Lux [4] Origin

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

One glance at Archer, who was now staring at Dee, had me assuming that she wasn’t.

  On the other side of me, Dawson leaned forward and grabbed two of the subs, one for him and the other for Beth. The girl was bundled up in a quilt, looking half asleep. Our eyes met, and a tentative smile brightened her face.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked.

  “Great.” She picked at the bread, pulling off little brown patches. “I’m just tired.”

  Again, I wondered what could possibly be wrong with her, because something was. She didn’t look just tired; she looked absolutely exhausted.

  “It’s been a lot of traveling,” Dawson elaborated. “It’s kind of worn me out, too.”

  He didn’t look worn out. If anything, he looked like he was bursting at the seams. His green eyes were particularly bright, especially every time he looked at Beth.

  Which was all the time.

  “Eat,” he said quietly to her. “You need to eat at least two of these.”

  She laughed softly. “I don’t know about two.”

  We stayed there for a while, long after the food was gone, and I think everyone was delaying the inevitable—the big talk. So much so that Matthew left the room, telling us he’d be back in a few moments.

  Daemon leaned forward, dropping his hands to his knees. “Time to get down to business.”

  “True dat,” Luc said. “We need to get on the road soon. Tomorrow would be best.”

  “I think that’s assumed,” Andrew said. “But where exactly on the road are we heading to?”

  Luc opened his mouth, but Archer held up a hand, silencing him. “Hold that thought.”

  The younger origin’s eyes narrowed, but then he sat back, his jaw clenched. Archer stood and strode out of the room, hands closing into fists.

  “What’s going on?” Daemon asked.

  Unease snaked down my spine. I glanced over at Dawson, who also was suddenly on alert. “Luc,” I said, feeling my heart trip up.

  Luc stood, his chest rising sharply. One second he was standing in front of the settee and the next he was across the room, a hand around Lyla’s throat. “How long?” he demanded.

  “Holy shit.” Andrew jumped to his feet, moving in front of his sister and Dee.

  “How long?” Luc demanded again, his fingers tightening on her throat.

  Blood drained from the female Luxen’s face. “I-I don’t know what you m-mean.”

  Daemon stood slowly and stepped forward. His brother was behind him. “What’s going on?”

  Luc ignored him, lifting the frightened Luxen off the floor. “I’m going to give you five seconds to answer the question. One. Four—”

  “I didn’t have a choice,” she gasped out, clutching the boy’s wrist.

  My blood chilled.

  Understanding rippled across the room, followed by horror. I moved closer to Beth, who was struggling to unwrap herself from the blanket.

  “Wrong answer,” Luc said, voice low as he dropped Lyla. “You always have a choice. It’s the one thing that no one can strip from us.”

  Luc moved so quickly that I doubted even Daemon could fully track what he did. His arm shot out. White swirled down his arm, exploding from his hand. A wave of heat and power flowed through the room, blowing the hair back from my face.

  The energy smacked into Lyla’s chest, throwing her backward into the oil painting of the Vegas Strip. A look of shock crossed her face, and then there was nothing. Her eyes were blank as she slid down the wall, her legs tucking under her.

  Oh my God… I stepped back, clamping my hand over my mouth.

  There was a hole in Lyla’s chest. Smoke wafted out of it.

  A second later, she blurred like bad reception, and then she was in her true form, the luminous glow fading until it revealed the translucent skin and network of dull veins.

  “Care to explain why you just killed our host?” Daemon asked in a dangerously even voice.

  Archer reappeared in the wide opening of the room, one hand clamped on the back of Matthew’s neck and a crushed phone in the other. Blood trickled out from Matthew’s nose, a deeper red with a blue tint to it.

  Daemon and Dawson shot forward. “What the hell?” Daemon’s voice thundered through the house. “You have two seconds to answer that question before I tear this room apart with your ass.”

  “Your friend here was making a phone call.” Archer’s tone was flat, so calm that a shudder worked its way through my muscles. “Tell them, Matthew, tell them who you were calling.”

  There was no response from Matthew. He just stared at Daemon and Dawson.

  Archer’s grip tightened, jerking Matthew’s head back. “The bastard was on the phone with Daedalus. He screwed us. Bad.”

  Chapter 27

  KATY

  Daemon stepped back, actually physically recoiling from the accusation. “No.” His voice was hoarse. “No way.”

  “I’m sorry,” Matthew said. “I couldn’t let this happen.”

  “Let what happen?” Dee said. Her face was pale as her hands clenched at her sides.

  Matthew didn’t take his eyes off Daemon. His voice, his entire being pleaded with Daemon to understand the unthinkable. “I can’t keep losing you all—you’re my family, and Adam is dead. He’s dead because of what Daedalus wants. You have to understand. It’s the last thing I wanted to go through again.”

  A cold sensation raced through my veins. “Again?”

  Matthew’s vibrant blue eyes slid toward me, and it was like the shutters were off. For the first time, I saw the distrust and the loathing in his stare. So potent and powerful, it reached across the room and latched onto me. “This is why we don’t mix with humans. Accidents happen, and it’s in our nature to save the ones we love. That’s why we don’t love humans. It leads to this! The moment one of us gets involved with a human, Daedalus is only a few steps behind.”

  “Oh my God.” Dee clasped her hands over her mouth.

  Paris tsked softly. “That is a terrible reason to betray those you consider family.”

  “You wouldn’t understand!” Matthew struggled free from Archer’s grip. “If I have to sacrifice one to save everyone else, I will. I have done it. It has been for the best.”

  I was dumbfounded. Struck absolutely stupid for a few seconds, but then I thought of that night Daemon and I had gone to Matthew after we saw the Arum go into the house with Nancy—the same night Matthew had confirmed that if Beth was alive, Dawson had to be.

  There had been so much that Matthew had known that we never questioned. And the fact that he knew about this place and never mentioned it before? Horror rose in me as I stared at him.

  Luc cocked his head to the side. “What did they offer you? Everyone would go free if you turned over just one of them? An equal exchange. A life for a handful of others?”

  I was going to be sick.

  “They wanted Daemon and Kat,” he said, his gaze sliding back to Daemon. “They promised that everyone else would walk away from this.”

  “Are you insane?” shrieked Dee. “How is that helping anyone?”

  “It will!” Matthew roared. “Why do you think they left Daemon and you alone? You two knew about Dawson’s relationship and that Bethany knew the truth about us. All of you were at risk. I had to do something.”

  “No.” Beth’s quiet voice shook the room. “My uncle was the one who turned us—”

  “Your uncle confirmed what was suspected,” Matthew spat. “When they came to me about you two, they gave me an option. If I told the truth about the extent of your relationship and what you knew, everyone else would be left alone.”

  “You son of a bitch.” The edges of Daemon’s body started to blur. “You turned over Dawson to them? My brother?” Venom dripped from his words.

  Matthew shook his head. “You know what they do to Luxen who break the rules. They are never heard from again. They threatened to take you all in.” He spun toward Ash and Andrew. “Even you. I had no choice.”

&
nbsp; Energy crackled through the room.

  “Yeah, they end up in Daedalus,” Archer said, his hands flexing. “Right to the same place you just sent Daemon and Katy.”

  “You told them about Beth and me?” Dawson’s voice broke halfway through.

  Matthew nodded his head again. “I’m sorry, but you exposed everyone to them.”

  Daemon looked stricken, as if he’d been sucker punched, but the sudden heat rising in the room wasn’t coming from him. It was from Dawson. A fine current of energy rolled out from him.

  “It’s the same now.” Matthew pressed his hands together, as if he were about to pray. “All they want is Daemon and Katy. Everyone else, including you and Beth, will walk away from this. I had to do it. I have to protect—”

  Dawson reacted so quickly that if anyone in the room wanted to stop him, he or she didn’t have a chance. Rearing back, he sent a blast of pure, unstable energy straight into Matthew. The bolt slammed into Matthew’s chest, spinning him around.

  I knew Matthew was dead before he hit the ground.

  I knew it was Dee who screamed.

  I knew it was Daemon who grabbed my arm and pulled me from the room.

  I knew it was Archer’s voice that rose above the chaos, joining Daemon’s in issuing orders.

  And I knew we had to get out of there. Fast.

  But I never expected that Matthew would do something like this, or that Dawson would kill him without so much as blinking an eye.

  “Stay with me, Kitten.” Daemon’s deep voice glided over my skin. We were passing the kitchen. “I need you to—”

  “I’m fine,” I cut in, watching Luc spin around to pull a thunderstruck Ash into the foyer. “They’re coming. Now.”

  “You can bet your little behind on that,” Archer said, reaching behind him. He pulled out a gun.

  “I don’t like you talking about Kat’s behind, but besides that, where are we going?” Daemon asked, his grip on my hand tightening. “What’s the plan? Run out of here like we’re insane?”

  “Sounds about right,” Andrew said. “Unless we all want to get carted away.”

  “No.” Luc kept a careful eye on Dawson and Beth. The Luxen was still sprouting some major rage face. “We head out of town, toward Arizona. I got a place those assholes won’t find. But we have to get out of the city.”

  Daemon glanced at his brother. “Sound good to you?” When Dawson nodded, Daemon let go of my hand and stepped up to his brother, clasping him on the shoulder. “You did what you had to do.”

  Dawson placed a hand over Daemon’s. “I’d do it again.”

  “All right, family bonding time aside, anyone who gets into one of these cars outside is in it for the long haul,” Paris said, shaking a set of car keys. “If you even think you’re not ready to put your life on the line for everyone here, then you stay behind. If you screw us out there, I will end you.” He flashed a rather charming smile. “And I will probably enjoy it.”

  Daemon cut him a dark look but said, “I second that.”

  “I’m already in it this far,” Andrew said, shrugging. “Might as well go all the way.”

  Everyone looked at Ash.

  “What?” she said, tucking short strands of hair behind her ears. “Look. If I didn’t want to take part in this craziness, I would’ve stayed home, but I’m here.”

  She had a point, but I wanted to ask why she or Andrew would risk everything when they weren’t fans of Beth or me. Then it hit me. It wasn’t about us. It was about Daemon and Dawson—it was about family.

  I could get behind that.

  We hurried toward the front door, but at the last second, I grabbed Daemon’s arm. “Wait a minute! I need to go upstairs.”

  Archer whirled around. “Whatever it is, we can leave it. It’s not important.”

  “Daemon…” My fingers dug in. I assumed everyone else had their IDs. I didn’t know, but we needed our papers. We had to have them.

  “Shit.” He got what I was talking about. “Go ahead outside. I’ll be faster.”

  Nodding, I darted around him and rejoined Archer. “Really?” he growled in a low voice. “Those papers are that important.”

  “Yes.” We didn’t have rings. We didn’t have a certificate under our real names and, yeah, it wasn’t real, but we had that license, our fake IDs, and right now those things meant everything. They were our future.

  Dawson already had Beth loaded in the backseat of an SUV. Ash and Andrew were climbing in with them.

  “Go with them,” I told Archer, knowing he’d keep them safe. “We’ll go with Paris and Luc.”

  Archer didn’t hesitate. He intercepted Dawson and got behind the wheel. “You want me driving in case stuff goes down. Trust me.”

  Dawson didn’t look convinced, and in that moment he was an exact replica of his brother, but he did something Daemon pretty much never did. He didn’t argue. Just got in the passenger side and shut up.

  A second later, Daemon appeared behind me. “They’re in my back pocket.”

  “Thank you.”

  We climbed into the Hummer, Paris behind the wheel and Luc in the front. Luc twisted around as we slammed the doors shut. “Sorry about Matthew,” he said to Daemon. “I know you were close. He was family. That sucked. But people do sucky things when they’re desperate.”

  “And dumb,” Paris muttered under his breath.

  Daemon nodded as he settled back against the seat. He glanced at me and lifted the arm closest to me. I didn’t hesitate. Heart aching something fierce, I scooted over and pressed against his side. His arm came around me, his fingers digging into my arm.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered to him. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Shh,” he murmured. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

  There was a lot to be sorry for. Things I couldn’t really even wrap my head around as we peeled out of the driveway. And the other things, like the fact that Daedalus was most likely en route right now? Yeah, I couldn’t think about that. Panic was already simmering inside, wanting to sink its claws in me. I’d be useless freaking out.

  The gate up ahead wasn’t opening. Daemon held on tight as Paris didn’t break. He plowed through the metal gate.

  “Good thing we’re in a Hummer,” Luc said.

  Daemon reached for the seat belt. “You really should be wearing this.”

  “What about you?” I let him buckle me in the middle seat.

  “I’m harder to kill.”

  “Actually…” Luc drawled the word out. “I’m probably the hardest thing to kill.”

  “Special snowflake syndrome strikes again,” Daemon muttered.

  Luc snorted as Paris hit breakneck speed on the narrow road, Archer close behind us. “Did Daedalus ever show you their neatest weapon?”

  “They showed us a lot of things,” I said, lurching sideways as Paris hit a curve.

  “How about that special gun of theirs?” Luc put a foot up on the dashboard, and I hoped the airbag didn’t deploy anytime soon. “The one that can take out a Luxen with one shot—the PEP? Pure Energy Projectile.”

  “What?” My stomach dipped as I glanced back and forth between Luc and Daemon. “What kind of weapon is that?”

  “It’s some kind of energy pulse that disrupts light waves—high tech. Kind of like onyx, but much worse.” Daemon’s brows lowered. “I didn’t see it, but Nancy told me about it.”

  “It’s an electromagnetic weapon,” Luc explained. “And it’s very dangerous to anything around it. If they break it out, they aren’t messing around. The damn thing will disrupt signals and can even hurt humans since the brains, lungs, and heart are all controlled by low-voltage electricity. The Pulse Energy Projectile isn’t fatal for humans in a low frequency, but it is catastrophic to our kind at any frequency.”

  Ice drenched me. “One shot?”

  “One shot,” Luc repeated gravely. “You two probably have nothing to worry about, since they want you alive, but you need to realize that if they bring
out the big guns, people are going to die.”

  I froze, unable to drag in a breath. More people would die. “We can’t let that happen.” I twisted toward Daemon, going as far as the seat belt let me. “We can’t let people die because—”

  “I know.” Daemon’s jaw set with determination. “We can’t go back, either. We just have to get out of here before we need to worry about anything like that.”

  My heart pounded in my chest as I glanced at Luc. He didn’t look so convinced. I knew Daemon was trying to reassure me. I appreciated that, but guilt piled on top of the terror. If anyone died…

  “Don’t,” Daemon said quietly. “I know what you’re thinking. Don’t.”

  “How can I not think about that?”

  Daemon didn’t have an answer. The creeping terror was like an endless hole, growing in size as we neared the teeming city at dusk. The red and blue neon lights of the billboards and flashing lights were harsh instead of welcoming.

  Traffic had ground to a halt south of the Boulevard, an endless stream of vehicles that was more parking lot than road.

  “Well, shoot.” Paris smacked his hands on the steering wheel. “This is inconvenient.”

  “Inconvenient? Understatement of the year.” Daemon gripped the back of his seat. “We need to get out of traffic. We’re sitting ducks here.”

  Paris snorted. “Unless you have a hovercraft in your back pocket, I don’t see how I’m supposed to get us out of here. There are side roads we can take, but they’re farther down this road.”

  With shaky fingers, I unbuckled the seat belt and scooted forward until my knees pressed against the center console. A quick glance back confirmed that Archer was there. “Why isn’t the traffic moving at all? Look.” I pointed. The line of cars heading out of the city stretched all the way from the Caesar’s Palace sign and down. “It’s completely stopped.”

  “There’s no need to panic yet,” Paris said. A cheerful smile crossed his face. “It’s probably just an accident or a naked person running through traffic. It happens. We’re in Vegas, after all.”

  Someone outside laid on a horn. “Or the more likely scenario is that they have the traffic blocked at the interstate exit. I’m just saying,” I said.