The Burning Shadow

by Armentrout, Jennifer L.

  About two blocks down a narrower street, I saw the park up ahead. The breeze was swaying the seat-less swings and toying with the weeds that were as tall as the still merry-go-round. The blue house sat between what appeared to have once been a corner market and a home that was identical in shape but painted a red that had faded.

  Luc led me along the cracked cement of the walkway and onto wooden steps that groaned under our weight. He knocked on the door, and it wasn’t more than a few seconds later that it opened.

  “I figured you two would be here first thing in the morning.” General Eaton stepped aside, revealing a small room that smelled of must and was lit by a gas lamp in the corner. “Didn’t think I’d have to send someone to retrieve you.”

  Luc simply grinned. “It was a long trip here.”

  The general huffed in response.

  “You’ve been good?” Luc asked, letting go of my hand and letting me step in first. He closed the door behind me.

  “Been better and been worse.” He turned, walking back to a leather couch that had a tear down the back. He picked up a bottle of amber-colored liquid. “I’d offer you something to drink, but all I have right now is warm beer and you two are still underage.”

  Luc snorted. “Really? We’re still following laws around here?”

  “If we don’t, we lose civilization.” He sat. “And we can’t have that.”

  “No, we can’t,” Luc murmured while I tried to figure out if the general normally drank beer this early in the morning.

  Scanning the room, I saw piles of books and rolled maps stacked against the wall. It was like he’d pillaged a library or a bookstore, which was totally possible. This home didn’t resemble the one we were staying in, where it still had the remnants of the previous owner’s personality. This house, at least this room, was gutted and stark, looking every bit the way a home would appear after an apocalypse.

  “I know why you both wanted to talk to me. Especially you.” That was said to me. Leather creaked under his slim frame as he leaned back against the cushion. “You want to ask about what you are.”

  I nodded, liking that he cut to the point.

  Luc sat on several reinforced crates. “Something I got to address. She was around after the invasion, but you never met her when she was Nadia.”

  “You’re right. I never officially met her, but I did meet the real Evie Dasher,” he replied.

  That I wasn’t expecting.

  Luc straightened. Apparently he hadn’t expected it either. “When did that happen?”

  “When she was a young girl, a few years before her death.” He took a sip of his beer. “The resemblance between you is uncanny.”

  “I … I wasn’t sure how much I looked like her. I saw pictures of her, but.…”

  “You could’ve passed as cousins. Maybe even sisters. The resemblance was pure luck,” he said.

  “Really?” I asked.

  He nodded. “You were a part of the Poseidon Project, the blending of human DNA with that of a Luxen and an Arum. You were a sleeper—a Trojan, living like a human until you would be activated. Just like what is happening all across the United States as we speak. They can’t be detected, not by RAC drones or any developed technology.”

  “Well, you definitely do know what she is.” Luc rested his arms on his bent knees. “What is the purpose of the Poseidon Project?”

  “Not world domination,” Eaton answered, taking another drink. “But domination of the universe.”

  “Really?” Luc’s tone was as dry as the desert. “Did we slip and fall into an Avengers movie?”

  “When has it ever been anything else for the Daedalus? When have they ever had a different purpose?” the general responded, and I crossed my arms. “They want to be grand puppeteers, pulling the strings of everyone, from world leaders to city council officials, and whatever exists out there, in the vastness that is the universe. In their minds, they’re striving to create a better world. They’re not the villains. At least they don’t think so. They believe they’re the heroes of the story. That has always been the Daedalus, and you know that, Luc, better than most.”

  “How is that possible?” I asked, remembering what April had told me. “How do they not know what they’re doing is wrong?”

  “Throughout history, a lot of very smart people have convinced themselves that what they believe in, what their ideologies are, is better for the general masses. This has happened a thousand times over. This is nothing new.”

  “How exactly do they plan to make the world a better place by forcing Luxen to mutate and turning ordinary humans into Luxen-Arum hybrids?” I asked, thinking that was a damn valid question.

  So I had no idea why he laughed.

  “Because at the end of the day, those who control the Daedalus and who run our government, and the world, are the one percent of the one percenters. That is also nothing new. Everything that ever happens in this world happens to the benefit of them, billionaires and CEOs, old money and new, and they’re in the pockets of all the politicians since the beginning of time.”

  Luc pressed his lips together and nodded. “Thanks for the sucky but accurate history of U.S. Civics not taught in schools, but that really doesn’t answer our questions.”

  “But it does. These powerful men, their families, and their companies have never had their rigid control of the world questioned. They may be flesh-and-blood humans, but to the everyday, average person, they were gods. Nothing could challenge their power. Not until the Luxen first arrived. Everything changed then.” Eaton lowered the bottle to his leg. “Suddenly there were these beings that could look human, could adapt rapidly, more advanced in nearly every way than a human, and were walking weapons. It takes no leap of logic to think that if the Luxen went unchecked, they’d eventually take over. Hell, things could possibly be better if that happened. Maybe the human race itself just doesn’t know better.”

  “Possibly.” Luc paused. “Except for the murderous invading Luxen.”

  “Yeah, except for them.” Eaton smirked, and I blinked. “These people founded Daedalus, placed it within the Department of Defense with the function of assimilating Luxen, but also to study them. You know the history of the Daedalus, so I won’t bore you with that.” His finger tapped on the bottle. “You just need to remember that they wanted to be able to create something better and stronger than the Luxen, something that could be controlled. They started with hybrids and made their way to Origins, but they didn’t stop there. They wanted to create something that could be programmed genetically, and as you know, Origins still had too much sense of … self for that to work.”

  Luc inclined his head. “That we do.”

  “Nancy just couldn’t let the Origin Project go. It was her pet,” he said, and Luc’s jaw immediately hardened.

  I didn’t know who Nancy was and I made a mental note to ask about that later.

  “Meanwhile others within the Daedalus were developing the Poseidon Project, messing around with the hive mentality the Luxen and Arum both have,” Eaton went on. “Their first success was in the nineties. That’s how far back this goes. It was a lot of trial and error, just like it was with the hybrids and Origins, but they had enough success to know that through the Trojans, they could gain real control. They just needed the right scenario for it all to come together.”

  Luc seemed to figure it out before me. “The invasion?”

  He nodded. “The Daedalus knew it was coming, had intercepted the communication between the Luxen here and those who hadn’t arrived yet. Plus, they worked with enough Arums to know that the Luxen, just like humans, were not all peaceful.”

  “They knew it was coming. Why?” I breathed, horrified and sickened. “Why would they do that? So many people died.”

  “And the herd was thinned out. Population is a real problem. Well, it was.” He sipped from his beer. “But it also served another purpose. The invasion created fear and then hostility.”

  I thought about what Dee had s
aid on TV, and then April. “And that’s why they continue to frame the Luxen for things they’re actually carrying out?”

  He nodded once more.

  “Because humans can’t go toe to toe with the Luxen.” Luc leaned back, thrusting a hand through his hair. “Luxens are outnumbered, but there’s more than enough on this planet to seize sizable control, maybe even complete control. Damn.” He shook his head. “They truly want to eradicate the Luxen, and they’re doing it by turning humans completely against them.”

  “Not just the Luxen at this point. They want the hybrids and most of the Origins gone,” Eaton added. “They’re using fear and ignorance, which are the greatest and most powerful weapons of mass destruction ever created.”

  Feeling a little dizzy, I turned halfway around as I tucked my hair back from my face. “This is what Mom meant, isn’t it? When she said that they let this happen but it got out of hand. She was talking about the invasion?”

  “I imagine so,” he answered. “If they’re successful in eradicating the Luxen and the rest, then there’s nothing to stop the Trojans from taking power.”

  “And what happens then?” I faced him.

  “I imagine it will be pitched as a utopia. In reality, it will be something quite like a dystopia, but much worse.”

  “But you aren’t hiding here with no purpose,” Luc reminded him. “This isn’t the only Zone brimming with Luxen ready to storm the gates. The Yard isn’t being used for play fighting. You guys are training and preparing.”

  The Yard.

  That was what the Yard was being used for.

  “How much longer do you really think we’re safe here? It’s only a matter of time before we’re found out.”

  “Then we fight,” Luc said, and I found myself nodding. “Isn’t that what most of us were bred for?”

  Eaton’s faded blue eyes tracked over me. “I want to know what you know about your abilities—when they started. Everything.”

  So we told him everything we knew about what was done to me, leaving nothing out. When I finished, I was exhausted even though Luc and I had shared the task.

  “You’re different than the rest. I imagine it has to do with you being given different serums beforehand. The hive mentality programmed into Trojans hasn’t fully taken hold,” he said. “But you said when you attacked the men that came for you, these Liberty men, you weren’t yourself?”

  “No, it was like … I was there but I was viewing things differently, like it was a task for me that needed to be carried out. That’s the best way I can explain it.” I started to pace in the cramped space between the stacks of books. “And I don’t know why it happened. It was like a switch being thrown.”

  “Is it possible there was another sound wave weapon nearby that was used?” Luc asked. “The Cassio Wave?”

  “I don’t think so. As I said, it most likely was the multiple serums. You’re a fluke in a way. Those serums you confiscated from the girl’s house? Would’ve been interested to have seen them.”

  “Yeah, they’re gone,” Luc said.

  Eaton was quiet for a moment and then he looked to where I stood. “The Daedalus really would love to get their hands on you. You’re not like the others, and they’d want to take you apart, bit by bit, to figure out exactly why.”

  Well, that statement sure didn’t leave me feeling warm and fuzzy.

  “You’re going to need to get your abilities under control,” he said, still looking at me, and then, after a pause, “If you can.”

  If I can?

  Wow, that was motivational.

  “She can,” Luc insisted. “I’ll help her.”

  General Eaton took a swig from his bottle. “Of course you will.”

  Luc frowned. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “You two are a disaster in the making, how can’t you see that?” Eaton looked down at the bottle he held while Luc and I exchanged a long look. Then Eaton laughed. “Well, one of you would see the truth if you’d stop letting yourself be distracted by emotion and the past.”

  Well, that could honestly be either of us.

  “I think it’s time for you to put down the drink,” Luc suggested.

  Eaton lifted his gaze to Luc. “Do you think that this wasn’t planned from the beginning? You’re smarter than that, Luc. You know how the Daedalus operates. They know how you operate.”

  Luc clamped his mouth shut.

  “What is he talking about?” I demanded.

  Eaton didn’t take his gaze off of Luc. “You two were made for each other.”

  A fine shiver skated over my skin as I turned back to Luc, recalling that he’d said the same thing to me. We were made for one another.

  “You think it wasn’t designed from the moment you left the Daedalus, Luc? That they didn’t know that eventually you would find someone out there that you’d do anything for? You know how they manipulated the Luxen that were close to humans. Look at Daemon and Dawson. The Daedalus damn near engineered their relationships in hopes that they’d mutate a human.”

  My brows flew up. “Engineered their relationships?”

  “A Daedalus operative was connected to both Bethany and Kat,” Luc explained. “He didn’t put them with Dawson or Daemon, but he was able to report on them and help … aid things along, whether it be the final step of the mutation or turning them over.”

  “God,” I whispered.

  “And you think the same wasn’t done to you?” Eaton challenged, and Luc’s head whipped toward him. “Did it ever occur to you that they knew about her the minute she ran away from her house and into your waiting arms? That they weren’t tracking both of you, keeping tabs on you? They just got lucky when she got sick.”

  Luc’s jaw clenched as he stared at the general, and I felt like I needed to sit down.

  “Her cancer was their perfect opportunity. They knew you were trying to get the serums to give to her. LH-11. Prometheus. Each one not healing her, but prepping her for the final serum. Andromeda. They just had to wait until you were desperate enough to take that risk and take her to the Daedalus.”

  Luc’s features turned stark, and I had to speak up in his defense. “He didn’t take me to the Daedalus. He took me—”

  “To Sylvia Dasher? Child, I know you believed that woman to be your mother, and maybe in some small way, she was, but she was very much a part of the Daedalus up until the moment she decided she couldn’t do what was required from her,” he said, and if I thought my heart had broken back when Steven had begun to talk, I’d been wrong. It was breaking now. “Those things you said you were able to do? The fighting. The shooting. What you did to those men outside of Atlanta? You were trained by the Daedalus, handed over by Sylvia, and then your memories were wiped.”

  I did sit down then, in a worn, squeaky computer chair.

  “What do you mean her memories were wiped then, after the training?” Luc demanded. “The serum—”

  “Caused a fever, but never took her memories. Sylvia lied to you. She gave you the serum and then you were mutated. Once Sylvia knew you were going to survive the mutation, she handed you over to the Daedalus. You would’ve known exactly who you were until you completed training. Then the Cassio Wave was used to fry your short- and long-term memory bank,” he said, and I knew in that moment if Mom … if that woman hadn’t died, Luc would’ve hunted her down.

  And killed her.

  I knew it, because it was in the way he turned and stared at me, in the horror creeping into his features as he realized I’d been Nadia when I woke up from the serum and I’d been Nadia when I’d … I’d been trained.

  Luc paled, and even though I couldn’t read his mind, I knew that while I couldn’t remember what it was like to be trained within the Daedalus, he did.

  “For whatever reason, Sylvia had a change of heart. It was the one thing the Daedalus hadn’t planned for.” Eaton looked between Luc and I. “Love.” He laughed then, shaking his head. “They hadn’t anticipated Sylvia caring for you a
s a mother would for their child. She may have had a change of heart and tried to get you out, but make no mistake, she knew what was in those serums. She created the Andromeda Serum herself. Worked on the early trials, chronicled all their failures and their successes. The Andromeda Serum wouldn’t have existed if it wasn’t for her.”

  I pressed my hand to the center of my chest, over my heart. I couldn’t speak.

  “You weren’t their first success, far from it.” He was back to staring at the bottle. “But you were different. Not just your mutation, but because of him.” He nodded in Luc’s direction without looking up. When he spoke again, his voice was tired—tired and bitter. “You had to know, Luc, that they would find some way to reel you back in.”

  “They’ll never reel me back in,” Luc said, his tone as cold as the Arctic. “That I can promise.”

  General Eaton looked up then. “You so sure about that?” His gaze flicked to me. “You didn’t recognize him out in those woods, right?”

  “No,” I whispered. “I saw him as…”

  “You saw him as a threat and a challenge and you needed to dominate. One of the three things you were coded to do.” The corners of his lips turned down. “You were coded to answer to one person only, and that isn’t that boy sitting here.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” Luc demanded.

  I had a better question. “Are you saying that what happened in the woods could happen again, and I won’t remember him? Again? He won’t be able to reach me?”

  Sadness crept into the general’s rheumy eyes. “You were coded to answer only to one person—”

  “Stop saying that I was coded!” I shot to my feet, chest rising and falling. “I’m not a damn computer! I’m a person—”

  “No, you’re the Burning Shadow and he’s the Darkest Star, and together, you will bring about the brightest night.”

  I jerked back.

  “What?” Luc said.