The Brightest Night

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  Breathing a little easier, I nodded. “It’s not that I don’t believe they didn’t try to make me just like the others, but I don’t think it worked. Viv—Dr. Hemenway—thinks it’s because I was given three different types of serums and having the other two in my system could’ve somehow interacted with the Andromeda serum.”

  “Those are theories,” countered Cekiah.

  “One of those Trojans killed my brother, and you all know—” Hunter sucked in a breath. “You all knew him. He was not weak. He put up one hell of a fight. So did Sin and I, but that Trojan showed no restraint. It came at us as soon as we left Lotho’s place and came aboveground.”

  Lotho?

  He’s the leader of the Arum, answered Luc. And he’s a little eccentric.

  A little eccentric? Interest bloomed. Speaking of Hunter, I want to talk to him. I want to know how he sensed either Sarah or me.

  Already on it. He’s available later today.

  I seriously hoped there was a later.

  “It was like it was waiting for us. Between the three of us, we were able to injure it, but he was still alive when he escaped.” A muscle worked along Hunter’s jaw. “Never have I seen anything like that. I’ve never seen anything like her, either, but what we came across in Atlanta, it’s different from her. I see that now.”

  My breath caught. Atlanta. We were there, Luc.

  I know, came his quiet response.

  I closed my eyes. Took no leap of logic that the Trojan had been there, looking for us—for me.

  “The Trojan we faced down showed no restraint,” Daemon chimed in. “We barely were able to get the upper hand, let alone kill it. The Trojan reminded me of…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “It’s hard to explain. There was something entirely inhuman about it.”

  “The one I saw reminded me of that one liquid robot from the Terminator movies,” Hunter said.

  I frowned.

  “The T-1000?” Beth asked, and when several pairs of eyes shifted to her, she shrank back a little. “What? I loved that movie.”

  “Yeah, that one.” Hunter ran a hand through his hair. “That blank, robotic expression that lacked all emotion. There was no fear. None whatsoever.”

  Dawson was nodding. “Agreed. The one we came across could’ve been the perfect T-1000.”

  “I have no idea what a T-1000 is,” Zouhour murmured.

  The male hybrid next to her patted her arm. “I’ll fill you in later.”

  Cekiah started to speak, but I felt a dancing of fingers along the back of my neck and shoulder blades the same moment she must have. “It appears we’re about to have company.”

  The door creaked open a moment later, and Zoe slipped in, along with Grayson. They stopped just inside the door, letting it swing shut slowly behind them.

  Zouhour frowned. “I didn’t realize you two were invited to this meeting.”

  “We weren’t.” Grayson leaned against the wall and folded his arms over his chest. “But we’re here.”

  That response got more than just a couple of narrowed looks.

  “What Grayson meant to say is that we know we weren’t invited,” Zoe explained. “But we also know what this meeting is going to lead to, and we wanted to be here.”

  “And what do you think this meeting is going to lead to?” Cekiah asked.

  “Evie being kicked out of here, or at least you all trying to do just that. We’re here to stop you from making a very bad life choice,” Zoe replied, standing there as if she were ready to go into battle. “And I get why you all don’t want her here. None of you have seen anything like her. She’s different. You think she’s a risk, but I’ve known Evie for years. So has Grayson.”

  Wasn’t quite sure watching over someone for years meant Grayson actually knew me, but I’d take any backup.

  “She’s a good person who’s been through a lot, and she needs the protection of this community. She deserves it,” Zoe stated, and God, I loved her. I couldn’t ask for a better friend.

  “I’m sure she’s a wonderful person, but this isn’t personal,” Quinn responded, and there wasn’t an ounce of dismissal in his tone. I believed what he said. “You’re right, though. We’ve never seen anything like her before. None of us, including her, knows what’s she capable of.”

  “And humans had never experienced anything like the Luxen before. They still have no idea what you’re capable of, and their fear of the unknown is why this community exists. Don’t each and every one of you expect to be given the chance to prove that you come in peace and all that crap?” Zoe challenged. “Or do humans and Luxen share that one common flaw?”

  “Oh, burn,” Luc murmured as the corners of my lips tipped up.

  Those rocking alien DNA paled or drew back from the in-your-face hypocrisy. Jamie, the lone human female, looked less than pleased, but there was even a glint of doubt in her brown eyes.

  “Actually,” Grayson cut in with a long-suffering sigh. “Nearly everyone in here, including her, thinks she needs the protection of the community. That’s not true. Not remotely. What is true is that you need her.”

  My head jerked around to him in surprise. Was Grayson actually actively defending me?

  “She is more powerful than everyone in this room combined,” he continued, unfolding his arms and reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a sour apple Blow Pop. “The Daedalus have more like her, and when they decide to break up this little militia you have going on here, even someone who isn’t particularly intelligent would know what a good idea it would be to have her on their side.”

  The world just stopped spinning on its axis. Pigs were flying. Santa was real. Hell had even frozen over.

  “But I’m thinking most of you are all too human.” Grayson wasn’t done as his gaze flicked dismissively across the Luxen in the room. “You force her out, you lose Zoe. You lose me. And you also lose Luc. And you’d have to be a unique kind of stupid to not take what that means into consideration.”

  Luc smirked as he leveled a stare on every single one of the unofficial but totally official council members. “He does have a way with words, doesn’t he?”

  “That he does.” Cekiah tapped her fingers under her chin. “But we’re not completely defenseless here. We’ve done just fine without any of you being here.”

  “How will you do without us?” Daemon asked, and another burst of shock rippled through me.

  “Or us?” Dawson leaned back, draping his arm over the back of Beth’s chair.

  Hunter’s smile was like smoke. “Or without me and every Arum here?”

  I needed to sit down.

  “And I’m sure Archer and Dee would be right behind us,” Daemon added.

  I really needed to sit down before I fell down. Backing up, I plopped into the empty chair that I didn’t think had been beside Luc moments before.

  Luc wore the kind of half grin I knew was beyond infuriating to anyone who was on the receiving end of them. “What were you saying again, Cekiah?”

  Her lips had thinned. “I don’t appreciate the not-so-veiled threat from any of you. Some of you I’d expect better from. Not you, Luc. I’d expect nothing less.”

  “And that’s what you’ll always get,” he replied.

  She coughed out a dry laugh as her gaze slid to Daemon and crew. “You would really leave here with a newborn? You’d risk that child’s life by standing with them?”

  “You want to hear something interesting?” Kat asked. Baby Adam had woken up, stretching a little hand up. She pressed a kiss to the tiny knuckles. “I told Evie what we would do if she proved a threat. That any of us would risk certain death at the hands of Luc to ensure the safety of Zone 3. And do you know how she responded? She didn’t get mad at me, nor did she yell or break down. She said that she understood, and I believed her. Still do.”

  The room had fallen quiet as Kat said, “I don’t want to go out there. Not until the Daedalus is truly destroyed and it’s a world that I’d want to raise my son in. Isn’t that w
hat we’re preparing for?”

  Several severe looks settled into the faces of those at the table, but Kat would not be silenced. “We are training every person capable of fighting back to do just that.” Her clear gray eyes lifted to me. “That’s what we’re doing in the Yard.”

  Someone, and I think it was Quinn, sounded like they were having a cardiac arrest.

  “Kat—” Jamie started.

  “Interrupt her and it won’t be pretty,” Daemon replied casually as if he were giving directions. “And it’s not me I’m warning you about. Adam kept both of us up late last night. My girl is cranky.”

  Jamie snapped her mouth shut.

  Kat’s smile was downright bloodthirsty. “We knew even before we had proof the Daedalus was still operating that sooner than later, those in charge would come for us. They always do, but we will be ready. It will be the last thing anyone who attempts to destroy us will do. Then we will go out there and we will hunt down every single member of the Daedalus and everyone who has aided them and allowed them to put a president in office who won’t just stop at genocide of the Luxen. And oh yeah, he’s totally on our list. Not everyone in this room helped save the entire world when the Luxen invaded, but half of us did, and that’s no exaggeration. We will not allow what we bled and sacrificed for to be turned into something far worse than what the invading Luxen could’ve ever hoped to achieve. The world beyond these walls belongs to all of us. We will make damn sure it does.”

  I might’ve stopped breathing at that point.

  “Each Luxen and hybrid is being trained to fight with the Source, and every human who is able is being trained to fight hand to hand and then some.” She kissed Adam’s fist again. “Those who can’t are learning how to fight back in different ways, from providing medical assistance to a multitude of other essentials that are necessary.”

  That’s what the building blocks of this community were, why they were able to care for everyone, no matter their age or capabilities. Everyone pitched in, whether it was washing clothes or growing food, caring for the elderly or teaching the children, and they all did so with a common goal.

  To take back their world.

  Kat smiled at the soft sound Adam made. “I’ve heard that Dasher claims he has an army. Well, so do we, and it’s bigger than you can possibly imagine and the Daedalus could ever dream of.”

  “Remember when you asked if people ever left here?” Zoe asked from behind me, and I nodded. “They do. Both here and Chicago. They go out and meet others, setting up enclaves all over the United States. They recruit family members and friends who were told that they were dead. Doesn’t take much to open their eyes to the truth of what is going down.”

  No, I didn’t imagine that it would.

  “There are dozens of locations strategically placed throughout the States, each one commanded by either one of the zone leaders or a trusted, ex-military-minded human,” Dawson said. “Eaton has helped coordinate and vet them.”

  “There are outposts in other countries, places that haven’t aligned themselves with the administration’s current policies.” Serena smiled. “The Daedalus may have a lot of connections, but they may have forgotten how well connected some of the Luxen have become, especially in Europe.”

  “We are tens of thousands strong,” Kat said. “And when we fight, we won’t be fighting for someone else’s greed or their thirst for power. We won’t be doing it for a paycheck or for accolades. We’ll be fighting to survive.”

  “I’ll take those odds any day.” Hunter tapped his hand off the day.

  “So, we will not raise our child in the same damn type of society that we’re going to overthrow, a community full of people who damn well should have known better, who have been given second and third and fifth chances and yet refuse to extend the same to another because they’re different.” Kat eyed every single one of the members at the table. “If we turn Evie out? That sets the kind of precedent that has ripped the world outside these walls apart for centuries. It will be the same precedent that will carry over into the world we will try to build.”

  “We are better than that.” Beth’s quiet voice drew all eyes. “At least that’s what I’ve always believed, but listening to some of you today, I have grave concerns that I may have been misguided.”

  “Bethany,” Quinn said gently. “How can you not be worried?”

  “None of us are saying that we aren’t worried about what she could do or become. God knows, I was scared half to death yesterday when I saw Ashley standing before her.” She swallowed hard as Dawson brushed a strand of her hair back, his hand lingering on the nape of her neck. “But Ashley isn’t afraid of her. All she did yesterday was talk about her new friend who could fly.”

  Oh.

  Oh.

  That was me, totally me.

  “And our baby girl is often a better judge of character than nearly a hundred percent of the people we know,” Dawson said. “If Ashley wants to be friends with her, then Evie has got my vote.”

  “I gave her good enough reason to attack me, and she didn’t,” Hunter added. “She has mine.”

  “Ditto.” Serena raised her hand. “I was totally pulling a gun on her. She did nothing but warn me.” She cringed. “Again, really sorry about that.”

  “She has mine,” Kat said. “If that wasn’t obvious already.”

  “Seeing what I saw yesterday?” Daemon met Luc’s stare, and this was also about Daemon repaying Luc. But that wasn’t the main reason. I wasn’t going to lessen what they were doing by throwing their hats in with me. They trusted me. “I want her on my team when the day comes that we end this.”

  “She has mine,” Zouhour announced, and a feather could’ve knocked me out of the chair. “Kat and Bethany are right. We are building a better world. We cannot do that if we let fear of what we don’t know or understand guide us.”

  I clenched the arms of the chair to stop myself from doing something stupid, say, like climbing over the table and hugging all of them, and even baby Adam.

  Cekiah looked around at the faces at the table, and one by one, they all nodded, even Jamie. There was a ghost of a smile on her face as her gaze returned to me. “Well, I guess someone should introduce you to the Yard.”

  28

  The Yard was exactly that and then some.

  Still a little dazed by what had gone down in the meeting and definitely still cringing from my gushing stream of words when I’d attempted to thank Kat and everyone afterward, I listened to Cekiah as she gave me a tour and Luc hung a few feet back, following at a rather sedate pace.

  The Yard itself was behind a high school, encompassing the parking lot, football and soccer field, and a baseball field.

  But that wasn’t all. As we drew closer to the open double doors, I picked up the faint, repetitive popping. “What is that?”

  “The auditorium had already been soundproofed, so it’s made the perfect firing range,” Cekiah explained. “We didn’t want the children or those who are vulnerable to be frightened by the sound of guns. Of course, we could only stop so much sound transfer, and there is a level of distastefulness to use a room inside of the school for this purpose, but unless you were on this part of the property, you wouldn’t hear it.”

  “That makes sense.” From where we stood, I could see shapes of people moving about just inside the door. With the exception of the Trojans and the like, they’d be using guns. After all, it seemed like guns were mankind’s weapon of choice. Fight fire with fire.

  “We also use some of the classrooms for strategic planning for those who have been recommended for possibly leading an outpost,” Cekiah explained. “The school has two gymnasiums, and we use them for grappling training.”

  “Sort of like wrestling,” Luc expounded. “But a bit more intense since it often incorporates mixed martial arts. The Daedalus often uses it in their training.”

  “Considering how I took out April, I imagined I was trained in something like that, but I guess it’s lock
ed away.”

  “I find that fascinating.” Cekiah turned to me, eyes widening. “Not that I find what was done to you fascinating but more so the fact that what you know exists on an unconscious level. How you’re able to tap into that knowledge and use it, I find very interesting.”

  “You and me both,” I mumbled.

  “It would be interesting to see if you can access those training techniques under the right circumstances.” Luc pulled his gaze from the sprawling brick building. “I imagine it would be a lot like with the Source. Once you use that training, it will become more natural to you.”

  “I don’t know.” I folded my arms. “Being able to use an alien source of power seems more believable than my suddenly knowing jiujitsu.”

  Luc grinned. “As easily imaginable as you being able to run faster than I can?”

  I smiled at the memory of doing just that, basking a little in that moment of victory.

  Shameless.

  Don’t rain on my parade, I told him. “Who is doing all the training?”

  “A mixture, but for the most part, people who are skilled in whatever area they are training in. We got lucky with Eaton. He knew a lot of men and women who weren’t happy with what was coming down the pipeline. Even a few who, like he was, were aware of the Daedalus and in the beginning had believed that there was good that they could accomplish.”

  “Do you believe that there was good in the beginning?” I asked, curious to know where she stood.

  Turning away from the school, she gave a small shake of her head. “I think anything that involves humans isn’t cut-and-dried. The same would go for Luxen, for any species that has the capability for emotions, desires, and wants.” She glanced over at me. “History has shown that some of the greatest atrocities were aided along by well-intentioned people.”

  “Well, they do say the road to hell is paved with good intentions,” Luc said, shoving his hands into his pockets.

  Cekiah steered us away from the entrance, toward the chain-link fence. “The football field is one of the areas where we train the humans for hand-to-hand combat,” she explained as we walked through the parking lot. “As you can see.”