Origin (5 page)

Before I could say anything, he stepped forward, stopping at one of the recliners that had its back to us. Archer nodded, and I reluctantly shifted so that I could see what the sergeant was looking at.

It was a kid. Maybe nine or ten, and with the sallow skin tone and bald head, I couldn’t tell if it was a boy or girl, but the child’s eyes were a bright blue.

“This is Lori. She’s a patient of ours.” He winked at the young girl. “Lori, this is Katy.”

Lori turned those big, friendly eyes on me as she extended a small, terribly pale hand. “Hi, Katy.”

I took her cold hand and shook it, not sure what else to do. “Hi.”

Her smile spread. “Are you sick, too?”

I didn’t know what to say at first. “No.”

“Katy’s here to help us,” Sergeant Dasher said as the little girl pulled her hand back, tucking it under the pale gray blanket. “Lori has grade four, primary CNS lymphoma.”

I wanted to look away, because I was a coward and I
knew
. That was the same kind of cancer my father had. Most likely terminal. It didn’t seem fair. Lori was way too young for something like this.

He smiled at the girl. “It’s an aggressive disease, but Lori is very strong.”

She nodded fervently. “I’m stronger than most girls my age!”

I forced a smile I didn’t feel as he stepped to the side, allowing a doctor to check the bags. Her bright baby blues bounced among the three of us. “They’re giving me medicine that’ll make me get better,” she said, biting down on her lower lip. “And this medicine doesn’t make me feel as bad.”

I didn’t know what to say, and I couldn’t speak until we stepped back from the girl and moved to a corner where we weren’t in anyone’s way. “Why are you showing this to me?” I asked.

“You understand the severity of disease,” he said, turning his gaze to the floor of the lab. “How cancer, autoimmune diseases, staph infections, and so many more things can rob a person of his or her life, sometimes before it really gets started. Decades have been spent on finding the cure to cancer or to Alzheimer’s to no avail. Every year, a new disease arises, capable of destroying life.”

All of that was true.

“But here,” he said, spreading his arms wide, “we take a stand against disease with your help. Your DNA is invaluable to us, just like the Luxen chemical makeup is. We could inject you with the AIDS virus, and you wouldn’t get sick. We’ve tried. Whatever is in the Luxen DNA, it makes both them and the hybrids resilient to all known human diseases. It is the same for the Arum.”

A shudder rolled down my spine. “You’re really injecting hybrids and Luxen with diseases?”

He nodded. “We have. It enables us to study how the hybrid’s, or the Luxen’s, body fights off the disease. We hope to be able to replicate it, and in some cases we have had success, especially with LH-11.”

“LH-11?” I asked, watching Blake now. He was talking to another young kid—a boy who was having fluid administered. They were laughing. It seemed…normal.

“Gene replication,” the sergeant explained. “It slows the growth of inoperable tumors. Lori has responded well to it. LH-11 is a product of years of research. We are hoping it’s the answer.”

I didn’t know what to say as my gaze moved across the room. “The cure to cancer?”

“And many, many more diseases, Katy. This is what Daedalus is about, and you can help make this possible.”

Leaning against the wall, I flattened my palms. Part of me wanted to believe what I was hearing and seeing—that Daedalus was only trying to find the cure for diseases—but I knew better. Believing that was like believing in Santa. “And that’s all? You’re just trying to make the world a better place?”

“Yes. But there are different ways, outside of the scope of medicine, to make the world a better place. Ways that
you
can help make the world a better place.”

I felt like I was getting a sales pitch, but even in the position I was in, I could recognize how powerful a cure for such deadly diseases could be, how much it would change the world for the better. Closing my eyes, I drew in a deep breath. “How so?”

“Come.” Dasher cupped my elbow, not giving me much of a choice. He led me to the opposite end of the lab, where a section of the wall appeared to be a shuttered window. He knocked on the wall. The shutters rolled up, making a series of mechanical
click
s. “What do you see?”

The air went out of my lungs. “Luxen,” I whispered.

There was no doubt in my mind that the people sitting in matching recliners on the other side of the window, letting doctors take their blood, were not from around here. Their beauty was a dead giveaway. So was the fact that a lot of them were in their true form. Their soft glow filled the room.

“Do any of them look like they don’t want to be here?” he asked quietly.

Placing my hands on the window, I leaned in. The ones who didn’t look like a human lightbulb were smiling and laughing. Some were snacking on food, and others were chatting. Most of them were older, in their twenties or thirties, I guessed.

None of them looked like hostages.

“Do they, Katy?” he prodded.

I shook my head, thoroughly confused. Were they here of their own volition? I couldn’t understand how.

“They want to help. No one is forcing them.”

“But you’re forcing me,” I told him, aware that Archer was now behind us. “You forced Bethany and Dawson.”

Sergeant Dasher cocked his head to the side. “It doesn’t have to be that way.”

“So you don’t deny it?”

“There are three kinds of Luxen, Miss Swartz. There are those who are like the ones on the other side of this window, Luxen who understand how their biology can greatly improve our lives. Then there are those who have assimilated into society and who pose little to no risk.”

“And the third group?”

He was silent for a moment. “The third group is the one that generations before us had feared upon the arrival of the Luxen. There are those who wish to take control of Earth and subjugate mankind.”

My head swung toward him. “What the what?”

His eyes met mine. “How many Luxen do you think there are, Miss Swartz?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know.” Daemon had once mentioned how many he thought were here, but I couldn’t recall the amount. “Thousands?”

Dasher spoke with authority. “There are roughly forty-five thousand inhabiting Earth.”

Whoa, that was a lot.

“About seventy percent of that forty-five thousand have been assimilated. Another ten percent can be trusted completely, like those in the other room. And the last twenty percent? There are nine thousand Luxen who want to see mankind under their thumbs—nine thousand beings who can wield as much destruction as a small warhead. We barely keep them under control as it is, and all it would take for a complete upheaval of our society is for them to sway more Luxen to their side. But want to know another startling number?”

Staring at him, I had no idea what to say.

“Let me ask you a question, Ms. Swartz. Where exactly do you think Daemon Black, his family, and his friends fall?”

“They aren’t interested in subjugating a house fly!” I barked out a harsh laugh. “Insinuating that is just ridiculous.”

“Is it?” He paused. “You can never really, truly know someone. And I am sure when you first met Daemon and his family, you never would’ve assumed what they are, correct?”

He had me there.

“You have to admit that if they were so good at hiding the fact they weren’t even human, how good they must be at hiding something as invisible as their allegiance,” he said. “You forget that they are not human, and they are not, I can assure you, a part of the ten percent that we trust.”

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I didn’t—couldn’t—believe what he said, but he had said all of this without an ounce of scorn. As if he were just stating facts, like a doctor would when telling a patient he had terminal cancer.

He turned back to the window, lifting his chin. “It is speculated that there are hundreds of thousands of Luxen out there, in space, who traveled to other points in the universe. What do you think would happen if they came here? Remember, these are Luxen who have had little to no contact with mankind.”

“I…” A shiver of unease traveled up my spine and across my shoulders. Turning my attention to the window, I watched a Luxen flicker into his true form. When I spoke, I didn’t recognize my own voice. “I don’t know.”

“They would obliterate us.”

I sucked in a sharp breath, still not wanting to believe what he was saying. “That sounds a little extreme.”

“Does it?” He paused, sounding curious. “Look at our own history. One stronger nation takes over another. The Luxen’s and even the Arum’s mentalities are no different from ours. Basic Darwinism.”

“Survival of the fittest,” I murmured, and for a moment I could almost see it. An invasion of Hollywood proportions, and I knew enough about the Luxen to know that if that many came here, and they wanted to take over, they would.

Closing my eyes, I shook my head again. He was mind-screwing me. There wasn’t an army of Luxen about to invade. “What does any of this have to do with me?”

“Besides the fact that you are strong, as is the Luxen who mutated you, and your blood could possibly help us come one step closer to a successful batch of LH-11? We would love to study the connection between you and the one who mutated you. Very few have been able to do it successfully, and it would be a great achievement to have another Luxen who could successfully mutate other humans and create hybrids who are stable.”

I thought of all those humans Dawson had been forced to mutate and watch die. I couldn’t bear it if Daemon had to go through that, creating humans that would only…

I took a deep breath. “Is that what happened to Carissa?”

“Who?”

“You know who,” I said tiredly. “She was mutated, but she was unstable. She came after me and self-destructed. She was a…” Good person. But I stopped, because I realized that if the sergeant knew anything about Carissa, he either wasn’t talking or he simply didn’t care.

A few moments passed before he continued. “But that’s not the only thing Daedalus is concerned with. Having the Luxen here who mutated you would be great, but that’s not what we’re focused on.”

I looked at him sharply, and my heart rate picked up. Surprise shuttled through me. They weren’t focused on luring Daemon in?

“We wanted you,” Sergeant Dasher said.

It felt like the floor moved under my feet. “What?”

His expression was neither cold nor warm. “See, Miss Swartz, there’re those nine thousand Luxen we need help dealing with. And when the rest of the Luxen come to Earth—and they will—we will need everything in our arsenal to save mankind. That means hybrids like you, and hopefully many more, who can fight.”

What the…? I was sure I’d slipped into an alternate universe. My brain pretty much imploded.

Dasher regarded me closely. “So, the question is, will you be with us, or will you stand against your own kind? Because you will have to make a choice, Miss Swartz. Between your own people or those of the one who mutated you.”

Chapter 6

Daemon

After saying good-bye to Dawson and Bethany, I left the house just as dawn broke. What had happened with Beth haunted my every step. She seemed a little better, but I didn’t know. I had no doubt that Dawson would take care of her, though.

I looked back at the house. A cold, distant part of me acknowledged that I might not see this place, or my brother and sister, ever again. That knowledge didn’t lessen my resolve.

I headed in the opposite direction of the colony, picking up speed. Although I stayed in my human form, I moved faster than I could be tracked.

Dawson had told me earlier that my car had been stowed away at Matthew’s, which helped detour local law enforcement that weren’t bought out by the DOD and were actually concerned about another set of missing teenagers.

It took me less than five minutes to make the trek to Matthew’s cabin in the middle of nowhere. I slowed as I reached his driveway, spying his SUV.

I smirked.

I needed to get out of state, at least into Virginia. I could travel the entire way in my true form. Hell, it probably would even be quicker, but I’d wear myself out, and I was pretty sure the little meet and greet I was going to do at Mount Weather would be exhausting.

Considering how ticked off I was at Matthew right at the moment, I was going to enjoy “borrowing” his car, since mine would draw attention from those I didn’t have time to deal with. I slid into the driver’s seat, reached down, and yanked on the manifold hiding the wires.

When Dawson and I were little, we used to hotwire cars with our fingers for shits and giggles at the mall in Cumberland. Took us a couple of tries until we discovered the exact charge needed to do a jump-start and not fry the computers or the whole wiring system. We’d then move them into different parking spots and watch the owners come out, dumbfounded by how their cars had moved.

We’d bored easily as kids.

I wrapped my fingers around the wires and sent a little charge through them. The car sputtered, and the engine turned over.

Still had the magic touch.

Not wasting any time, I got the hell out of Matthew’s driveway and headed for the highway. There was no way he’d be as understanding as Dawson, at least not at the moment.

My brother was set to take care of a few things for me. He’d move enough money to get Kat and me by for a couple of years to an account I’d meticulously kept off the radar just in case shit went downhill one day.

And shit definitely had gone downhill.

Dawson and Dee also had strategically hidden “oh-crap” accounts, just as the Thompsons did. Matthew had gotten us doing that. I used to think it was paranoia, but, damn, he’d been smart. There was no way I could come back, and neither could Kat. We’d have to find a way for her to see her mom, but neither of us could stay here when I got her out of there. It would be too dangerous.

But before I headed to Mount Weather, I had a little visit to make.

Blake couldn’t have been the only one to screw us.

There was a teen hybrid who had a lot of explaining to do.

A little bit after noon, I stashed Matthew’s car behind the rundown gas station on the same road as Luc’s club. Not that the potholed dirt pathway was really a road. The last thing I wanted was for them to know I was coming. Something about Luc was off, and in a big way. The fact that he was barely a teenager and running a club was a big clue. And he was out here, with other Luxen, and unprotected from the Arum?

Yeah, something was off about the kid.

Staying in my human form, I took off through the weeds and into the wooded area behind the gas station. Bright sunlight filtered through the branches, and warm May air rushed me as I flew over the uneven ground. Seconds later, I cleared the stand of trees and hit the overgrown field.

Last time I’d been here with Kat, the field was nothing more than a frozen patch of grass. Now the reeds whipped at my jeans and dandelions carpeted the grass. Kat had a thing for dandelions. She couldn’t keep her fingers off them when we’d been training with the onyx. From the moment those yellow weeds started poking through the ground, she’d snap them up and pop their heads off.

A wry grin tugged at my lips as I skidded to a stop in front of the windowless door.
Demented Kitten
.

I placed my hands on the steel door, sliding them down the center, feeling for gaps or locks to manipulate. There was no way this door was unlocking anytime soon.

Backing up, I scanned the front of the building. Squat and no windows, more like a warehouse than a club. I stalked around the side, knocking empty cardboard boxes out of the way. In the back was a loading dock.

Score.

Pressing my hands on the thin gap between the doors, I heard the wonderful sound of locks unclicking. I quickly eased the door open and stepped into a dark storage area. Slipping through the shadows, I hugged the wall, my gaze flitting over white containers and piles of papers. There was a distinct smell of alcohol in the air. Another door loomed ahead, and I opened it. The minute I stepped into the narrow corridor lined with dry erase boards with stick figures—
what the hell?
—drawn all over them, the hair on the back of my neck rose, and a cold shiver snaked its way down my spine.

Arum
.

I barreled out of the corridor, seconds from flipping into my true form. Instead I ground to a halt, face-to-face with the business end of a sawed-off shotgun.

That would sting.

The proud owner of the redneck killer was Big Boy the Bouncer, still rocking overalls. “Hands up, and don’t even think about going Lite-Brite on my ass, pretty boy.”

Jaw clenched tightly, I raised my hands. “There’s an Arum here.”

“No shit,” the bouncer said.

I cocked a brow. “So Luc is working with Arum, too?”

“Luc ain’t workin’ for no one.” The bouncer stepped forward, eyes narrowed. “Where’s that girl who’s normally with ya? She be sneakin’ around here, too?”

He glanced behind me, and I took advantage of the momentary distraction. My hand shot out faster than he could react. I snatched the shotgun from his grip and flipped it around. “How does it feel to have this pointed at your head?” I asked.

Big Boy’s nostrils flared. “Ain’t feelin’ real good.”

“Didn’t think so.” My finger itched on the trigger. “I’d like to keep my pretty face intact.”

The bouncer chortled. “And you do have a pretty face.”

Banjos started playing in my head.

“Oh, look,” said a new voice. “A love connection is made.”

“Not quite,” I said, wrapping my free hand around the barrel.

“Did you think I didn’t know you were here?”

Without taking my eyes off Big Boy, I smirked. “Does it matter?”

“Yeah, if you were trying to sneak up on me, I guess it does.” Luc ambled out of the shadows and into my line of sight. He was dressed in black running pants and a T-shirt that read,
Zombies Need Love, Too
. Nice. “You can put the gun down, Daemon.”

Smiling coldly, I let heat encompass my hand. Warmth flared, and the smell of burning metal wafted into the air. When the barrel was made useless, I handed it back to Big Boy.

The bouncer looked down at the gun and sighed. “I hate when this happens.”

I watched Luc hop up on the bar and swing his legs like a petulant child. Under the dim bar lighting, the ring around his oddly colored eyes seemed to be blurred. “You and I need to—”

Whipping around, I let out a roar as my human form faded. I shot across the empty dance floor, heading straight for the mass of shadows forming under the cage.

The Arum turned, and the second before we slammed into each other like two boulders rolling down a hill, I saw him in his true form—dark as midnight oil and shiny as glass. The impact shook the walls and rattled the cages hanging from the ceilings.

“Oh, jeez,” Luc said. “Can’t we all just get along?”

The Arum swept his arms around my waist as I threw him back into the wall. Plaster cracked and plumed into the air. He didn’t let go. The SOB was strong.

Spinning around, he broke my hold and his smoky arm snaked out, aiming for my chest. I darted to the side, throwing up my arm to blast the annoying bastard into next year.

“Boys.
Boys!
No fighting in my club,” Luc called, sounding irritated.

We ignored him.

Energy crackled over my palms, spitting white fire into the air.

You don’t know who you’re messsing with
, the Arum hissed, sending his words straight into my skull, which just pissed me off. I let go of the ball of energy.

It smacked into his shoulder.

He jerked away and then turned his head back to me, cocking it to the side. His form became more solid.

Static crackled down my arms. Light pulsed throughout the room. This guy was really starting to get on my nerves.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Luc said. “Hunter is very, very hungry.”

I was about to show Luc just what I thought about his advice when a form stepped out of the hallway leading to his office. It was a woman—a pretty, blond-haired woman who was oh-so human. Her eyes were wide. “Hunter?”

What. The. Hell.

Distracted, the Arum glanced back at the woman around the same time the Source fizzled out of me. He must’ve communicated with her, because she frowned and said, “But he’s one of
them
.”

Hunter’s head swung back to me, and his chest rose as he took a step back. A second later, a man stood before me, coming in at my height. Dark brown hair and those damn pale Arum eyes were fixed on me.

“Serena,” he said. “Go back to Luc’s office.”

The woman’s frown grew into a scowl, reminding me so much of Kat that my chest ached. “Excuse me?”

His head snapped toward her, eyes narrowing. An instant later, Big Boy strode across the dance floor, wrapping an arm around the woman’s shoulders. “This really ain’t where ya need to be right now.”

“But—”

“Come on, I got some stuff to show ya,” Big Boy said.

Hunter glared. “What stuff?”

Big Boy winked over his shoulder. “Stuff.”

As they disappeared down the hallway, the Arum’s lip curled. “I do not like this.”

Luc chuckled. “She’s not his type.”

Wait—what in the hell was going on? An Arum with a human?

“You want to tone down the light?” the asshole said. “You’re blinding me.”

Power rippled through me, and I wanted to slam my fist through his face, but he wasn’t attacking, which was strange. And he was with a human woman he appeared to be
really
with, which was even more bizarre.

I took my human form. “I don’t like your tone.”

He smirked.

My eyes narrowed.

“You two should play nice.” Luc clapped his hands together. “You never know when you’ll need such an unlikely ally.”

Hunter and I looked at each other. Both of us snorted. Doubtful.

The boy shrugged. “Okay. So, this is a very exciting day for me. I have Hunter, who needs no last name and only shows up when he wants something or someone to feed off, and I have Daemon Black, who looks like he wants to do me physical harm.”

“That’s about right,” I snarled.

“Care to tell me why?” he asked.

My hands curled into fists. “Like you don’t know.”

He shook his head. “I really don’t, but I’ll hazard a guess. I don’t see Katy, and I don’t feel her. So I’m assuming your little break-in at Mount Weather didn’t go smoothly.”

I took a step forward, rage swirling inside me.

“You broke into Mount Weather?” Hunter choked out a laugh. “Are you insane?”

“Shut up,” I said, keeping my eyes on Luc.

Hunter made a deep noise. “Our little mutual white flag of friendship is going to come to a halt if you tell me to shut up again.”

I spared him a brief glance. “Shut. Up.”

Dark shadows drifted over the Arum’s shoulder, and I faced him fully. “What?” I said, throwing my hands up in a universal come-get-some gesture. “I have a lot of pent-up violence I’d love to take out on someone.”

“Guys.” Luc sighed, sliding off the bar. “Seriously? Can’t you two bromance it out?”

Hunter ignored him, taking a step forward. “You think you can take me?”

“Think?” I scoffed, going toe-to-toe with the alien. “I know.”

The Arum laughed as he took one long finger and poked me in the chest—
poked me in the chest
! “Well, let’s find out.”

I grabbed his wrist, my fingers circling his cool skin. “Man, you really are—”

“Enough!” Luc shouted.

The next second I was pinned against one side of the club, and Hunter was on the other, several feet off the ground. The Arum’s expression most likely mirrored mine. Both of us struggled against the invisible hold, but neither of us could do a damn thing to get down.

Luc moved to the center of the floor. “I don’t have all day, guys. I have things to do. A nap I want to take this afternoon. There’s a new movie out on Netflix I want to watch, and a goddamn coupon for a free Whopper Jr. that’s calling my name.”

“Uh…” I said.

“Look.” Luc turned to me, his expression clouded. In that moment, he looked way older than I knew he was. “I’m guessing you think I was somehow a part of Katy being captured. You’re wrong.”

I sneered. “And I should believe you?”

“Do I look like I give a flying rainbow if you believe me? You broke into Mount Weather, a government stronghold. It takes no stretch of imagination to guess that something went wrong. I did what I promised.”

“Blake betrayed us. Daedalus has Kat.”

“And I told you to not trust anyone who had something to gain or lose.” Luc exhaled roughly. “Blake is…well, he’s Blake. But before you cast judgment, ask yourself how many people you’d crucify to get Katy back?”

The hold on me let go, and I slid down the wall, hitting my feet. As I stared at the teen, I believed him. “I have to get her back.”

“If Daedalus has your girl, you can kiss her good-bye,” Hunter said from across the room. “They are some fuc—”

“And you?” Luc cut in. “I told you to stay in my office. Not listening to me is not how to get something from me.”