The Brightest Night

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  Adam. I sucked in a sharp breath, knowing instinctively that their baby was named after him.

  “There’s a lot more to it. The guy was or is a master manipulator and liar. He ended up getting Kat captured by the Daedalus, and while she was with them, Jason Dasher had her fight other hybrids—namely, Blake. She killed him,” Emery said. “Or at least, that’s what she and everyone believed.”

  “Dear God.” I scrubbed my fingers down my face. No wonder they didn’t want Kat to know until Daemon returned. “How is he related to Luc?”

  Emery lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know how Luc knows him. All I know is that he met him a couple of times, but I wasn’t around then.”

  I had no idea if Emery was telling the truth or not. It was something I was going to have to get out of Luc.

  “He knew me,” I said, dropping my hands to my thighs. “I think he was there when I was at the Daedalus, being trained.”

  “And turned into the badass Trojan that can have disappearing tattoos?” Heidi rose from the arm of the chair and plopped down next to me. “Because that’s what it kind of reminded me of. Or embedded stones … tattoos or stones that moved.” She smiled when my gaze met hers. “It was really cool looking.”

  I cracked a grin.

  “I’m going to be honest.” She bit down on her lip. “But I am having such a hard time picturing you running fast anywhere. I mean, I remember you in gym class. You ran like you were on slo-mo.”

  A laugh burst out of me as I leaned into her, resting my head on her shoulder. “God, I’ve missed you.”

  “Same,” she whispered.

  Knowing it was getting close to the time that Luc and crew should return, we left for the entry house. Grayson joined us, having appeared out of freaking nowhere. The walk to the farmhouse was quiet.

  It looked entirely different at night, the driveway and porch lit with torches and solar lights. It was so bright that I knew the Arum I felt as we neared the porch was Hunter. I could see him sitting on one of the rocking chairs, his wife beside him.

  Doris stepped out of the house, a tray of glasses. “Figured we’d have more company than normal tonight. Made some sweet tea.”

  “Thank you.” I took a glass and then sat on the top step. Taking a drink, I almost moaned in pleasure. It was truly sweet tea, heavy on the sweet part.

  Heidi and Emery spoke with Hunter and Serena while Grayson lurked somewhere to my left. I nursed my sweet tea, having no idea how Daemon and Kat were going to handle the news.

  “Hey.”

  I turned to my left, and just as I’d suspected, Grayson was there, just out of the reach of the lights. He stood in what must’ve been a flower bed at one time. For some reason, I thought about what he’d said last night. You may think I hate you. He sure didn’t act like he liked me, and if he cared for Luc like he did, I really couldn’t blame him for disliking me.

  “I have a feeling this is going to go in one ear and out the other. I also have a feeling Luc is going to say the same to you,” he said, voice so low that I doubted anyone else could hear him. “I know you want to talk to Blake, but you need to realize that whatever he tells you, you’ve got to take it with a grain of salt. He’s not to be trusted.”

  I nodded.

  Grayson was right. I did want to talk to Blake, but if given the chance, could I believe anything he said? That question was going to have to wait.

  “By the way, I haven’t said anything about where you were last night,” he added.

  “I figured if you had, someone would’ve yelled at me by now,” I said. “But thanks for not saying anything.”

  He was silent for a moment. “But I will tell Luc as soon as this little drama plays out.”

  “I’m going to tell him,” I whispered. “I wouldn’t hide that from him.”

  “I’d hope not.” He then turned away.

  What was happening with Nate and those kids was important, but this Blake thing was going to take precedence.

  Only a few moments later, I felt them before I saw them. I rose from where I sat, placing the glass of tea out of the way so it wouldn’t be knocked over. I walked down the steps. Moments later, the small group appeared out of the darkness. Four had left. Four had returned. Each wore backpacks and carried duffel bags that appeared close to bursting.

  I wanted to race down the driveway, meet him there, just like Heidi was doing, rushing toward Zoe, but I remained where I was, sensing that something big was going to happen the moment Daemon learned the truth. I watched Luc as he stepped farther into the lit area, his striking features breaking into a beautiful smile. It faltered the moment he picked up on my thoughts. I replayed everything that had happened, and I knew he read all of it.

  His face went impressively blank as his gaze shifted to where Hunter sat in the rocking chair. Then he walked past me, stopping briefly to kiss me before he unloaded what he’d brought back on the porch. He waited until Daemon did the same, and by then Hunter had gotten his butt out of the chair and stood.

  “Daemon,” Hunter said.

  The quietness of the Arum’s voice must’ve sent some sort of warning to Daemon, because he went incredibly still. “What?”

  “Blake Saunders is alive,” Hunter told him. “And he’s here.”

  35

  Daemon took a step back, arms going to his sides. “That’s not possible.”

  “It’s true,” Hunter said. “I fed on the Luxen. I didn’t see how they’re alive, but I know they’re telling the truth about who they are.”

  “That son of a bitch is alive, and he’s here?” Daemon started to turn, his pupils a stark white. “Where is he?”

  “They’re being held under the library,” Hunter answered.

  “Hold up,” Luc said when Daemon started down the steps. “We need to talk about this.”

  “Talk about what? He’s supposed to be dead. He needs to be dead, and there is no way in hell he’s not going to be.” A white glow emanated from Daemon as he stalked down the steps. “There’s nothing to discuss.”

  Luc stepped in front of the clearly enraged Luxen. “You need to calm down.”

  “You need to get out of my way.”

  “I’m going to ignore that, because I get it. You’re mad. You have every right to be mad, but we need to know how he’s alive.”

  “Right now, I don’t care. Whatever he tells us cannot be trusted.” Daemon was losing hold of his human form. “You know that, Luc. None of us can trust him.”

  “I’m not suggesting anyone does.”

  Daemon looked to the side, the light flaring around him. He started to turn from Luc, but spun back. “Do you have any idea what he’s done to Kat? Do you?”

  “I know enough,” Luc said quietly. “But we need to talk to him. We need to know how he ended up here and what he’s up to. He recognized Evie. He was with her while she was at the Daedalus. We need to learn what he knows.”

  “What part of I don’t care do you not understand?” Daemon growled.

  “I’m not asking you to care, but before you kill him, I need to talk to him,” Luc reasoned, and a shudder rolled through me. “He can’t lie to me.”

  That was the wrong thing to say.

  Daemon’s head swung back to Luc as the Source pulsed around him. Fine hairs raised all over my body as he said, “And he’s never been able to, has he?”

  Blake’s words came back to me, and my knotted stomach sank even further as Daemon continued, “You always knew what he was—what he was going to do.” He stepped into Luc, and I saw Grayson peel away from the shadows of the porch. “You knew Blake was going to betray us, but you needed access to those serums. We were just your delivery system. He killed Adam, Luc. He’s killed others, but you don’t care. Because only she mattered, right?”

  “As if you wouldn’t have done the same if you were trying to save Kat’s life.” Luc didn’t even deny it.

  “You know damn well I would’ve,” Daemon admitted. “But that’s not what happened.”
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  “The Daedalus would’ve gotten their hands on you with or without me.” Luc’s pupils started to glow. “But with me, I had you both protected as much as I could on the inside, or are you conveniently forgetting that?”

  “Your protection only went so far, Luc. They tortured Kat!” Daemon shouted, and lightning streaked across the sky. “They used her to force me to mutate others. They cut her open, Luc. The things she saw still wake her up in the middle of the night.”

  “And for that, I will never forgive myself,” Luc said, and it was then that I realized all the humans, including Heidi, had been shuffled inside. Only those with some sort of alien DNA remained outside.

  “But you wouldn’t change a damn thing, would you?”

  “No,” he admitted, and I closed my eyes.

  “Those serums didn’t even heal her.” Daemon sounded astonished.

  “Those serums gave her at least a few more months!” Luc yelled, and I saw a crack of lightning behind my closed eyes. “They gave her enough time to be healed. If you all hadn’t gotten them, she would be dead.”

  A bitter taste filled the back of my mouth as I opened my eyes. I’d known that Luc had put Daemon and Kat in jeopardy in his attempts to save my life. Daemon had told me as much. Back then, I hadn’t known how to really process that, and right now, all I could feel was horror. I hadn’t known what they’d done to them. I had ideas, terrible ones, but I never really knew.

  Zoe appeared to my side, curling her hand around my arm. She tugged on it, but I couldn’t move. It really hit me like a hundred-ton truck that I was the reason they’d been captured by the Daedalus. It didn’t matter if the Daedalus would’ve gotten to them eventually. It happened then because of me.

  Because of Luc.

  And now, it was me again that was going to cause Daemon and Kat more pain.

  “And if she had died, she wouldn’t have ended up in the hands of Jason Dasher, going through God knows what while being turned into something designed to kill us all,” Daemon shot back. “You did that, Luc. Congrats.”

  I sucked in a sharp breath, and Luc simply moved too fast. His fist slammed into Daemon’s jaw. The Luxen’s head snapped back, but he didn’t fall. Dawson shouted, but it was too late.

  “Stop it!” I yelled.

  They crashed into each other like freight trains. Each of them landed a blow before both went down, Daemon on top for half of a second before Luc flipped him, fisting Daemon’s shirt.

  “Do you think I don’t know that?” He lifted Daemon’s upper body as he leaned down. “Do you think I don’t know exactly what I caused?”

  “But was it worth it?” Daemon asked.

  “How can you even ask that?” White light poured into Luc’s veins as he cocked an arm back.

  I’d seen enough.

  Later, I would probably be a little amazed by how I hadn’t hesitated and hadn’t for one second feared injuring anyone, but in the moment, all I cared about was stopping this. Raising my hand, I summoned the Source and lifted Luc straight off Daemon. He landed standing, several feet away, his chest rising and falling with harsh breaths.

  With the weight gone, Daemon popped to his feet. He spat a mouthful of blood and then he charged toward Luc—

  “Enough!” I froze the Luxen, holding him in place. Daemon’s head swung toward mine, his lips pulling back in a snarl. “Are you two done yet?”

  “Nah, we aren’t.” Luc smiled. “I need to blacken his other eye.”

  “I’ll tell you what I don’t need.” Daemon turned his head back to Luc. “I don’t need my girlfriend fighting my battles.”

  “Oh, how about you go fu—”

  “Shut up,” I snapped. “Both of you, just shut up.”

  “I wished you hadn’t stopped them.” Hunter was leaning against the porch railing. “This was just getting good.”

  “You shut up, too,” I said, to which the Arum laughed. “You both are acting like freaking little boys.”

  “Sounds about right,” Luc said. “Because he hits like a little boy.”

  “I’m about to hit you like a little boy,” I warned, and Luc looked at me, brows raised. “Honest to God, I don’t care if you two beat each other half to death, but I don’t want to listen to either of you bitch and moan about it later. You two are friends. I don’t even know how, and frankly, I don’t care enough at the moment to figure that out, but you both are acting pretty shitty.”

  “How am I acting shitty?” Daemon demanded. “And seriously, you need to un-freeze me or whatever you’re doing.”

  “Are you going to try to hit Luc again?”

  Daemon seemed to mull that over. “Probably.”

  Luc snorted.

  “Then you can stay frozen, buddy,” I told him. “Basically suggesting that I’d be better off dead is pretty shitty.”

  A muscle flexed along his jaw as his gaze met mine. A moment passed. “I didn’t mean that.”

  “You didn’t?”

  “Sure sounded like that,” Luc tossed out there.

  “I know it did, but I didn’t mean that,” Daemon insisted. “Sometimes I say asshole-ish things. Just ask Kat. She can confirm that.”

  “I can confirm that,” muttered Dawson.

  I nodded, accepting his apology only because it wasn’t the priority at the moment. “You should be more concerned about going to your wife and figuring out how to tell her the guy she thought she killed is still alive and is actually here, instead of fighting Luc and running off to kill some dude. Because do you really think she’s not going to find out? Or she’s not going to be super-pissed when she learns you knew and instead of going to her, you went to Blake?”

  Daemon snapped his mouth shut.

  “She has a point,” Luc remarked.

  “And you.” My head whipped in his direction.

  “Moi?” Luc placed his hand against his chest.

  “Yes, you. I don’t know everything this Blake did, but I know enough. You cannot expect Daemon to go along with anything that doesn’t involve a bloody murder,” I said. “And I don’t even know how I feel about straight up killing someone who isn’t attacking you at the moment.”

  “He deserves it,” Daemon grumbled.

  “He does,” his brother agreed. “Like, more than you will ever know.”

  “And what? I’m supposed to wait until he stabs that knife in my back one last time?” Daemon asked. “For shits and giggles?”

  “Why couldn’t you have frozen his mouth?” Luc muttered.

  I ignored that. “I’m not suggesting that. I’m just being honest that I’m not like, ‘Yay, murder is cool!’ But I am saying that whatever Blake knows about me and about the Daedalus is not worth causing Daemon or Kat or anyone else more pain.”

  “He could tell us what was done to you while you were at the Daedalus,” Luc argued. “He could tell us about the other Trojans.”

  “We don’t know exactly what he knows—”

  “That’s the point. Blake could be a gold mine.”

  “But will that be worth causing your friends even more pain?” I asked, hands shaking at my side. “Because I can tell you that for me, it won’t be worth knowing that I’m that root cause.”

  “You’re not the cause.” Shock splashed across Luc’s expression. He all but blinked out of existence, appearing directly in front of me. “You did not cause anyone pain.”

  I know. I met his stare. But you did, because of me. You’re not a monster who doesn’t care for others. I know that, because I couldn’t have fallen in love with you twice if you were. His face paled, and it killed me to see that. “I will not be the reason again.”

  Luc looked away, jaw clenched, and then his gaze swung back to mine. “I didn’t want them to get hurt. I never wanted any of them to be hurt, but I had to.” Stepping back, he turned to Daemon, and when he spoke, his voice was hoarse. “She is the only thing in my entire life I ever needed—the only person I’ve ever loved, and she was slipping through my fingers. I was watchi
ng her die day after day, and there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t heal her. No one could. And I was going to lose her. I was losing her. Can you even begin to imagine what that feels like?”

  Daemon closed his eyes. “No,” he said roughly. “I can’t. I don’t want to.”

  “I hope you never have to. I know I did that to her.” His voice cracked. “But I would not let her die. I couldn’t.”

  “You didn’t cause what the Daedalus did to me.” I stepped toward him, but Luc moved out of my reach. I swallowed hard. “You had no idea. You cannot blame yourself for that, and you can’t blame him for that, either,” I said to Daemon.

  “That was low,” Dawson murmured, arms folded. “Lower than I’ve seen you go.”

  “I know.” Daemon let his head fall back. Sensing that Daemon might not hit Luc again, I freed him from my hold. He didn’t seem to notice. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

  Luc said nothing.

  “So,” Hunter asked. “Are we going to kill this guy or not?”

  “No one is killing anyone,” Cekiah announced, startling me. I’d been so caught up in everything, I hadn’t even felt her or Zouhour’s presence, but both were standing in the driveway. “Despite what Luc did to the man who shot Evie, that’s not what we do here, no matter what.”

  Daemon turned to them. “He cannot be left alive.”

  “He does not die,” Zouhour said. “At least not tonight.”

  * * *

  The argument about Blake’s future had moved inside, and thankfully no one was throwing punches at this point. Although it looked like Kat was ready to start breaking things. Dawson had retrieved her, and baby Adam had been placed with Beth.

  Hunter looked half-asleep on the couch, and Grayson lurked in a corner, not really adding anything other than his presence to what was happening—which was pretty much the only value I was currently adding. The only reason why I was still here was because Luc was. Emery and Heidi had left with Zoe, and Georgie and his wife had already bid everyone good night, wanting nothing to do with this conversation.