the bedroom, I hurried down the hall and was halfway down the stairs when I heard Luc’s voice.

  “How’s Katy?” he was asking.

  “Not entirely happy that I’m not with her. She’s due any day now, so I need to get home,” a deep voice I recognized answered immediately. Daemon. “But you knew that when you left your message.”

  I pressed my lips together. The last time I’d talked to Daemon, he’d said he wasn’t leaving his wife again, but here he was.

  “I needed your help,” came Luc’s response. “All of you. I don’t ask for that often.” There was a pause. “I’ve never asked, to be honest.”

  “And that’s why we’re here,” Daemon replied. “Plus, Kat is excited that she’s going to get to see you.”

  “It will be cool to spend some time with her,” Luc said. “Can’t say the same about you.”

  Daemon chuckled, apparently unbothered by Luc’s statement. “And here I thought you loved hanging out with me.”

  “I’d rather watch C-SPAN than hang out with you.” There was another pause. “Not you, Dawson. I like hanging out with you.”

  There was a snort, and then another voice intruded, one slightly raspy. “What about me?”

  “I can’t even look at Olive Garden because of you, and I loved their stuffed mushrooms, so no, I’m not happy to see you,” Luc said as I crept down another step.

  “I thought you were never going to bring that up again,” the raspy voice stated. That voice was vaguely familiar.

  “What happened at Olive Garden?” Zoe asked.

  “Well…” Luc started. “Let’s just say that Archer takes things a little too literally. Anyway, what took you all so long to get here?”

  “Ran into trouble outside of Texas,” answered Daemon. “Saw something pretty messed up, actually.”

  I reached the opening in the stairwell, quiet as I took in everyone in the room.

  Zoe was sitting on the edge of the couch, and Luc was standing before the mounted TV, his arms crossed. Between the way my stomach dipped when I spotted him, and the flutter in my chest, I felt like I had wings.

  I looked away from him and then did a double take as my gaze coasted over the two tall, dark-haired guys standing side by side. They had wavy hair and eyes the color of emerald jewels, and
their faces could have launched a million fantasies across the world. One of them, the one with shorter hair, was grinning. They had dimples.

  Dimples.

  Luxen twins. I’d seen both Daemon and Dawson separately, but seeing them now was a bit unnerving. It took me a moment to realize which one was Dawson. He had longer hair, if I remembered correctly.

  They weren’t alone.

  Stretched out on the couch as if he’d always been there was a sandy-haired man who I’d met once before. Archer.

  Luc turned to me. Our gazes met. His eyes widened. “Evie—”

  Several things happened at once.

  One of the twins swore.

  “Holy shit!” Archer exclaimed. He sat up, his face draining of all color so fast, I worried he might faint. Could Origins faint? I looked behind me, half expecting Bigfoot to be standing there.

  No one was there.

  Understanding seeped into Zoe’s face, and she paled as she launched to her feet.

  “Oh my God.” Archer rose, turning to where Luc stood. “Oh my God, Luc.”

  “I heard you the first time, Archer,” Luc snapped. “And I would suggest everyone think very wisely before they overreact or say anything. I can explain.” There was a pause. “Maybe.”

  “What’s going on?” I asked, starting to get nervous.

  Archer’s gaze swung back to me. His mouth opened.

  “I mean it.” The pupils of Luc’s eyes turned white.

  Archer snapped his mouth shut.

  Stepping down from the landing, I stopped because everyone else stopped.

  “Daemon…” His brother took a step to the side.

  Daemon followed his brother’s gaze. His head tilted to the side as he eyed me. Veins under his skin turned bright white. “What in the hell, Luc?”

  Luc moved as fast as lightning striking. Within a blink of an eye, he was standing between Daemon and me. Tension rippled off Luc, charging the air with static. “Back off, Daemon.”

  “Back off?” Disbelief thundered through Daemon’s voice. “What in the hell is that, Luc?”

  “Me?” I squeaked. He was talking about me? “We’ve met a couple of times. Don’t you remember?”

  “I remember, but you didn’t look like that last time,” he said, the white light spreading through his cheeks, down his throat as Zoe moved, darting around the couch and coming close to the stairwell.

  “Look like what?” I grasped the back of Luc’s shirt, tugging on it. “What do I look like?”

  “It’s okay,” he said, placing one hand on my hip. “And it’ll be really okay the moment Daemon backs the hell off.”

  A whitish glow surrounded Daemon. “What did you do, Luc?” he demanded. “Is this how you saved her?”

  I sucked in a startled gasp.

  “What I’m about to do is going to be something really bad,” Luc warned. Crackling white light appeared from Luc’s knuckles, spitting into the air. “Let me remind you, Daemon. You may be an alpha, but I’m the omega. Back down, or someone will be very pissed at me, and that someone is named Katy. And I like her. A lot. I don’t want to make her cry.”

  “Are you threatening me?” Daemon sounded incredulous.

  Luc seemed to grow in height. The air in the open room became heavy, stifling. A clap of thunder shook the walls, and I jerked back from Luc, eyes widening.

  “Daemon,” Archer said quietly, his gaze bouncing from Luc to me. “She can’t be a threat.”

  “That’s not what it looks like to me,” the Luxen growled. “And you want us to bring her back with us? Are you out of your mind, Luc? I’m not bringing that back where Kat and my child—”

  Luc shot forward. I shouted, but it was too late. One second Luc was standing in front of me, and the next he was slamming Daemon into the wall with one hand planted in the center of the Luxen’s chest. Drywall plumed into the air as Luc rose off the floor, bringing Daemon with him.

  Good God …

  “You, Kat, and your child wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for me.” Tendrils of white light curled into the air, spreading around Luc like the wings of an angel. The walls of the house groaned under the power coalescing in the room. “After all I’ve done for you and yours, you would refuse me in my time of need?”

  Daemon lifted his hands, but they slammed back into the wall. Sheetrock caved in under them. “And you would put my entire world in jeopardy?” he snarled, the tendons of his neck straining as he struggled to lift his head from the wall. “Are you that selfish?”

  “You should already know the answer to that,” Luc growled. “I am.”

  “Stop!” I shouted as Archer grabbed Dawson, winging him back from Luc and Daemon. “Luc! Stop!”

  “She is not a risk to you or to Kat,” Luc said. “She needs your help.”

  I started toward them, but a gust of wind shoved me back several steps. My mouth dropped open. “Luc!”

  “Don’t come near us, because if he so much as looks in your direction, that’s it,” Luc warned, and I barely recognized his voice.

  “I don’t know what is happening, but you need to chill out,” I tried as Daemon fought against Luc’s hold. “Please? Both of you. Because I am really starting to freak out.”

  Static charged the room, making the air heavy. Then the light receded from Daemon’s face. “My bad.”

  Luc stared at him for a moment and then dropped him. The Luxen landed nimbly on his feet. The tense silence stretched out as Luc lowered himself. “That’s an awful big oops you almost made right there,” Luc said. “Let’s make sure you don’t make it again.”

  Daemon’s lips twisted in a smirk as he stepped to the side, and once again, I was in the line of his sight for only a brief second. Luc shadowed his movements, blocking him.

  The door opened just then, and there was Kent, holding a huge white box. “I have doughnuts…” He lowered the box, taking in the scene before him. “Um, what did I miss?”

  “Stay right there,” Zoe said, and Kent listened.

  Daemon took another step back. “I’m not going to do anything, Luc. I’m just really, really curious about her.”

  Relieved that it no longer looked like Luc was going to kill Daemon, I threw up my hands. “Is someone going to tell me what the hell is going on and why you all are staring at me like that?”

  “Your eyes.” Luc faced me. “It’s your eyes.”

  “My eyes…” I trailed off as understanding blasted through me. I darted over to the rectangular mirror above the mantle and yep, my eyes were black with white pupils. “Oh my God, I don’t know why they’re doing this.” I spun around, and Luc was there. “I got dizzy in the bedroom, and I had a memory. I was coming down here to tell you.”

  “What did you remember?” he asked, capturing my wrists as I reached for my eyes.

  I tried to focus on him, aware of the fact that everyone was listening. “It came out of nowhere, but he called me Nadia, Luc. In the memory, he used that name, and it doesn’t make sense.” I drew in a stuttered breath. “Are my eyes still messed up?”

  A muscle flexed along Luc’s jaw as he nodded.

  “I’m guessing this has happened before,” Dawson stated.

  “Yes,” Zoe answered, staring at me. “Once before.”

  “I really think you guys should start telling us what the hell happened,” Archer said, arms folded across his chest. “All we know is that Foretoken was raided and that you needed our help. That’s it.”

  “It’s a long story,” Luc replied. “But the gist of it is, something was in the Andromeda serum that was given to Evie when she was sick. I don’t know what it is.”

  “Wait. You don’t know what it is?” Daemon blinked once and then twice. “Seriously?”

  “Yes.”

  “For real?” Daemon insisted.

  Luc looked over his shoulder. “Yes, Daemon. I don’t know what the hell was given to her, because obviously I was lied to.”

  “Wow.” Daemon grinned, and my eyes narrowed. �
�This is a first.”

  “Anyway,” Archer drew the word out. “She wasn’t like this the last time we saw her.”

  “It was April. This girl at my school. You remember Sarah?” I turned to Dawson, and he nodded. “We think April was like Sarah. Mutated into something we’ve never seen before. April was killing humans and framing Luxen for it. She nearly killed Heidi, our friend.” I looked over at Zoe while Luc moved to stand by my side, his hawklike gaze latched on to Daemon. “Anyway, she had this key fob thing. She pressed it, and it—I don’t know—unlocked something that was in the serum. It turned me into this assassin for like two seconds and made my eyes like this, but that’s all. I’m still Evie … or Nadia … or whoever. We don’t know what happened.”

  “A key fob?” Daemon asked.

  “Yes,” Luc answered. “This girl called it a Cassio Wave. I have the key fob. Was planning to see if Eaton had any insight.”

  I had no idea who Eaton was; this was the first I was hearing that name.

  Archer cursed under his breath as he looked over at the twins.

  “What?” Luc gritted out. “I feel like you three know something that may explain Daemon’s overreaction.”

  “It wasn’t an overreaction,” Daemon said, and Luc’s head jerked in his direction. The Luxen held his hands up. “Remember how I said we ran into trouble and that’s why we were delayed? We ran into this … thing near the border of Louisiana and Mississippi.”

  Thing? I had a really bad feeling about this.

  “It looked human, and it felt human,” Dawson said, glancing at me. “We saw it at a rest stop. Archer had to use the restroom.”

  “Because he has the bladder of a two-year-old,” Daemon muttered, and Archer shrugged.

  Dawson continued, “Thought it was just a normal human guy, but then he went right at me. Tried to take my head off.”

  “Never seen anything like it, and you know I’ve seen a lot of stuff,” Archer said, sitting back down in front of Kent. “The guy was like a damn machine. Took all three of us to take him down, and we barely took him out.”

  “Head shot,” Dawson said. “It was the only way we could kill him.”