“Control them?”
“To some extent.” I sucked in a breath as Sadi extended an arm behind me and leaned in, getting all up in my personal space. “They’ve done experiments.” As I told them about Daedalus, I fought back the urge to sink my nails into her face.
Rolland listened as the limo rolled along. “Thank you for being so forthcoming, Katy. I would’ve been so disappointed if you’d lied.”
“And we would’ve known.” Sadi’s hand was somewhere around my navel. “You see, we know about their little weapons and the onyx. Those things may still affect us, but we know they are there. We will be prepared for them.”
Confused, I flicked my gaze from her to Rolland. He spread his arms out over the back of his seat, getting all kinds of comfy. “We’ve had help here. I’m pretty sure you’ve realized that by now.”
Pressure seized my chest as I got a real bad feeling about everything. “Someone like her?”
Her throaty laugh raised the hairs on my arms. “Yes, someone like me. Like your Archer. Oh. And who else haven’t you told us about?”
Air leaked out of my lungs.
Rolland tsked softly. “Are you keeping something or someone from us, Katy?”
“She is.” Sadi drew a finger up my arm. Tiny bumps chased the disturbing caress. “His name is Luc, I think.”
Oh God.
“But that’s not all.” Sadi looked over at Rolland.
He grinned. “Of course it isn’t.”
Sadi’s finger trailed over my jaw. “There’s Beth . . . and the baby.”
“Oh dear,” Rolland murmured.
I stared at him, my brain refusing to compute the twist.
He tapped his fingers on the back of the seat. “Did you all really think we’d come here without an invite? That humans, with all their intelligence and advancements, wouldn’t be the source of their own destruction in the end?”
“After all, naming a serum after Prometheus?” Sadi’s breath danced against my cheek. “I mean, isn’t that like self-fulfillment?”
Because in Greek mythology, Prometheus had created man out of clay and, disobeying the gods, gave mankind fire, therefore starting civilization. He had been punished for his own ingenuity.
Just like Daedalus, Sadi’s voice whispered among my turbulent thoughts.
Horror swamped me as I slowly turned my head toward her. Her eyes, the brilliant blue, they weren’t real. Contacts. Just like Archer had hidden his eyes from us, making them appear human. Sadi had gone in the opposite direction, donning lenses that made her look Luxen.
But she wasn’t.
She was an Origin.
And not only had she been able to pick up my thoughts the entire time, she would’ve heard Dawson’s and Daemon’s, in and out of their true forms.
“Yes,” she whispered, her lips brushing the curve of my cheek, sending a shiver down my spine. “You are all so screwed.”
The inside of the limo was suddenly too small. “Why?” I gasped out the only thing I could think.
“Why tell you?” Rolland raised his arms idly. “Or why ask you questions? You see, we couldn’t figure it out. The two brothers were smart. Even when they were in their human forms, they didn’t think anything.”
“They are extraordinarily beautiful, and while most aren’t blessed with good looks and intelligence,” Sadi said, laughing when my jaw clamped down, “I doubted their heads were that empty.”
“There were things that Sadi could pick up every once in a while—brief flashes of thoughts that raised our suspicions when it came to how honest they were being with us,” Rolland went on. “But we couldn’t figure it out—what made those two so resistant to our cause when their sister fell into line so quickly. But then you came along.”
Sadi tapped a nail off the tip of my nose. “How lucky for us.”
“You are the answer. Because you were mutated, an unbreakable bond was formed between you and Daemon.”
“And we knew that Dawson was hiding something from us,” Sadi added. “Or someone. That would be Beth.”
“So now we know that there will be other Luxen out there, some like Daemon and Dawson, who may be bonded to humans in a way that will be problematic to our cause. It’s not like the four of you are unique. There has to be more, and that is what today is all about.”
Crap. Crap. Crap.
Sadi giggled.
“We need to calm the poor little humans, get them to think that their leaders are protecting them, but you and me, well, we know that’s not really going to happen.” He smiled that charming smile of his. “But we also need to give a message to any other Luxen out there who may be thinking that our cause is not something they wish to support.”
My pulse in my throat felt like a hummingbird trying to peck its way out. “And that’s what we are? A message.”
“Smart girl,” he replied as the limo hung a sharp right.
“She wants to know how,” Sadi interjected, and I shot her a dark look. She patted my cheek. “Should we tell her?”
He shrugged.
“You see, there will be Luxen who will be watching, and even through the TV and all the channels it’s broadcast on, they will know what we are,” she explained. “We will toss the brothers right under that bus you were worried about earlier. We’ll expose them as Luxen.”
Holy crap.
“Takes care of two things.” Rolland leaned forward again. “When the humans see beyond a doubt that the Luxen look just like them and that there are humans working alongside some of them, it will cause panic.”
Making it easier for them to take control.
“Exactly,” Sadi murmured, tracing my lower lip with her finger.
“And it also sends a clear message to the Luxen that we will not tolerate any who may have the smallest inkling to stand against us.” The smile slipped from Rolland’s face as his pupils turned to light. “Like I said, serves two interests.”
Good God. The panic they would incite would be astronomical. Even if only a small percentage of the world saw the video at first, it would go viral. If there were Luxen out there like Daemon and Dawson, they’d get the message.
There had to be something I could do.
“There is nothing you can do,” Sadi said, reading my thoughts.
But there was.
She tipped her head back and started laughing, and I started picturing people twerking—everyone in the limo. Quiet Luxen Dude. Rolland. Sadi. All of them bent over, butts in the air, looking like damn fools.
Sadi drew back, frowning. “What are—?”
Twisting in the seat, I acted without much thought behind it, letting instinct take over. The risk was great, but I couldn’t let them reach their destination.
Sadi shouted something as I summoned the Source, pulled from deep within me. Quiet Luxen Dude slammed his hand around my throat as energy rolled down my arm, spinning rapidly as I let the bolt loose.
Air was cut off, and I couldn’t breathe, but the bolt of energy had struck true, slamming into the back of the driver’s head.
The limo swerved sharply to the right and kept going, speeding up when the driver slumped over the wheel. The car went up on two wheels, and as the grip around my throat tightened, the limo went airborne.
9
{ Daemon }
I didn’t like this setup at all. Having Kat in a different car was bad enough, but leaving her with Sadi and Rolland made me want to put my fist through the back of someone’s head.
Dee was sitting in the front, next to one of the newcomers, dressed like a mini-Sadi, wearing a pantsuit. God, that made my skin crawl right off my bones. There were at least a hundred things I didn’t like about that, and all of them made me want to punch myself in the face.
I was in a punching mood.
That was so messed up after the bliss I’d experienced this morning with Kat. The time spent with her, in her, now seemed like forever ago. There was an odd, desperate edge to my thoughts that I couldn’t shake. Lik
e the feel of her lips, and how it almost seemed like it was something in the past.
My brother cast me a long look before shifting his gaze back to the window. He was tense, practically as tight as a bow.
The mayor lived out in the boondocks, and we were still at least five miles or so from the city. I wanted to tell the guy behind the wheel to hurry the hell up.
Suddenly, the cruiser in front of us slammed on its brakes, and I was jerked forward when the Hummer followed suit. Grasping the back of the seat in front of me, I swore under my breath.
“What’s going on?” Dee asked, frowning. “We shouldn’t be stopping.”
Up ahead, a black sedan veered to the left without any warning, and I saw something that caused my heart to freaking stop on a damn dime. Horror balled in the pit of my stomach.
The limo Kat traveled in swerved into the right lane, and then went up on one side. It clipped a motorcycle cop, and as it spun out, right into the path of another, the rider shifted forms a second too late and smacked against the sedan’s windshield. The limo was airborne, coasting several feet before coming down on its roof. Metal crunched.
“Stop the car!” Dawson shouted.
I was already reaching for the door while the Hummer fishtailed to a stop. Throwing open the door, I didn’t stop to think what it looked like to the dozen or so Luxen spilling out of their respective vehicles. I didn’t care.
Pushing past one in a uniform, I raced toward the wrecked limo. The only way I knew Kat was still alive was the fact that I was breathing, but that didn’t mean jack. She could be injured, and the knowledge she could be seriously hurt was enough to nearly take my knees out from underneath me.
Dawson and Dee were right behind me as I rounded the mangled, flickering body of the Luxen who had been on the motorcycle.
A bright white light flared inside the limo.
I skidded to a halt.
The back door blew out from the limo, winging across the road at such a force that it ripped right through a Luxen in a police uniform. Like, one Luxen suddenly became two not-so-put-together Luxen.
“Holy halfies,” Dawson murmured.
No sooner than those words popped out of my brother’s mouth, a blue and red and white form followed the path of the door, zooming across the road and slamming into a pine. The ancient tree rocked. Needles fell to the earth as the blur dropped face-first onto the ground.
Sadi.
My wide eyes swung back to the limo as one small, delicate hand appeared on the asphalt, and then a slender arm followed, revealing the short sleeve of a black sweater.
Kat pulled herself out of the busted opening where the door used to be. Pushing to her feet, she brushed long hair out of her face. Blood trickled from her mouth and her right pant leg was ripped around the thigh, covered with red.
I started toward her. Two words stopped me.
She looked at me, dragging in a deep breath as the white light, tinged in red, powered down both her arms. “They know.”
Dawson cursed as understanding rippled over the two of us. Dee shouted as I slipped out of my human form. It was like taking off a jacket. Game over. The only thing I was capable of thinking at the moment was getting those I cared for the hell out of here.
I whipped around, unleashing the Source on the driver before he had a chance to go all special Luxen on our asses.
Our kind wasn’t the easiest to kill. We were like alien Energizer Bunnies. We kept getting up and we kept coming. The blow had to be catastrophic to the system. Kind of like with zombies—an analogy Kat would approve of—taking off the head was one way. A blow to the heart was another. One blast of the Source wouldn’t always do it.
The driver stumbled to his feet, rearing back to unleash his own little ball of happiness, and I hit him again, and then again, right over the chest.
Multiple hits from the Source would do the trick.
White light flared over the driver, pulsing through the network of veins, and then all the light went out as the driver toppled over like a paper sack in the wind.
Dawson was taking out a lot of pent-up aggression as he went after a Luxen in officer’s clothing. Kat had turned back to the limo, arms raised, flipping the crumpled car back on its wheels.
Dayum.
The tall Luxen who hardly spoke rushed out of the car, and I started toward him, easily dodging a blast of light, but drew up short as the long lengths of Kat’s hair lifted off her shoulders. Static crackled into the air around her.
A blast of the Source left her hand smacking into the Luxen and launching him into the air. She didn’t stop, sending another and another until he crashed back down on the hood. A shimmery, incandescent pool of liquid rapidly formed under the still form.
Oh, parts of my body got all kinds of tingly seeing that go down.
Kat whipped toward me, her eyes glowing from within. In that moment, she looked like a goddess—a goddess of vengeance.
If we weren’t in the middle of a fight, I’d have you up against a tree right now.
One side of her lips curled up. You’re such a— Behind you!
I spun, catching the Luxen’s arm.
Trataaie, it seethed, branding me a traitor.
Whatever. Twisting to the side, I gripped the Luxen hard as I lifted it up and tossed it like a Frisbee of Fun. The Luxen whirled through the air, connecting with a telephone pole. Wood splintered. Lines snapped and electricity arced, sending sparks flying.
Kat rushed past me, letting loose on a Luxen who was sneaking up on Dawson while he finished off two others. The newcomer whirled on her, howling as he clutched his shoulder and then charged her.
Baby held her ground.
Dipping to the side at the last minute, she slammed her knee into his midsection and then slapped her hands down on his bowed head. The Source crackled from her palms, cascading over the Luxen in a direct headshot.
Another down.
Damn, she was freaking glorious.
By the side of the road, Sadi was up and stumbling forward. She planted a hand on the hood of a cruiser, holding herself up.
Kat stalked over, determination set in the lines of her pale face. She swooped down, picked up the damaged car door, and swung it like a baseball bat. The door caught Sadi in the chest, knocking her away from the car and down onto one leg.
“That was for being a complete bitch!” She caught Sadi in the back, pushing her forward. “And this is for even thinking it was okay to touch me.” The final swing came from the front, snapping Sadi’s head into next week. “And that is for even speaking Daemon’s name.”
Sadi toppled over onto her ass, knees folded under her, and Kat, breathing deeply, turned to me.
Damn, Kitten, you’re badass, almost scary, and yet so freaking hot.
She tossed the door to the ground. “I don’t think she’s dead.”
She looks dead.
Her lip curled up. “She’s an Origin. I don’t even know how to kill one of them, but I really want to find out.”
Before I could process that revelation, a Luxen raced from the rear of our little caravan, wanting to get in on our party of awesome ass-kicking. Taking a step back, I looked around and tapped into the power inside me as I spied the perfect weapon.
An intense wave rippled out from me, cracking the asphalt and throwing a cruiser onto its side. Sirens went off as the roll hit the pines lining the road. Two trembled violently and then uprooted. Thick roots hung, dirt clinging to them, and the scent of rich, old soil filled the air.
Get down! I sent the message, and Kat and Dawson hit the ground like pros.
The pines flew across the road like a giant clothesline,