“Nothing,” I said as I peered into one of the bags and found jeans in my size. That was weird on a disturbing level.
“Back to your question. About Origin and Luxen.” Archer propped himself against the desk and folded his arms. “I honestly have no idea what could be gained by that, other than the typical joining powerful forces for world domination and blah, blah.”
“That’s cliché,” I said.
“And too obvious,” he agreed.
I glanced over at Kat. The look on her face as she devoured the bar, as if she tasted heaven for the first time and was seconds away from having a mouth-gasm, made me wish Archer wasn’t in the room.
His smile went up a notch.
And it also made me wish he’d get the hell out of my head. “Did you know about Ethan?” I asked, refocusing.
He shook his head. “We’re not like you alien freaks, where we mind-meld or know where the others are at every given second.”
“Last I checked, you’re a part of our alien freak family, so . . .”
Kat snapped off a tiny bar and offered it to me. I shook my head, and she popped it between those lips of hers. “So you’ve never met Ethan or heard of him?” she asked.
“There’re a lot of Origins I never came into contact with or haven’t seen since they were transferred to other bases. Daedalus has many set up throughout the world in very powerful positions. If even a few of them are working with the Luxen, we’re really in trouble.”
“Like we aren’t already?” I pointed out.
“Yeah, well, here’s the problem with that. We can pretend to be human or Luxen or even hybrid. We can read your thoughts. You’ve already had your happy ass burned by one you thought was a Luxen. Probably even twice if you count this Ethan you’re talking about, which makes trusting what you think you know or see a real big problem,” Archer explained. “Let’s say a handful of Origins who are politicians, doctors, or members of the military are really working with the Luxen. It’ll turn into a cluster—”
“So what do we do?” Kat scooted off the bed and tossed the wrapper in the trash. “I mean, we can’t be just screwed. There has to be something we can do.”
A hard tension crossed Archer’s face. “Something is being done about it.”
Kat stopped in the middle of the room, her expression a mixture of hope and foreboding. “What?”
Archer glanced over at me, and that one look told me simple words weren’t going to explain anything, and I was so picking up on his vibe that this wasn’t going to be a good thing. “Why don’t you two get changed and meet me out in the hall,” he suggested.
Her little hands balled into fists. “What aren’t you telling us?”
“It’s not that I’m unwilling to tell you.” He pushed off the desk and headed for the door. “It’s just something I think you guys need to see to believe.”
“Well, that’s not unnecessarily mysterious or anything, but whatever.” I stood and reached for the sweats I was wearing. Archer was still at the door, and I arched a brow. “Unless you want to see me in all my glorious nakedness, I’d suggest you go now.”
Archer’s eyes rolled. “No, thank you.”
Kat and I got changed quickly, and the fact that her jeans fit her perfectly had me picturing the all-too-familiar punching-Archer-in-the-face daydream, but she looked good, more like herself in the dark denim and lightweight gray sweater. Her hair had dried in soft waves, and she looked like we were going out to grab something to eat or maybe a movie.
What we were doing was so far from that fantasy it was freaking sad.
Our eyes met after I hooked the button on my jeans. “Are you ready to do this, whatever ‘this’ is?”
She nodded. “I’m almost half afraid to see what he wants to show us.”
“I feel you. At this point, anything is possible.” I stopped at the closed door and extended a hand to her. When she took it, I hauled her toward me. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I lifted her up and gave her a good squeeze.
Her soft laugh that danced in my ear was too rare. “You’re squishing me.”
“Uh-huh.” Putting her back down, I dropped a kiss to her forehead. “No matter what, don’t forget our plans.” It felt important to remind her of them.
Her eyes were a soft gray as she stared up at me. “The wedding plans?”
“Those.” I leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Because when we get shown something absolutely messed up, which I’m sure we’re going to, I’m so going to start focusing on those plans and lifting up your wedding gown and getting down on my knees.”
“Oh my God,” she whispered, and when I pulled back with a chuckle, her cheeks were bright red. “You’re . . . you’re . . .”
“What?”
She shook her head and swallowed. “A lot to handle.”
I smirked as I opened the door. “After you, Kitten.”
As she walked through, I landed a nice swat on her behind that caused her to jump and spin around. Kat shot me a dirty look, and I grinned, totally unrepentant. It was the little things in life that kept me happy.
Archer ignored that, which meant he must value certain parts of his body. We followed him down the hall and then down a stairwell and into another corridor. Up ahead was a set of glass double doors and what looked like a NASA-level command center inside.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“What you think it is.” Archer’s smile didn’t reach his odd eyes when I glared at him. “It’s the base’s command center. They’re hooked up to satellites, missiles, and all kinds of fun things in here.”
Kat scrunched her nose but remained quiet.
Archer opened the door, and I wasn’t surprised to see Luc sitting in a chair at the front, legs kicked up on a white ledge, crossed at the ankles. He had a fruit punch box in his hands.
I shook my head.
Nancy was near the front, arms crossed over her narrow chest, her face tight, like she was sucking on something sour. A man stood next to her in full military regalia with enough shiny buttons and badges to tell me he might be a problem.
The room was staffed with military folk all wearing headsets and wired in to whatever the hell they were doing on the monitors in front of them. A few looked our way when we walked in. None of them seemed surprised. There was a huge monitor on the wall in front of Luc.
I turned my gaze back to the man with steely gray eyes and short, light brown hair. “Who’s this douche?”
Kat’s eyes widened, and it sounded like Luc choked on his laugh as he spun around to face us. “God, I knew there was a reason I liked you.”
“Yay,” I muttered.
Nancy did not look amused as the man faced us, his shoulders squared. “This is General Jonathan Eaton, the highest-ranking officer in the United States Air Force,” Nancy said, her words clipped and like little punches. “Perhaps you could show some respect.”
I arched a brow. “Sure.”
I had to give it to General Whatever His Name Was. There wasn’t a single flicker of any smidgen of annoyance as his gray eyes settled on me. “I know you don’t have a very . . . high opinion of members of the government,” he said. “But I can assure you, right now, we are not your enemy.”
“I reserve the right to decide that,” I said, glancing up at the screen. From what it looked like, it was a distant aerial view of a major city. I could pick out the tops of skyscrapers and a blue blob that might be an ocean.
“That’s understandable,” he replied, drawing my attention. “Let it be known, I’ve never had any problems with your kind.”
“I never had a problem with yours,” I said. “Not until you basically kidnapped us, started doing horrific experiments on us, ripped my family apart, and became a general pain in our asses.”
A slight flush of pain stained Nancy’s cheeks, but she remained quiet.
The general, however, did not. “Many of us were not fully aware of what Daedalus was carrying out or how they were acquiring the Lu
xen and hybrids. There will be a lot of changes in the future.”
“He’s one of the big guys who put the smackdown on Daedalus.” Luc folded his arms behind his head, and I had no idea where his fruit box had gone. His slippery gaze slid over to Nancy, and a chilling grin tilted his lips. “I think he’s kind of cool.”
“That means a lot to me,” the general replied drily, and Archer’s cough sounded suspiciously like a laugh. “We may not see eye to eye or think along the same lines,” he said to me, “and I will never be able to say anything that will make up for what was done to your family or to those you care for.” With that, he passed a stern look in Nancy’s direction. “Those who were responsible for the more unsavory aspects of Daedalus will be punished accordingly.”
Kat gaped at him.
“Wait.” I moved closer to her—not that I was far away in the first place. Now I was practically standing on top of her. “That’s all great that you love yourself some Luxen, but why in the hell would you trust any of us right now? Why would we trust you?”
The general tilted up his chin. “I know you don’t think you and your brother are the only Luxen to ever mutate a human you care deeply for. Matter of fact, I think you also realize that there are many Luxen out there who would do anything to protect the human or humans they care for. I know that bond is stronger than the influence of those who have recently arrived. I know that for a fact.”
“How?” Kat asked.
“Because my daughter and her husband are here on the base,” he said, looking at me. “And yes, he is a Luxen.”
I could feel Kat’s eyes on me as I watched the general. For some screwed-up reason, out of everything, that had to be the most shocking shit I’d heard. I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “Your daughter is married to a Luxen?”
Nancy’s lips pursed, and I thought her cheeks might cave in.
“They’ve been married for five years,” he said, and as he folded his arms, the dark blue uniform stretched over his shoulders.
“Your daughter is married to a Luxen, and you’re okay with what Nancy was doing to them? To us?” Anger flashed across Kat’s face.
A long look of chagrin settled in his eyes. “As I said, there were things we were unaware of.”
“That’s not an excuse,” she said, and damn, I knew she was about to get a wee bit feisty.
His lips twitched as if he wished to smile. “You remind me of my daughter.”
Nancy turned her cheek, and I swore her eyes rolled.
“I know there is nothing I can do to change what has been done in the past other than ensuring it will never happen again. And I will.” He drew in a breath. “But right now, we have an unprecedented global disaster on our hands. That is all I can focus on.”
“Global disaster.” Luc arched a brow. “That sounds so incredibly dramatic and like there’s—” A muted beep cut him off. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone.
Luc dropped his sneakers onto the floor, his expression stark as he shot to his feet. “Got something I need to take care of.”
He headed for the door without a backward glance, his free hand curling into a fist, and warnings fired off, one at a time. I’d never seen Luc look so . . . so unsettled.
It’s okay. Archer’s voice filtered through my thoughts. What he has going on right now has nothing to do with any of this.
Call me paranoid if that doesn’t mean shit to me, I sent back at him.
The general is legit, Archer replied, his gaze locking with mine. And like I said, what Luc is dealing with has nothing to do with it.
I still wasn’t 100 percent on board, so I draped my arm around Kat’s shoulders just in case. My gaze flickered over the general and Nancy. I wasn’t sure what was really going on there. “Where’s the other one?” I asked. “Sergeant Dasher?”
Nancy turned to me. “He’s dead.”
Against my side, Kat stiffened. “How?” she asked.
“In a fight with the Luxen just outside of Vegas.” Nancy’s dark eyes narrowed on us. “That should make both of you happy.”
“I can’t say I’m going to lose any sleep.” I held her gaze until she looked away. Dasher may not have been a complete sociopath like her, but he was on my To-Kill list.
At least I could mark his name off.
“General Eaton.” A voice traveled from a man near the large monitor. He was standing, arms pressed to his sides. “We’re five minutes out.”
Five minutes out from what?
No sooner was that thought finished than the image on the monitor zoomed in and the tops of buildings became clearer, as did congested streets. Some areas were nothing but blobs of gray smoke.
“What is this?” Kat asked, stepping forward and out from underneath my arm.
I glanced at Archer, and at once, I knew this was what he wanted us to see. “What’s going on?”
The general strode down the middle of the room, past the lines of smaller monitors and people pecking away at their computers. “This is what we are doing to stop the invasion.”
I turned my gaze back to the screen. Man, I had a real bad feeling about all of this.
“Four minutes,” another guy up front announced.
Yep. When people started counting down, no good shit came from that. Kat had asked for clarification, but as I stared at the twinkling lights of the city, an idea began to take form in the back of my head.
“What you see on the screen is Los Angeles,” the general explained. “There was a significant number of invading Luxen there, all who have taken human form, mostly government officials and others in positions of power. They have rapidly assimilated the human DNA of those who are around the age necessary to have a family. We have people in there who’ve been keeping us up to date, but as of yesterday night, we’ve lost complete control of the city.”
“Oh wow.” Kat folded her arms around her as she stared at the monitor.
“We’ve also lost Houston, Chicago, and Kansas City,” Nancy interjected. “That we know of at this point. The only city we’ve been able to hold without any Luxen is D.C., but the invaders are amassing tremendous forces around the city—Alexandria, Arlington, Mount Rainier, and Silver Spring are all almost completely under their control.”
Damn.
“And we don’t know of any Origins inside D.C. who might have joined forces with the invading Luxen,” he added. “We’re hoping that’s not the case, but we have to plan for it.”
“Three minutes.”
My gaze landed on the back of the man counting. “What happens in three minutes?”
Kat turned around, her face pale, and I knew her mind was going where mine was, and none of this was heading to a pleasant place.
“We have to stop the Luxen by any means necessary that will result in minimal human casualties.” The general’s shoulders rose as he drew in a deep breath. “Obviously, that limits what we can do.”
Archer pushed off the wall, gliding closer, as if he expected me to lose my shit when my suspicions were confirmed.
“The president of the United States, in conjunction with the secretary of defense, has approved a test strike of an EMP over the city of Los Angeles.”
I stared at the general.
“EMP?” Kat said, her eyes wide.
“Electromagnetic pulse weaponized in the form of several nonnuclear e-bombs,” he explained, and my stomach dropped to my feet. “It will work just like a PEP weapon once the bomb detonates around a three-hundred-foot elevation, but on a more widespread level. Expected loss of human life is nominal, limited to those with heart disease or other disorders that might be susceptible to an electric pulse of that magnitude . . . and currently those whose lives are dependent upon life-support systems.”
“Two minutes, elevation at seven hundred feet,” came from the front, followed by a static-filled voice announcing the location over a radio signal.
Archer was now standing near me.
“Most humans will experience a burst
of pain and momentary paralysis,” he continued as Kat turned back to the screen. “The EMP will act as a lethal, immediate kill weapon to any Luxen, hybrid, or Origin within the strike zone.”
Holy shit.
I got the necessity of it—they had to do something against the invading Luxen—but my sister was out there somewhere, hopefully nowhere near L.A. And there had to be innocent Luxen and hybrids there, even Origins, and they had no clue what was coming their way.
“Innocents will die in this, both human and Luxen,” the general